What is Spiritual Intelligence?

What if I told you that there was a form of intelligence innate in all beings that was superior to one’s IQ. With all the emphasis our society has put on intelligence and IQ in prior generations the world’s leading thinkers have, in recent decades, come to understand there is a form of intelligence that is far superior to traditional intelligence or so-called “book smarts.”

That form of intelligence is known as Spiritual Intelligence, or SQ.

In addition to Emotional Intelligence (which is the ability to perceive, use, understand, manage, and handle emotions) and IQ (which is short for Intelligence Quotient), there is what we call Spiritual Intelligence, or SQ.

Spiritual intelligence is the most important because it has a direct effect on these other two. In fact, researchers have found in recent years due to breakthroughs in neuroscience, the other two types of intelligence aren’t “fixed” qualities. In other words, they can be enhanced and improved upon depending on one’s spiritual intelligence.

Spiritual intelligence is the spiritual parallel of IQ and EQ.  According to Stephen Covey and other leading thinkers, "Spiritual intelligence is the central and most fundamental of all the intelligences, because it becomes the source of guidance for the others."

Spiritual intelligence expands a person’s capacity to understand others at their deepest levels. It also enables a person to discern both the 'true cause' of behavior without judgment, and to serve the 'true needs' of others until they learn to meet their own needs without help.

It requires constant self awareness. The more self-aware a person becomes, the more they are able to “walk in the spirit.” Because of time and life, surrender is seen to be an action word that requires on-going vigilance.

When a person loses self-awareness, however, they are prone to acting out reactive mind patterns and living from their conditioning, which is governed by their fears and their desires. From sunrise to sun set, from cradle to grave, there are two fundamental emotions that motivate people throughout their lives and that is fear and desire.

Because of this, the best way to cultivate Spiritual Intelligence and constantly “walk in the spirit,” is to develop constant self-awareness. You have to neutralize your fears and desires with spiritual awareness. This means paying attention to what you are thinking and doing constantly as you go about your day and live your life. The more a person abides in self-awareness, the more likely they are to elevate their level of EQ and IQ.

Spiritual intelligence is also defined as the capacity to ask serious questions about the ultimate meaning of life; it helps us to better integrate our relationship with others and the world in which we live. Cultivating spiritual intelligence improves a person’s overall psychological well-being and physical health and helps them attain their goals in life and become of maximum service to others.

Overall, unequivocally, world history demonstrates that spiritual intelligence is a higher level of intelligence that goes above and beyond cognitive and emotional intelligence and it basically boils down to understanding consciousness, what consciousness is, what it means to be a conscious entity in the universe and how one’s own finite and seemingly individual consciousness is connected to one’s creator.

12 principles underlying spiritual intelligence:

Humility: Understanding one’s true place in the world and having the sense of being one player in a larger drama unfolding. Freedom from pride really is the common sense understanding that if there’s anything good about you, you had nothing to do with it. Everything, including you, belongs to God. No one is “special.” Pride is for fools.

Compassion: Having the ability to "feel with" another and have deep empathy. It is the feeling that arises when you are confronted with another person’s suffering and you feel compelled to help and relieve that suffering.

Self-awareness: This one is huge; it is also knowing what you truly believe in and value most, and what deeply motivates you. It includes the ability to focus on yourself constantly and see how your thoughts, actions, and emotions do or don't align with your standards. If you are a highly self-aware individual, you will be able to objectively evaluate yourself on a constant basis and regulate your emotions to align your behavior with your values, and correctly understand how you are perceived by others. Self awareness is mirrored by selflessness.

Spontaneity: Living in the present moment and being responsive to the moment without reacting from your mental conditioning. Being creative and not living from your conditioning. Being “childlike.” Spontaneous people are creative; they are ready to do something without a moment's notice. They live in the moment and when life presents them challenges, they intuitively know how to handle situations.

Being led by values and a vision: Acting from spiritual principles and deep held beliefs, and living accordingly. Thinking of the greater good of all.

Holism: The ability to see larger patterns, relationships, and connections and having a sense of belonging. 

Field independence: Having the ability to stand against the crowd and stand behind your own convictions.

Celebrating diversity: Valuing others for their differences, not despite their differences and understanding variety is the spice of life.

Ability to reframe things: Being able to stand back from a situation or problem in life and seeing the bigger picture or wider context. This helps you to avoid “sweating the small stuff” and seeing how life is so short and precious, that our daily dramas are actually very minor.

The tendency to ask fundamental questions, like Why?: The undying need to understand things and get to the bottom of the nature of reality. It can also manifest as an undying thirst to know.

Positive use of adversity: Learning to use life’s setbacks and mistakes as springboards for growth. Utilizing one’s pain and suffering for growth and ultimately helping others.

Sense of vocation: Feeling called upon to serve a greater good and give back for being blessed with the sacred gift of life.

To sum it all up …

One of the most brilliant minds of all time, Einstein, once said:

"The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe."

As a person believes, so shall it be done unto them.

Spiritual intelligence thrives when a person truly understands the unconditional love of their creator. If a person believes the universe to be a hostile place, their beliefs will ultimately shape it into just that. The outer world is a mere reflection of the inner world.

When you realize that your creator is all-loving and all-powerful, you realize why they say “perfect love casts out all fear.”

Truly self-aware, spiritually intelligent individuals can maintain a constant sense of love and compassion for all their fellow humans because they understand firsthand how tough life can be.

They understand that people are doing the best they can and people wouldn’t have shortcomings and character defects if they could help it. Because they are thinking about others and not just themself, they don’t take things personally either. 

They have faith that everyone really is doing the best they can. They understand, firsthand, how short life is. Life truly is a sacred gift that should not be squandered holding resentments or living in fear.

Spiritual wisdom brings the understanding that no matter how bad a person might seem on the surface, deep down we are all children of God and deserve nothing short of unconditional love. People are doing the best they can from the level of consciousness they are at. They would not be the way they are if they could help it.

Ultimate Spiritual Intelligence

Ultimately, the highest form of spiritual intelligence comes with the complete understanding of impermanence and the futility of worldly-pursuits and worldly pleasures.

True spiritual intelligence is the complete understanding that a relationship with one’s creator is the highest form of enjoyment one can attain in life.

Worldly pleasures pale in comparison to the truly devout spiritual life that embraces selflessness, renunciation and service to others.

Great masters of all ages say all the pleasures in the world are a drop in the bucket compared to the undying, eternal bliss of self-realization or enlightenment.

This is the spiritual “rebirth” Christ talks about. Having realized the source of lasting fulfillment comes from within, the inner world becomes the source of endless joy.

“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,” Christ said. “But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Sacrifice is the law of nature

These heightened states of consciousness require the utmost purity of being. You essentially have to become selfless, loving and completely devoid of negative thinking. Any sort of sinful or negative behavior has dire consequences. 

Any supernatural spiritual abilities that arise must be renounced for personal gain and only used when it is for the benefit of helping others. They must never be used for personal gain.

Pure consciousness is our True Nature. This is the spirit behind all creation. In order to realize pure consciousness, one must become “perfect, just as your father in heaven is perfect.”

“Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.”

Purity implies open mindedness, undying kindness, unconditional love, compassion, honesty, gratitude, joy and detachment from this world. Renunciation is the way to God.

It requires a constant, moment-by-moment undying surrender to the creator, a level of one-pointedness that would seem supernatural in today’s age of instant gratification and luxury. Western society is inundated with a billion forms of pleasure and entertainment. All of this, of course, is designed to distract you and keep us all divided.

My advice would be to guard your heart and guard your mind like the sacred temple of the creator it is intended to be. I guard my thought life diligently and only take in positive information. 

I do not watch television or read the news.

I do not engage in social media.

I am very selective of the people I surround myself with.

I spend all my waking hours devoted to the spiritual path and because sacrifice is the law of nature, moving forward my only goal is to make this world a better place one day at a time, one person at a time, with the end goal in mind of living a simple, humble, life.