Auroville Base Camp – an institution and a sub-community of Auroville
Purpose
To implement the Mother’s view and vision that before people become residents of Auroville, they should undergo a period of learning, of initiation into how to live in Auroville. This includes developing or increasing familiarity with the various aspects of Auroville and Auroville’s inspiration sources. Secondly, this process should keep itself constantly improving, upgrading with new innovations and experiments to impart better and better ways of “teaching” how to live in Auroville.
Explanation
A few years ago, some visiting professionals from Pune asked Aryadeep to explain Auroville in one sentence. He replied: “It is like climbing the Mount Everest.” They immediately understood what it meant: much preparation, much training, numerous trials and retrials, spirit of adventure and strong will are required to make an attempt. Similar is the case Auroville. Hence, the name Auroville Base Camp for starting life in Auroville or simply getting familiar with Auroville’s diverse dimensions.
Two extracts from the Mother
- “Auromodel is being built to make a concrete experiment and to learn how to live in Auroville.”
- “The purpose of life in Auromodel is to learn to live in Auroville, to make all the experiments necessary for learning to live in Auroville.
We want to find a way for the community to live for the Divine.
Each individual has his own way but the group community should find a way to suit everyone. 22.5.1970”
The above view of the Mother is yet to be implemented. This is the purpose of Auroville Base Camp. Aryadeep believes that joining Auroville, learning to live in Auroville can be made so interesting, so enriching, so fascinating that even those who do not intend to join and reside in Auroville may mlike to enrol themselves for the memorable and inspiring experience.
A clarification
Auroville Base Camp will be primarily an experience and enrichment centre. It will not be the screening and the decision-making centre whether a person is qualified to be a resident of Auroville or not. That decision will be taken by another body though a letter from the Base Camp will be one of the factors that will contribute to the decision.
Present status
Just an idea and cherished dreams of Aryadeep S. Acharya