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A Review of: “The Soul ofthe Story: Meetings withRemarkable People. (2005).”J. Marvin SpiegelmanPublished online: 21 Dec 2006.

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Psychological Perspectives, 49: 307–326, 2006Copyright c© C. G. Jung Institute of Los AngelesISSN: 0033-2925 print / 1556-3030 onlineDOI: 10.1080/00332920600998742

Book Reviews

THE SOUL OF THE STORY: MEETINGS

WITH REMARKABLE PEOPLE.(2005).By Rabbi David Zeller.WOODSTOCK, VT: JEWISH LIGHTS.

Reviewed by J. Marvin Spiegelman

“I was raised an orthodoxJungian and a Reform Jew.

Through a lot of wandering andwondering, I became an OrthodoxJew and a reform Jungian.” DavidZeller begins his own remarkablestory in this way and easily bothcharms and touches us as he re-counts his meeting and studyingwith many outstanding teachersof diverse traditions on his ownspiritual quest. Born to two of thefour founders of Jungian psychol-ogy in Los Angeles, Dr. Max andLore Zeller, he lovingly details hisupbringing in a house devoted todreams and other manifestations ofthe unconscious—including the firstI Ching he threw, “The Wanderer,”which was interpreted by his fatheras wandering in academia but which

was literally lived out by David, ashis beloved teachers Reb ShlomoCarlebach (who awakened his soul)and Reb Zalman Schacter (whocould map the territory) called him.

Rabbi Zeller began his meetingswith remarkable people (who aremore famous and more diverse eventhan those reported by Gurdjieff,who was the person who originallytalked about meeting with remark-able men) as early as 10 years old,when he was with his parents inSwitzerland. The Zellers were onsabbatical at the time, working withJung and others. David met Jung, “al-though his initial request was turneddown,” as he, fever and all, stoodshivering in the rain awaiting themaster’s arrival. “Towering over me,”says the mature Zeller, Jung said, “Soyou must be Max Zeller’s son!” Theboy acknowledged this fact and saidthat he had heard so much aboutJung (his picture was in every roomof his house!) that he was looking for-ward to meeting him. Jung smiled,took a step back and spread his armsout wide and said, “Well, what do youthink?” David now says he is still for-mulating his answer.

It was not David’s fate to be aJungian, however, despite trying tobe a pre-med at UC Berkeley inthe 1960s. Instead, Reb Shlomo Car-lebach, singer and rabbi and mystic,“awakened” his soul. But he did notbecome a rabbi at that time either.

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308 PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES � VOLUME 49, ISSUE 2 / 2006

Graduating from university, he wenton various quests: “to an Israeli kib-butz and to India, for starters” (af-ter Alan Watts and Dr. Ho of I Ching

fame, as well as the Native Ameri-can teacher, Thomas Banyacya). Hisyear on a kibbutz was followed bya year as a sadhu in the holy cityof Vrindavan under the estimableSri Pad. There he was a totally de-voted student, barefoot and dressedin simple Indian garb, eating frugally,meditating and following the master.He ultimately left, after side experi-ences with the famous Neem KaroliBaba (the guru of Ram Dass) and SaiBaba. The encounter with Ram Dassultimately led to a friendship of sig-nificant importance, and many yearslater, Rabbi Zeller was able to invitethis famous spiritual leader to Israel.

The Jewish aspect, however,seemed always to creep in. Not onlydid he have meaningful contact witha Calcutta rabbi, but he also hadthe privilege of meeting with “theMother,” the partner and leader withSri Aurobindo, at her ashram anddiscovered that she, too, was orig-inally Jewish—an Austrian Jewess!This phase was capped by a jour-ney to “Jew Town,” as they calledit, the ancient Cochin capital whereJews had lived in peace, “unlike mostplaces in the world” for 2,000 years.

I am addressing this multiplic-ity of experience geographically andin terms of names, it seems, butthere is insufficient space to detailthe teachings that he achieved witheach encounter. He presents eachadventure and encounter with open-

ness and respect, ready to learn andtransform.

Coming back from India, Davidfound his place in psychology af-ter all, even helping to found theInstitute of Transpersonal Psychol-ogy, teaching and deepening spiritu-ally, both himself and others. Alongthe way, he met and became friendswith Carlos Castaneda, the Shintopriest Nakasono Sensei, and mostimportantly, Reb Zalman Schacter,who provided the intellectual aspectof his growing interest in rabbinicalstudies. David ultimately achievedordination in no ordinary way. Hehad married, established the firstundergraduate program at JohnstonCollege, and helped to found thedoctoral program at the Instituteof Transpersonal Psychology. Finallymaking up for not getting a doctor-ate, as his father would have liked,he simply became a professor andassociate director of that institution!Yet people kept asking him if hewere a rabbi, since he wove Jew-ish mystical teachings into what-ever he taught. He took the hintand studied ever more deeply withReb Shlomo and others, even thoughhe knew that he did not want tobe a congregational rabbi. Yet helearned a great deal and asked acolleague in Israel, Reb Gedaliah,to give him ordination. That worthyconfessed that he did not have ithimself, despite all his learning andknowledge, since he never soughtit! A couple of years later, how-ever, Reb Shlomo Carlebach told himthat it was time and put his hands

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REVIEWS 309

on Dovidel, following the ancientmethod of transmission, and he wasdeeply empowered. However, be-cause he was unorthodoxly function-ing as a rabbi, teaching and hob-nobbing with all sorts of spiritualpersons and traditions, some peoplewere scandalized. Rabbi Zeller thenwent to Rabbi Yaakov Ruderman, anequivalent of a Supreme Court Judgein the Jewish hierarchy and, after 3days of thinking about it, Rabbi Rud-erman validated his smicha, 100%,urging him to go out in the world, justas he was doing, and with the title ofrabbi.

With enhanced confidence, RabbiZeller did indeed expand his teach-ing and singing, even healing, al-though he did not see himself asa healer. A famous healer, JackSchwarz, told him that “if someoneasks you to do something that youdon’t think that you can do, do it!The reason he is asking you, and notsomeone else, is because he, or God,knows that you can do it. Don’t justlisten to yourself. Listen to what theuniverse is asking of you.” Zeller hastried to follow this advice, althoughhe has limited himself to trying toheal his own children, experiencingthe energy and life force vibrating inhis hands. They, in turn, now do thiswith their own children, his grand-children.

The following chapters of Zeller’sbook detail further meetings withSwami Radha, Kennet Roshi, SwamiVishnu Devananda, and a suprisingcontact with Carl Rogers. At a con-ference of the Association of Human-

istic Psychology, Rabbi Zeller wasinvited to sing a song or two be-tween some of the speakers. Com-ing on stage just as Professor Rogerswas finishing his talk on how to injecthis philosophy of unconditional posi-tive regard into politics, Zeller said tohim that he was so glad to meet himbecause “for a long time I’ve wantedto say to you that I think that you’reone of the most manipulative peopleI know.”

The audience gasped, of course,and Zeller added in explanation:“From my years in India, spiritualityand transpersonal psychology, I’vecome to appreciate how hard it isto really see a person with uncon-ditional positive regard, to truly seesomeone without the judgmental fil-ters that normally distort our per-ception.” He went on to say thatlooking at people with such love andcompassion “means not seeing or ac-cepting them as they are. It means

accepting them as they could be.”

This is a way of seeing people as theirsoul intended them to be, whichmeans, “they have no choice butto change, to come closer to theirsoul’s purpose. And that’s manipula-tion. But it is one of the highest ser-vices you can do to another humanbeing. Thank you.”

Professor Rogers understoodZeller and knew deeply what hemeant. More importantly, I think,Rabbi Zeller presented his ownattitude toward his own spiritualpath and his teaching of others.

Zeller’s life seems to be a charmedone, yet he has suffered as well,

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particularly in the illness and deathof his first wife, Elana, when theywent to Israel to stay. He ultimatelyrecovered from this terrible loss,if one can, and married again, asElana said she wished him to do,to Hannah-Sara, experiencing a true“life after death.”

I have not mentioned all of RabbiZeller’s encounters, but suffice it tosay that he has continued to travel,several times a year, throughout theworld as a storyteller, teacher, andmusician. He has established, in ad-dition to the Institute of Transper-sonal Psychology, several Jewish or-ganizations devoted to expandingconsciousness, bringing creativityand renewed spirituality. He has alsoproduced five albums of meditativeand healing music. Now, finally, afterbeing asked to do so for many years,he has brought forward this delight-ful book. In doing this work, he hassurely carried on not only his ownindividuation but the spiritual worklooked for by his parents and oth-ers. In this endeavor, he has surelyserved the dedication expressed inthe beginning of his book: to thememory of his grandparents, mur-dered in the Holocaust, to his de-ceased father, to his rebbe, and to hismother, all of whom, no doubt, cankvell with nachas (joy and pride).

Full disclosure: I first met Davidin 1948, when he was 2 and I was22, just starting graduate school. His

father, Dr. Max Zeller, had kindly in-vited me to his home to learn aboutJungian psychology. I was served teain the living room by his eldest sonDanny, and was utterly enchantedas Max told of a dream that waslike a fairytale. In the kitchen wereLore, daughter Jackie, and youngerson David. The latter cried lustilybut this subsided quickly. I next metDavid about 3 years later. I was nowin analysis with Max and he wascalled away, for a moment, by Lore.After a couple of minutes, Davidwalked into the room and immedi-ately sat down on his father’s chair,just across from me. He was the spit-ting image of his Dad and sat thereconfidently, as if to say that the anal-ysis could now continue. Well, hehas not become an analyst or ther-apist (his older brother, Danny, is atherapist and teacher and his oldersister, Jacqueline, is indeed a Jun-gian analyst), but he has surely car-ried on that spirit of enlightenmentand compassion in a most wonder-ful way. I am glad that Lore, now re-tired and herself an Honorary Ana-lyst, can, as it is said, “live to see thisday.”

J. Marvin Spiegelman, Ph.D., is a

Zurich-trained analyst in Studio City,

CA, and is the author and editor of nu-

merous books and articles.

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