On a Would-Be Message from Mother to UNESCO

On a would-be message from Mother to UNESCO By Gilles G. Auroville, August 2014 On 8th March 1966, Roger (who was visiting Pondicherry) presented to Mother his first two town concepts for Auroville, a rectangular concept and the “Nebula” concept/model which was based both on the sketch she had made in front of Satprem on 23.6.65 and on her symbol. Mother rejected the rectangular proposal and opted for the “Nebula” which she liked very much. She asked for these plans and models to be exhibited at the Ashram so that people can see them. It was then decided to publish a first brochure on Auroville (which depicts the “Nebula” concept/model) and to send it to all delegations to UNESCO in Paris, prior to the tabling of a resolution in support of Auroville during their General Conference in October-November 1966. This is one of the pages of the English version of this brochure, published in 1966:

Note that quotes by Sri Aurobindo or Mother are mentioned as such in other pages of this brochure and that no part of this page is said to have been Mother’s words. * * * Page 148 of the book “A Glimpse of the Mother’s Love and Action”, published by the SAS in 1997, Vijay Poddar wrote: “A special brochure, the first one on Auroville was printed for sending to UNESCO. The Mother wrote a paragraph for it which brought out in a nutshell the role of the Mother and her purpose in creating the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and Auroville.” “The task of giving a concrete form to Sri Aurobindo’s vision was entrusted to the Mother. The creation of a new world, a new humanity, a new society expressing and embodying the new consciousness is the work she has undertaken. By the very nature of things, it is a collective ideal that calls for a collective effort so that it may be realised in the terms of an integral human perfection. The Ashram founded and built by the Mother was the first step towards the accomplishment of this goal. The project of Auroville is the next step, more exterior, which seeks to widen the base of this attempt to establish harmony between soul and body, spirit and nature, heaven and earth, in the collective life of mankind.” * * *

1 Page 138-39 of the Volume 12 (1971) of Mother’s Agenda, one reads: (Sometime in August the message that follows was circulated in the Ashram and Auroville, and published in an Ashram periodical. It is interesting to note that the text is an alteration of a much older original text that Mother had given to Satprem. The original text is included afterwards.) “The task of giving a concrete shape to Sri Aurobindo’s vision has been entrusted to the Mother. The creation of a new world, a new humanity, a new society, expressing and embodying the new consciousness, is the work undertaken by her. In the nature of things, it is a collective ideal calling for a collective effort to realize it in terms of an integral human perfection. The Ashram, founded and built up by the Mother, has been the first step towards the fulfilment of this goal. The project of Auroville is the next step, “more exterior,” seeking to widen the base of this endeavour to establish harmony between soul and body, spirit and nature, heaven and earth in the collective life of humanity.” * (original manuscript) First version: “The task of giving a concrete form to Sri Aurobindo’s vision has been given to the Mother.” Second version: “The task of completing Sri Aurobindo’s vision has been given to the Mother. The creation of a new world, a new humanity, a new society expressing and embodying the new consciousness is the work she has undertaken. By the very nature of things, it is an ideal because the state of Nature that makes it necessary must be surpassed. We aspire for the time when Sri Aurobindo will no longer have to die.” * * * Page 204 of Volume XIII of the Collected Works of the Mother, one finds the same text, but it is divided in two paragraphs (the second one starting with “The Ashram”), it is dated 1969, it is found under the title: “Written for a UNESCO Committee” and a footnote states: “When Mother reread this text in 1972, she added the words “more exterior” in the last sentence.” Page 19 of “ The Mother on Auroville ”, one finds the same text, divided in the same two paragraphs, dated also 1969, with the words “more exterior” but without the footnote which says they were added at a later stage. * * * Conclusions:  The text given as a “Message [from Mother] for a UNESCO Committee in 1969” is not a “message” because it was not presented as such. It was part of the text of a brochure sent to all UNESCO Delegations in 1966.  The text “The Teaching” published in this first brochure on Auroville actually consists of three parts which do not seem to have been written in one go. 1. The first part (“Like his personality … aim of Sri Aurobindo’s yoga”) seems to have been written by some disciple(s) in 1966, or earlier. 2. The second part (“The task of giving … integral human perfection.”) seems to have been written prior to 1966 by Mother but “altered” (to use Satprem’s word) in 1966 either by Mother or by some disciple(s), with her permission – as was at times the case. 3. The third part: “The Ashram, … collective life of humanity” seems to have been written in 1966 for this brochure. We do not know whether it was written by Mother or by some disciple(s) as was at times the case. It is probably Mother who added the words “more exterior” latest in August 1971 and not in 1972. * * * 2 Pages 215-216 du 12 eme Volume de « l’Agenda de Mère », on lit : (Aux environs du mois d’Aout, le message qui suit a circulé dans l’Ashram et dans Auroville. Il est intéressant de noter que ce texte est le remaniement d’un manuscrit beaucoup plus ancien que Mère nous avait donné. Nous publions à la suite le texte original.) « La tâche de donner une forme concrète à la vision de Sri Aurobindo a été confiée à la Mère. La création d’un monde nouveau, d’une humanité nouvelle, d’une société nouvelle exprimant et incorporant la conscience nouvelle est l’œuvre qu’elle a entreprise. De par la nature même des choses, c’est un idéal collectif, réclamant un effort collectif pour se réaliser dans les termes d’une perfection humaine intégrale. » « L’Ashram, fondé et construit par la Mère, a été le premier pas vers l’accomplissement de ce but. Le projet d’Auroville est le pas suivant, plus extérieur, cherchant à élargir la base de cet essai d’établir l’harmonie entre l’âme et le corps, l’esprit et la nature, les cieux et la terre, dans la vie collective de l’humanité. » * (manuscrit original) 1re version : « La tâche de donner une forme concrète à la vision de Sri Aurobindo a été donnée à la Mère. » 2e version : « La tâche de compléter la vision de Sri Aurobindo a été donnée à la Mère. La création d’un monde nouveau, d’une humanité nouvelle, d’une société nouvelle exprimant et incorporant la conscience nouvelle est le travail qu’elle a entrepris. De par la nature même des choses, c’est un idéal parce que l’état de la Nature qui rend cela nécessaire doit être surpassé. Nous aspirons au temps of il ne sera plus nécessaire que Sri Aurobindo meure. » * Page 15 of “Mère parle d’Auroville” has the same text in the original French. * * *