AUROVILLE INFORMATION OFFICE
The Auroville Information Office
offers pamphlets, books. CDs and videos via mail order.
Auroville handicrafts are available through a retail shop,
"Pondicherry", located at 12 Tinker St. in Woodstock, NY. If
you come to New York, please look us up. We're happy to give
talks or show videos to interested groups. AVINY@aviusa.org
Click a link to find out more:
* Specialty Items
* Calendar
* Books
* AV Today Subscription
* Videos
* Music
* Special Projects
* Ordering Info
SPECIALTY ITEMS
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Auroville Interactive CD ROM for Windows Published in 1998, Cynergy Software Price: $19.95 This is an encyclopedia on Auroville and the Integral Yoga. Ask your library or university to order a copy. Includes: illustrated biographical sketches of Sri Aurobindo and Mother and a searchable database of articles on every aspect of Auroville. 14 Video clips - 1400 Images - 24 slide shows - 75 music files - 7 panoramas. This is a multi-media treasure trove that anyone with access to a Windows computer with CD or Macintosh with Windows emulator should investigate. |
2007 DESK CALENDARS
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Matrimandir, the story of the twelve petals 7 1/2 x 8 inches $12 postpaid The Matrimandir Calendar 2007 will be a desk calendar (table-top) with the sizes 19.5 cm x 20 cm. It has the same format as the Matrimandir Calendar 2005. It features 12 photos of the Matrimandir, like the inside of the meditation rooms 'Courage' and 'Peace', the lotus pond at the bottom of Matrimandir, the inner chamber with the crystal and 12 columns, the path ways, the heliostat on top of the Matrimandir, amphitheatre with urn, and more. The main photo is on the reverse side of each calendar page. A smaller photo is on the calendar page. Quotations from Sri Aurobindo's ' Savitri ' and an explanation of the photo are provided for each photo. |
BOOKS
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ANOTHER JOURNEY Poems by Meenakshi, drawings by Vahula edited by Marti 68 pages Price: $4.95 One of Auroville's many treasures is the Tamil poetess, Meenakshi. She has written a lovely series of poems, printed in both Tamil and English. They are complimented by lovely pen drawings. Many are short, like haiku; all are full of delightful imagery and take you on a quick trip to South India. |
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AUROVILLE Experience 282 pp. 8.5 x 11 inches Contains color photos, maps, illustrations Price: $24.95 Culled from the monthly paper "Auroville Today",these fifteen chapters provide the most comprehensive retrospective of Auroville's history available. From the foundation in 1968 to the visit of President Abdul Kalam, the articles and outstanding photos bring Auroville's many facets alive. Highly recommended. |
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AUROVILLE: A DREAM TAKES SHAPE Price: $3.00 A comprehensive booklet on Auroville with maps, photographs and information on Sri Aurobindo, The Mother and the Ashram. |
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THE CITY AND THE OASYS (IMMORTAL UNDERGROUND) by Vijay 233 pp. Fiction Price: $9.00 A funny, sly tale of the adventures and misadventures of Phaldor, a man in search of immortality. He travels to a city called Poplar and is guided by the "Eternal Anima". There is also romance, political intrigue galore, inhabitants who speak "Unillingo". The journey is all, convoluted and confounding as it often is. You will laugh a lot, and if you have your wits about you, you may receive something to think about as well. The prose style is dizzying compounded by endless spelling, grammar and punctuation "errors", many of which annoy, some of which entrance, adding another spin to this whirling traveler. |
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THE DALAI LAMA IN AUROVILLE 46 pp. with photos Price: $2.50 Includes coverage of H.H. visit December 24th, 1993: interview with Auroville Today, questions and answer session with school teachers and an address to the community, along with background information on the Pavilion of Tibetan Culture. |
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THE DAWNING OF AUROVILLE by William Sullivan (Auroville, 1994) 333 pp. paperback Price: $14.95 The charm and substance of the book lie in that there is more editorship than original writing. Spanning the vision of Sri Aurobindo and Mother and the early pioneers of Auroville to the return visit of H.H. the Dalai Lama in 1993, this collection captures the diversity of the voices and experiences which comprise Auroville. Supporting the text are more than 60 photographs. Anyone who wants the "big picture" of Auroville or vignettes of daily life will be pleased with this compilation. |
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THE RELIGIOUS, THE SPIRITUAL, AND THE SECULAR : Auroville and Secular India by Robert N. Minor 224 pp. Illustrated paperback with 6 photos, 1 map Price: $19.95 Prof. Minor, who spoke at AUM '89, has had a long time interest in Sri Aurobindo's philosophy. In this book he studies Auroville, in particular its struggle for self-determination which led to a disassociation with the Sri Aurobindo Society and a case which reached the Supreme Court of India. He raises one of the critical question at the end of the millennium, the relationship between government and religion. He deals with the "Big Picture" concerning UNESCO , Indian politics and the Supreme Court's opinions. His conclusions reflect the ambiguity and difficulty of sorting "spirituality" and "universality" from "religion". Dr. Minor is Professor of Religious Studies at U. of Kansas and author of Modern Indian Interpreters of the Bhagavad-Gita and Radhakrishnan: A Religious Biography, published by SUNY Press, and Sri Aurobindo: The Perfect and the Good. |
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SAVITRI BHAVAN Price: Free Among the most inspired projects in Auroville (and there are many) is this project envisioned as a place for research and art related to Sri Aurobindo's epic poem, Savitri. A small booklet with basic information is available free of charge. |
Additional Books & Tapes
NEWSPAPERS & PERIODICALS
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AUROVILLE TODAY SUBSCRIPTION Price: $42.00 per year, $3.00 for a sample A monthly periodical, large format, photos. To follow the evolution of Auroville, with its high ideals, challenging climate and international population, a monthly publication can barely keep up. With the combination of thematically related feature articles and smaller updates on community activities and excellent photos, you are able to glimpse the many faces of Auroville. Whether your interest is Ecology, Community or the wish to live vicariously in Auroville, this is the next best thing to being there. Get your library or university to subscribe. Gift a friend. Subscriptions are sent Air mail. |
VIDEOS
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AUROVILLE: A CITY IN SEARCH 14 minutes Price: $14.95 A short synopsis of Auroville, originally prepared by Alan for the Intentional Communities conference at Findhorn. Haunting music by Philip Glass and Ravi Shankar provides an unusual background to the collection of Auroville images. |
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AGNI JATA: FIRE BORN 27 minutes Price: $39.00 A wonderful documentary of the creation of a brick home where the entire building is "fired", becoming a giant oven to make more bricks and earthenware. Narrated by Patricia with the architect and ceramist Ray Meeker, who was inspired by the work of Nader Khalili. |
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A CALL TO ACQUIRE THE LANDS FOR AUROVILLE 15 minutes Price: $14.95 Auroville is a patchwork of village, government and private lands. In order to plan or build Auroville at all, the missing parcels must be purchased. This video collage reviews the dream and realities facing Auroville as it approaches the millennium. |
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MATRIMANDIR: HOUSE OF THE NEW CREATION 30 minutes Price: $24.00 A unique art video melding numerous slides portraying 20 years of the construction of Matrimandir, the spherical center of concentration at the heart of Auroville. Many excellent photos, some highly abstract, combine with music specially composed for this video, along with narration by longtime Matrimandir worker, Seyril. |
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TWO DREAMS, ONE WORLD: THE DALAI LAMA IN
AUROVILLE 21 minutes Price: $19.95 His Holiness the Dalai Lama first visited Auroville and met the Mother in 1973. This video documents his return to Auroville in 1993 to lay the foundation stone of the Pavilion of Tibet. It gives a very good introduction to the various aspects of Auroville, its longstanding relationship with Tibetan culture, as well as the dream of a future Tibet which would be an ecological and spiritual sanctuary. |
MUSIC
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BEYOND ASLEEP AND AWAKE (CHILDREN'S OPERA) by Holger 2 CD Set Price: $25.00 So many wonderful things come from Auroville over the years, but this is really special. Holger created a magical blend of characters in a fanciful setting of children from cultures who are thrown together and face difficult circumstances discovering each other and confronting evil. Backed up by the Children's Choir, the tunes and themes are memorable. Two CDs and an illustrated booklet with color illustrations and story. |
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STRAIGHT TO YOUR HEART CD by Nadaka with Ganesh - violin, Vikku Vinayakram (Shakti) - ghatam, Selvaganesh - kanjira Price: $16.00 Nadaka has combined the sacred sense of South Indian classical music and its rhythmic forms into a wonderful synthesis reminiscent of the popular fusion group, Shakti. Highly recommended. Nadaka comes very close to the sound of a veena while conserving the technique of the guitar. But the quality of this album is not limited to the discovery of this new instrument. The music by Nadaka and Ganesh (violin) plays joyfully on contrasts and subtleties. Moments of calm are followed by complex rhythmic patterns skilfully played by the two percussionists Vikku (ghatam) and Selvaganesh (kanjira). It's all 100% acoustic. You feel the strings rubbing and the skins vibrating! A very beautiful album. |
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LOTUS TRILOGY: The Lotus of the Quiet Mind CD by Nadaka Price: $16.00 each ($42.00 full set) with Debi Gosh on the sarod and Bryce Grinlington on the flute "In the stirrings of nature and holy chants alike the
silent deeper mind can hear the essence of sound itself.
India's ancient seers knew it as the infinite sound of
OM.
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LOTUS TRILOGY: The Lotus of the Silent Deep CD by Nadaka Price: $16.00 each ($42.00 full set) with The Tibetan Choir of the Ganden Shartse Monastery and Vikku Vinayakram on the ghatam "A journey unfolding from the deep realm where primordial sound uncoils, transporting one through brute worlds and radiances of wisdom." |
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LOTUS TRILOGY: Lotus of the Open Heart CD by Nadaka Price: $16.00 each ($42.00 full set) with Ganesh & Kumaresh on the violin, Vidya Krishna & Joy Chowdhury - vocal and Bryce Grinlington on the flute "The followers of bhakti, the path of devotion, have in the fervor of their longing, sung simple and sublime words that continue to inspire and bring us nearer to the secret heart of things." |
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HYMNS AND SONGS IN SANSKRIT
CD by Joy Price: $16.00 with Bryce-Flute, Aurelio-Conch, Krishna Both-Tabla, Nadaka-Tampura,Vocals and accompaniment and production by Holger Om Anandamayi, Ya Devi Sarvabhuteshu, Bhavanyashtakam, Dhyanam, Sri Devyashtottarashatanamavalih, Udayati Bhanu, Ganga Stotram, Surya Stutih, Asato Ma Sadgmaya, Gayatri Mantra, Om Anandamayi |
SPECIAL PROJECTS
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THE MICKEY FUND Eugene "Mickey" Finn experienced a miracle. He changed from being a heroin addict and thief into a yogi who, while driving a cab, sent $200 a month to Auroville. He started a center in Boston dedicated to Sri Aurobindo's vision and taught free of charge out of his small apartment in Boston's Fenway section for thirty years. We ask you to join in creating a fund to honor his life and memory. For every dollar given, the Foundation for World Education will match twenty percent and manage the money, dividing the proceeds equally between Matagiri, the Sri Aurobindo Center of Boston and Auroville. Please give generously to reach our goal of $50,000 by sending your check to: Sri Aurobindo Center of Boston c/o Mary Finn, 108 Kilmarnock St., Apt. 102, Boston MA 02215 |
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PAVILION OF TIBETAN CULTURE Claude Arpi is working to manifest the first building in the cultural zone after Bharat Nivas, the Indian Pavilion, and to train masons from Tibet in mudbrick architecture in the process. Since 1973, when H.H. the Dalai Lama visited with Mother and toured Auroville, there has been a strong connection with Tibet. Numerous educational and cultural programs have brought traditional dance, sand mandala and healing programs to Auroville, while Tibetans have trained in dentistry, reforestation, water-pumping windmills and other appropriate technology. With the first floor completed, the Pavilion has run short of funds. Claude spoke at Tibet House in New York City this summer about his work and is featured in their newsletter, Tibet House Drum. He hopes that people of good will can join with the Dalai Lama (who donated $3,000) in making a financial contribution. |
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RURAL DENTAL PROJECT Besides Land, Savitri Bhavan, Village Action and the Matrimandir are so many other worthwhile projects that have very practical grassroots effects. One is the training of local youth in basic dentistry for the benefit of the Tamil villages. Anyone with a bad tooth or gum disease can imagine what needless suffering goes on in rural India. If you (or your dentist) are interested, we have a project to show you. |
Auroville on the Web
For more details, the following sites will be of interest:
Auroville Website
and Miraura
Website
ORDER INFORMATION
Send your check payable to the Auroville Information
Office (AIO), P.O. Box 676, Woodstock NY 12498.
Add $3 for first and $1 each additional item for shipping and handling.
Donations for The Pavilion of Tibetan Culture or General
Donations should be made payable to AVI-USA and are very
much appreciated.
Credit card orders are processed through
the shop "Pondicherry" in Woodstock and can be phoned in
toll free to 800-815-1969 or via email to AVINY@aviusa.org
Auroville Information Office, PO Box 676 - Woodstock, NY 12498
Phone: (845) 679-5358
Email: AVINY@aviusa.org