'Auroville can help steer India's march'

PUDUCHERRY: Stating that India is poised to lead the world in providing lasting solutions to global challenges, President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday said the community in Auroville, an international township, can make a contribution in this endeavour.
Inaugurating a conference on 'Aspiring for super minds in the city of evolving consciousness' at Auroville on Tuesday, Murmu said the good work undertaken by residents of Auroville attains greater significance in the context of India's onward march.
The President said she found that Auroville is a unique experiment promoting human unity and spiritual evolution. "Two great souls (Sri Aurobindo and his spiritual collaborator Mirra Alfassa) had conceptualized and set up this universal township where souls meet, minds attain freedom and the supreme consciousness can be experienced," she said.
Today's world needs to understand the concepts of unity, peace, and harmony, the President said. She said Sri Aurobindo gave the philosophy that supra-mental consciousness has the power to make the material world divine. "Divinity has a different meaning and definition for each one of us.
"But one thing is common. The one that is divine has to be above the material and beyond the tangible. Divine mind is a pure mind. It is above the self. It thinks about the progress, unity, and development of all," she said.The President said she considered herself part of the larger community of people who have benefitted from the vision of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. "I had the privilege of serving as an honorary teacher at Sri Aurobindo Integral Education Centre, Rairangpur, for about three years during the 1990s. I must acknowledge that I learnt more than I taught. I remain indebted for that spiritually enriching experience at the education centre," she said.