So today is my birthday, which means I was able to visit Sri Aurobindo's room at the ashram in Pondy. I had mixed feelings. Part of me is still getting over the usual reservations I have toward this kind of idolization of a person. At the same time, I have really come to accept that this reservation is a consequence of my own inherited tradition as well as my personal experiences, including a sort of nihilistic phase where any idolization seemed erroneous. I think I have settled somewhere in between these two extremes; I am all for showing respect for enlightened people if they have a meaningful effect on me, but beyond that, I am most concerned with doing my own thing. There is a big difference between respect and worship, and I think I am most comfortable with the former.
Back to the ashram visit...there was a group of about 12 people to see the room today, most of which were permitted because of a birthday. We were escorted upstairs and into Aurobindo's room. We sat in his bedroom for about 10 minutes for a meditation, and then we were each given a blessing packet, a birthday card, and a bunch of flowers (pictured below). When the Mother was still alive, she saw people on their birthdays, giving them the same things. A blessing packet, also pictured below, is a small envolope of dried flowers, although I am not sure what kind. The birthday card includes two quotes from the Mother:
"Let your highest aspiration organise your life."
"From the viewpoint of the inner nature, the individual is more receptive on his birthday from year to year, and thus it is an opportune moment to help him to make some progress each year."
When I came back to AV, I went for some idly and coconut chutney, a morning favorite (steamed rice patties and a coconut sauce). I bumped into a friend of my housemate. After hearing I had visited the Ashram, he gave me a smile and asked if I "believed in all of that." I wasn't exactly sure what he meant, but I think something to the point of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother being enlightened beings, and perhaps also saviors of some sort. I smiled and said that it fascinates me, and that I was mostly comfortable with showing respect for (positively) powerful peoople, and that was it. Enlightened beings have often been revered as saviors, whether it was intentional to be this way or not is beyond me, but scriptures indicate this relationship for both Jesus in the gospels and Krsna in the Bhagavad Gita. But there typically seems to be two paths that are metioned, one for those who "know," and one for those who simply want to empty themselves at the feet of the savior.
A brief note on my research: I think I am finally comfortable enough within the community to try to focus on my main question, which is regarding the reltionship between the pioneers of the early days of Auroville and their children. I guess you could say that I am hoping to give shape to a dialogue between these two generations. I met with an Aurovilian that has recently completed a Socio-Economic study on the youth in Auroville last week, and even though his research is not useful for my research, our conversation was. He suggested actually creating a workshop in AV, inviting people from these generations and having something like a roundtable discussion. I would faciliate with questions, games, etc. I haven't had time to properly think through the ways that I can approach it, but I am pretty excited by the idea. Now I just need to learn to be more assertive and make clear the fact that I can't volunteer my life away here, and then I should have time to start focusing on the questions I came here to ask...