There should be somewhere on earth
a place which no nation could claim as its own, where all human beings of
goodwill who have a sincere aspiration could live freely as citizens of the
world and obey one single authority, that of the supreme truth; a place of
peace, concord and harmony where all the fighting instincts of man would be
used exclusively to conquer the causes of his sufferings and miseries, to
surmount his weaknesses and ignorance, to triumph over his limitations and incapacities;
a place where the needs of the spirit and the concern for progress would take
precedence over the satisfaction of desires and passions, the search for
pleasure and material enjoyment. In this place, children would be able to grow
and develop integrally without losing contact with their souls; education would
be given not for passing examinations or obtaining certificates and posts but
to enrich existing faculties and bring forth new ones. In this place, titles
and positions would be replaced by opportunities to serve and organise; the
bodily needs of each one would be equally provided for, and intellectual, moral
and spiritual superiority would be expressed in the general organisation not by
an increase in the pleasures and powers of life but by increased duties and
responsibilities. Beauty in all its artistic forms, painting, sculpture, music,
literature, would be equally accessible to all; the ability to share in the joy
it brings would be limited only by the capacities of each one and not by social
or financial position. For in this ideal place money would no longer be the
sovereign lord; individual worth would have a far greater importance than that
of material wealth and social standing. There, work would not be a way to earn
one’s living but a way to express oneself and to develop one’s capacities and
possibilities while being of service to the community as a whole, which, for
its own part, would provide for each individual’s subsistence and sphere of
action. In short, it would be a place where human relationships, which are
normally based almost exclusively on competition and strife, would be replaced
by relationships of emulation in doing well, of collaboration and real
brotherhood.
The earth is certainly not ready
to realise such an ideal, for mankind does not yet possess sufficient knowledge
to understand and adopt it nor the conscious force that is indispensable in order
to execute it; that is why I call it a dream.
And yet this dream is in the
course of becoming a reality; that is what we are striving for in Sri
Aurobindo’s Ashram, on a very small scale, in proportion to our limited means.
The realisation is certainly far from perfect, but it is progressive; little by
little we are advancing towards our goal which we hope we may one day be able
to present to the world as a practical and effective way to emerge from the
present chaos, to be born into a new life that is more harmonious and true.
- The Mother in 'Bulletin', August 1954.
- The Mother in 'Bulletin', August 1954.
(The Mother, ‘CWM’,
Vol. 12, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Pondicherry)
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