Message from: Dr. James Hollis

I am pleased and honored to second the recommendation of Soheil Rezaei, the Founder and Director of the Life Cultural Foundation in Teheran, Iran. My wholly pro bonorelationship with Director Rezaei began well over fifteen years ago when he wrote to me asking basic questions about Jungian terms, how to set up an educational program explaining, and how to promote the insights of Carl Jung and analytic psychology. That request led to conversations around critical analytic concepts, book suggestions, and the kind of questions which analytic psychology addresses. That led to setting up a provisional multi-semester, developmental curriculum. During this time we did a number of online consultations and several times I spoke live to his classes in Teheran.

Recently, I was thrilled to learn of the creation of the Life Cultural Foundation in Teheran whose stated purpose is to promote the ideas of analytic psychology and to address pathways for both personal growth and development of its citizens but also to provide lens through which to see and appreciate at deeper levels the rich cultural Persian heritage of literature, spirituality, and aesthetic achievements through the centuries. The application of the insights of Jung and analytic psychology provides a rare opening for and into a population of millions who have so much to share with the Western world, and so much to profit from our analytic heritage.

I support this nomination of Director Rezaei because I know him to be a man of his word, a man who is sincerely devoted to service in this world, and a man who has opened a substantive audience to the richness of analytic psychology.

With warmest regards,

Dr. James Hollis

Message from Robert Moradi

Possible Titles:

1.JUNGIAN OUTLOOK TOWARDS PERSIAN LITERATURE

Or

2. RUMI VIA JUNG

Or

3. JUNGIAN PATH TO RUMI (PERSIAN LITERATURE)

4. Or ?

A paragraph background of the writer of these lines is in the service of showing why I feel privileged to write this letter about FarhangZendegi Foundation and it’s founder Soheyl Rezai.

I grew up in Tehran and studied medicine in Shiraz then came to America at the age of 28. I knew very little about the magnitude and depth of Persian literature. It was not until I began studying Jung in my 40’s that I could begin to understand Rumi, Attar, Hafez and other parts of Persian literature.

Digging into my own Persian soul by studying Persian literature using a Jungian lens has been a healing and centering activity for my psyche.

This search has been enhanced by the formation of a small group conversing and brainstorming about how to bring this value to the larger community of Farsi speaking individuals around the world, and also how to further educate the Jungian community about Persian literature.

For this goal, Soheyl Rezaii, Azadeh Kazerani and I have been meeting weekly for 3 years. This process, that it’s aim has been the actualization of a center for development and expansion of the connection between Jung and Farsi, has proven to be an alchemical retort in which we have all being transformed while something new is beginning to take form.

I am delighted and gratefulthat Soheyl Rezai has taken on the “mothering” of this newly formed foundation. I know in my heart that this foundation is going to be the beginning of a fruitful relationshipbetween Jungian psychology and Persian culture. I stand behind my optimistic prediction based on the fact both Rumi and Jung have been recognized more and more in the recent past in the West and also my personal observation that majority of my contemporaries are in the same boat as me; meaning that we can speak, read and write in Farsibut know very little about how to decipher the meanings of Persian poetry. This limitation in our education in Iran and the conflict of the materialism of the West had left both Jung and Rumi in the shadows up until last few decades.

Soheyl Resai is the living expression of the union between these two gigantic cultural centers of human soul. I find Soheyl to be the embodiment of the humanity’s creative soul. By his attunement and deepest intuitive abilities he expands consciousness of anybody who is in contact with him. He sees and he says what he sees, and what he sees is the beauty of the butterfly in the cocoon, and then he skillfully and confidently describes the path to freedom to the worm that is wrapped up in its own threads. He performs this task by integrating his vast knowledge of Jungian thoughts with his heart that is filled with the treasures of the Persian culture. He brings this unique capability to individuals, to institutions and to financial companiesby his ability to size up the strengths and vulnerabilities of the individual and the system in which we operate.

My Jungian psychoanalytic practice has been enriched by what I have gained through my weekly meetings that Soheyl initiated. In my life experience and interactions I find Soheyl to be the most expansive visionary in the fields related to the psyche and its realistic implications in the material world. Every meeting with Soheyl is impactful for me and others he encounters. This impact is made of Soheyl’s brilliant mind in the service of healing through expansion of consciousness. You feel impacted because he says it as is without regard for validation; he just serves for the service.

In Jung, Soheyl has discovered a language by which to articulate his original thoughts on healing of one’s soul and love for humanity. He is connected to the deepest of human pain and, it is from that depth that he tells you what he sees. What he adds to the consciousness of the pain of being human and separated from one’s soul is a practical and down to earth solution.

What Soheyl gives is not necessarily what the recipient wants but it is what he/she needs. While blunt, you feel deeply respected by his addressing of the core psychological issues using Jungian articulation of the relationship between human ego and the Self. He brings to the world the ways to actualize the ego-Self axis in harmony with Rumi’s picture of

قطره دریاست اگر با دریاست

ورنه این قطره و دریا دریاست

He helps us connect to the sea of knowledge and healing powers within our own soul by recognizing that we are nothing more than a drop in the ocean of a gracethat is beyond our physical capacity to see except in our imagination.

There is no other country in the world where everyone recites poetry in almost all interactions, from the cab driver, to the doctor or the politicians. A unique culture in fact that it’s treasures had not begun to be mined by the English and French philosophers until Fitzgerald’s translation of Khayam, the scholarly devotion of Henry Corbin to Persian philosophy and Nicolson’s translation of Mathnawi in 20^th century. None of these outstanding achievements succeeded to bring much light to the larger community about the fabric of the culture until Jung reintroduced this gold to the West by his writings on alchemy.

Jung’s genius was in the discovery of the communications from the unconscious psyche to the conscious mind. Jung was prompted to take this journey by recognizing the depression of the Western culture that had been separated from its original roots as a result of the West’s interest in conquering the earth; the crusade that it’s repercussions we are currently experiencing in our physical environment. Not only the unhappiness of “Mother Earth” but Jung showed us that we each carry the depression of separation from our psychic roots in our body and soul. Jung, not having studied Rumi seems to have discovered on his own Rumi’s description that we need to listen to our suffering in order to be guided to the source from which we have been separated;

بشنو از نی چون حکایت میکند

از جدایی ها شکایت میکند

سینه میخواهم,,,

The foundation’s mission is the reconciliation of the body and soul by utilizing the knowledge and tools that Jung discovered in rediscovery of the treasures hidden and known within the Persian culture for healing of the body and soul that are embedded in its philosophy and psychology while expressed primarily in Persian poetry.

Robert Moradi

Los Angeles

2025

Message Dr. Behnaz Gholami

Assistant Professer & Senior Change Management Consultant

To Whom It May Concern,

I’m writing this letter with great respect and appreciation to recommend Mr. Soheil Rezaei, the founder of Bonyad Farhang Zendegi and a dedicated teacher of Jungian psychology.

As an assistant professor in business and a senior change management consultant, I’ve had the opportunity to work with many leaders, thinkers, and educators. Yet few have influenced me as profoundly as Soheil. Over the years, both as a mentor and as a friend, he has opened my eyes to something I didn’t know I was searching for: a way of aligning my professional path with who I truly am at the core.

Soheil’s teaching is not just about concepts or theories. He creates space for deep reflection, inviting you to confront the inner patterns that shape how you live, work, and lead. Through his guidance, I gained clarity not just about what I’m good at but about what feels right, what kind of impact I want to have in the workplace and the world based on my genuine values.

His work through Bonyad Farhang Zendegi is a rare example of what happens when psychology, culture, and education meet purposefully. The resources he has created, the classes, the books, and the community are grounded in depth and care, and have had a lasting impact on thousands of people navigating complex life transitions.

Soheil is not only a mentor who helped me reconnect with my sense of direction, but also a person of integrity and vision. I wholeheartedly recommend him to any individual or organization seeking insight, transformation, and meaningful change.

Sincerely,
Dr. Behnaz Gholami
Assistant Professor & Senior Change Management Consultant