top of page
auroville bonfire.jpg
Auroville Essence

Soil and Soul 2025

Jan. 28 - Feb. 11 2025

Have the adventure of a lifetime in the most spectacular community in the world 

Program Overview

​

Experience a deep dive into the vision and practices of Auroville, a world-renowned ecovillage on the tropical coast of Tamil Nadu in south India.  

 

Ten to twelve participants will:

  • learn about the history and vision behind this 55 year-old international township;

  • engage with experts and practitioners in a wide variety of fields and activities;

  • participate in holistic living practices (e.g. yoga, meditation, massage, dance, sound bath, etc.);

  • offer community service in organic farming, habitat restoration or other community areas;

  • experience the diversity of India through excursions (e.g. Arunachula mountain, a non-duality hub);

  • and eat at diverse, multi-ethnic, and healthy yummy restaurants.

Auroville Background

​

​

Founded in 1968 with the intention of realising human unity, Auroville is an international township, home to over 3,200 individuals from over 60 nations. Inspired by the vision of Mira Alfassa (aka "The Mother") and the Indian philosopher-sage Sri Aurobindo, Auroville is one of the world’s largest ecovillages as recognised by UNESCO and the Global Ecovillage Network.

 

Striving to create a “city the Earth needs”, Auroville is a pioneer in many emerging fields such as reforestation and habitat restoration, appropriate technology, alternative building, organic farming, free-progress education, engaged spirituality, and more. Auroville is an experiment in how we can live high-quality, low-impact lifestyles for the 21st century, integrating ecological, socio-cultural, and contemplative practices.

 

More information can be found on their website (www.auroville.org) and on dozens of YouTube videos.

parents.jpg

Auroville Charter

1. Auroville belongs to nobody in particular. Auroville belongs to humanity as a whole. 

But, to live in Auroville, one must be a willing servitor of the Divine Consciousness.

​

2. Auroville will be the place of an unending education, of constant progress, and a youth that never ages.

​

3. Auroville wants to be the bridge between the past and the future. Taking advantage of all discoveries from without and from within, Auroville will boldly spring towards future realisations.

​

4. Auroville will be a site of material and spiritual researches for a living embodiment of an actual human unity.

kinou walk in Auroville_edited.jpg

About Your Guides

Dan in mountains_edited_edited.jpg

Daniel Greenberg Ph.D.

Daniel was Founding Director of Living Routes, a non-profit which ran study abroad programs based in ecovillages around the world. He has led student programs in Auroville since 1995. A graduate of Cornell University and the University of Minnesota, Daniel served as President of the Global Ecovillage Network from 2015-2019 and is excited to build bridges to and between sustainable communities.

 

He is currently the co-director of the Foundation for Intentional Community. He is also passionate about climate change and in 2013 founded Earth Deeds, which offers online tools for community-scale pricing of unavoidable CO2 emissions and supporting meaningful sustainability projects.

Monique Gauthier M.Ed.

Monique has led Living Routes programs since 1996, taking people to ecovillages such as Findhorn (Scotland), Auroville (India), and Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village (France). A graduate of the University of Minnesota and Lesley University, she has been a frequent guest lecturer at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and has led many workshops on mindfulness, conscious families, non-duality and other spiritual topics.

 

Monique has been a midwife for 30 years, and more broadly considers herself to be a “cultural midwife” tending to the birth of a holistic culture at this time of transition.

monique in bus_edited.jpg

The Program

  • 14 days (January 28th - February 11, 2025)

  • From USD $2,450 per person 

  • Includes meals, lodging, and local transport 

arunachula.jpg

Itinerary

  • Tues, 28th:      Arrival, Guest House Welcome/Tour, Logistics, Group Building, Rest!

  • Wed, 29th:     Matrimandir, Financial Services, Solar Kitchen, Intro to AV, Massages

  • Thurs, 30th:   Relax! Forest walk, Srima Beach, Pool, and more options

  • Fri, 31st:   Pondicherry! (Ashram, Handmade Paper Factory, PondyCAN!)

  • Sat, 1st:   Visits to Auroville projects 

  • Sun, 2nd:   Kuilyapalayam village,

  • Mon, 3rd:  More Auroville projects (Village Action and EcoFemme)

  • Tues, 4th:   Tour/lunch at Solitude Farm and Tour/Dinner at Sadhana Forest

  • Wed, 5th:   International Zone with B, Mahabalipuram trip

  • Thurs, 6th:     More relaxing!

  • Fri, 7th:    TBD by participants

  • Sat, 8th:    Visit to Buddha Garden

  • Sun, 9:    Day-trip to Tiruvannamali 

  • Mon, 10th:    TBD by participants

  • Tues, 11th:    Farewells and Departure

​

Note that the schedule is subject to change based on availability and participant interest.

PHOTO-2023-10-17-06-57-16-2.jpg
group meal_edited.jpg

​

  • One of the main aims of the Auroville experiment is to model where material and spiritual solutions to the difficulties of humanity can be constructively researched.

​

  • The inner city area is divided into four zones, the Cultural, Industrial, International and Residential Zones. These zones represent four essential aspects of society: education/culture, work/productivity, nationhood/citizenship and living habitat/residential.

​

  • Adjacent to the city proper is a strategically linked ring/zone of public services. Situated half-way between the center and the outer limits of the city, the main avenue (Crown Road) will connect all these facilities.

​

  • The inner city is surrounded by an outer green belt comprising forests and farms, but also in this outer periphery there are several Tamil villages.

​

  • Auroville is internationally known for several successful sustainable innovations.

​

  • The Auroville Visitors Centre was designed with an exhibition and conference space, with a boutique and cafeteria and serves as an entry point for the numerous daily visitors. The building demonstrates the use of 'sustainable technologies', including low energy building materials and on site wastewater recycling.

​

  • The 'Solar Kitchen' is a community kitchen for preparing ~1,500 meals a day. The Solar Kitchen technologies include compressed earth blocks, decentralized wastewater system, and a solar bowl concentrator.

A Personal Introduction to Auroville

For 20 years we have developed programs in a dozen different countries. Auroville was the grandest and most impressive of them all.  

It's a very exciting place to live and as such there will be a remarkable variety of experiences condensed into a short period. 

 

The community is in constant evolution, and it keeps its citizens very occupied, making it challenging for them to offer personal attention to individual tourists. But because of our close friendships here, we can facilitate deep connections between people and Auroville and create exceptional events and encounters, showing you the real insides of this planetary gem.

"I had the most amazing time in Auroville. The tour was really well organized and our guides were completely devoted to each of us. I highly recommend it!"

Janet, Massachusetts

"This was a life-changing experience for me. I saw many more possibilities for myself!"

Julie, Washington

"I've been on many adventures before, but this one was truly unique. Auroville is a magical place and this program showed me a whole other world."

Ken, Ottawa

Home: Testimonials
matrimandir ariel.jpg

"Travel far enough, you meet yourself."

David Mitchell

bottom of page