Spiritual Intelligence is the ultimate intelligence which we address and solve problems of meaning and value, the intelligence with which we can place our actions and our lives in a wider, richer, meaning-giving context, the intelligence with which we can assess that one course of action or one life path is more meaningful than another (Zohar & Marshall).
Spiritual Intelligence is not necessarily religious or even dependent upon religion as its foundation. It can be defined against or observed through some telling criteria such as: truthfulness, compassion, respect for all levels of consciousness, constructive empathy, a sense of being a player in a large whole, generosity of spirit and action, a seeking of being 'in tune' with or 'in synch' with nature of the universe, and being comfortable with being alone without being lonely (Clive Simpkins).
Those who have Spiritual Intelligence: have the capacity for transcendence; have heightened consciousness; have the capacity to endow everyday activity with a sense of the sacred; use spiritual resources on practical problems; engage in virtuous behaviour (forgiveness, gratitude, humility, compassion and wisdom (Robert A. Emmons).
The characteristics of Spiritual Intelligence are: awareness of others; wonder, awe, a sense of the numinous (astronomy, microbiology, cosmology); wisdom (proverbs, sages); perspective, ability to listen: "Be still and know that I am God"; comfort with chaos, dichotomy, paradox; commitment, dedication, faith; holds the promise or hope fulfilment (Illini Christian Faculty).
Spiritual Intelligence is the ultimate way of knowing. We use it to envision unrealized possibilities and to transcend the methodical plod of life. We use it also to understand pain, to answer the basic philosophical questions about life and to find meaning both temporally and existentially (Cynthia R. Davis).
Features
Capacity to be flexible, actively and spontaneously adaptive.
High self-awareness.
A capacity to face and use suffering.
A capacity to face and transcend pain.
The quality of being inspired by vision and values.
A reluctance to cause unnecessary harm.
A tendency to see connections between diverse things.
A marked tendency to ask 'Why?' and 'What if?' questions and to seek fundamental answers.
Being 'field-independent' - possessing a facility for working against convention.
Research
The "God spot" in the human brain is a built-in spiritual centre and located among neural connections in the temporal lobes (Persinger, Ramachandran 1997). On scans taken with positron emission topography these neural areas light up whenever research subjects are exposed to discussion of spiritual or religious topics. The God spot does not prove the existence of God but it does show that the brain is sensitive to wider meaning and value.
Singer (1990's) has shown that there is a neural process in the brain devoted to unifying and giving meaning to our experience - a neural process that literally "binds" our experience together. Singer’s work on unifying neural oscillations offers the first hint of a third kind of thinking, unitive thinking, which can deal with questions of meaning. Prior to Singer only two forms of brain neural organization were recognized: for IQ where serially connected neural tracts allow that brain to follow rules, to think logically and rationally, step-by-step; for EQ, our emotion-driven, habit-building intelligence, where bundles of up to a hundred thousand neurones are connected in a haphazard fashion to other massive bundles.
Terrance Deacon (1997) has researched into the evolution of symbolic imagination and its role in brain functioning that underpins SQ.
Ref: Spiritual Intelligence: the Ultimate Intelligence (Zohar & Marshall, 2000)
Assessing Your SQ
The following qualities are ones associated with (SQ) Spiritual Intelligence. Print this page and indicate the correct number to each question that applies to you.
Never 1
Occasionally 2
Sometimes 3
Often 4
Almost Always 5
I am flexible and adapt to meet the needs of the situation.____
I am spontaneous in meeting new situations.____
I have a high degree of self-awareness.____
I have the capacity to understand and transcend physical or psychological pain.____
I have a connection to the Creator/God and align my life to serving his/her purpose.____
I see all religions as having parts of the truth and seek to understand the commonalties in these patterns.____
My inner life is as important to me as my outer life.____
I seek meaning and purpose in life.____
My views of good and evil, right and wrong, are somewhat outside the ordinary and contain many shades of grey.____
I discover and dissolve obstacles to my spiritual growth.____
I trust the divine to give me what I need.____
I have a good sense of unique gifts.____
I have healed myself of untrue beliefs that I have learned from my family or culture.____
I can live in uncertainty without knowing the answers.____
I know the truth without being told.____
People often comment on my playful childlike nature.____
I put events in a larger context to understand significance.____
I stand alone against others in society/family if their path sacrifices my spiritual integrity.____
I live my life with joy and optimism.____
I recognize higher spiritual values in others and align myself to these.____
My actions are for the highest long-term good of others.____
I love all living beings and do not harm them.____
I sacrifice my personal ego needs to do what best serves others - even strangers.____
I give my time to help others.____
I give my money or material resources to help others.____
I accept life and people as presented without having to change them.____
My goal in life is to act with compassion.____
I develop my spiritual intelligence through disciplined spiritual exercise like meditation, reading spiritual books, or taking spiritual courses.____
My work helps to develop people's consciousness.____
I understand and act to solve the underlying cause of problems.____
I act responsibly to help the Earth.____
Ref: International Institute for Transformation, 2001. Created by DalyPlanet Communications.
Another Way to Test Your SQ
Answer true or false to the following questions:
Co-dependents give of themselves until there is no real self left.
Some people have a black hole inside themselves which consumes their life.
Addictive people should work primarily to be free of their addiction.
People become addicts because they are trying to feel good.
Our life depends on what happens to us.
Peace comes when we get our affairs settled.
There is only one diagnosis for all dysfunctional behaviour.
Too much pressure causes stress.
If you are in a difficult marriage, leave it and then start working on yourself.
Problems and adversities are the main cause of marital discord.
Most people find that the hardest person to forgive is themselves.
When you cannot forgive another, they control you.
All people are religious.
Religion is about spirituality.
How To Develop Spiritual Intelligence
Develop self-awareness (inner-life skills, relationships, art and reflection, nature, music and emotional expression, self-analysis but not paralysis, journal/diary and habitual responses, reflection upon dreams, end-of-the-day).
Get comfortable with paradox.
Feel strongly that I want to change.
Reflect on what my own centre is and on what my deepest motivations are.
Ponder the problem of pain.
Discover and dissolve obstacles (reframing).
Explore many possibilities to go forward.
Commit to a path but be prepared to change it.
Cultivate spiritual practices.
Live to serve.
Spiritual Intelligence for Couples
Separate from the family of origin.
Build togetherness and create autonomy.
Spirituality in crises.
Spirituality and conflict.
Spirituality and sexual intimacy.
Sharing laughter.
Emotional nurturance.
Preserve "double vision".
Spiritual Intelligence Coaching
Individual coaching in Spiritual Intelligence is offered by Dr Cynthia Davis. The emphasis is on inner-life skills and the development of self-awareness. Superficial concepts of happiness are challenged and skills taught to enable clients to live as spiritually intelligent people. Clients are assisted to balance material pursuits with their intellectual, emotional and spiritual growth so that they may be happy in spite of circumstances not because of them.
