Finding serenity outside of organized faiths

For the healers, teachers and gurus who make up the Westchester Holistic Network, the spiritual quest is not about imposing belief systems on anyone or kneeling before dogmas.

It's about the quest itself, the ongoing, lifelong journey to connect with something larger, whether you call it oneness or love or even God.

"Spirituality is very individual; people find what resonates with them," said Paula Caracappa of White Plains, who heads the network. "It is about honoring the part of myself that is eternal, the most authentic. For me, that takes quiet time, meditation, being peaceful, which is hard in this fast-paced world."

Caracappa is a self-described "holistic wellness practitioner" who promises to help clients heal through meditation, stress reduction, the energy-channeling technique known as reiki and other methods. Her often colorful colleagues in the holistic network practice or teach meditation, yoga, healing-touch, acupuncture, hypnotherapy, feng shui, reflexology, quantum bio-feedback, astrology and other "modalities," including the channeling of the dead.

Meditation and yoga have been enthusiastically embraced by many mainstream seekers - Christians and Jews - while other holistic approaches are little known or even ridiculed. But taken as a group, these practices show the many alternative paths that suburbanites are taking to try to connect with something beyond themselves.

Growing numbers of people describe themselves as "spiritual but not religious," even if few people can agree on what it means.

"I think people are dissatisfied with traditional religions, and I think we're evolving into the mainstream," said the Rev. C.C. Banks, spiritual director of the Center for Spiritual Living in White Plains, a congregation that honors all paths to God and teaches that God is life itself, love itself and the "one mind common to all people."

Banks spoke at a recent monthly gathering of the holistic network, where the subject was the meaning of spirituality.

"Everyone seems to be into some form of meditation or yoga, being with silence or getting in touch with the divine," she said.

A recent study by the Pew Center on Religion & Public Life found that 16.1 percent of Americans are not affiliated with any religion. But only 4 percent describe themselves as atheist or agnostic.

"Some of them are what you might call the spiritual but not religious people who may pray, may have religious beliefs, but are not involved in any kind of religious institution," said the Pew Forum's John Green.

In his 2001 book, "Spiritual, But Not Religious," Robert C. Fuller, a professor at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., wrote that little was understood about how unchurched Americans assemble "bits and pieces of spiritual philosophy into a meaningful whole."

He wrote: "Spirituality exists wherever we struggle with the issue of how our lives fit into the greater cosmic scheme of things. This is true even when our questions never give way to specific answers or give rise to specific practices such as prayer or meditation. We encounter spiritual issues every time we wonder where the universe comes from, why we are here, or what happens when we die."

When close to 50 holistic practitioners gathered at a Westchester convent, the meeting was marked by a sense of openness and mutual respect. There was hardly a judgmental moment.

Caracappa led the group through a brief meditation, as everyone straightened their backs, closed their eyes and inhaled deeply through pursed lips. "As the breath flows through you, let it wash away any blockages, congestion, anything in the way of you having the very best day - the very best life - you can have," she said.

An astrologer shared some thoughts about Pluto's chaos-creating effect on Earth, and everyone got 28 seconds to tell their stories and describe their approach.

One of the few things the group seemed to have in common was a lack of respect for organized religion. Rory Pinto, a New York City-based "spiritual healer" who seeks to help people grow more conscious of their "oneness with God and the universe," told the gathering that his strict Catholic upbringing struck him as cruel.

"I'm not interested in dogma," he said. "I'm not interested in belief. I don't have a religious ax to grind. I'm interested in helping people achieve their own experience of what oneness is."

Jessica Lawrence of White Plains, a former claims adjustor who began to study hands-on healing 15 years ago after back surgery, summed up well the holistic attitude about religion.

"We are all connected," she said. "We don't have to worry about if it's God."

Oddly, several holistic practitioners emphasized the same sublime goal that Franciscans and rabbis have long preached: inspiring people to see day-to-day life as a blessing and to apply their religious or spiritual beliefs to their actions.

"We have this idea that there is religion and secular," said Sylvia Golbin of Saddle River, N.J., an "earth wisdom teacher" who seeks to apply the wisdom of indigenous peoples to today's changing world. "There is no separation. If you understand spirituality, we are human beings having a spiritual experience. Every moment - this moment - is a spiritual moment. We become a co-creator with spirit."

Pat Lavin, a hypnotherapist and life coach from Pelham, said most people are really seeking the same connections and meaning but are separated by antiquated categories that pit people against one another.

"We've been divided and pigeonholed for so long," she said. "I belong to this church and you belong to that church. You converted from this to that. We're starting to find our similarities and to see our common humanity. So many of us don't even know the similarities because they aren't stressed."

Holistic practitioners, by and large, offer "healing" from a variety of ailments that wound bodies and spirit in this high-tech, often impersonal culture - the effects of competition, persistent anxiety about things beyond our control, the loneliness that comes from being cut off from community. They advocate slowing down, setting aside periods of quiet, and tapping into the spiritual wisdom that people have shared across cultures and eras.

"Love is at the core of all traditions," Pinto said. "It's a willingness to love, to experience your being as love. Some might call it God."

Golbin had everyone laughing as they left to continue their journeys: "You know what the Buddha said to the hot dog vendor: Make me one with everything."

Reach Gary Stern at gstern@lohud.com or 914-694-3513.