On Auroville Self-Governance - Audio

We are sisters and brothers. I want to devote this session to a study. It is a study because I have a few materials to present to you but we have to search for conclusions that can be derived and I myself do not know the conclusions. So it is a real exploration and this is on a subject which is at present very vital in the minds of residents of Auroville and that is self-governance. The word self-governance is very dear to residents of Auroville as it must be. There are however, in Auroville certain ideas in regard to self-governance, which are quite correct but there are some others which are not so correct. There is at present a mixture of what can be called a true aspiration for self-governance but there is also at the same time, and this is my view, a mixture of egoistic conception of self-governance and I think we need to explore as to how we can arrive at true conception of self-governance and how we can go about implementing that correct idea.

Let me first take you rapidly through the history of self-governance of Auroville. I think it is necessary because we have reached a critical stage in Auroville, where a review of the past may help us to move forward to a future so that we may not commit some of the mistakes which were committed in the past and our path may be more smooth. When the Mother declared the Charter of Auroville in 1968, She declared it very clearly − Auroville does not belong to anybody. This was the underlying idea for proclaiming true self-governance of Auroville, when she declared that to live in Auroville one must be a willing servitor of divine consciousness. She defined what is that self-governance, true self-governance of Auroville, it is soul governance; it is governance by the Divine. To declare that this Auroville has to be governed only by one authority, authority of the truth, the authority of the Divine and that is a true meaning of self-governance.

Now this proposition is completely new in the history of the world. Never was any group, any country created with this declaration that this land is, this whole concept, this land, this experience, is dedicated to the Divine and Divine alone. So to my mind the real conception of self-governance is − Auroville governed by the Divine's Will in which Divine is recognized as an authority and therefore no other authority at all. This is the starting point and soon after the development of Auroville there was a rapid development right up to 1973. All decisions were taken by the Mother, by the Divine's Will. But soon after Mother left her body a certain phenomenon arose, on account of two important facts.

One is the law of the land that the land and property of the land has to be owned by somebody, it's a practical fact. This was not germane to Auroville's existence but practically you cannot have any land without a proprietor, this is the legacy of the past, you might say that property must have an owner. The second fact was that for the sake of this law, which is not the Divine Law but this law was complicated by the fact that you can either have a private land property or you can have a collective property and the collective property can be owned only by a collective body and this collective body must be in the form of either a public trust or a registered society or a corporation, there is no other way by which public property can be held. As a result this property which was being bought at that time for Auroville as an offering to the Divine, so the Divine may take possession of it and it may belong to the Divine; in 1973 it became clear by various kinds of phenomena which occurred that this land belonged to Sri Aurobindo Society that Sri Aurobindo Society is a registered society and the further complicated fact was that every registered society must have a governing body, must have by law and therefore this society had a an authority a governing body. Now these are the important facts to start with.

Now it all depended upon how we looked upon this governing body of society; how it looked upon the property, how it looked upon the people of Auroville and here their ambiguity arose, with all goodwill on the part of everybody. Everybody did his best but there arose, (I’m only telling as a phenomenon) there arose a conflict between a number of people in Auroville and this management of Sri Aurobindo Society. I am narrating this because it is very important to remember even when we speak of self-governance, what we mean and how we should go about it so that we don't again repeat the same mistakes of the past.

When this conflict arose it became clear to some or many that there was some misunderstanding and that everything was not so clear as was intended in the Charter of Auroville. In the declaration of the Charter and the conditions which we are laid for existence in Auroville. This assumption became clearer in due course when in the court of law later on, the society clearly declared that Auroville is a project of Sri Aurobindo Society. Secondly that Sri Aurobindo Society is a religious body and thirdly that Auroville is a religious organization; all the three propositions which in truth were not valid. And then it is not necessary to enunciate the whole conflict that went through but ultimately what happened was that the Supreme Court of India had to declare that Sri Aurobindo Society is not a religious body that the teaching of Sri Aurobindo is not a religion and that Auroville is not a religious body. And then the power to govern Auroville in 1982 was given by the Supreme Court's decision with the Government of India and since it came into the hands of the Government of India the intention was that once goodwill prevails and the misunderstandings are cleared the management will go again back to Sri Aurobindo Society because this takeover was only for a short time. For seven years the situation continued in that form ultimately it was found that this clarity, this understanding was not dawning and then the Government of India decided that a method should be found by which the original intention of the Mother is honoured by the Government of India and arrangements should be made so that Auroville can move on the lines which have been envisaged for it in the Charter of Auroville and by the various directives which are given by the Mother.

What has to be done to affect this decision the only way by which this could be affected was to create an Act this was the decision taken by the Government of India. There was no other way to implement these noble ideas and noble intentions of the Government except through the creation of a law and this law was therefore formulated. And as you know the happy day,I was very much associated with the formulation of this law from the side of the Government of India and this law was enacted in 1988. And there are three important aspects of this law which are to be understood while speaking of self-governance of Auroville, by thinking of it, by implementing it.

First of all this law of the Government of India has made the Charter of Auroville given by the Mother as a part of Indian Law. It's a great achievement, nobody can deny this Charter and can act against this Charter, nobody. Secondly and this is the most important point to be noted, as I said in India there is no way, or in the world there is no way of holding a property except through a public trust, or a corporation, or a registered society. So one could have created a society, a new society but that society has its own laws which nobody can abrogate and that law is that you can have a society but you must have management body and this management body is supreme; the question of self-governance of the people would be out of the question if it was made again a society. Therefore it was thought that you should create by law a foundation and all the land had to be transferred to that foundation.

Now this fact is very important to be noted, all the land which was purchased for Auroville, which was legally in charge of Sri Aurobindo Society till 1988, all that land was transferred, taken from that Society and given to this Foundation so that this foundation can be so created in a new form that it would not be in any charge of any governing body, any management committee. Now this was a bold act on the part of the government for the sake of Auroville in the sense that to take property from somebody and to give it to another, normally you have to pay for it but without any payment whatsoever this entire land was just put into the Foundation and Sri Aurobindo Society very generously and wisely did not challenge it, and as a result from 1988 the all the land it was now declared very clearly did not belong to anybody except under the Charter. Nobody can claim it; it can be used only for purposes of the Charter of Auroville, this land.

There's a third point of this Act which is also to be remembered. This act like any other act does require a Management Board, a Governing Board. The question was how to make this Governing Board act in such a way that what is envisaged for Auroville, what we call the Divine Governance, I don't even call it self-governance so that Divine Governance of Auroville can become possible so that all the freedom that you need for making Auroville governed by the Divine becomes possible and if you read the Act very clearly, you'll find that this is perfectly possible. It was so formulated because the very important point, there is a full line on this subject which gives a policy decision of the Parliament of India, 'it should be ensured that the freedom of people of Auroville is not infringed and that they are free to develop Auroville according to the Charter of Auroville'. So the only limitation on the freedom of people of Auroville is if they try to develop Auroville against the Charter of Auroville, not in accordance with the Charter of Auroville then only there is limitation.

As long as you develop Auroville according to the Charter of Auroville this freedom has been given and I must tell you that such a provision does not exist in any institution today, this kind of freedom. And as I told you, we have taken great care to see that this freedom was not defined in the Charter in the Act, deliberately. We had avoided putting down that this particular freedom will be exercised by election because the moment we had put that kind of a clause then the present democracy would have been clamped on Auroville and this was completely avoided. As a result you have complete freedom even to shape how you will determine the governance of Auroville.

You might say that it was a very difficult task for the Government to adopt this kind of an act but I know that by sheer Mother's grace, this I tell you from my personal experience, by sheer grace of the Mother this was adopted, enacted and declared as an Act of India. Lot of labour has gone into it and therefore I regard it to be a gift. I make this point because very often, sometimes I hear in Auroville or elsewhere we want to see that the Government is completely eliminated from Auroville. This kind of statement I’m hearing quite often and with all goodwill because the idea of self-governance is so interpreted as though as I said egoistically and not rightly and it is that which is to be understood rightly, is what I would like to explain to you.

Suppose you want to make Government completely out of the picture what do you do? Remember the land will immediately go back, you will have no land at all, you have to buy new lands if you make anything new for yourself. You will have to make a society and society will have a management committee, it's a law in India. You cannot avoid it, every society has a management committee and does not guarantee the freedom of the people who become members of the society. I would like you to understand this aspect very well before declaring we want to be completely out of the Government.

This particular Act has been so designed that even as it is, whatever it is you have complete freedom to develop Auroville according to the Charter of Auroville. There is nobody who can prevent you as long as you say and you can show that you want nothing but the Charter of Auroville, you have complete freedom and how has this been designed? There are three provisions in the act, we say there will be a Governing Body, there will be an International Advisory Council and there will be a Residents Assembly and all the three are equal authorities and what will be the relationship between these three organizations three, three bodies the relationship is of mutuality and this word mutuality is very important when I read some of the passages from Sri Aurobindo, it will become clearer that this word mutuality is very important.

The true soul experience is an experience of mutuality; egoistic experience is an experience which wants to throw away everybody else, egoistically as if you have nothing to do with anybody else. Even if you try to do it is impossible in this world as Sri Aurobindo says there are always three terms of existence,− the individual, the group in which he lives and larger groups and the largest group which is humanity as a whole and nobody can get rid of these three terms. The world cannot get rid of groups and individuals. Individuals cannot give up a group or their largest group and no group can exist without a membership of individuals and the larger groups around, the three are interrelated. There is a spiritual unity of the three, − individual, group and the largest group. Therefore if we are really spiritually governed you will see mutuality of the three, it is in mutuality of the three but it depends how you develop this mutuality and Sri Aurobindo says: 'By no mechanical law can you attain this mutuality. It is only when you develop true brotherhood and you exercise true brotherhood that this mutuality can be experienced and can be realized.' Now this Auroville Act has been so enacted that whether you like it or not you are bound to develop brotherhood. It's a kind of a gift. This Act is of such a nature that you are bound even if you want to throw a brotherhood, you are bound to have it; it's like a spiritual compulsion.

It is laid down that Auroville will be organized by the people of Auroville. Secondly, that the freedom of individuals in Auroville as long as they develop according to the Charter, nobody can infringe it, not even the Governing Board. The Governing Board, of course, has the power of control, supervision to see that everything runs smoothly and particularly that it is bound to promote the Ideals of Auroville. This is the fundamental duty assigned, heavy responsibility assigned to it to ensure that the aims of Charter are fully promoted and implemented. Advisory Council, − what is the most important function of the Advisory Council is to advise and to make sure that the freedom of the members of Auroville is guaranteed. This is the function of the Advisory Council. If the Governing Board takes any arbitrary action by which the freedom of Auroville is infringed, if you can prove that this action infringes the freedom of Auroville to promote the Charter of Auroville, it can be knocked down. So you can see the mutuality. The Governing Board has to salute the President's Assembly, has to give assurance to the Advisory Council that its actions are not arbitrary; the Residence Assembly has to salute the Governing Board, nothing wrong in saluting anybody. This is called mutuality. Saluting each other is a fundamental law of life. To egoism this kind of a salute is very difficult to digest; why should I salute anybody in the world? But so long as we live in that consciousness, we are not acting according to the Charter of Auroville.

Charter of Auroville says you are to be willing servitor of the Divine Consciousness and the Governing Board is a part of Divine Consciousness; Resident Assembly is a part of Divine Consciousness, International Advisory Council is a part of Divine Consciousness and more than that. Wherever you turn the Divine exists and smiles. This is the scheme of this Act, but there is a danger. I have told you right from the beginning, when I came here, that although arbitrary action can be eliminated, it may mean a struggle. Arbitrary action can be taken, nobody can stop anybody's arbitrary action in this world, anybody can act in any way he likes; afterwards consequences come later on. And therefore, I have said right from the beginning this Act has to be handled in a very delicate manner. I have said you organize Auroville internal organization in such a way, you establish harmony in such a way, you avoid quarrels in such a manner that there is no occasion for the Governing Board to act; except to help you and to be helped. And this is where we are today.

Today we urgently need to prepare a procedure, so that people of Auroville can take decisions freely, without the need of even such temporary and small intervention of the Governing Board in the future. Let such a situation not arise that the conflict in Auroville will not be of such a nature that quarrels not be of such nature because these quarrels are not part of the Auroville Charter. If quarrels exist, they exist in opposition to the Divine's Will, of this there is no doubt and let us therefore create such procedures by which we can have arrival and fulfilment of the Divine's Will.

Now many people say we are not ready for Divine's Will, we are still very ordinary. My answer is this is a very superficial understanding of Auroville. I have seen hundreds of people in Auroville totally dedicated to the Divine Consciousness. I have seen myself and I can tell you, truly. Even this morning I had a meeting with young people and they all have given me their personal statement and I’m very happy to say that all of them are very happy to be in Auroville, it's a very great thing. When the youth of a society is happy with the society, all is well. All of them have written to me that they are very happy to be in Auroville. It's a very good finding you might say and this can come about only if the inner spirit is burning. Therefore, if some people say: we are not ready for it; I’ll say: no please, you are not right. I will urge you, please, develop your procedures in such a way that you can discover the Divine's Will.

In any case Mother has laid down at the very starting point that unless you are a willing servitor of Divine Consciousness you have no right to stay in Auroville, so it is understood that I always said Auroville is an institution of advanced research. Where already people who come here have decided to discover the Divine's Will and to be a servant of the Divine's Will. It's a very high level of entry point. I also feel that if you do not feel that we are not so ready, I like it also because it's such a modesty among people that they don't want to claim that they are in such a exalted position, which is also understandable, good, to be modest is extremely good which is divine. But for the sake of development of procedures in Auroville, I would urge you to consider that this should be your starting point.

Our search must be to create such a system or lack of system, such a lack of machinery because machinery always blunts the life-force, such a procedure, which is not a procedure so that there is delicacy in the development of relationship of people, there is tact, flexibility, plasticity, swiftness and there is a possibility of variation of the system according to the situation. A machine cannot vary according to different circumstances but a machinery created by human beings dedicated to the Divine Will can create a system by which it can vary according to the needs, according circumstances, according to the people and this task is given to us as a matter of experiment.

Sri Aurobindo wrote a very important essay in the Ideal of Human Unity in which the title is Inadequacy of the State Idea. Now remember we are not to make a state when we make Residents Assembly and its functioning. The state is an inadequate idea and we should not create a state. Auroville should be a living body and this is an experiment, if this is not attempted I would say you're doing nothing. If you are going to create the kind of machinery which every parliament is doing everywhere in the world then we are not making any experiment, we are not moving forward according to what we have to create.

I’ll read out to you the sentence where Sri Aurobindo said how the state normally acts and therefore by implication how we have to avoid it. Sri Aurobindo says:

The State is bound to act crudely and in the mass; it is incapable of that free, harmonious and intelligently or instinctively varied action which is proper to organic growth. For the State is not an organism; it is a machinery, and it works like a machine, without tact, taste, delicacy or intuition. It tries to manufacture, but what humanity is here to do is to grow and create.

Sri Aurobindo, The Human Cycle: The Inadequacy of the State Idea

Therefore if we have to create in Auroville a new method of development, a new method, a process of developing, a process is always a process of discipline. And discipline always has three aspects. One is outlining the method by which the process will flow; secondly, the statement of the elements which will act and interact in this flow; and thirdly the right relationship between these elements. So we have to be very careful how we shall make this process and how the various elements in this process will be integrated, and what is the right relationship between them.

My brotherly suggestion to you is, Mother has given a number of suggestions as to how Auroville should be organized, I think we should study them all very deeply. I have one complaint against many people in Auroville: they do not study. I tell you very frankly as a brother but Mother has said very clearly Auroville is for studies, for research, for experiment and if you want to escape study then you cannot develop Auroville. We have to study quite in detail and we have to study everything that Mother has said about this and we have to strive to understand and put them together. I personally feel that if you do it even as a good experiment, I don't think that we have as I said I don't have any conclusions. I can only say that we need to study but please make this study. This is a good time now when we are trying to make it and I am so I’m happy today that there is a very nice group today. I met the Auroville Council today. I’m extremely happy that they are so dedicated to the task; I can tell you with my heart they are really keen to make a deep study of the problem and they are consulting people; already two documents are in my own hands and both of them have got their own value.

I would like to say that all people in Auroville should think about it, study. Create such a procedure in Auroville that Divine's Will is manifested. I would like to say very clearly, I do not like it when it is said that the Residents Assembly is the authority. No, authority is only one in Auroville the Divine and do not say Divine is some abstract idea somewhere else, not at all. It was said in the Supreme Court by somebody that when Mother declared that Auroville belongs to nobody in particular but to humanity as a whole; it was contended that this was only a platitude written by the Mother. It's not true, it's really meant therefore to say that how shall we make our procedure in such a way that Divine Will is manifested. But if you don't do it, we are not working for Auroville at all; there is only one authority. Mother has said in the dream, the very first line: 'There must be a place somewhere where nobody can claim authority except the Truth'. And this is where we are, we have to do it and I am happy to say all this because I know that in Auroville there are hundreds of people who are very, very keen that this ideal is realized, they feel we are here for that purpose and nothing else, we don't own anything short of it. How many people have come to me and told me this and I’m very happy to tell you. Therefore if anybody says: Oh! This is not possible. I will categorically say, it is not true.

If you really make an effort and if you don't do it, it means that if you can't do it, we have not made the effort. Actually Mother has said: 'do not attempt, succeed'. And I think we have to do it and I think we can do it. For the consideration of everybody I can only offer my own suggestions and therefore I say this is a study I’m making. I would suggest that your procedure should not end in a decision or decision making because it will be a decision made by the people who are seated not by the Divine. I would suggest that decisions should be allowed to evolve, not decision making, the procedure that you laid down should be such that decision evolves and evolves at every step by the guidance of the Divine. All mechanical processes are the process by which you can start and you can end, you can fabricate, you can manufacture but you can't create.

So this is my first suggestion. My second suggestion is that you should involve everybody and there should be a decision taken by everybody that we are a collective; so that if somebody afterwards boycotts, it is not right. You are a collectivity; you are brothers of everybody how can you boycott? We shall all move together, swim together. We are all here as a collectivity and this must be the first decision taken by the Resident Assembly. Resident Assembly is an assembly of a collectivity, of living human beings who've decided we shall all live together and swim together. If this decision is not taken in the very first meeting of the Resident Assembly then you stop. This is my advice to you.

In the very first meeting after this let us all take a decision. We are a collectivity and we shall work together. I don't want that we should quarrel but even if you quarrel, we shall quarrel together to remain together. So this is the second step. The third step I would suggest is that this Auroville Council which has been constituted according to me, very wisely, wisely because it was made by the will of the people of Auroville by suggesting one or two names whom they trusted most. So let us say according to Auroville the present members of Auroville Council they are there as trustees, not as a public trust management committee, they are trustees, they are true, they are upholders of the trust of the people of Auroville. It's a sacredness and let us all give the respect and the due consideration to the Auroville Council, I will request you all. And this is a discipline, the discipline means that is always in the whole situation an umpire, can be one umpire, two umpires, three umpires, without umpires you cannot organize anything.

I would regard Auroville Council as an umpire and I would like Auroville Council therefore and already I have seen how much time they are devoting to the work and I’m really very happy. Even yesterday evening I had a meeting with the members of the Auroville Council. I was extremely happy to meet them. They can invite all the people to participate, to be a trustee means here to be a trustee. Trustee is never an authority. Trustee is always holding a trust an axe for the welfare of everybody.

The next point that I would like to make is that whenever a proposal is to be made, let it not be only a proposal in which there is bound to be agreement or disagreement. Residents Assembly is not an instrument of agreement or disagreement. This whole concept is wrong. You invite arguments and for and against, the very starting point is not correct. Residents Assembly should meet from time to time basically to generate harmony, simply. I would even suggest in a quietude. There should be monthly, weekly, fortnightly one meeting of the Residents Assembly, invite everyone. I have never seen, even till today, all the residents of Auroville together. Please make that miracle possible, where all the residents of Auroville come together in a huge assemblage of people, where they can be very quiet and each one sincerely seeking the manifestation of Divine's Will.

I tell you the prayer is always answered there is no question about it this is based upon the yogic knowledge as Mother has said: A true prayer is answered instantaneously. Therefore, if anybody says that I did not get the divine guidance or divine answer, it means you have not asked the divine, sincerely. If you sincerely meet and talk to the Divine in your heart and if this is done weekly, monthly, a real collectivity will be gathered and will be created all dedicated to the Divine's Will. We have to be reminded every time; we are here for the Divine.

So I would like to suggest that Residents Assembly is basically a collectivity for promotion of the knowledge of the Divine's Will, nothing else. All else is secondary that will be declared to everybody this is the purpose, main aim of Residents Assembly. We are all here servitors of the Divine Consciousness. Let this sense grow, mature, become powerful, it's like an army of the Divine on the earth and this is what I would like to say this is Residents Assembly; not an assembly which meets to discuss and have debate and argue, it can be but it is temporary, it is subordinate basic is this. I would suggest that the fundamental task of the Residents Assembly should be defined very clearly.

At one time it was said that the fundamental function of the Residents Assembly is to arrive at an agreement. Even this statement is good but it is not sufficient. It is to constantly mature the sense of all of us as a collectivity devoted to the Divine's Will. Then there are four principles which Mother has given very clearly, − harmony, goodwill, discipline and truth. Particularly in Matrimandir, Mother has given specially this message and I would like that these four principles are nurtured constantly in Auroville, constantly and you must know what are the meanings of these four words. This is a matter of acceleration again and I would only suggest what I think is the meaning of these four words.

Harmony is the delight of meeting together or remaining together, if somebody wants to run away, if somebody is not prepared to shake hands, it's not harmony. The delight of being together, meeting together, − this experience of delight is according to me harmony. What is goodwill, goodwill is an intense wish that everybody in the world should attain his utmost fulfilment and that constant striving that everyone really attends to his personal fulfilment, his highest fulfilment. This is how I define goodwill, it is not good neighbourliness. It's a difficult exercise in which you should really will that everyone, every other one particularly, should attend to his highest fulfilment and that you have a will that you contribute so that the others highest fulfilment is achieved. And discipline always implies right constitutional knowledge of all the elements in a procedure. Discipline arises only out of the fact that there is always a hierarchy. People tell me in Auroville, Mother never wanted hierarchy, is not true. It is not true, Mother herself has written at length on hierarchy. It is true Mother is opposed to what is called the human way of dealing with hierarchy or creating hierarchy but as Mother said very clearly there is always a hierarchy. Hierarchy however is not arbitrary, it's not imposition of one over the other but there are leaders, who have no power, accepting the power to guide not to rule but to guide, to be helpful and therefore in discipline you must understand that everywhere in any situation as Sri Aurobindo says: "There is equality not of hierarchy but equality of usefulness." It's a very profound statement of Sri Aurobindo that there is equality even in hierarchy.There is equality but equality not of hierarchy but equality of usefulness. Everyone is useful and we must know his usefulness and his right place of usefulness. To discover the right place of usefulness for everyone, that is discipline. And fourthly − truth, which is the most difficult thing and as Mother has said truth cannot be defined but can be lived. This statement itself is difficult to understand. In my own humble way I can only say that if an individual constantly tells the Divine: Oh Lord! Make me truthful. Then this will be lived. This is my understanding of this if you tell the Divine, if you pray to the Divine: Oh Lord! Make me truthful, always make me do the right things, it will happen, it will be lived and truth will manifest but this is my understanding. I am only suggesting as I said I am only making a study. And I would say that the Residents Assembly should make it very clear its purpose is to promote harmony, goodwill, discipline, truth.

Now, as far as the procedures are concerned when a problem arises as I said do not call Residents Assembly only when a problem arises. The Residents Assembly is today morning one very nice student told me she said why do we discuss all the time difficult problems, why don't we discuss all the time some very good things happening in Auroville, why don't we say this? It's exactly like newspapers. Newspapers always bring sensational news of quarrels and conflicts but they rarely speak of things which are happening, which are marvellous in themselves. I think Residents Assembly should really be convened for this purpose but incidentally when there's a problem also. You can discuss but in that new atmosphere if Residents Assembly meets from time to time to see how harmonious activities are being done and if this is highlighted then those quarrelsome problems also will get a proper place in the totality and they will not loom large in the meetings of the Residents Assembly.

Now all the procedures which have been thought are good, all the problems should be studied. I would only suggest that they be studied fast; in this world swiftness is very important. You can organize your society in such a way that you can take decisions after a long, long time. By that time the forces have increased, bitterness has increased and the problems become incapable of solution in due course.

I would really make a suggestion. Please find the way that Mother has said: always do everything as perfectly as possible and as quickly as possible combine the two things together and you will get the optimum speed of solution of a problem. We must deliberately see that the problem is solved as soon as possible. And then I would suggest that you should always have a recourse when the problems are difficult and I think you are going to have many difficult problems about economy of Auroville, organization of Auroville, education of Auroville, entry system of Auroville, these are all difficult problems and they have to be resolved, they have to be straightened and therefore the necessity of sitting now together and seeing how we shall go about it. Conflicts can arise, there will be a lot of bickering again and I want that should not be, why should it be? You should really for any problem, I would suggest for the sake of experimentation, appoint two or three persons as umpires.

You know Mother has spoken of seven or eight people of intuitive intelligence but I am told that such people do not obtain in Auroville, which is not true but anyway there is a difficulty so I would simply say there is in Taittiriya Upanishad, a guidance. It's an old scripture in India, − Taittiriya Upanishad that when you are in doubt find out a person who is learned and who is pure. Find out, at least there'll be somebody who is learned, like Vladimir. Somebody, who is learned and pure, who is not severe and who is not cruel the second quality given; who is not severe and who is not cruel and who is a worshiper of virtue, who practices generosity, altruism, beneficence, charities, cheerfulness, sincerity, find out. I’m sure that you will certainly for every problem you find out even before the problem is beginning to be resolved you appoint right from the beginning so that everybody knows that these three persons are going to have a view which will have great weight, I don't say decisively. Don't give a decisive way to anybody but there will be some people whom you can consult so that there is no tyranny of majority or minority.

This is a big problem; all decisions taken today are either by majority or by consensus. If you do by consensus there is a tyranny of the veto of one individual, otherwise you have a majority, minority problem, the majority tyrannizes the minority that also is not right. There must be reference to people of this kind who have thought over the problems and who are really watching the progress of the development of discussions and so on. So there should be not one study group, you can have one study group plus this umpire, three or three persons already appointed and Auroville Council. As I told you I regard Auroville Council to be very important and you should insist that Auroville Council at least should have a consensus. If they are really trustees, if they are all together they should at least be able to arrive at a consensus on the problem. They should be free from this pressure of partialities and preferences − they are trustees. So consensus on the part of the members of Auroville Council this can be modified according to the circumstances. A body of three persons as umpires, a study group and discussion of the parties who are not happy and the task of Auroville Council should be to see that goodwill is spread, harmony is spread, discipline is obtained. If you find that somebody has a point of view which is in favour of indiscipline, you should be very clear, my dear brother, this is indiscipline according to our view at least. You may not accept but according to our view this is indiscipline they must declare it, if they find it to be so. If you find there is so much of egoistic affirmation you should say: this view of yours is highly egoistic. Auroville Council should constantly have this charge of saying this; it may be wrong, we may be wrong but correct us. It is by reciprocal kind of corrections. So parties concerned, a study group and umpire of three learned people and Auroville Council according to me, if you put all this together, these elements and the parties in question which are in conflict and have dialogue, real dialogue at different stages. I personally feel a solution will emerge and if everybody prays to the Divine: 'We want to follow only the Divine's decision, not our decision' and this is the task according to me of the Resident Assembly. Well! These are the thoughts which I have in my mind, which I thought I’ll share with you for whatever worth they may be. It's an exploration and if you have any questions I would like to converse with you on any questions.

Thank you