Auroconf Moderating Group:
I understand that this moderating group, and it seems the Auroconf group as a whole has made up its mind about Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet. I entered the group, suspecting this was the case, wanting to know why.
Given that I was born in 1969 and have never had direct access to the events that unfolded in the 1970's regarding the Matrimandir, Ms. Norelli-Bachelet's arrival in Pondicherry, and the way things unfolded after the Mother's departure, I necessarily depend on the accounts of others to understand what happened in those days. My references for the past six years regarding that time period have been largely The Mother's Agenda, and various works by PNB such as The Tenth Day of Victory.
I entered into your group and found out first hand that the majority of this group believes that PNB's accounts of her own significance and her accounts of the Matrimandir's construction are delusional. I found out that there are people in your group with first hand experience of events surrounding Ms. Norelli-Bachelet and the construction of the Matrimandir.
I found out that one of those people, Prem Sobel, accused PNB of disregarding direct orders from the Mother in the early 1970's ... and that no one in Auroconf is the least bit concerned that the issues that Sobel cites as PNB's defiance of the Mother, didn't even exist while the Mother was alive. I also found out that Prem accuses PNB of usurping knowledge from him.
I believe Prem's accusations and Auroconf's apparent collusion in supporting them by allowing them to go unquestioned warrants a serious public investigation. I wanted to know the details of Prem's accusations and no one in the group would stand for that. I did share emails with PNB because I wanted her side of the story. You considered this to be nefarious and bannable activity, and were even more horrified that I would present her side of the story to the group. According to you, PNB's defense of herself and her reprimand of your behavior had no place in your forum. Your clung to your rules and felt totally justified in kicking me out as a deviant and hostile participant.
Your response was unanimous: For god's sake you crazed angry spammer, nobody wants to hear her side of the story. No one cared whether or not Prem was lying. It just didn't matter.
It is understandable that as a collective you just want your side of the story to continue to reign unquestioned, unchallenged regardless of how unsubstantiated your side of the story regarding PNB's history and the ‘faultless' construction of the Matrimandir happens to be, regardless of facts that speak to the faults of your side of the story.
These are not matters of individual concern and opinion, these are matters of character defamation and a hoard of people who collude in the process ... the same goes for the mis-execution of the Matrimandir ... claims are made in the name of the Mother, regarding the Matrimandir and regarding Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet, that mislead those interested in following the yoga of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, whom Auroville and Auroconf claim to be serving.
Well you are not serving anyone but yourselves and your own positions of ‘authority' on these matters. If you were interested in serving the followers of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, you would encourage Prem to fully disclose and substantiate his accusations against Ms. Norelli-Bachelet. I am a follower of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, and your unquestioning acceptance of his accusations, and your disregard of the Mother's original blue prints for the Matrimandir and your disregard for PNB in no way serves me. In fact you are obstructing a process of exploration and discovery into these serious matters, preferring your own insights over those that threaten your well-established structure. All those who question your behavior are disregarded as angry disciples of a deluded woman.
At present, you all seem to be accountable to no one. You put forth your ‘authority' on these matters, as if you represent the greater truth, without question that your authority or your experience of the truth of these matters might be seriously warped by your personal concerns. This needs to change.
I am requesting accountability and transparency of your organization. I request that you clearly indicate in your mission statement that your group believes Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet to be delusional and that discussions regarding the validity of her work are not tolerated by the group. You can pretend this is otherwise, but the fact remains ... your group is unanimous in it's rejection of PNB's yoga, her claims about her son, and her work regarding the mis-execution of the Matrimandir. Why not be transparent about that defining-characteristic in your literature? That way you could avoid any further disturbance of your group.
I will publicly request such accountability and transparency from your organization and from Prem regarding his unsubstantiated accusations against PNB via the web and via what ever other channels I can find.
It seems you feel yogis should not engage in such struggles. But I feel that you all are committing epic injustices in the name of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo and that you should be held publically and personally accountable for these injustices. From my point of view your group operates under the false pretense of being an open forum and a service to the followers of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Yet you are not an open forum. You have no interest in sharing your collectivity's private defamations of PNB with the larger public, you do not want to be held accountable for these defamations and you think that neither Prem nor anyone in your group has an obligation to the greater public to substantiate and make known your accusations, character assassinations and objections made against PNB.
I disagree. I feel you have a clear and pressing obligation to followers of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother to make your bias's known publically, rather than closing yourselves off in your ‘open' group and treating anyone that questions your collective treatment of PNB's work like a angry fanatic. I feel that the public should be able to investigate these matters openly without being subject to the rejection and ridicule of your moderating committee and members.
Lori Tompkins
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