Swanwick Star Issue No. 12 (2019)

Relationship as the Ground for Transformation

This retreat, hosted by Mukesh Gupta in June, was an extremely inspiring one and we met for meditation every morning before starting the dialogues for the day. Sometimes there was an excerpt of haunting flute music from the Himalayas or the dulcimer tones of the santoor. The group also did a few exercises during the six-day retreat as we shared this extraordinary space and we undertook one memorable exercise in pairs. David Bruneau was my partner and each pair took a card with a theme written on it. Our card was “Cooperation”.

This was a very nice theme for both of us since we have each spent quite a bit of time during our lives living in communities with other people, and, of course, communal living is not possible without cooperation. David asked me for my observations on the subject and we discussed these together out on the lawn in front of the Mainhouse on a perfectly sunny day.

We agreed that since communal living requires cooperation, it entails a certain diminishing of the ego. There is a lessening of self-identification as one embraces a wider world view based on the experience of many people in the community rather than just being limited to one’s own isolated opinion. There is also less emphasis on personal possessions in a communal environment as one is often called upon to share things with others. Personally, this sort of living, also diminished my interest in the family unit and in engaging in possessive relationships. David also had a similar experience. Finally, we concluded that the UN could benefit from the experience of living all together on an estate and speculated that it may instill a greater spirit of cooperation among the member states. At the very least, the UN might start with a six-day retreat like this delightful one and invite Mukesh to be their facilitator!

The last evening of the retreat was a beautiful bacchanal of music, singing, and dancing in the Meditation Room where there had been arguments, tears, agreement, and hugs before the final goodbye on the next day.

CS

 

June Retreat with Mukesh Gupta from the KFI