Story Booth: Emanuel Kuntzelman

Emanuel Kuntzelman: And I did change my name. So, another big turning point.

Paulette Pipe: What was your name before?

Emanuel Kuntzelman: James.

Paulette Pipe: Okay. And just for our listeners who may not know, Emanuel is a very spiritual name, and it means God with us. So no accident that you end up on this quest where your life started, where it's taking you, and you get this name change, God with us. I'm just wondering what that was like, tell me more about that.

Emanuel Kuntzelman: Well, von Bissing was very involved with a spiritual practice at that time. Called the Ladihan. It was developed by an Indonesian teacher. And von Bissing, when the Gurdjieff-Uspensky work was winding down in the mid-1950s.

Gurdjieff passed away in '49. Ouspensky shortly thereafter, and they had all these followers, particularly in the UK. It was a big thing. And everybody was asking, well, what's the next phase of the work?

The fourth way, as it was called. They were all expecting something, somebody to happen to show them the way forward. And von Bissing met someone who knew of this gentleman from Indonesia, his name was Pak Subuh. And von Bissing took it upon himself to invite Pak Subuh.

To Europe and helped finance the trip and brought Pak Subuh. To the UK. Somewhere there. Don't remember the exact year, I think 54, 55, something like that.

And organized grand meetings of all the Gurdjieff-Uspensky followers and all that to meet Pak Subuh. And so Pak Subuh had come up with this kind of—I would call it a type of meditation. They did not, but it's a kind of reception of spiritual energy. Consisting of emptying yourself, just getting down to the bare bones of nothing, and opening yourself, surrendering to the cosmic flow, as it was.

And this was practiced by a group called Susila Buddhi Dharma. At that time, the acronym was Subud. They're still active today. It's a very small, clandestine group.

The number one law is you don't proselytize, and you never even talk about it unless you're asked. So, it doesn't spread like wildfire. That was one of the things I liked most about it.

Paulette Pipe: 4.

Emanuel Kuntzelman: There was no proselytizing and you weren't supposed to talk about it. So I was introduced to the practice. With Van Bissing and became very close to him. I guess I was sort of his disciple at the time, not that we use that kind of terminology. I visited the Super World headquarters, all that sort of thing. When was that?

Paulette Pipe: Sorry, where was that?

Emanuel Kuntzelman: Well, it moves around. At that time, it was in Wolfsburg, Germany, but I did do a pilgrimage there. That kind of threw me out, because I still had long hair and wild ideas, and I was far too radical for that one, too. So, that was okay.

Anyway, in 19, I believe it was 76, Zubud and Van Bissing organized a trip for Pak Subuh to come again to Europe, in this case, Barcelona. And so I went with Van Bissing to this gathering. And we went early, and since Van Bissing had originally brought Pak Subuh, he was very close to him, so we had private meetings with him. And we went up to Monserrat, which is a jagged mountain with these high energy rocks.

It's sort of the spiritual symbol of Catalonia. And they're outside of Barcelona and we went up there. It was a very heavy duty energy spot. Van Bissing and myself and a few others, a translator for Pak Subu, and met with him there in the cafeteria of the monastery.

Had a couple of days' sessions, and Van Bissing kindly introduced me as a spiritual seeker, possibly a potential leader, or facilitator, or whatever. And Bapak, Pak Subu, his diminutive name was Bapak, and he sized me up. And he said, well, if you're gonna do that kind of work, the first thing you gotta do is change your name. You've got the wrong name.

He said, that's no problem, your parents didn't know that. They just chose the name they like. He said, but your name is the most important thing in your life. You hear it umpteen times a day.

It's your identity, it's what people call you, and if you're gonna do this work, you gotta have the right name. And I said, well, fair enough, whatever. Anyway, he said, okay, I'm gonna give you an initial that the name should start with. And that is E.

He said, and now you think about it and choose 5 names that begin with an E. And give them to me. And I'll let you know which one is the most appropriate. So I did.

Then I gave him 5 names, but I remember thinking the only name in here are these 5 that would even remotely interest me in changing my name is Emanuel. But I'm not going to tell him that. Let's let the game play itself out. Anyway, long story, not quite so interminable.

Park Subuh said, yes, your proper name is Emanuel. And I suggest that you change that. And I said, okay, I'm willing to do that. And he said, well, before you go ahead with that.

There's a few rules of the game here. That's a very heavy burden carrying that name. Do you feel like you're up to the challenge? I said, well, I'll do what I can, and the best I can, and I'll try and be worthy and humble, and I'm willing to give it my best shot.

He said, okay, well, then some of the ground rules are, along with Subud and all that kind of thing, is one. You change your name, but don't tell people why unless they ask. And as a matter of fact, don't say anything about your search, your mission, your place in life, anything you're doing, unless you are specifically asked. Or it arises in a conversation from someone's curiosity that generates it, but never on your own initiative.

Should you talk about yourself, your spiritual understandings, or anything related to that? Never even think of proselytizing, saying anything. You don't know anything. You are a humble servant.

You remain quiet until asked. Is that understood? I said, yeah, I got it. And you will take a vow to do that.

Paulette Pipe: Wow.

Emanuel Kuntzelman: I take a bow. Which was curious because. It's amazing how little people ask! I found out myself going decades at a time, never talking about this. I would say right now, on this little conversation we're having, this is the first time I've ever recorded. This story, there's a little bit maybe in some of my bios somewhere or something, but I've never told this story before, because I've never been specifically asked.