Journey of Spiritual Growth

“We will not cease from exploration, and at the end of all our exploring we will arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” – T.S. Eliot

First Pavement

Walking home from the train station one night after work, I paused at the traffic lights and waited till they changed to let me cross the road. This was an old part of London that had survived unchanged for generations. While I waited to cross the road, the condition of the pavement where I was standing caught my eye. The edges of the stone pavement nearest to the road were so worn down that they almost reached the level of the road itself. How many feet had walked here, I pondered. How many people must have walked here to wear down the pavement to this degree? It must be millions of people, I thought, over centuries. And most of them are dead now. And everyone who ever knew them is also dead. Their memories are gone forever. They are all lost in the march of history.

I was struck by the sudden realisation that I too am one of their number. In a hundred years I also will be gone and forgotten, leaving behind no more evidence of my existence than those who had passed this way before me. So what is the point of it all? Why strive? Why do anything? Does anything I do really matter in the end? It’s all going to disappear and be forgotten as if it had never happened. So what is the point of my life?

When the lights changed and the cars stopped, I proceeded to cross the road, despite the fact that my brief curb-side contemplation had just negated any reason for doing so, or for doing anything whatsoever. It took me longer than usual to walk home that night. This was by no means my first visit to the dark underworld of meaninglessness. In fact I had been forced to take up residence there many years before. Like so many others, I suffered in silence from the signature illness of postmodern secular culture. Meaning-deprivation is so widespread that it is hardly ever mentioned or even noticed. It has become the norm.

My pavement meditation was symptomatic of my struggle up to that point in my life. I had studied theology for many years, but I was none the wiser. I simply couldn’t accept that believing something is an adequate substitute for knowledge. I had continued  my search for meaning by studying philosophy and psychology. But they too had failed to answer my questions. Subsequently I spent years in psychotherapy. I experienced a wide range of different forms of therapy, including encounter groups, bio-energetics, psychosynthesis, bodywork, energy healing, and psychoanalysis. But despite the personal benefits I derived from therapy, I was no further forward in my underlying quest to understand the nature of existence. I felt there was no option but to move on from psychotherapy and continue my search elsewhere. I felt compelled to explore every possible avenue to understand the meaning and purpose of life. Thus I turned in earnest to the investigation of spirituality. I had no idea what was meant by “spiritual growth”, but I was determined to find out.

Second Pavement

It was ten years since my pavement experience. The scene around me on this particular morning, as I walked through my local park, filled me with wonder. The trees seemed to be glowing with energy. The grass was visibly radiant.  I could see and feel the vibrant energy of nature. I was full of joy. After leaving the park and rejoining the footpath, suddenly the memory returned of the pavement from ten years before. The difference between these two occasions was stark. This pavement I walked on now also bore the evidence of many years of human traffic, but it  did not hold the same meaning for me. The pavement I experienced now was part of a larger whole that was alive and vibrant. I felt one with the whole, in a state of peace and fulfilment, and I was free of concern about the future.

I had spent the intervening ten years since my first pavement experience in exploring spirituality. For a decade I had devoted myself to daily meditation, psycho-spiritual therapy groups,  the guidance of spiritual teachers, and the study of spiritual literature from many different traditions. As a result of my experiences, I had realised something deeper than my previous understanding of reality. Existence wasn’t just made up of blobs of matter. Existence was also energy. Everything was energy in different forms. I had discovered it was possible to experience the energy dimension of reality, which was more subtle than the material level of appearances.

However, this discovery also failed to satisfy. My sensitivity to the subtle dimension of reality was dependent on my state. Only when my body and mind were in a certain state could I enjoy these esoteric experiences. Moreover these experiences faded rapidly. How could the truth be so conditional and so fleeting? I was convinced there must be more for me to experience and understand. I remained as determined as ever to find out what that was, if at all possible.

Third Pavement

Another ten years had passed since my second pavement experience. My main occupation in the intervening decade, aside from working as a psychologist, was to research the transcendental wisdom traditions of the world, as represented by Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta [ref]. My research took the form of spiritual practice in the Adidam tradition [ref], combined with the study of the emerging field of transpersonal psychology.

As Chairman of the Transpersonal Psychology Group of the Australian Psychological Society, it was my responsibility to organize events for our members. My role highlighted the need to develop a synthesis of my discoveries that could be presented to an audience. I wanted to summarize what was most useful and most immediately usable by most people, from a lifetime of experience and research in psychology and spirituality.

Eventually the spiritual intelligence paradigm emerged as the most succinct summary of my research and experience. Central to the SQ paradigm is the twin pole map of attention, as illustrated in the diagram above. At the object-pole of attention is everything we are aware of, from perceptions of external objects, to thoughts, emotions, memories, beliefs, self-image etc. At the subject-pole of attention is feeling-awareness itself. The ego is identified with states of body and mind at the object-pole of attention, and the soul is identified with feeling-awareness itself at the subject-pole of attention. As feeling-awareness itself, we experience the spiritual qualities of the soul, in the form of peace, compassion, joy, love, wisdom and creativity.

The SQ paradigm clarifies that it’s not necessary to experience the subtle energy dimension of existence in order to experience the spiritual qualities of the soul. Therefore my second pavement turned out to be a diversion. That’s because SQ can be exercised in relation to any experience, whether it’s an experience of the gross material level of reality or of the subtle energy level. What activates SQ is being located at the subject-pole of attention, instead of at the object pole of attention, in the context of any experience whatsoever.

When using SQ, everything is experienced from the subject-pole of attention. Now when I walk down the street with SQ, I experience the spiritual qualities of the soul in association with whatever I am aware of. My experience of everything, including the pavement, is thus transformed.

My second pavement was a temporary experience of the blissful energy dimension of reality. However it was dependent on the state of my body and mind. It resulted from the manipulation of planes of sensitivity at the object-pole of attention. By contrast my third pavement is an experience of the spiritual qualities of the soul. However it is not dependent on the state of my body and mind. Nor is it dependent on a subtle plane of sensitivity at the object-pole of attention. It is the result of shifting from the object-pole of attention to the subject-pole of attention. And you can do that in association with any possible state of your body and mind at the object-pole of attention. See below for a video that explains how.

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 [ref]. Consequently, coaching in 3Q trains the whole brain. The resulting whole-brain coherence optimises brain function and replaces the ego with the soul by shifting identification from the object-pole to the subject-pole of attention via the SQ portal, which 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

Sources

The SQ paradigm is based on a synthesis combining the wisdom of ancient spiritual traditions with the findings of modern science, as summarised in this article HERE

How to Experience Spiritual Intelligence [Video]

Spiritual intelligence is easy to experience. We all experience SQ spontaneously at times. But spontaneous moments of SQ are rare and unpredictable. Therefore it’s important to know how to experience SQ intentionally. When you can engage your spiritual intelligence voluntarily, at any time of your own choosing, SQ becomes your most powerful personal resource. This video provides step-by-step instructions on how to activate SQ intentionally. Watch the video HERE

References

© 2010 – 2023, Richard Griffiths.