Spiritual Intelligence and the Intuitive Thought Processes

If you're the type who happens to get a lot of your ideas from eureka moments when first waking in the morning (or, I dare ask, while in the shower) or have a sense of at least some religion in your life that forms most of the decisions you make--you might be under a different bracket of intelligence from myriad ones identified in the last 25 years. Thanks to psychologist Howard Gardner who, in 1983, wrote a book listing multiple intelligences we all have, we might be able to finally include at least some form of spiritual intelligence as a way of how some people approach life with aplomb. Not that it really matters if spiritual intelligence is added on an official list or not. A lot of people already have or currently live it out without even knowing they possess it. In fact, it may be the most crucial missing piece when it comes to understanding all the intelligences that make up how the human mind processes the world.

Being within the unexplainable in science, Gardner didn't include spiritual intelligence on his multiple intelligences list. Anything that came close to it being added in his mind was an existential intelligence. With such a designation, it gave more credence to an intelligence based on how we view the world. But is it really all that cut and dried? And spiritual intelligence likely has sublevels depending on how centered you are in your thoughts and principles. It might even apply to those who fall under agnostic or atheist territory...much to the chagrin to those who think they have everything figured out.

Yes, that last thought above might surprise some people who automatically equate spiritual intelligence with religion and basing every thought or decision as being a part of your religious beliefs. Numerous university studies have been done on the subject just in the last ten years that differ somewhat in their detail, though typically have one thing they agree on: A form (consciously aware or not) of transcendental awareness that can happen to any single person of any faith.

The most recent study by Canadian psychologist David B. King (his studies seen at www.dbking.net/spiritualintelligence/ ) breaks spiritual intelligence down even further from most other studies so it gives a clearer picture of how it applies to how we live, how we think and what we do when putting all of that together. However, it doesn't go into any ways of explaining why some people do better at it than others--or even how someone seems to be able to intuit ideas and have profound understanding of the world without really have a prior background study in the way of religion or spirituality.

Perhaps the best-known example of how the mysteries behind how that works is with one of the greatest physicists the world has ever known...

The argument that Albert Einstein had one of the best senses of Spiritual Intelligence ever...

Even the most skeptical scientists out there think that Einstein had a direct pipeline to God when it came to understanding the deepest aspects of not only how the world and universe worked, but also life itself. It's always fascinated me then when you apply that kind of statement to the reality of Einstein being an agnostic most to all his life. Or at least that was the public personification of Einstein during the time when he made his most brilliant discoveries. We don't know what was in his mind at any given time. There isn't any doubt, though, that Einstein was quoted as not always being sure whether God existed or not. He at least reasoned what an intelligent deity would do in the event He created the universe.

One of the most fascinating and possibly only empirical pieces of physical evidence behind spiritual intelligence is when Einstein's brain was studied once it was removed at death. You've probably heard about the extra Glial cells (known as cells that provide oxygen for neurons) being found in Einstein's brain. Most people don't have that many at death, despite the logical argument that his intellectual pursuits right up to the end just created more than the average person. But how do we know they weren't more plentiful already at his birth? When Einstein was having his imaginative daydreams of outrunning a light beam as a young man, an extra amount of Glial cells may have provided that little boost which pushed that daydream into one of the greatest scientific discoveries in human history. Those discoveries then helped him discover a more profound way of looking at what life is and where it's going as you can see in his personal quotes and correspondences.

The fact that only some people have more Glial cells naturally than others, it begs the question of why and if certain people are chosen to have a higher sense of spiritual intelligence. Of course, this starts to take away all aspects of science and reason behind this form of intellect. While Einstein may be an exception in encompassing every level of spiritual intelligence--there isn't any doubt that many people experience at least one level of it to help them have better understandings of events that happen in life...outside of most people who react too emotionally.

King's studies on SI above pretty much outlines in four steps what Einstein was able to do without even realizing it was happening. The first being a critical understanding of existence, reality or (as in Einstein) space and time. Second, is creating a master plan to your life in relation to all your relationships and things you know (as Einstein did with his peers and, later, his Princeton students). Third is a transcendental awareness of yourself and other people you know (as Einstein couldn't help but do with his transcendental awareness of his discoveries and how it would impact people around him). Fourth and last is an ability to meditate or go to higher states of consciousness at will to gain a higher creative and critical-thinking level.

On that last one, there isn't any knowledge of the actual processes behind Einstein's thought in his later years. Although his ability to daydream already as a young man while working as a file clerk obviously qualifies for number four.

Spiritual Intelligence without conscious awareness...

When you see a kid doing the above-mentioned daydreaming--perhaps it's best that they not be yelled at to pay attention. Well, if they're in school, they obviously should be paying attention--but I've always been one who believes in having some time to just sit and think, meditate, daydream or whatever you want to call going inward. It's too bad a lot of people are too busy or living chaotic lives today to have time to sit and meditate to cogitate on ideas and other higher realms of thinking. Sometimes it takes a certain situation before spiritual intelligence can really become useful.

In above scenario, one of the best examples may be astrophysicist Stephen Hawking who's been trapped in a wheelchair for over 40 years due to having ALS. When in a similar situation, you really have no choice but to go inward and meditate. Despite his illness, it seems obvious Hawking still would have been today's equivalent to Einstein even if he was healthy. But his sense of spiritual intelligence was probably increased by double having an opportunity to cogitate like he has for so many years. It gives a whole new meaning to being in a wheelchair and having a body that's completely immobile.
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This isn't to say that nobody can attain a sense of spiritual intelligence if they don't have time to meditate to put the world around them in better perspective. We've seen many cases where a random person will suddenly get a brilliant thought and then having the free will to take it somewhere wonderful or let it die. If you're one of those people, you may have an inner spiritual intelligence that you shouldn't let die. I'd wager to guess that we all have it and not just selected people by your personal concept of God. Some are just more aware of their own thoughts, while others may be stifled by some circumstance or another. It falls under those "Unlimited Power" courses (hello, Lurch look-a-like Anthony Robbins) that tell every single soul that they have unlimited powers inside them they can tap into with some help.

Finding a road map to spiritual intelligence is something everybody should do. But experiencing little flashes of it without having to analyze how an intuitive idea or understanding of something got into your head are sometimes part of the most enlightening moments of life.