He studied with theologians Rudolf Otto and Paul Tillich, the philosopher Martin Heidegger, and the psychologist Carl Jung.
He joined Stanford as a lecturer in religion in 1941 and retired in 1962 as professor of Indian civilization in the Department of Asiatic and Slavic Studies.
[1] In 1950, Spiegelberg invited Indian professor of philosophy Haridas Chaudhuri, who had done his dissertation on the Integral philosophy of Sri Aurobindo, to join the staff of the newly formed American Academy of Asian Studies in San Francisco, the first accredited U.S. graduate school devoted exclusively to the study of Asiatic lands and peoples.
This school was closed and replaced in 1968 by the California Institute of Asian (now Integral) Studies founded by Haridas Chaudhuri where Spiegelberg served as president from 1976 to 1978.
[2] Spiegelberg was also involved in founding the Esalen Institute with former student Michael Murphy and Dick Price.