Let Every Ashramite Fearlessly Vote on the Present Issue!

[The following anonymous letter is recently making the rounds in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. It apparently arrived by post to a number of persons, who found it interesting enough to make copies and distribute them to their friends. The letter makes a very bold suggestion, that of letting every Ashramite fearlessly vote on the present issue of Peter Heehs and the Trust’s inexplicable support for him. But the options of voting are so limited and impractical that I would request the writer to rethink about them. The writer seems to have forgotten that there is the more acceptable option of a democratic setup where both Manoj Das Gupta and Sraddhalu Ranade don’t figure – in fact, Ranade & Co. were never averse to this option and their scheme suit pleads for an interim receiver appointed by the Court until there is a new structure in place. The present setup of “divinely appointed” Trustees with unlimited authority would then have to be replaced by a system which would make them more accountable and therefore more responsible towards the beneficiaries. It will also grant a limited period in office, say three to five years, after which they would have to hand over the reins to the next set of  democratically elected Trustees. It is because this suggestion has been made that we publish the following letter, not because it makes fun of some of the Ashramites mentioned therein. The letter can be criticised in many ways, but it should be appreciated because it raises certain fundamental questions and shows a growing discontent with the present setup. The winds of change are surely blowing in the right direction.] 

Anonymous Letter

(This letter is being sent to all the Ashram departments ─ no need to waste your time/energy to know who wrote this ─ you can't see this force with your physical eyes and those who can ─ will just smile and keep quiet. Show this to your fellow Ashramites.)

Manoj, Shraddhalu,

Whoever wins the battle you are fighting ─ who is responsible for the tremendous amount of money which is being lost on lawyers and legality? Both of you. You have already forgotten in your clash of egos that it is the devotees' money sent for the Mother and both of you go on singing that you are right and you are doing the Mother's work ─ but have you imagined the plight of those who silently want to work here and trust the Mother without taking any sides? Few people under your names are doing a vicious propaganda and you have no power to stop them. Apparently you've forgotten the adage that one can't see beyond the tip of one's nose and still you go on fighting. Stop listening to the jokers like Matri and his gang (this is Devil and his team ─ personified), Dr. Dutta (has he lost his mind? ─ time to go to CARE?), Kittu, Kim, Jay Raichura (he needs to stop chasing girls in the first place instead of caring about the Ashram's future ─ ha! What an absolute moron!), Varun, Dilip Mehtani, Uday, Batti, Kanaiya (the idiot), Deshpande, Alok Pandey, Gangaram, Puru Kothari, Soumya, Praful, Manoj Das (another case for CARE) and not to mention some outrageously mad women like Sadhana (Shraddhalu's mother ably accompanied by his sister), Jhumur (every student must be made known about her childish fight with Deshpande ─ so that students learn about ego and outright arrogance with a first­hand practical example ─ Deshpande competes her in the utter stupidity here). Krishna, Chitra, Dr. Gayatri. Abala. Kumud and those overly sentimental Oriya/Bengali/Gujarati/foreign ladies….ladies! This is not a place to be only emotional and sentimental ─ go out and vent your frustrations in the society and not here in the Master’s Ashram. This letter is also addressed to all those men/women here who are trying make groups and do a propaganda and throw their own theories in the air ─ stop this farce immediately ─just because your name is not mentioned here ─ don't think that The Mother is not watching you ─ she is. Simple-hearted devotees/Ashramites may just don't want to see the Master’s Ashram getting into a mess like this.

Manoj, Shraddhalu! Both of you are capable and deserve to run this Ashram jointly as the trustees ─ without being dictated by any of these fools mentioned above (and yet you will still have to use their positive sides as The Mother wants harmony at any cost and even asuras as well as "half-filled-pots" are also her children). Ironically ─ you both are at logger-heads! Wake up, smell the coffee and remember that line from the master: "Wise men will sleep and talk…”. Revamp all the departments with fresh, young and simple beings (remember The Mother wanted living souls here and none of these biased-ambition-oriented pseudo-intellectuals). Also do away with this "chit" culture ─ as people want to write PED-Chits, Christmas-Passes and much other kind of permissions (what a drama!) and all those ego-based movements going on here. No need for those talks in the courtyard (Mona hasn't learnt his lessons still ─ and all those who insist on giving talks ─ if you have the real courage ─ give a talk on "justification of having a girlfriend/boyfriend in this Ashram" ─ has any one got that courage? Students always want to know why this girlfriend/boyfriend thing exists in this Ashram.) People go on indulging in having sex or having a boyfriend/girlfriend and yet they have the audacity to come on the stage and give "talks" on Master’s teachings! ha! Work on your own weaknesses first. There are many like these, so don't think that because your name is not here ─ you are not a party to this girlfriend/boyfriend/sex activities.

Hasn't Sri Aurobindo clearly told that no one knows (or no one can know) about his life in details as it is not on the surface for men to see and so no one can write about it ─ then why people want to write about his life in the first place? And why to allow someone to do that under the Ashram's name? And Dharna etc. is not what The Mother ever wanted for any kind of issue ─ so both of you are going in wrong directions. Manoj! Sack Peter from the Ashram and let him go out and write anything he wants and Shraddhalu! You better use your energies helping Manoj to run this beautiful creation of The Mother.

For The Mother's sake do the following immediately now:

─ Withdraw all the legal cases at once. Stop spending devotees' money sent to The Mother on such useless expenses. - Have an open debate in the Ashram theatre for 2 days ─ invite every single ashramite ─ they have the right to know what goes on in The Mother's ashram ─ it is not a battle of two or few people who think that they are very intellectual or who think that because they are trustees ─ they have the right to take any decision which concerns all the ashramites. Earlier when the mother was there in her body, when Nolini-da was there ─ this kind of autonomous decisions were made ─ but after that? Are all of the trustees or even Shraddhalu and his team gifted with the intuition and higher consciousness of Nolini-da?

─ Let every ashramite vote on the matter of Peter and choose one or many options from these:

Option 1) Manoj and Shraddhalu should stop fighting ─ leave us alone and don't directly or indirectly force us to participate in this farce - we trust the Mother and let her force work silently.

Option 2) I support Manoj and all the present trustees.

Option 3) I support Shraddhalu and want a change in the management.

Option 4) I support the theory that Manoj and Shraddhalu should join hands to run this ashram with harmony while always informing all the ashramites about important decisions with timely debates. Sack Peter and no more Dharnas.

Let every Ashramite fearlessly vote for this in open (secrecy of their votes will be maintained) ─ everybody must come to vote and the electronic counting will happen on the spot in front of everyone's eyes.

To All: 1). Be humble. 2). Be humble. 3). Be humble