Dr. Prema Nandkumar talked about the growing need for humanity to break the seal of the last chapter of the play she calls the 'evolutionary destiny of man'. With stories and poems ranging from Norwegian folklore to western legends, from Indian mythology to Greek mythology, Dr Prema spoke about the meaning of the cycle of life and death, and if a total transition of the matter is possible. Finally she draws our attention to relying on the power of the soul, not science, to explore matter.

Prior to Prof Samdhong Rinpoche's arrival, interviews were sought with two Tibetan exchange students Namgyal and Tsened, and Jungchup from Auroville. They were waiting at the entrance of the Tibetan Pavillion to see the rare photos of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, and his documented asylum into India and a talk delivered by Rinpoche. Each one spoke very sweetly of their experiences living in Auroville. Firstly, Namgyal covered the topic of the Mahayana discipline of meditation and, how to be a 'better man' for Tibet. Read more

Under the Matrimandir Banyan Tree John Harper speaks of how it looks here. Juan, professional tree pruner called in to cut the badly broken limb of the Banyan, cyclone damage. Juan offers a class in safe handling of chainsaws. All service connections in Auroville and surrounding villages without power since the cyclone struck. A total of 42 distribution transformers affected. Funding priorities: to restore Electricity, Water, Security, Access, and Shelter. Pavilion of Tibetan Culture: Lighting of Lamps and Meditation Tuesday Tuesday 7 pm. Read more

For tropical Cyclone Thane warning is on we can expect max sustained winds 118 km/h with stronger gusts possible. At Multimedia Center in Town Hall on Saturday 31st of December at 5pm we can see a Puppet show. Pavilion of Tibetan Culture invites us for the 2012 Light Mandala , A Prayer for Peace ar 7pm.The WC, AC and AV Security Team published special New Year Eve Message that for New Year's Eve special Security arrangements have been made. There will be a Police presence in and around the Auroville area. AV Security -9443090107, 9443362691 Read more

Attendance was sparse at yesterday's General Meeting, yet Residents' Assembly Service members Elvira and Jesse facilitated an open meeting on the topic of selection processes for new Auroville Council and Working Committee members. Points discussed: whether to select by consensus or voting...whether an in-place study group meeting regularly might work, whether to return to the 2007 process which produced good results....another ongoing process, more challenges to face. Read more

Humanity on planet Earth spent past weekend in different gatherings, meditations, prayers ... for humanity, human unity, ecological awareness .... and of course for peace. One of those special occasion was a common gathering at the same time on three continents around three tables of peace made by George Nakashima. Irene Goldman welcomed those gathered in Moscow, Julian Lines had guests in New York and Shivaya welcomed those in Auroville. Greetings were followed by Vera playing on Russian bells and the reading of prayers and messages. Read more

Neither the raging storm nor the rain stopped the music lovers from coming to Pitanga on Wednesday evening 24th of August for one of the best concerts this year. Matt, out of his love for music , put together Confluence - a concert of contemporary Indian jazz featuring Amit Heri on guitar . Beauty of songs was expressed with excellence in techinque. Love and passion for music can bring the transcendental into music. In this moment the listener is melted into energy of it, drifted away, and beside music nothing else matters any more. Read more

This talk of Manoj Pavitran was part of a series of talks on the topic "mutation" that were held in February 2010. We feel that it still has a great value since we are in the middle of a world crisis that seems to bring the advent of mutation. First we hear an introduction to the three-day event on "mutation", then Aurevan is reading three poems from Anu and after Manoj Pavitran is giving a talk titled "Surrendering to change". He speaks of a poise of peace and silence and the presence of the sacred that we have to establish in ourselves. Read more

Uday Bhawalkar started his rendition at Pitanga Cultural Centre with Rag Pooriya, an evening Rag. This was followed by another Rag after a short interval. The rendition was performed in two specific parts Alap and Bandish. He is one of India's foremost exponents of Hindustani vocal music in the Dhrupad tradition, the oldest existing form of Indian classical music. The nature of this music is spiritual and is based more on a sense of worship than entertainment. The music did induce a feeling of peace and contemplation in the listener. Read more

Yesterday's General Meeting, one of many in the last few months, was different: we came together to listen and be heard; and togetherness and sharing took place after a silent meditation. Approaching the problematic issue of selecting a new Working Committee and new Auroville Council, it became obvious that the solution doesn't lie in any mental exercise, but in the practice of unity. It happened: a unique moment of unity, expressing a solution that most felt comfortable with, to be presented at a future Residents AssemblyRead more

Sunday morning, hot summer day, Matrimandir...Sitting quietly beneath the inner chamber, next to lotus pond one can hear chirping birds, accompanied by the wind finding its way trough all four sides of the sky, and by the gentle sound of water cascading down over the lotus petals toward the small crystal ball. Timeless and yet so present, one might drift in a sweet oblivion of a peaceful moment... Read more

Tomorrow it will be Sagittarius full moon, and on that night more than half the world will have the opportunity to watch one of the darkest Lunar eclipses. This will be the darkest lunar eclipse in almost 100 years as the centres of the Sun, the Earth and the Moon would nearly be on one straight line. For that and also other reasons many on the planet will use this time to meditate and work on specific regions. One might be purging the alter ego and the energies of control, manipulation and dominance; removing the fear of Fire, the fear of the Power of Light and the Fear of Union. The Moon is about change and she is often a trigger to set things in motion that have been "lounging in the wings" waiting for a call to action. Auroville Council and Working Committee want to clarify that the so called "selection process for the renewal of AVC and WC through ballot", which was recently announced by a self appointed group, is not according to the process approved by the Residents' Assembly in 2007 and therefore is not recognized as valid. The AVC and the WC regret that division and confusion is being created and whether or not the feelings of dissatisfaction are legitimate, processes that have been approved by the larger community cannot be ignored. As announced by AVC in the News & Notes of 11/06/2011, a new Residents' Assembly Service will be formed after the two weeks feed back period and this new RA Service will undertake the steps required to implement whatever process the community as a whole endorses. Read more

To remember dear Bhavana Auroville Village Action Group (AVAG) would like to invite you this Saturday, to join them for a little get together to remember our great friend Bhavana Dee. On 11th of June it will be one month since she left her body. They would like to meditate together and if there are people who want to speak and remember her in a group, they would be very happy to provide the space for it. They want to connect Aurovilians, villagers and everybody else, who would like to join, in an open gathering and sharing about Bhavana. Please feel free to join them between 10 am and 11.30 am at the AVAG- Campus in Irumbai. An announcement From the News desk which says that Owing to the resignation of the main News& Notes messenger, the Messenger Service will be reduced drastically in the coming weeks. As a consequence we will also be short of delivery staff from July 1st. Every community is requested to install a covered mail box on the main gate for receiving the weekly News copies. There will be no more door-to-door delivery. Read more

Follow up (of General Meeting from Wednesday 1st of June, follow up from 25th of May, 18th April...)on Tuesday 7th of June at SAWCHU was a clear expression from all participants that this is the time for action, because the mandate of Working Committee and Auroville Council is about to end on 22nd of June. For that reason the election process for new members of both should start, as well the new members of Resident Assembly Service should be elected, since its function is to facilitate meetings, and held communication between Working Committee, Auroville Council and residents. Read more

We talked with Loretta, who is going to the USA in a week.  Following her line of service to the Mother, she is invited to lecture in California.  When you serve something, its vibration becomes part of you.  Serving Mother means receiving her consciousness.  Loretta received an inner push to lecture. This started with five talks on the Supramental Transformation connected with her recent exhibition.  Eight presentations in seven weeks will include four of these talks, a talk on Savitri, a question/answer session on Auroville, and a talk to children.  She will speak at the AUM Conference in Lodi, the California Institute of Integral Studies and the Cultural Integration Fellowship in San Fransisco, the East/West Cultural Center in Los Angeles, and Meditation Mount in Ojai. Read more

Organic Bahams- gave their first ever concert on Thursday 12th at the SAWCHU, Bharat Nivas. Visitors impulses were rattled by the list of songs and overlapping genres of the diverse performance filled with talent and humor. Our dear friend Gino also used the opportunity to unveil his love for percussion. His rhythmic and restless hands ensured an upbeat flow of the evening. Enjoy the ranging aptitude of guitarist and singer Jasleen from New Delhi and Girish from Bangalore, percussionist and Aurovillian Gino and body percussionist Nachi from Tamil Nadu. From Punjabi, Hindi, French, English, Traditional and Pop, there is a little piece for everyone to love and cherish.

If last week passed in Earth Day-Week spirit, this one will be mostly in Sufi since the visiting guest Sufi musician Latif Bolat prepared many lectures, which are all followed by concerts. Latif is a very serious and advanced Sufi scholar. And on Saturday at 8pm he and Parvathy Baul will give a concert at Sri Aurobindo Auditorium Bharat Nivas, Pavilion of Indian Culture with tittle "Songs from the heart beyond borders." In today's news we feature also interview with Johnny and children about wacky Earth Day Parade, and with Satyen about fund raising tournament for the football field at Aurodhan on Saturday at 8am. Read more

Last week AurovilleRadio broadcast Loretta's talk on transformation to sixty fourth graders from Transition School. A second talk to a second group of sixty fourth graders called out a very different style of lecture, with different stories for different children. Swaha and Martin's classes were more serious and concentrated, Loretta reports. In the wonderful way things happen in Auroville, their lecture automatically tailored itself for their way of learning. This time. Anu and Paula's classes were more light hearted and lively, and their lecture came with a very different energy. Did these sixty lively children sit still and listen to the subject which adults say they can't understand? Nobody moved. You could have heard a pin drop in the room. Read more

What are the mysterious words "Supramental Transformation? Sixty fourth grade children came to the Supramental Transformation exhibition at Savitri Bhavan to hear Loretta explain. Will children of 9-10 years remain quiet and listen to a subject which adults say they can't understand? Every child remained attentive, and they really learned what the words mean. Then they heard the story of The Mother's experience on the Supramental Ship. When the children walked freely through the exhibition they felt very much at home. Read more

The Amphitheater Team had chosen to play the first disc of Savitri read by the Mother along with Sunil's music this Thursday 21st of April for the weekly meditation between 6 pm to 6:30 pm. Around thirty persons gathered all around the Amphitheater at Matrimandir to enjoy Sri Aurobindo's initiatory poem expressed by the Mother during this privileged moment. Also an appropriate time to remind one of the Mother's final arrival in Pondicherry on April 24th, ninety-one years ago.

What is it? It's a healing method, which descends through the layers of the heart, finally reaching the place to access supreme Divine Love within the body. Thereby healing can occur. And conscious evolution can occur. The word 'hladina' is derived from the Sanskrit word Hladini. In his book, The Mother, Sri Aurobindo describes Hladini as a powerful ecstasy which flows from supreme Divine Love. He says this alone can heal the gulf between the Supramental heights of the direct Divine power of manifestation and the lowest levels of presently unconscious matter. All earth matter awakens with the Hladini Love and the manifesting power of the Supramental. Read more

A peaceful gathering with a silent mediation was held at Visitors' Center on Saturday; it continued with some facts about the Indian culture, about safety in the world and in the Auroville bio-region. Auroville Health Service shared about the history of Womens' Safety Task Force, and why it needed to be established in the first place. The movement 'Taking Back the Night' started over thirty years ago to help, mostly women, overcome the escalating violence in the urban area. At present, when almost everything we thought we knew is changing with the speed of light, the pressure on humanity is tremendous. With ignorance fear comes along, and to that we all react in different ways. Expansion of the media, and its availability, with its constant flow of what humans think, serves to increase the fear as well, and out of that many respond with violence. Read more

"The water of Fukoshima Nuclear Plant, we are sorry to make you suffer. Please forgive us. We thank you, and we love you." was heard today all over the globe. Masaru Emoto, Messenger of Water during over twenty years research of hado measuring and water crystal photographic technology have been witnessing that water can turn positive when it receives pure vibration of human prayer no matter how far away it is. Some joined this collective prayer with all sincerity, open heart and love at Quiet Healing Center at noon. Read more

Take Back the Night is an event organized by Auroville Health Service and Women Safety Task Force for Saturday at 5.15 pm at Visitor Center. Aim of this event is to empower women, and others, who might live now in fear, to talk about it. Questions - Why is this happening? Why we don't talk about it" What can we do about it?...remain unanswered. With the event they would like to break the silence, they would like to start a constructive dialog about the safety issues. Due to increased number of various attacks and harassment in the area many in Auroville and in the villages live in fear. Silent gathering will be followed by some cultural program on topic and by open discussion. Read more

Today at noon all over the planet many will join the healing prayer for the water in the nuclear plants in Fukushima. Name of ceremony is :"Let's send our thoughts of love and gratitude to all water in the nuclear plants in Fukushima" and the prayer, recited with open heart and love is :"The water of Fukushima Nuclear Plant, we are sorry to make you suffer. Please forgive us. We thank you, and we love you."IN today's news we feature also an excerpt of interview with Rani and Irene about the event Take Back the Night on Saturday at 5.15 pm at Visitor Center Read more

Femme rayonnante au grand cœur, Véronique Jannot choisit résolument le bonheur: sourire en toutes circonstances est sa manière à elle de nourrir cette "graine d'éveil présente en chacun de nous,” et de transformer les épreuves, tremplins d'évolution. Profondément engagée pour la cause tibétaine, elle écrit et réalise seule son premier documentaire consacrée à ce principe féminin intangible et puissant, que les tibétains appelle « Dakini ». Pour sa seconde visite à Auroville, elle est donc venue présenter « DAKINIS, le féminin de la sagesse »: une série de portraits de femmes extraordinaires d'orient et d'occident. L'occasion de la rencontrer à son hôtel et de l'interroger sur la création de son film, le rôle de la femme aujourd'hui, sa perception d' Auroville et sur son chemin personnel vers une spiritualité libre et vivante....Interview illustré par la musique du documentaire.

Focused chanting and meditation at Pavilion of Tibetan Culture on Sunday was lead by Khenpo Lodro Donyo Rinpoche. Meditation was dedicated to Chenrezig who is renowned as the embodiment of the compassion of all the Buddhas, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, and who is also known to remove sufferings, confusion and appears for benefit for freedom from faults. At the end Khenpo Lodro Donyo Rinpoche gave for the library of Pavilion of Tibetan Culture his book, which has many things related to Tara - story of the origins(she came into existence from a single tear shed by Chenrezig ), how she becomes liberated, how she benefits beings now. In the book are also explanations of the prayers for Tara, and some other prayers. Read more

Stupas are very holy, precious and important, said Khenpo Lodro Donyo Rinpoche on his short, but interesting talk at Pavilion of Tibetan Culture. For Tibetan people it is hard to differentiate culture and religion, and we can find stupas wherever we go, where Buddhism was introduced. Purpose of stupa is to offer a support to recall the enlighten body, speech and mind of Buddha. All the immesurable qualities of Buddha - loving kindness, compassion, joy and impartiality are contained in the form of the stupa. Read more

In January 1908 Sri Aurobindo had his first major spiritual experience, which he sometimes referred to as his ‘Nirvana' experience. To mark the Centenary of this event, Shraddhavan gave a talk at Savitri Bhavan, sharing some of Sri Aurobindo's statements about his experience, and connecting them with some remarks of the Mother about Thought Control and some passages in Savitri. Since Sri Aurobindo stated "One cannot be a fully developed mental being if one has not a control of the thoughts ...” these words have a practical application for all of us.

The Symbolism of the Tibetan Stupa by Khenpo Lodro Donyo Rinpoche will occur today at 5pm at Pavilion of Tibetan Culture. Tomorrow at 8pm at Sri Aurobindo Auditorium, Bharat Nivas, the Pavilion of India presents "Breaking Boundaries”, a contemporary dance performance choreographed by Astad Deboo, with the members of the Salaam Balak Trust and with the street children from Delhi. Astad Deboo does regular work with children from low socio economic backgrounds. Working Committee informs us that after the meeting with the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mr. Uthaykumar he has assigned a team of five special officers to patrol roads of the Auroville between 11pm and 5am. They ask for everyone's patience and understanding in the event of coming into contact with this team of special officers. Read more