The “What Connects Us All” interviews

 

We hope all of you are well. Things at Poulstone have been difficult but we are still here. The grounds are looking and feeling fab and we cannot wait to start hosting retreats again, but this might still be quite a while. We have thus started to think of new ways to use Poulstone and what it stands for, so we have started an initiative, which we have called “What connects us all”. We hope you enjoy it.

As you know Poulstone has been facilitating and providing a conducive physical space for retreats for well over 20 years and in this time it has seen quite a few different types of retreats. The retreats range from shamanic, yoga, tai chi, meditation, counselling, self improvement and the list goes on and on. Each of these disciplines also vary significantly from within, for example, one tai chi retreat may well vary quite differently from another tai chi retreat we host.

On the face of it the retreats who come to Poulstone are diverse. They may sound different, they may originate from different geographies, from different cultures, with different emphasis, using different languages and having different expressions. But fundamentally they all have so much in common and in my mind, and this is the hypothesis, they all remind of the inner connection and connection with the world we inhabit.

It is this commonality that inspires Poulstone to do the work it has been doing.

Over the last three years Poulstone has been actively working with the theme of Unity with for example, Meditate for Unity, a concert for Unity and Connecting Retreat to Retreat Initiative. Poulstone now wishes to introduce a new initiative, “What Connects Us All”.

We wish to host remote interviews over ZOOM, lasting about 40 mins, with many of the facilitators who host their retreats at Poulstone. We wish to interview the facilitators about their retreat, the tradition/discipline they teach, the fundamentals of their teaching, how these fundamentals are expressed and to say something on diversity and unity. We hope to upload these recordings on the Poulstone website, which will be revamped.

We have all had to reflect on the role of Poulstone during the pandemic and how it can share its wisdom. Up until now, our guests have to come to Poulstone to share in its magic. We now are hoping that initiatives such as these, will allow Poulstone to reach out and share its magic with the world.

I hope you enjoy the magic of Poulstone Retreat and Meditation Centre.

5 January 2021

Rajesh Rai

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Raj

Rajesh sees Poulstone as a refuge in a fast-moving world and is inspired by guests leaving Poulstone renewed and re-centred. He regards the energy of Poulstone to be perfect for retreats and manages Poulstone to maintain and sustain this energy. Rajesh has been attending retreats for a very long time and occasionally runs meditation retreats. He was introduced into the many different faiths of India including Hinduism, Sikhism, Christianity, Sufism and Buddhism from a very early age. These faiths have formed a large part of his upbringing. He is a barrister by profession specialising in human rights from Chambers in London. He is also a humanitarian and environmentalist and has worked with and founded organisations around the world whose objectives include the rejuvenation of land, communities and promoting human rights. He also founded the first Indian vegetarian restaurant in Worcestershire with his family. His joys include cooking, gardening, playing the sitar, reading Eastern philosophy and loves being with his family and friends.

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