Work In The Ashram

This Ashram has been created with another object that that ordinarily common to such institutions, not for the renunciation of the world but as a centre and field of practice for the evolution of another kind and form of life which would in the final end be moved by a higher spiritual consciousness and embody a greater life of the spirit.

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. Sadhaks 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 remain, but their work is co-ordinated 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 part of a diverse but interrelated whole. None is independent, neither the heads of departments nor the workers. The need for co-operation 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 organized. 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.”