Spiritual intelligence is a higher dimension of intelligence beyond the ego that has access to the advanced capabilities of the true self.
• feel greater fulfilment
• find deeper meaning and purpose
• turn negative into positive thoughts & emotions
• employ your full resources and be your best in any situation
• wisdom • compassion • integrity • joy • love • creativity • peace
• help others and improve society by using a higher dimension of your intelligence
Personal SQ Benefits
As the intelligence of the true self beyond the ego, spiritual intelligence has many benefits that exceed the scope of intellectual intelligence and emotional intelligence. Freedom from ego grants wisdom and clarity of vision, combined with more empathy and compassion, which increases creativity and intuition, and results in greater personal fulfilment and better performance on important life skills and work skills. Spiritual intelligence therefore represents the most powerful resource for personal and professional growth and fulfilment. More..
Social SQ Benefits
Spiritual intelligence creates cooperation and tolerance between people at the interpersonal level, and between different groups in society, and between different cultures, religions, and nations. Widespread adoption of spiritual intelligence as a personal code of conduct raises the standard of accountability in collective governance in response to public demand. When standards in governments and corporations are based on spiritual intelligence, the energy of love will turn into a social and political force, as never before in history. Public training in spiritual intelligence therefore heralds a new era of social justice and human rights, which are the foundations of shared prosperity and peace. More..
Corporate SQ Benefits
Research shows that when organisations train employees in spiritual intelligence, creativity and innovation increase, employee engagement rises, and productivity grows [1]. Training in SQ also reforms corporate governance by creating a culture that conducts business according to the ethics of spiritual intelligence. Moreover, by inspiring employees with a deeper sense of meaning and purpose, SQ training aligns organisations with a social mission beyond the profit motive. Corporations thus realise their full potential not only to maximise productivity, but also to contribute to human wellbeing, by utilising the full range of their employees’ innate intelligence. More..
Dimensions of Intelligence
At the beginning of the scientific study of intelligence in the early 20th century, the definition of intelligence was restricted to intellectual intelligence (IQ). This narrow definition of intelligence prevailed until the mid 1980’s, when emotional intelligence (EQ) was identified as another dimension of intelligence of great importance. Recent advances in psychology and neuroscience identified spiritual intelligence (SQ) as a further dimension of intelligence that is even more significant. SQ represents strategic intelligence which directs the tactical intelligence of IQ and EQ by exercising the qualities and capabilities of the soul in the form of wisdom, compassion, integrity, joy, love, creativity, and peace. More..
Tactical Intelligence and Strategic Intelligence
IQ and EQ represent tactical intelligence, the intelligence of how to get things done intellectually and emotionally, the intelligence of “HOW”. By contrast, SQ is our strategic intelligence, the intelligence of “WHY”. SQ answers questions of why to do anything because spiritual intelligence has access to deeper meaning and purpose. Without strategic intelligence, or spiritual intelligence, nothing has any meaning, so motivation fades, no matter how much tactical intelligence we may have. Consequently SQ is essential for high performance and personal wellness.
The Difference between Mindfulness and Spiritual Intelligence
Mindfulness and spiritual intelligence have much in common, but there are also significant differences. Mindfulness is the practice of simply observing your experience without judgement, which results in a sense of calm and composure. By contrast, spiritual intelligence is the practice of shifting from ego to the higher self in the context of all experience. This difference results in three main distinctions between Mindfulness and spiritual intelligence, which can be summarised under the headings of Ethics, Meaning and Purpose, and Existential Issues.
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1. Ethics
Unlike spiritual intelligence, Mindfulness has no ethical dimension. Mindfulness simply instructs us to pay attention to what we are aware of without judgement. While abiding by this instruction, you can mindfully lie, cheat, and steal. There are no ethical implications of simply being aware of experience without judgement. In the original Buddhist context in which Mindfulness was taught it was accompanied by an admonition to live a right life, made up of right understanding, right intention, and right action, which involves inherently ethical demands. But in the western context in which Mindfulness is taught as a standalone discipline, the demand to live a right life is absent. By contrast, spiritual intelligence is inherently ethical because the experience of SQ is grounded in love and compassion, which are the foundation and guarantee of ethical conduct.
2. Meaning and Purpose
If you already have clarity on the meaning and purpose of your life, then Mindfulness can serve to remind you. But unlike spiritual intelligence, the practice of Mindfulness does not discover deeper meaning and purpose. Whereas spiritual intelligence discovers deeper meaning and purpose by virtue of shifting from the ego to your true self.
3. Existential Issues
Unlike spiritual intelligence, Mindfulness does not address existential issues, such as the vitally important question of “Who am I?” This is because Mindfulness merely attends to the objects of consciousness, whereas spiritual intelligence attends to consciousness itself. In fact, spiritual intelligence is about being consciousness itself, regardless of the objects of consciousness. This focus on being consciousness itself reveals all the answers to existential questions. A deeper sense of meaning and purpose actually depends on answers to such existential questions.
For the above reasons, spiritual intelligence is more comprehensive than Mindfulness, because SQ includes and exceeds the benefits of Mindfulness.
How to Experience Spiritual Intelligence
At times we all experience spiritual intelligence spontaneously. But spontaneous moments of SQ are rare, and they usually occur at random. Therefore it’s important to know how to experience SQ intentionally. When you can engage your spiritual intelligence voluntarily, in any circumstances, you convert your SQ from a random fleeting experience into your most valuable, powerful, and useful personal resource. The video below provides step-by-step instructions on how to activate SQ intentionally.
Science of Spiritual Intelligence
The scientific evidence for spiritual intelligence is based on a synthesis of findings from related fields of scientific research, combining cognitive psychology, psychoanalysis, transpersonal psychology, and neuroscience [2]. Universities worldwide study the SQ paradigm and its many applications. At Oxford University, for example, SQ is the core of the Strategic Leadership Program. SQ training is also used in the workplace to improve job satisfaction and raise productivity. More..
3Q Training
As a powerful combination of three principal dimensions of intelligence, 3Q represents IQ and EQ in association with SQ. Studies in neuroscience reveal that the experience of spiritual intelligence is correlated with hemispheric synchronisation and whole brain activation. The resulting whole-brain coherence optimises brain function, and results in greater fulfilment, increased creativity, sharpened intuition, more empathy and compassion, and improved performance on a wide range of work skills and life skills. For information about the 3Q Training Course, click HERE
3Q Practitioner Training Course
Do you want to accelerate your own personal and spiritual growth, and teach others to do the same? The 3Q Practitioner Training Course trains and certifies Spiritual Intelligence Practitioners.
Spiritual Intelligence is a higher dimension of intelligence beyond the ego that has access to the advanced capabilities of the true self. This Course is based on secular spirituality not on religious beliefs. Consequently, the methodology used to activate spiritual intelligence is not founded on articles of faith but on experience and knowledge, backed by evidence from related fields of scientific research. Certified Practitioners are provided with the training materials to coach their clients in spiritual intelligence, and conduct workshops in spiritual intelligence for leaders and organisations, and for the general public.
As the intelligence of the true self beyond the ego, spiritual intelligence (SQ) has many benefits that exceed the scope of intellectual intelligence (IQ) and emotional intelligence (EQ). Spiritual intelligence relieves anxiety and depression and the extreme pain of meaninglessness and despair that is often associated with ego states of awareness. Freedom from ego, as experienced with SQ, grants wisdom and clarity of vision, combined with more empathy and compassion, which increases creativity and intuition, and results in greater personal fulfilment and better performance on important life skills and work skills. Spiritual intelligence therefore represents the most powerful resource for personal and professional growth and fulfilment.
Widespread adoption of spiritual intelligence as a personal code of conduct raises the standard of accountability in collective governance, in response to public demand. When standards in governments and corporations are based on spiritual intelligence, the energy of love will turn into a social and political force, as never before in history. Public training in spiritual intelligence therefore heralds a new era of human rights and social justice, which form the foundation for global cooperative community, shared prosperity, and world peace.
As a 3Q Practitioner you will be equipped to introduce spiritual intelligence in the context of contemporary secular culture, and contribute to the next stage in the evolution of collective consciousness. When a tipping point is reached, the emerging next stage of collective consciousness will result in global transformation, founded not on beliefs of any sort, or on government control, or on mass media narratives enforced by censorship of contrary views, but founded instead on the inherent qualities of consciousness itself, such as love, wisdom, and peace, which everyone can experience by activating their spiritual intelligence.
For more information about the 3Q Practitioner Training Course, click here.
Why “Q”?
Why is “SQ” the abbreviation for spiritual intelligence rather than “SI”? The letter “Q” stands for “quotient” which means amount or score. Thus IQ means your intellectual intelligence quotient, or your IQ score. Similarly, EQ means your emotional intelligence quotient, and SQ means your spiritual intelligence quotient. Usually the term “SQ” is read simply as “spiritual intelligence”, leaving the word “quotient” unspoken.
Spiritual Intelligence Basics
A series of articles about the basics of spiritual intelligence are available. Click the button below for access. Topics include the scientific foundations of the SQ paradigm, and a simple method to activate spiritual intelligence based on contemporary secular principles.