The Koolesh Shah Family Foundation has been associated with the Sri Aurobindo Trust for over 30 years.
Sri Aurobindo Trust, originally known as Sri Aurobindo Centre was established to promote the teachings of philosophers Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.
Founded in 1951 with blessings from The Mother, the philosophy of the Trust is to promote the teachings and further the knowledge of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother through supporting activations and projects around the world.
The Trust has enabled SOAS University London to run modules on the teachings for the past six years. The study of religions has been an integral focus of the university teaching and research programmes since SOAS (University of London School of Oriental and African Studies) was founded over 100 years ago, we felt this was an integral part of the broadening the teachings in the UK.
Auroville is a universal city in the making in south-India dedicated to the ideal of human unity based on the vision of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. The trust has initiated and supported many projects in Auroville including the recent 50th Anniversary exhibition. The township was originally intended to house 50,000 residents. In the initial 20 years, only about 400 individuals from 20 countries resided in the township. In the next 20 years, this number rose to 2,000 individuals from 40 countries. As of 5th May 2020 it had 3,218 residents.
Sri Aurobindo Trust has also played an active role in Pondicherry at Sri Aurobindo Ashram. The ashram grew out of a small community of disciples who had gathered around Sri Aurobindo after he retired from politics and settled in Pondicherry in 1910. On 24 November 1926, after a major spiritual realization, Sri Aurobindo withdrew from public view in order to continue his spiritual work. At this time he handed over the full responsibility for the inner and outer lives of the Sadhaks (spiritual aspirants) and the Ashram to his spiritual companion, “the Mother”, earlier known as Mirra Alfassa.
His teachings have a universal appeal as they offer a unique insight into human nature and the human potential for evolution and world unity.
