Here at Auroville, in the south of India, I have been meditating in the Matrimandir. This is not only a stunning piece of architecture. It is also probably the most ideal manmade place for meditation anywhere in the world.
The Matrimandir is located right at the centre of Auroville, in the middle of a park dedicated to the unity of humankind. For the people of Auroville, this is a salient reminder that, to foster and maintain peace, meditation has to be the centrepiece of our lives.
My feeling is that this central significance of meditation applies not only to society as a whole but also to each of us individually. If I want to be at peace within myself, the way to bring that about is to put meditation right at the centre of my life. Everything else can be peripheral to it, just as the communities of Auroville radiate out around the Matrimandir.
Taking the analogy one step further, that place within each of us which is stillness and silence and spaciousness – that place which the act of meditation can reveal to us – that place within is our centre point.
