Work at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram

At the common kitchen, food for 2000 persons is prepared three times a day

A community the size of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram naturally requires a considerable amount of work to keep it going. Most of this is done by members. The primary purpose of the work, however, is not to satisfy any practical or economic need, or to be a means for the self-expression of the members, but to provide a field for their spiritual growth.

As Sri Aurobindo once wrote, "work done in the Ashram" is done not "as a service to humanity" or even as a service to the sadhaks of the Ashram, but "as a service to the Divine and as a field for the inner opening to the Divine, surrender to the Divine alone, rejection of ego and all the ordinary vital movements and the training in a psychic elevation, selflessness, obedience, renunciation of all mental, vital or other self-assertion of the limited personality".

The Mother expressed the same idea more succinctly: "To work for the Divine is to pray with the body".Work is done by all, and it is done without remuneration. Workers strive for perfection not in hopes of advancement, but in order to make their labour a more fitting offering to the Divine. What is important is not the nature of the work or the amount accomplished, but the attitude in which it is done. In the Ashram work is not graded according to common notions of "high" and "low".

In the Mother's words: "It is not what you do that matters, but the way you do it and the consciousness you put into it. Remember the Divine unceasingly, and all that you do will express the Divine Presence. When you consecrate all your actions to the Divine, there will no longer be any higher or lower activities, all will have an equal importance: that conferred on them by the consecration.

"During the Mother's lifetime all work was done under her supervision, either directly or through the intermediary of departmental heads. Today the departmental heads remains, but their work is coordinated by a central administration. This arrangement necessarily involves an organisational hierarchy, but this does not imply that sadhaks are considered as superior or inferior according to the type of work that they do. Everyone is seen as a part of a diverse but interrelated whole. None is independent, neither the heads of departments nor the workers. The need for cooperation is recognised by all.

Each of the Ashram's departments grew up in answer to a particular need of the community. Essential services, those connected with boarding, lodging, clothing, and health were the first to be organised. Later departments expressive of the Ashram's diverse artistic and cultural life took shape. "We do not want to exclude any of the world's activities", Sri Aurobindo once wrote, and he listed, along with "poetry, art and literature", such fields as trade and industry as forming necessary parts of a total spiritual community. As the Ashram began to expand into these and other areas, some disciples were entrusted with responsibility over administration and accounts. Information about the workings of the departments in each of these categories is given below.

The Sri Aurobindo Ashram provides its members with everything they need for a decent and healthy life. Various departments have been organised to look after house maintenance, furniture, electricity, plumbing, sanitation etc. Clothing is made by two tailoring departments and regular laundry service is provided by the "Blanchisserie". A shoemaking department and a weaving department supply other necessities. The department called "Prosperity" looks after the storage and distribution of these goods. Inmates indicate their monthly requirements on special forms and receive them from Prosperity on the first of the month.

At the common kitchen, food for 2000 persons is prepared three times a day. Rice, vegetables and fruits are grown in various farms, fields and gardens belonging to the Ashram. A separate kitchen called "Corner House" is run for the students and teachers of the Centre of Education.Medical care is available at various clinics staffed by physicians of the allopathic, homeopathic, ayurvedic and naturopathic systems. There is also a dental section, an eye clinic, and a department specialising in physiotherapy, massage and acupuncture.

The Reception Service looks after the needs of visitors and arranges accommodation for them in the Ashram's guest houses.The Ashram fosters a variety of artistic and cultural activities. There is a theatre for dramatic and other performances, an art gallery, a studio for painting and sculpture, a dance hall and a music room where both Indian and Western music is played. The Ashram's large library is utilised both by students of the Centre of Education and by Ashram members, a number of whom are involved in literary activities and research. A separate Archives and Research Library has been established to preserve the manuscripts of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother to prepare material for publication.

Numerous books and journals have been printed at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press since 1945. Recently other printing units have been added to meet an increased production demand. The Press is only one of a number of small-scale industries that have grown up around the Ashram. These units are governed by a separate trust, the benefits of which are donated to the Ashram Trust. Some of the industries represented are woodworking, stainless steel fabrication, handmade paper manufacture, and such cottage industries as the making of handicrafts and incense, and the hand-marbling of silk fabrics. Smaller sections produce embroidered goods, perfume, pottery, batik work, etc.