Times of India: Spiritual Quotient Leverages IQ & EQ

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Spiritual Quotient Leverages IQ & EQ

 

(Times of India article)

 

Solving logical or strategic problems involves the use of rational

intelligence. Psychologists who devised tests to measure rational

intelligence termed their measure as " Intelligence Quotient

(IQ) " , their hypothesis being that higher the IQ more is the

rational intelligence. Initially the IQ included only verbal and

mathematical-logical capabilities.

 

Howard Gardner's 1983 book " Frames of Mind " refuted the

narrow IQ view and extended the concept to include spatial capacity,

physical fluidity musical capability, inter-personal intelligence,

intra-personal intelligence etc. The operative word in his view of

intelligence was multiple. While the utility of IQ in identifying

potential performers is not disputed, according to renowned

psychologists IQ contributes only about 20 percent to the factors

that determine life success, which leaves 80 percent to other

forces. As Gardner in one of his articles observes, " One's

ultimate niche in society is determined largely by non-IQ factors,

ranging from social class to luck " .

 

In the mid-1990s, Daniel Goleman popularized the " Emotional

Quotient (EQ) " a degree of emotional intelligence, awareness of

one's own and other people's feelings such as empathy,

compassion, motivation and the ability to respond to pain or

pleasure appropriately. His basic hypothesis was that for an

effective use of IQ, EQ is a necessity. He writes: " In a sense we

have two brains, two minds and two different kinds of intelligence,

rational and emotional. How we do in life is determined by both; it

is not just IQ, but emotional intelligence that matters " .

 

The millennium contribution in the area of intelligence was from

Danah Zohar and Ian Marshall who coined the term " SQ " for

" Spiritual Intelligence " . They argue that the SQ is the basic

foundation for an effective use of EQ and IQ. They also refer to it

as the soul's intelligence. While rational, logical thinking

gives one's IQ, and associated habit-bound, pattern recognizing,

emotive thinking gives one the EQ, the creative, insightful, rule-

making, rule breaking thinking with which we reframe and transform

our previous thinking gives one the SQ. On a scientific plane, the

brain's serially connected neural tracts, and neural networks,

are associated with the IQ and EQ respectively.

 

Singer's work on the unifying neural oscillation offers the first

evidence of SQ. Just as the whole can be greater than the sum of its

parts, SQ allows one to add larger, deeper and richer context to the

present. She evolves a model of SQ based on the six petals of the

Lotus and its center, corresponding to the seven charkas described

by the Hinduism's Kundalini Yoga.

 

Can we identify, measure and improve on our SQ, and thereby

effectively use our EQ and IQ? The Indian Philosophical treatises

– the Upanishads, attribute perception to the mind, conception to

the intellect and " illumination " the Self.

 

They speak of the ascent from Intellect (IQ) through meditation and

cool Meditation is the route to the highest knowledge

(illumination), when self-realization, which is the integration of

inner self or spirit into the cosmic spirit. For instance, in the

Sahaja Yoga mode of self-realization it is propounded that body is

the whole self. The vehicle of influence is the subtle body parallel

to physical body wherein there are seven charkas, chief nerve

centers; three tracks of nervous energy called nadis; and the latent

energy coiled within called Kundalini. When Kundalini rises from the

base of the spine, it integrates the seven main charkas, and the

subtle experience manifests itself in a flow of cool vibrations,

which can be felt on the hands and also over the crown of the head

like a cool breeze. It is through these vibrations that we gain a

new awareness beyond thought, beyond emotions; with this subtle

awakening we become sensitive to the state of our charkas and those

of others.

 

This degree of sensitivity to the state of our charkas those of can

be termed as SQ. Our EQ is enhanced with the rise of SQ as each

chakra when cleaned with the Kundalini energy enhances our ability

to emote. For instance, as per Sahaja Yoga, the first chakra

enhances our ability to be " child like " , the second enhances

creativity/aesthetics, the third inculcates a feeling of

satisfaction, the fourth helps you control anger, the fifth improves

your communication skills so that you do not offend other, the sixth

enables you to forgive, while the seventh, the crown chakra allows

you to integrate all these qualities so that the whole is greater

than the sum of its parts.

 

By R Venkatesan