Auroville International



			Reports from the AVI meeting in Bela Horizonte, Brazil Second part : Now the three public days of Auroville presentations in the university are over and we are all happy that they went to well. The response we got from the people was very good. Yesterday afternoon the Brazilian consul to India, Mr. Elson de Barros Gomes Junior did not just open the conference "with a few words", but he arrived late, we were already watching the film "Auroville - From Utopia to Reality" which we then interrupted, and from then on he took over. I would say he was THE highlight of the whole show. He spoke in Portugese a long time, until Paulo and Aryamani interrupted him and asked to translate into English. It turned out that Mr. Gomes had been in Auroville and he was well versed about the integral yoga and Auroville. He spoke about the importance of the Supramental Descent on 29th of February 1956 for the world, the work in consciousness and the transformation of the Mother, about the yoga of Sri Aurobindo and of Auroville as the material manifestation to work out that divine consciousness in matter and people. He also spoke at length about the economic global situation and how it relates to the yoga since he just came from a meeting with UNESCO representatives on economy. We were delighted as you can imagine, to find in Brazil unexpectedly a friend and companion in spirit. As the conference was already running late, we cut short the film and gave space to Q + A. He stayed during part of the Q+A-session and replied himself to the students. Later Sonia, Alfonso and Anandi took to the podium to reply to questions, and Bindu gave a finishing touch by explaining the difference of the Buddhist way of abolishing desires in regard to Sri Aurobindo's yoga to transform desires. This is how it ended and the continuation today afternoon is the regual AVI meeting in the seminar center 'Retiro das Rosas' which is planned until Sunday. We will have some Brazilian guests at the AVI meeting. This morning a lady named Paulo connected to an NGO arrived from Campino, 8 hours bus drive away from Belo-Horizonte. Also there is Marcelo Fortuna from Brasilia who is so much interested that he wants to join Auroville. Emilio, a philosophie professor, and some people from the "Casa Sri Aurobindo" in Belo-Horizonte and Salvador will participate in the AVI meeting. After the university yesterday, we quickly went visiting the central market. It was a bit like India, but not quite. A lot of meat and cheese .... some nice handicrafts, and flowers ... And then: "Brazilian Night". Paulo and Marcelo had arranged for us a visit in the "Cartola Bar" with live South American rhythms. A band played Samba, there were two guitars, a clarinet, drums, and different singers. Wow ! The music was so hot and so good, we could not sit on the chairs, we had to join the dance floor and mingled with the Brazilians who took the ladies for real sambas. It was a lot of fun ! Hasta la vista, until tomorrow, I hope that my laptop internet connection will also work in the seminar center. with Love, Tine First part: Dear Friends, Here we are in Brazil, in this huge South American continent, where Brazil is the biggest country, even one third larger than India. For the first time Auroville International is holding its meeting in a Latin American country. Now it is winter in Brazil, and pretty cool for thin-blooded Aurovilians like me .... but the spirit of the Brazilians is anything else than "cool". They are dancing and singing, they are alive and kicking, and the poor people invent creative ways on how to get by and make some money. Paulo, former Aurovilian and now AVI-liaison Brazil in Belo-Horizonte, has done a great job organizing for three days a public Auroville event in the University of Belo-Horizonte prior to the AVI meeting starting Thursday, 17th of June. Please see some photos on the AV and the AVI-website which I am sending now. After the public university days, we will have the regular AVI meeting in the seminar center "Retiro das Rosas", a good hour drive away from Belo-Horizonte in the mountains. Most AVI members have already arrived on Sunday and they are staying in the seminar center right now and commute to Belo. The Director of the School of Music of the UFMG = Federal University of Minais Gerais, Prof. Lucas Bretas opened the conference today and on Wednesday 16th of June, the Consul A. H. of India , Mr. Elson de Barros Gomes Jr., will give a speech in honor of Sri Aurobindo. Here is the program: The CONSULATE OF INDIA and the SCHOOL OF MUSIC, SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS, SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE of the UFMG and AUROVILLE INTERNATIONAL Invite for the Event BRASIL - INDIA AUROVILLE - The City the Earth Needs From 14 th to 16 th of June 2004, 14 th of June (Monday) TIME: 14 to 17 hrs PLACE: Auditorium of the School of Music of UFMG Opening word by the Director of the School of Music of the UFMG, Prof. Lucas Bretas Odissi presentation (Indian Classical Dance) by Devasmita ( India - France ) Film "The Genius of India", on a text by Sri Aurobindo - Introduced by Aryamani ( Auroville , India ) "Ways to the Divine", power point presentation by Bindu (Auroville-India), translated by Aryamani "How Auroville was born", talk by Aryamani 15 th of June (Tuesday) TIME: 9 to 12 hrs PLACE: Auditorium of the School of Fine Arts of UFMG " India - The Maya of Reason", talk by Prof. Emilio César Pereira Rezende (Philosophy Faculty of UFMG) "The Vision of Sri Aurobindo", talk by Bindu, translated by Aryamani Video on AUROVILLE: "A Dream of the Divine" in English with Portugese subtitles Space for Questions and Answers 16 th of June (Wednesday) TIME: 14 to 16 hrs PLACE: Auditorium of the School of Music of the UFMG Word by the Consul A. H. of India , Mr. Elson de Barros Gomes Jr. Introduction to AUROVILLE and AUROVILLE INTERNATIONAL, by Aurovilians and members of the AVI Centers Video "AUROVILLE - de la utopia a la realidad", in Spanish (translated: Auroville - from Utopia to Reality"); a film by Harry Haener and Laurence Bolomey, made for the Italian Swiss TV, 2002 Space for Questions and Answers SPECIAL PROGRAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE Power point presentation by Aryamani on the "Several Aspects of Architecture in Auroville" - innovations, researches, challenges and consequences; followed by an open dialogue 14 th of June (Monday), from 9:30 to 11:30 hrs Exhibition of Photographs on Auroville SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS / SCHOOL OF PERFORMING ARTS Open Class of Indian Classical Dance, by Devasmita ( India - France ) (the practical part is reserved to the students of the School of Performing Arts , remaining open to the public to watch) 15 th of June (Tuesday), from 15 to 18 hrs SCHOOL OF MUSIC Seminar: "Indian Music and its relation to the Indian Classical Dance", by Devasmita ( India - France ) 16 th of June (Wednesday), from 10 to 12 hrs Today was the first day of the event. We had put up the photos of the UNESCO exhibition on Auroville on the walls of the unversity UFMG, and a big poster of "The Dream" which drew the attention of the students. Today, mostly students were attending, they roamed the table with books, brochures and magazines on Auroville, and started asking questions. One young man asked me if I had written the text of "The Dream", I replied "no, but I live in 'the dream'." In the architecture school, Aryamani gave a power point presentation on architecture on Auroville. Also there we hung big laminated photos of Auroville from the ceiling in the entrance hall and had a huge poster of "The Dream" right at the entrance. Devasmita's enchanting dance brought the flavour of India into the auditorium and I believe people found the talk, following power point presentation and video on Auroville interesting. One person from the "Casa Sri Aurobindo" in Belo Horizonte was present, but most people had never heard about Auroville. So this conference is a challenge in many ways. It is a pleasure to work with the Brazilians, I find them exceptionally open and helpful, and although they do not know what Auroville is, they are available and give their time and energy whenever we need them. Tomorrow the conference starts early and I say Good Night to you now, Love, Tine

Reports from the AVI meeting in Bela Horizonte, Brazil

Second part :

First part: