Paolo Propato, an acupuncture therapist and meditation teacher, will share his work and life's journey at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 22 East Chestnut Hill Ave., at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 24.

by Sue Ann Rybak

As a child growing up in a large Italian family, Paolo Propato, 37, of Horsham, said he never had to go to his friends’ houses to play. He said his family was his community.

“It was great because you learned to live in a world outside of yourself and how to self-less. You become a community, but you never really know who you are because you only play inside of that community. So when your inner calling is leading you somewhere different, it can be difficult because you think 'This is so foreign to me. I am not supposed to want this,’” Propato said, referring to his journey to become a meditation teacher and healer.

On Sunday, April 24, 2 p.m., at The Center for Contemporary Mysticism at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 22 East Chestnut Hill Ave., Propato, an acupuncture therapist and meditation teacher, will share his life's journey and the powerful divine encounters that helped shape it.

Even as a young child, unlike his brothers and sisters, he said he experienced unusual spiritual encounters. Propato recalled how as a toddler he would often say “Momma, San Francesco è la visione di me mentre ho sonno,” in Italian, which means “Momma, St. Francis is watching me while I sleep.”

He explained that in the small town where his family is from in Italy, there is a statue of St. Francis of Paola. “Even though this seems like a childish thing, my mother didn't brush off these stories because maybe the child sees more than us. I always put off these experiences as a kid because I never wanted to be looked at as weird,” he said. “Rumi (13th century Persian poet) once said, 'Adults don't throw away logic and reason just because the child doesn't understand it.'  I also believe that just because someone else doesn't see something or experience something doesn't mean it’s not happening.”

As a young man, Propato worked with his siblings in the family's landscaping business. Growing up, he suffered from severe sinus headaches and other health issues. A friend suggested he try acupuncture and meditation to help relieve the pain. It changed his life and began a journey of self awareness. He began reading a large variety of sacred texts including the Koran, Tripitaka (the discourses of the Buddha), the New Testament and books written by Rumi, St. Thomas Merton and other mystics.

Propato said he was struggling to find his purpose in life when he felt called to be an acupuncturist.

He recalled sitting in a acupuncturist's office waiting to be seen when he became enveloped by a book on Chinese Medicine. “It was as if someone had whispered in my ear and said, 'Paolo, you should be a healer.' I decided at that moment to study Chinese Medicine and become an acupuncturist and meditation teacher.”

Paolo said people too often get caught up in the rituals of religion and do not focus on making an inner connection. “Religion is like a window, and on the other side of the window is God, but it still separates you from God. Eventually you have to pass through the window.”

Paolo recalled a quote by Anthony de Mello, an Indian Jesuit priest and psychotherapist: “We see people and things not as they are but as we are. That is why when two people look at something or someone, you get too different reactions.”

Paolo said one of the greatest human gifts is to be aware, to be in touch with oneself, one's body, mind, feelings, thoughts and sensations: “Then and only then will we be open to hearing God's voice in our lives.”

For more information about Sunday’s event, visit contemporarymysticism.org