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Why did you enroll in this class?
I enrolled in the Spirituality, Community,
and Multiculturalism in South India course
because I felt it was important to experience
firsthand the methods of integral education
rather than being at home reading about
them.
What impact did the class have
on you—personally, professionally,
and/orspiritually?
India has a way of mangling our concept
of time—the way our minds conceptualize
it and the way our bodies experience it.
I have heard many people say that India
is a place that you either fall in love
with or hate so much that you want to catch
the first flight out, but either way it
will have a profound and lasting impact.
I agree; at times I felt both ways. But
ultimately the country has a way of absorbing
itself into the most intimate crevices of
those who spend time there. I will carry
this experience personally and in my work
for the rest of my time.
Your background is as a poet and
community arts organizer. What special project
or area of research did you work on while
in Auroville?
Auroville has people from all over the
world. Among them are many artists, musicians,
and poets. My research focused on the exploration
of the role of the artist in the grand experiment
of Auroville—the importance of the
arts and its relation to healing. While
in Auroville I met and talked with Aurovilians
who are following their calling to pursue
a spiritual path, and their passion for
the arts. I was curious how artists in Auroville
approach healing within the context of the
expressive arts.
I also had the opportunity to assist in
organizing an Indian classical music concert
as part of the Integral Psychology and Transformation
Conference. The concert presented leading
Indian classical musician (santoor) Pandit
Tarun Bhattacharya. The work involved hard
physical labor in the midday heat, but I
felt that the balance between study and
practice was for me central to an integral
education. This is the importance of the
course in Auroville: it gave us a chance
to dialogue and to inquire, and then to
use what we learned as a foundation for
our work.
Would you recommend this class
and why?
I have already recommended this class to
a lot of my classmates. I think that it
is important for CIIS to strengthen its
connection with Auroville, since both are
founded on the same spiritual principles.
They are like long- lost siblings.
All of us took so much from this experience,
but there is still so much to do and learn
there. It was overwhelming to try to absorb
everything in just two weeks. We all felt
that it would be amazing to be able to take
a semester-long class, if not a yearlong
class, in Auroville.
There is also a lack of therapists in Auroville.
It would be such a great thing for CIIS
students to be able to do their practicum
there.
Photo: Tara Demarco
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Jime
Salcedo-Malo