On this episode of Food for Thought, it’s my absolute pleasure to bring you Ralph White who is the co-founder of the New York Open Center the city’s leading venue for holistic learning since 1984, where for many years he has served as director, program director, and senior fellow. He’s writer, lecturer, radio host, organiser, creative director, editor, and world traveler. Ralph is truly a pioneer in the global consciousness movement and has created and produced many hundreds of conferences, workshops, and performances across the spectrum of holistic learning. From 1995 to 2001 he edited Lapis magazine, winner of the Alternative Press Award 2000. He has also taught at New York University and has been a seminal presence in the development of the global network of holistic centers. He’s the author of The Jewelled Highway which is the book we are going to discuss today.
The Jeweled Highway is a beautifully written of Ralph’s life which is an amazing story of travelling, adventure, and a pursuit of life meaning, an inspirational life and book which I believe will leave anyone reading reconsidering their life’s purpose. This is an interview full of Ralph’s wisdom brought with a simplicity and humour, and we start with discussing his intention behind writing such an accessible book.
From Welsh beginnings, Ralph talks about his adventures from the first taste of freedom with hitchhiking to realising in the American desert that there is more to life than he had up until then experienced in the dull and grimy parts of Northern England. After that first trip out West, nothing was ever the same again for Ralph and we discuss how he has since then pursued a life of authenticity and about pure living. Ralph is the ultimate adventurer something that many of us yearn for but are fearful of pursuing and he truly shows how life can be when you live it on your terms.
We discuss how he has used his great travels, reading and learning to go on and create holistic programmes not only in New York, but also worldwide on consciousness and holism, and how Findhorn was the humble start of this. With much hilarity he talks about lunatic teachers, being chased across bandit country, working with colleagues who were getting ready for the revolution by learning how to fire machine guns and being in countries illegally, Ralph has truly lived life and his expression of life is something we can all learn from, my final question was to ask him what else was left to achieve, prepare to be inspired by the answer.
www.opencenter.org
www.centersgathering.org
The Jeweled Highway available now.
