Planning for a Master Unit - Ananda Marga Gurukul

By Isabella Iishana Johansson

In Ananda Kalyani we have in recent years been in the process of combining our story, efforts, thoughts, plans and ideas into having a holistic Master Unit Master Plan. That means a plan that optimises, integrates, and prioritises various planning elements for our Master Unit as a physical space, such as zones, buildings, roads, bridges, earthworks, agriculture, agroforestry, forests, water retention and other infrastructure, but also in an organisational manner.

Our planning process for our Master Unit has led to configurations in our decision-making processes, where we have started to implement the structure suggested by Shrii P.R Sarkar by creating a development committee and an executive committee that frequently meet in order to develop, prioritise and execute these plans, policies and structures. Our aim is to create a regenerative, resilient, and productive landscape and project with a clear purpose, vision and mission of the project through a transparent decision-making structure. We find the Master Plan process more and more valuable as we grow, and we recommend any project to work on this for a more clear and regenerative direction of their endeavours.

About the Master Unit Concept:

A Master Unit is a small-scale Integrated Rural Development (IRD) project, dedicated to spirituality, local development and holistic regeneration. It encompasses ecological, environmental, economic, and social aspects, serving as a model and educational hub.
It describes a specific kind of development programme, rooted in socio-environmental awareness.

This programme is characterized by a strong volunteer component and a self-development foundation within an eco-friendly settlement. A Master Unit can be considered as a ‘nerve centre’, playing a pivotal role in promoting a healthy and balanced development of the local community.

While a Master Unit shares similarities with the ecovillage concept and often includes one or more intentional communities, its distinguishing features are a strong emphasis on social service to the local community and a connection with an international network of similar projects and initiatives. A Master Unit is not just a physical space, but also a hub for various projects associated with Ananda Marga and other like-minded ecological, social, cultural, and spiritual associations.

The foundation of a Master Unit is neohumanistic, fostering an open, holistic, and intuitive outlook through practices aimed at pure consciousness and spirituality. The diverse expertise of its members, coupled with a scientific approach to testing and implementing new techniques, provides fertile ground for the development of robust, well-grounded projects, as recommended and inspired by Shrii P. R Sarkar.

Origin of the term
The Saḿskrta name of Master Unit is Cakranemii which means “the nucleus of the cakra” (wheel). As there are different nerve centres in the body which control the functions of different limbs and organs, and which are finally controlled by the mind itself, likewise the Master Units will be treated as the nerve centres of society. There has to be active representation and participation from all the departments, branches and sub-branches of Ananda Marga in Master Units.

Master Units need to be economically self-sufficient in all respects. The goal of Master Units is to expand all possible services, particularly in the fields of education, culture, economics and spiritual upliftment. These Master Units will work to improve the fate, first of all human beings, and then of all living beings, irrespective of caste, creed, colour, religion or national barriers. A Master Unit develops and expands through a holistic concept inspired by its founder, Shrii P.R Sarkar.

The vastness of our Master Unit:
It aims to collaborate with various Ananda Marga departments or external associations that align with its mission. In the case of the Ananda Kalyani Master Unit, these include:
Artivos: Art and culture association
EcoAtivo: Environmental NGO
Amurt: Humanitarian Aid NGO
Pequena Ilha Verde: Children and education association
PRIP: Socio-economic think tank (Research Institute of PROUT in Portugal).

These associations contribute to regeneration on multiple fronts: spiritual, cultural, environmental, educational political, social, and economic. They engage in research, host events, run programs, and implement practices that align with the Master Units’ concept and the specific implementation of each Master Unit.

Ananda Kalyani, our Master Unit, is more than just a picturesque land with a river coursing through it and an array of agricultural fields, greenhouses, gardens, permaculture structures, natural buildings and inspiring paths through agroforestry plots. It serves as a nucleus and gathering point for our various projects, a venue for events, and a welcoming place for visitors, residents, and volunteers. Ananda Kalyani boasts activity spaces, a meditation yurt, camping grounds, a river beach, and much more. It’s the perfect hub to develop pilot projects and incubate progressive action, a space for community building and personal development, where we strive to progressively implement and expand, in alignment with the Cakranemii principles.

In order to get to where we are today, and where we will be tomorrow, we have had many meetings and inputs from people and networks such as Kamala and her story farm concept¹, the Regrarian Platform, permaculture zoning and most prominently, the texts given by Shrii P.R. Sarkar as guidelines for what a Master Unit is, and is striving to become.

We also house a study group in Ananda Kalyani that researches this topic through deep reading and discussing how this is applicable in our context. The Master Plan mission is a continuous and long-term process where we hope to document applicable and knowledgeable results for how to execute a Master Plan for a Master Unit and how to take care of places, people and projects within such a structure in the best possible way.

Are you curious about our master plan? Follow Ananda Kalyani on social media channels, newsletter or our website, www.anandakalyani.org, to hear more about this process:

We aim towards:

creating a documented foundation for the future. implementation of the Master Plan
allowing future monitoring and improvements of the project.
establishing Ananda Kalyani as a learning hub for visitors and other projects.

The physical planning of the space of the Master Unit is shaped by the Cakranemii principles.

The physical planning of our Master Unit has been discussed and shaped with tools from the Regrarian Platform starting from the points below:

- Climate. Here we look at the meteorological factors and risks in the area, but also consider the most holistic context of climate through boundary definitions, governance, regulations, visions, missions, and decision-making processes.

- Geography. Here we work with topographic mapping in different ways. Also, to identify and map landscape and keyline elements such as ridges, crests, valleys and key points. Added to that are the water layer elements of catchment, retention, irrigation, and reconstruction, through a practice of reading the landscape through photographic surveys and central place theory (CPT).

- Water. This requires extensive research, especially in the region of Ananda Kalyani due to the brushfire hazards and the hot summers and cold winters. We check the water needs and sources of Ananda Kalyani, decide on water retention and storage needs and map our waters.

- Access, where we analyse and develop the roads, slopes, drains and seek opportunities to enhance and develop. This is just the first few steps in understanding nature around us and using our knowledge and our presence on the land in the best way possible.

- Ecosystems, where the overall agroecology (flora, fauna, fungi, algae, bacteria and other biota) including livestock, crops and forestry and the integration of these elements is planned upon.

- Buildings. Concerns the design, placement and construction of living spaces, agricultural buildings and portable infrastructure.

- Fencing and boundaries. This is the design, placement and construction of fences (perimeter, yards, laneways, subdivision, temporary, electric, living and shepherdry). Fencing also in the sense of physical boundaries between areas for visitors, volunteers, residents and others.

- Soil, which concerns everything to do with soils – types, tests (geotechnic/agronomic) and the most cost-effective treatments with which to regenerate soils

- Economy. Analysis and planning of various capital flows to have resilient and well thought out financial strategy for the vastness of projects, events and more.

- Energy. The generation and storage of energy (photosynthesis, fuel, electricity), and machinery/implements.

- Fire prevention layer on how to protect from outside fires and prevent fires on the property from propagating.

Long-term (100 year) high level vision development (zones, land-use, infrastructure, architecture style etc). This layer is very hard to predict and plan, but also a practice that takes us further in our present planning.

¹ https://anandavalley.org/2021/03/the-story-farm-an-organic-story-telling-adventure/

Editorial Note: Ananda Marga Gurukula supervises all educational projects on all Master Units