Spiritual Day

One of the obvious themes in India is spirituality. Here in Auroville is a large strucutre called the Matrimandir.

This structure has at the very top a glass panel that shines light into a Zeiss globe which then reflacts the light straight down through the structure to a similar but smaller globe at the bottom. In the room where the large globe sits is a meditation chamber which has white marble pillars. The room is a wonderful place to meditate. It is very quiet and peaceful.

The rules to get into the room are a pain but April and I went through the steps last time were here. So I got to meditate there for about 45 minutes. After that I went to the globe under the structure where there is also water flowing over tiles shaped as flower petals. This is also a wonderful place to meditate.

The grounds around the strucutre are peaceful (albeit currently undergoing some construction). There is a large Banyon tree under which you can meditate. I managed to spend about 2 hours here. April and I will be going back on Saturday.

There is apparently a history to the tree:

"The Banyan tree to the side of the Matri Mandir was to be cut down during its construction. It is said that the soul of the tree protested to The Mother in a dream and the location of the temple was shifted." The Mother is a French lady who, along with Sri Aurobindo is the founder of Auroville. Such stories abound here. She is a revered legend with pictures of the two of them all over the place.

This place is the spiritual centre of Auroville. It was specifically part of the original thinking about this place but it would take almost 40 years before it would be built. It is meant to be the soul of the city.

Later in the day, April and I went to 90 minutes of spiritual chanting. This is the second time that we have gone there. It is pretty good although tonight was a bit chaotic as a father brought his Autistic son. I have seen him around several times. I am impressed with how calm and patient this father is with this boy. Thus, he was not a dramatic interruption save a couple of moments.

One thing about being in a single area is that you start to recognize people.and begin to feel a part of the community as you begin the hellos and recognition in various places. I am in the process of trying to understand how social work is done here. More on that to come.