As I've written before, there is no dialogue possible between people who live in different realities. The Aurovillage cult claims that there is only one reality, which is the reality of the cult narrative. So anyone who sees more than just that reality falls outside of the Aurovillage reality. How could any meaningful discussion be possible in such a setting? As an example of how that cult "reality" is really delusional, we can take the meeting that was called by the Secretary on December 31st. If we try to look at that meeting from a neutral, simple perspective, just recording facts, some things can really shed light on this issue. At one point, a woman asks about whether or not the Secretary is considering to cancel visas of the Aurovilians opposing the city development. She demands to get a simple yes or no answer. At first glance, it will be very hard to miss how rude and derogatory this person is while she addresses the Secretary. Let's be honest: in any situation in the world, but certainly in a place that claims to be an experiment in living together through a higher and more spiritual consciousness, it is a quite remarkable way to behave. In stark contrast to the way in which the Secretary herself behaves. Remember, the Secretary has been repeatedly treated in this very degrading and insulting way in earlier meetings. Still she remains totally composed, kind and understanding. Looking at that scene, how would anyone with no knowledge of Auroville consider the demand of the woman to know if visas are under threat? Let's put this in the normal world we live in: here are foreigners blocking government works and telling the government in an arrogant, scathing manner that the government will not be allowed to interfere with what the foreigners are doing. What are the chances, anywhere in the Western world, of these foreigners to get their visas revoked? It will not be very hard to see that any Western country would not think twice, right? Add to that the knowledge that the project the foreigners claim ownership of in actual fact belongs to the government, because the foreigners wanted it like that 45 years ago. Add to it the fact that the country in question suffered long and hard under Western colonisation and that almost all foreigners are Westerners. What would be the normal reaction anywhere in the Western world? So why do Aurovillagers feel entitled to behave like this AND keep their visa privileges? In what state of mind do you have to be to think that this is somehow permissible behaviour? Even worse: many Aurovillagers find that the woman was very heroic and commendable. They claim she spoke truth to power. But is that really what she did? Is it not more true that she spoke entitlement to kindness, arrogant dismissal to rightful action? The liberties and freedoms that Aurovilians have enjoyed here over the past three-four decades are literally unheard of. Only India would accept a project in which a bunch of foreigners are allowed to have self-governance with almost no accountability. It is literally unthinkable and ludicrous to imagine that situation in a Western country. The mere consideration would be ridiculed. Given that immense boon, some accountability is to be expected. The longer it is not asked, the more you can count on it happening soon. Anybody with the least bit of rationality will see that sooner or later, SOME accountability will be due. So it's best to be prepared and make sure we can answer when the question comes. Now in Auroville, over the past years, in a very gentle way, little by little, the government started to ask for accountability. It happened very softly, one small thing at a time. But Aurovillage, where from the start administration and accountability was arrogantly pushed away as something for lesser beings, was not prepared at all. To add insult to injury, every issue of accountability was considered a nuisance and a disturbance: it was met with hostility. There may have been some nice excuses in meetings with government officials, but inside Aurovillage, the narrative that all of that stuff belongs to the past and has nothing to do with our highly spiritual experiment here, was reinforced again and again. It emboldened the Aurovillagers to simply dismiss it all as temporary unimportant nonsense that will go away by itself. It's not difficult to see how over time, the Aurovillagers cut themselves off of reality, living in their self-made delusion bubble, in which the government has no real power. After all, they have been allowed to create that bubble over decades. And remember, we are dealing with a SPIRITUAL cult, where higher, unseen powers are the real thing and worldly power is discarded as unimportant. True as that may be, that narrative is not at all LIVED, as the question about the visas in itself reveals: any person who truly believes that worldly power is nothing compared to spiritual power, will not be anxious about worldly things like visas but put their life in the hands of the Divine. Is it then plain to see how the Aurovillagers live in a reality where simply laying claim to spirituality is equated with actually living spirituality? A reality in which nothing has to be proven materially, but where what we say, IS? A reality in which they are totally entitled to be rude to government officials, and to turn the tables on them? Instead of feeling that we need to justify our total lack of accountability, it's the Government of India who needs to justify what they think they are doing to Aurovillage and the poor Aurovillagers! Is it clear that these are two irreconcilable realities? You have to choose in which one you want to live. The problem is, one of them is real, and the other is a bubble within that real one (which may itself be a bubble in a larger reality, but that's for another blog post). Over the past month, Aurovillagers have been assuring each other that this is just another Secretary, just another Governing Board. Secretaries come and go. Several past Secretaries have tried to force Aurovillage to become Auroville. They were all dealt with and sent packing. This one will be no different. Nothing to worry about, the cult will deal with it all. It will soon be over. I'm not making that up. This is what is being said here. Now you tell me how realistic you think that is. Which reality do you want to live in? Are we opening our eyes yet? Or is the cult dream too cosy?
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