Waylaid in the Woods

My plans (if you could call the thin
framework that I started this journey with) have changed. I had heard about
Auroville from my guidebook and perhaps passing conversation. It was linked with
the word ashram (and the monastic religious connotation often left me
disinterested). However, when I arrived in a small town called Pondicherry and
talked with my couchsurfing host about it, I found that it was more a community
gathered around the objective of human unity and sustainability. As it is the largest
and only internationally recognized experiment of this, I thought it would be a
shame to pass up the opportunity to see what it was like.

I’ve had conversations on Hindu and how
the soul (atma) cannot be created or destroyed with a man name “Number 7”. I’ve
learned the basics on how to play the didgeridoo (including how to make sounds
like a dingo, bird, and kangaroo). I’ve sat through (uncomfortably) chanting /
music sessions where each song would be followed by meditative silence. I’ve learned about different activities that they
are working on in becoming more sustainability (however, the structure of
Auroville that they will never reach a high-level of sustainability). I’ve sat on hammocks reading books. I’ve learned
some more Tamil. I’ve sat around a campfire and listened to old Hebrew songs being
played by a man that looks as close to Jesus as I could imagine. I’ve been lost
biking through the forests of Auroville late at night.

Next stop … I’ll be staying in Sadhana
Forest (www.sadhanaforest.org) in
Auroville for two weeks to do some reforestation, live Vegan, and experience a
large intentional community.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intentional_community