In January, Natural Awakenings caught up with Ralph White, founder of the New Center, who shared about his holistic hub in New York City, emphasizing its importance as a center for inner development, authentic spirituality, and ecological transformation. Here is part two of that conversation. 

Will the NCNY focus more on in-person gatherings, online programs or a hybrid approach? The NCNY has plans for a global reach. How do you envision connecting with participants worldwide while staying grounded in the New York community?

Yes, we are offering events in all three formats—in person, online and hybrid. One of the spaces we are using in Chelsea is perfectly set up for hybrid programs. So, you can have an audience at the site and also a potentially larger audience online anywhere in the world. These are still early days for us, but the Open Center was able to expand its reach widely once the pandemic forced it to go online. So really a hybrid approach offers the best of both worlds —direct, human to human engagement, and a reach as far as time zones permit.

After decades in the field, what continues to drive your passion for holistic learning and spirituality?

We so clearly must move as a culture and a planet in the direction of sustainable living. The climate crisis, if nothing else, shows us dramatically how we cannot continue with endless profit-centered economic growth and obsessive consumerism. We have to shift to more holistic and ecological values and practices to have any kind of viable future. Therefore, the need for holistic learning remains as vital as ever.

Can you share some of the key programs or initiatives the New Center offers, and what makes them unique?

Let’s start with the Esoteric Quest series of international conferences that are totally unique. These are concerned with rediscovering the lost spiritual and cultural history of the West. In our holistic world there is a major emphasis on the Eastern and Shamanic paths. We feel it’s important to balance this with in-depth experiences of half-forgotten worlds like those of the Renaissance alchemists in Bohemia. This year in September we will offer An Esoteric Quest for the Mountain of Truth in Ascona, Switzerland, as it was there that the counter-culture was born between 1901 and 1920 with participants like Herman Hesse and Isadora Duncan. We will begin in Carl Jung’s retreat at Eranos on Lago Maggiore and end at the Goetheanum, the impressive center of Rudolf Steiner’s extraordinary legacy in Dornach. 

You’ve worked with luminaries in holistic and spiritual traditions. Who or what has been the biggest influences on your work?

For me personally, though not for the New Center in general, Rudolf Steiner has probably been the greatest influence as a philosopher, reformer and spiritual friend. His holistic legacy is unparalleled. I also felt a deep connection with the poet and cultural activist Robert Bly who did many events at the Open Center and at the Esoteric Quest conferences. There have been generations of teachers, performers and presenters who have touched me by the authenticity, wisdom and pioneering courage of their work

What would you like to say to those who supported you during this transition and to those discovering holistic learning for the first time?

Profound thanks to those who have supported us already. And welcome aboard to anyone new to the Center and to holistic learning. This is vital work as it speaks to the core need for a shift in worldview away from materialism and consumerism to respect for the wisdom of indigenous and other cultures, the rediscovery of the connection between body and mind, and the reawakening to a spiritually alive cosmos instead of the alienation and suffering that result from the constricted and short-sighted paradigm that still dominates our culture.

For more information visit NewCenterNY.org.