Auroville experiential camp draws youth from across India

The Auroville Youth Camp 2.0, which is under way, has attracted about 80 participants from various States across India.

Participants of the seven-day immersive Auroville experience of conscious living and human unity, come with diverse backgrounds, ranging from computer science to law, a press note said.

During the camp, Jayanti S. Ravi, Secretary of the Auroville Foundation and Additional Chief Secretary of Gujarat, addressed the youth in virtual mode on how the experiment in human unity bridged the ancient with the modern.

Drawing from the works of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, Ms. Ravi described Auroville as not merely a township, but as a “gnostic community”— a living laboratory designed to solve the crises of human nature through practising the “All Life is Yoga” concept, the press note said.

Referring to the French Revolution’s rallying cry of “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity”, she pointed out that while the modern-day world tried out market forces-led paradigms and social mandates, what would truly hold a universal society together are the principles of oneness enshrined in the dharmic core of Indian civilisation.

She also highlighted the role of Auroville’s over 600 activity units in nurturing a “conscious economy,” where work is offered as a service rather than just a means of survival.

Responding to a question from a participant relating to Artificial Intelligence and human consciousness, Ms. Ravi, who described consciousness as the “substratum of supreme intelligence”, stated that while AI can mimic tasks, only human consciousness allows one to be a “witness” to their own life.

She exhorted the youth to serve as a bridge with larger society by initiating Auroville information centres. “Immerse yourselves in this experiment and take the spirit of Auroville back to the world,” she told the participants.

The camp, which concludes on January 25, includes deep-dive workshops on the philosophy of “Faith, Sincerity, and Surrender”, exploration of the Matrimandir and its twelve gardens of consciousness and collaborative sessions with resident Aurovilians to learn how to integrate conscious principles into modern professional careers, the press note said.