Between a Sangha and Utopia

Buddha Poornima is a special day for me. On this day I spend most of the day in meditation or special reading and expressing gratitude towards the sangha that we belong to. One of my constant efforts has been to read the precepts that I received from Thay Thich Nhat Hanh in a beautiful ceremony in 1997. I have had the good fortune of being in several sanghas during the three decades.  Today I missed being in one sangha and that's what I am writing about here. 

Between  a Sangha and Utopia 

Between 2015 and 2019 until the pandemic brought us to a abrupt stop, as the co-founder and Director of Sustainable Livelihood Institute (SLI), Auroville, every Buddha Poornima we had a community dinner when we invited all the Auroville members that were associated with us. It was our thanksgiving to the sangha that we were part of, a symbol of gratitude for the amazing convergence of higher human aspiration that transcended cultural, linguistic and racial boundaries. An convergence that had happened due to the spiritual call by Mother Mirra, an amazing spiritually force whose attraction can still be felt despite her physical absence for over half a century. 

The objective of the dinner was for us to share higher values, ethos and also share the work on rural livelihoods in that light. We had many Auroville community members appreciating and participating with an understanding of the sensitive nature of such a diverse sangha. Not everyone in Auroville was interested in rural livelihoods or learning about its challenges or ethos that guided such efforts, but, enough of them were fascinated about having an informal gathering over a meal. I am thankful to them. My own spiritual training always helped me to be thankful in being offered an opportunity to serve such a community. 

A sangha is a collection of diversity and no one is trying to be anything other than themselves, A spiritual sangha would demand that they become themselves in their very best and highest form, the sangha is a space to facilitate such a becoming. Everyone is patient to accommodate even the slowest one to achieve a realized presence. It could be annoyingly slow for the ambitious, one of the reasons that several sanghas old and new have a higher attrition rate. Sometimes it works to an advantage, Swami Chinmayananda famously quit the Ramakrishna order to start his own order and today the Mission with his name is a major institution of advaita. A sangha is not an ideal space, it is not perfect, it cannot be. It is as real as the struggles of the people within the same, the only bonding is the understanding that we are together in this. I know this concept can only emerge in India as well, it is difficult for other societies to nurture such an humbling vision. 

Some people look at Auroville as an utopia, a place of imagined perfection. As imagination is different for different people, obviously there will be differences. In a sangha, there are processes to resolve the differences and everyone is bound by them. In an aspirational utopia, where everyone works towards their imagination, the speed to achieve the imagination can easily become a race. Most spiritual sanghas have a clear spiritual direction on its material wealth, its acquisition, management and limits. This has been a challenge for the Auroville community from the beginning.  

Auroville today is an emotional shamble, as the conflict between those who urgently want to achieve the utopian dream they carried (or they think they imbibed from the Mother) are in conflict with the imperfect but nurturing sangha. Speed of an ideal utopia, translated into bureaucratic contracts is overpowering and intimidating the nurturing sangha. The utopian township is being urgently manifested over muted articulation of nurturing vision, silenced diversity of knowledge, and, selective intimidation of the past imperfections.  

This morning as I read the precepts, I was reminded of this gathering of the Auroville sangha. 

My gratitude to all those who have nurtured the small idea of rural livelihoods that could blossom into the activities of SLI. An initiative through which we impacted lives of nearly 10,000 rural community members and associated government officials through capacity building, mentoring, and facilitating.  I do wish the conflict is resolved soon, that the sangha spirit prevails and regains strength to address its weaknesses and limitations. 

Sending this sangha my prayers today. 

pic: 

1. The precepts document issued to e with the title Harmony of the Heart by Thay Thich Nhat Hanh
2. A gathering outside the SLI office at the end of the Buddha Poornima dinner