Defining Spiritual Intelligence: What could it be?

Posted on August 25, 2010 by admin

Spiritual intelligence involves two things.
A knowledge about something in particular, another aspect of reality (the spiritual) and a particular skill set, a way of knowing and accessing, even using, that reality.

So what is that “spiritual” reality? It’s that part of reality that is largely hidden, more subtle in nature, the realm of the invisible, the metaphysical.

Many today would see it as the energetic matrix behind the physical, visible world, the zero point field, the quantum soup that’s the source of it all.

To use spiritual intelligence is to have the ability to perceive this hidden reality, to engage it, be in tune with it, and relate to it consciously.

Since this deeper, hidden reality behind the visible is the Source, the web or matrix of all that is, it then provides the context for the physical experience. As the context it provides then the meaning, the fabric of how it all fits and interrelates. It is the Transcendent web behind all the particulars.

Tuning in to this deeper reality involves connecting and becoming aware of one’s context that transcends the ego/self. This then is what provides us a sense of meaning and purpose, a knowing of who and where we are in relation to the larger cosmos, how we fit into the bigger picture of life. That bigger picture is usually what religion tries to communicate to us.

And so using one’s spiritual intelligence is to become attuned to the transpersonal, a higher reality and source, a higher wisdom that then can be a source of guidance.

But not just that. It also can serve to empower us.

This is where spiritual intelligence can be most useful. To get insight and guidance on how to live, how to understand and find/create meaning in life. And to be empowered to deal with the challenges of life, what fate presents us and the challenges of managing our selves in relation to others.

The tools provided by religion in their spiritual traditions are key for bringing the needed empowerment and guidance for our lives.

Prayer, meditation, ritual, chant, dance, art, dream interpretation, altered states of consciousness…there’s so much there that’s meant to serve us and can bring us what we need in life.

Don’t you think we need to increase our “spiritual intelligence?”

I sure do.

I’m in the process of creating a program to develop one’s spiritual intelligence…so let me know what you think!

Posted in Science and Religion, Spiritual Intelligence, meaning of life, religion, spirituality | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Way of the Heart, Spirituality vs Science

Posted on August 4, 2010 by admin

A “spiritual” person has the ability to tune into the unseen world, the metaphysical or esoteric (hidden) dimension of reality. What today we ‘d regard as the energetic or vibrational basis of the physical world.

And so it’s a certain way of knowing.

A knowing and perceiving of reality that goes beyond logic and reason, the typical empiricism of the five senses. One tunes into the hidden, non-obvious aspect of reality through feeling.

It’s been said that the shamans of old would feel the world whereas we today just see it. A First Nations elder once told Carl Jung that “you white people think with your heads, we think with our hearts.”

But being spiritual goes beyond that.

It’s not just about using a different way of knowing, one that accesses this deeper, hidden, non-obvious, dimension to life.

It’s about a different way of being, of how one relates to life, self, others. It’s fundamentally a way of relating that emphasizes connection vs separation.

With a sense of connection, one is receptive, tuned in, aware, willing to embrace, listen, include. We usually describe it as having an open heart, feeling compassion and love, seeking the higher good, service to others, generosity. And so we get all the virtues and ethical precepts associated with “being spiritual.”

We also get the sense that life is abundant and good. One can trust in the goodness and bounty of life and so be generous and forgiving, instead of hoarding and defending in fear.

The conventional way of knowing that’s limited to logic and empirical observation through the five senses is a way of relating that objectifies reality. Relates to the outer world, self and others as objects.

That of course entails a separation of distinct things. With separation comes a sense of the need to ensure the existence of one thing over and above the other, the possibility of threat, scarcity and consequently the experience of fear for one’s survival.

Einstein once said there are basically two kinds of people.

Those who see the universe as friendly and those who see it as hostile. One is love-based in perspective, the other fear-based. One can thrive or just seek to survive. Play big or small. Say Yes! or No! to life. All resulting from which stance you take (see my video on Saying Yes! to Life).

One is the way of the heart, of feeling, of presence and engagement, of connection and love. The other is the way of the head, of cold logic, separation, being objective and distant. It has its purpose and strengths but also its limitations.

We just need to understand that a great deal of the conflict between science and religion has its roots in fundamentally different ways of relating to and perceiving reality.

But this isn’t just an abstract, academic issue. Psychologically, the two approaches can have a profound effect on how one experiences life.

To live with an open heart, receptive and tuned in with awareness to life is the pathway to joy, healing and fulfillment. The source of most people’s sorrow and emptiness in life is a lack of an awakening of the heart to the beauty of life and the reality of love and goodness in all that is.

Posted in Science and Religion, meaning of life, personal growth, religion, spirituality | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What Makes Life Worth Living?

Posted on July 17, 2010 by admin

I moderated a Philosopher’s Cafe recently on the meaning and purpose of life.

This got me to think a bit about exactly what is it…that makes life worth living.

It’s a question I’ve asked myself many a time and have struggled with.

It comes up in the face of suffering and misery.

People fall into depression and even suicide when they feel life isn’t worth living.

The pain, unhappiness, loneliness, whatever it is, can be so great that the payback, the reward of any joy in life just doesn’t make up for the cost.

So where do you draw the line that marks the point where you can say life is still worth living despite the suffering or emptiness…from where it’s no longer worth living?

And what really is it, that key thing, the quintessential ingredient, that makes life worth living?

I think of Stephen Hawking. So utterly incapacitated physically, yet so passionately alive in the best way he can. Someone else in prime health would want to commit suicide and here Hawking is so grateful to be alive. Why? What makes life worth living for him?

I would think it’s the fact that he can still creatively engage with life.

He appreciates every thought that can percolate in his consciousness.

Every success at communicating and exchanging a thought with others.

Bottom line, if that were no longer possible, just his ability to contemplate as he explored the universe in his imagination would make life worth living for him.

He may not be able to engage others but he’s still engaging himself and life.

It’s this creative engagement that is key here.

It’s a form of alchemy. An exchange between two things that entails a creative act.

To be alive is to exchange energy, there’s a symbiotic interaction with the environment.

Be that on a cellular level, animate or inanimate. Consciously or not. But it’s this creative exchange with an “other”…whatever that “other” may be…even one’s own thoughts. That engagement gives rise to something that didn’t exist before or effected a change in some way, even if it simply be a changing of thought.

I once read a quote by Carl Jung where he said every human encounter is meant to be an alchemical act. A genuine encounter is transformative. Through the exchange something’s brought into being that didn’t exist before, something has changed in the parties involved as a result of the meeting. It was creative.

Now then, if one is fully able in body and mind to creatively engage with others and life and fails to do so, fails to appreciate the opportunity to do so, fails to take on the challenges, the suffering they confront and creatively engage it…

THAT is when life can seem to be not worth living.

But this is a result of choice, of withdrawal, of shutting down and saying “NO” to life.

It’s an act of refusal to accept and engage with life as it is.

It’s ultimately an act of rebellion.

It may hurt to say this, but I think it’s ultimately an act of pouting like a child who can’t have their way. A temper tantrum. Refusing to accept what life dishes out.

Some people are rather infantile here in their reactions.

Others are more justified because of the depth of the pain.

Yes…I know…life dishes things out that we experience as being unfair.

I’ve struggled with this a lot.

You only seek to do good, only have good intentions, put out so much effort for the good, and don’t ever get rewarded for it…or so it seems. Instead you sometimes feel as though you’re being punished for simply existing.

I know the pain and struggle of that and in no way want to downplay that. Others may not understand how much that hurts, how that can drive you to despair.

BUT!!!

We can find a way out of this.

The key is acceptance.

Opening your heart to the reality of pain, suffering, injustice…and forgive, embrace, love in an even bigger way than before.

The pain in life that can rip your heart in two or in pieces can be the means of making your heart even bigger and stronger. A heart so huge, so full of compassion, of embracing all that is in love that really does go beyond understanding and words. And this can only happen through acceptance. Let go of the need to get even, to get back, to resist, to attack…. Embrace what is in love and build on that in love.

It doesn’t mean you passively stand by and watch the abuse of others, of course not.  But you can’t change what has happened in the PAST. You need to accept it for what it is and was.

Suffering and hardship is something that we all share in varying degrees.

When you feel the pain of loneliness it makes you realize that other people are out there who feel that pain as well, perhaps even worse than you, and you want to reach out and help them. You understand. You empathize. You want to bring an end to all loneliness.

You know that you are a part of the larger web of creation and share in the collective experience of suffering. This motivates you to give and do good in the world. To be a giver instead of a taker. To contribute to the goodness of all in whatever way you can.

You seek the good and do the good. No matter what.

For the sake of humanity. For the sake of all life.

So it’s not about whether life is nice or hard that makes it worth living.

It’s really all about the choice you make in how you engage it. If you accept what is you are taking in what life has to offer and it will change you, as you creatively engage that in a constructive, positive way it leads to yet a higher good, an expansion of your being, you become greater through it. But by choice of response.

What makes life worth living is about saying a big YES! to life in all its forms, how you embrace the whole of life, the good, the bad…the fair, the unfair, and creatively engage it for a higher good in whatever way possible for your context.

Now let’s turn this around a bit.

Suppose you now go out to live life with utmost purpose of creatively engaging it.

You apply your intelligence in the most creative of ways to give birth to new experiences, various encounters with people, projects, acts, what have you.

You by choice make life worth living.

Don’t you think that life will all the more so be worth living because of your engagement with it? You create, bring about, birth value to things through creatively applying your intelligence and effort, intention and consciousness to things.

You’re cultivating a higher good, a higher order out of what is lying potentially dormant. You can take a negative situation and create a higher good out of it. You can dig for and cultivate a value in it that redeems it. You can turn the obstacle or challenge into an opportunity.

Here is where our potential greatness can shine! This is where we are indeed creators in our own right! In religious language this is where we bear the very image and likeness of God.

It’s really all up to you.

So let me ask…

Is your life worth living?


Posted in meaning of life, personal growth, spirituality | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

What Does It Mean to Be Spiritual?

Posted on July 7, 2010 by admin

Have you ever met people of different religious backgrounds and found yourself noticing some are spiritual and others aren’t?

You could have a Buddhist, Muslim, Jew or Christian…all are religious in being committed to a particular faith but some are “spiritual” and others are just “religious.” Even an atheist could be more spiritual than a church-goer.

This raises a question.

Exactly what is it that makes a person “spiritual?”What qualities set them apart and are really central to any kind of “spirituality?”

Here’s my answer.

First and foremost, spiritual people exhibit a warmth of heart and loving presence. If that isn’t there, no matter how supposedly enlightened and wise they claim to be, they haven’t “arrived.”

Another tell-tale quality is a sense of aliveness and passion, an enthusiasm for and love of life. To be detached, desireless, unengaged with life, living in some secluded monastery, does NOT turn me on. No thanks. If that’s what being “spiritual” is about I’m out of here.

“Spiritual” people are at peace, basically content with life. They can be who they are and accept others and life as it is. Even if they’re advocates for social change they’re at peace with “the ordinary”. The ordinary is to them extraordinary and so there’s no need to have to change and fix things in others or the world in order for them to be happy. They appreciate the awesomeness of existence itself. The wonders of life on this incredible planet. They’re able to keep their peace while at the same time being committed to preserving the beauty and wonder of this world and all of life.

Being spiritual is essentially a certain way of being, a particular approach to living where you have a sense of peace, joy, love and aliveness. To approach spirituality as a way of being is to take it out of a traditionally religious context and allows for non-religious people to be “spiritual,” avoiding the conundrum of atheism versus religion.

Of course, spirituality is a deep and rich subject but the following key elements are foundational to it. First of all, to be spiritual involves a commitment to integrity. You’re a truth seeker in both mind and heart. You seek the truth not only in terms of ideas but also in how you apply them to your life. Spirituality isn’t just a head game of pontificating Vedantic philosophy and citing Sanskrit texts. To live with integrity implies a moral stance and commitment to doing the right thing, a commitment to truth with your whole being. Gandhi himself held that truth itself was God. To live in God is to live in truth. To live in truth is to live in God. This is critically important.

Lack of truth creates barriers. Barriers of deception where you don’t see reality as it is. You can’t experience reality as it is. This veil of distortion creates a separation, an alienation from life as a whole, including yourself and others. How can you ever be at peace and joy if you perpetually live in a state of alienation? This is the heart of the human problem that results in what we call “sinful” acts. People do “evil” things because of their alienation.

To live with integrity requires a commitment to self-examination and reflection. You’re open to questioning and examining yourself, time and again. This allows for an openness to growth and learning. You’re humble, eager to learn, to truly listen to others and to life itself. You’re always asking what you can learn and how you can grow from any situation.

To grow and learn is always a painful task, it’s uncomfortable. This calls for courage to honestly face your fears and shadows. There’s a type of inner ruthlessness you apply to yourself to make sure there’s no self-deception. You should always question what your motivations are. Not for the purpose of berating and condemning yourself but for bringing about a greater self-awareness that leads to growth.

A willingness to learn and grow involves an openness of being and receptivity to life. To be open and receptive means that you’re fully present…to yourself, others and life. You live with an open heart and potential vulnerability, receptive to truly “being here now”. This involves both awareness (of mind) and engagement (of heart) with life, others, and oneself instead of being disconnected or closed up, resistant or defensive, and too often self-deluded.

This is to live with full presence. It connects you with others and life, of being to being. It is <em>the</em> intimacy that can then bring fulfillment and joy. It’s the font for ecstasy.

With full engagement in life comes full aliveness! An awakening to the preciousness and beauty of life that evokes an inherent joy of being. You fall in love! In love with life at all levels. With other people, your self, the planet, all that is.

Tolstoy said that those who love life love God for to love God is to love life. When you feel fully connected with life, and can live out of the inherent joy of being, loving the beauty of what is, then you’re truly content and at peace. This is what it means to be spiritual.

This all raises an issue. Do we even need religion to become spiritual? Some say no, others yes. Both are right.

There is a great deal of wisdom in the religious traditions. They can provide much guidance and inspiration. Yet, even if you were intimately involved in a tradition, it would only serve as a vehicle to transport you to the spiritual destination. As a vehicle it can be exchanged for another one (another tradition) and then upon arrival it has served its purpose and can be discarded.

Religion is the means to bring us to the end goal of spiritual awakening and realization. It does not constitute an end in and of itself. There lies the whole problem…when people make it an end in and of itself. They absolutize a given religion.

This was largely done for political purposes of ensuring control. Only the priests are the authorities on religion, its inherited teachings and the correlating religious institution that they run and depend on for their existence. Woe to anyone who has a fresh revelation or some new inspiration that challenges the religious establishment! Crucifixion awaits you. The greatest of all ironies occurs here. Spirituality can become the archenemy of religion.

Religion is a mix of the human and the divine. In human terms it becomes a means of providing security and control. A refuge of safety in an ever changing and precarious world for a self that is vulnerable and consequently too often fearful. On the other hand, religion is a container, a receptacle housing divinely inspirations, whispers from a higher source that can guide us in our evolution.

We need to distinguish these two forces at work in and through this thing we call “religion” as well as discern these forces at work within our selves. We can hear different voices beckoning us. Which ones come from our higher self and lead to greater growth and which ones come from our sense of fear and vulnerability? You can only know the right answer if you examine yourself and your motives as you walk with utter integrity.

Posted in personal growth, religion, spirituality | Tagged , , | Leave a comment