journal d'une transition

1093

Yet the embarrassment will not be relieved until our present search for a more perfect solution is vindicated by a superior realisation, visible to all. We are also concerned with finding alternative uses for the finished FRP panels. Therefore only when we shall be certain of all the parameters of the project of fused glass panels, shall we inform about it and seek the necessary financial support. (Later note: that method of fused glass also proved unreliable, eventually, and had to be abandoned; this was followed by several other attempts, as Roger A adamantly refused to even consider any simplification of his design. As of now, in 2005, a new synthetic textile of a neutral translucent quality is being fitted on rigid frames and the colouring is to be provided by filters placed on the inside of the clear glass portholes.) To conclude, we now invite unspecified contributions towards sustaining the pace of the work and ensuring the monthly budget, while any additional amounts will be used in priority for the following works: . The erection of the permanent Reception-cum-Guard Pavilion at the west, main entrance to the Inner Gardens; . The landscaping and infrastructure of the whole of the outer Gardens or Park; . The procurement of all the granite slabs and rocks and other stones required for all of the Gardens. As you see, this summary is also a call for funds, and it is bound to be so, for the realisation of the Matrimandir in its entirety and integrality is also the expression of the conscious conversion and orientation of all the necessary energies, among which the financial power is large and most determining to the establishing of a material base for the transformation of our human nature and condition.

And we here must pray not to be obstacles on the way!”

***

Note: Auroville has been in brewing turmoil much, if not most of the time; and perhaps this is as it should be: a living laboratory cannot be expected to provide the amenities of a peaceful meditative retreat, and there are necessarily many failures and “mistakes” in any laboratory that seeks a new formula. And so there have always been in Auroville, besides its own peculiar and particular issues, the issues that confront any contemporary society, although filtered and apprehended in relation to Auroville’s professed aims and ideals. In 1997, it was still possible to debate openly on any of those issues, as the winds and incidental movements of the collective brought them into sharper focus, or specific circumstances lent them more urgency. The issue of drugs was such an issue. Some time during that year, I wrote this paper, the draft of which I had kept, undated.

*On drugs.

“As with most issues that come up in Auroville, so it has been for me with the issue of ‘drugs’: through some deep, quiet thinking, one refers to a flow of clear