Spiritual intelligence and intuitive thought processes in contemporary literature

Spiritual Intelligence and the Intuitive Thought Processes

The terms 'spiritual intelligence 'is one that has raised a certain amount of debate not only in metaphysics and theology but also in the educational and didactics arena. While this term has been referred to in contemporary literature as an extension of Gardner's theory of intelligence, it has also been referred to in other research dealing with more mystical and esoteric notions of the meaning of spirituality.

Intuition and the intuitive process have an equally broad range of reference and source data. The meaning of intuition is closely linked to the idea of spiritual intelligence. Both spiritual and intuition are terms that are used to describe essentially non-rational experience or experiences that cannot be empirically verified. The intuitive processes are those processes and procedures that are understood in terms of feeling and perception that cannot, without great damage to the essence of the experience, be logically or rationally deduced or encountered.

A central contention that forms part of the thesis of the present study is that both these terms, spiritual intelligence and intuition, have not been fully explored in the modern literature; and that the term spiritual in particular has been minimized or 'reduced' in the modern perspective as a result of the overemphasis on and overbearing character of logical, scientific and rational predilections and presumptions about this term. This view also applied to the understanding of the intuitive processes.

The purpose and central trajectory of this paper refers to two central and interrelated thesis statements. The secondary thesis that will be explored is the relationship that exists between spiritual intelligence and intuition, as the interdependence between these two concepts is central to the understanding of the meaning of spiritual intelligence. An example that will be used in this regard is the intuitive process in art and the way that this corresponds to spiritual and religious perceptions in art. A seminal work that will be referred to support this view is Art and the Religious Experience: The Language of the Sacred, by Martin (1972).

However, the central and overriding thesis that will be explored throughout this paper is as follows. There is an assumption in much of the contemporary literature on spiritual intelligence that this form of intelligence can be adequately understood as an extension of the other common forms of intelligence. In other words, this refers to the view that spiritual intelligence can be discussed in the same light and in terms that also refer to moral, ethical or emotional intelligence. Spiritual intelligence is very often discussed using the same fundaments as one would use for mathematical and other forms of rational intelligence. While from a practical and didactic point-of-view there is a certain amount of validity to this approach, it will be suggested in this study that it is also reductionist to a certain extent. The view will be taken that spiritual intelligence and its associated intuitive processes should be considered in a different light to the other intelligences and that it is intellectually and essential different in essence. This means that the stance that will be adopted in the exploration of this central thesis is that spiritual intelligence and intuition are manifestations of an intrinsically different mode of consciousness or intelligence to the other rational and emotional intelligences.

1.2. Terms and definitions

In order to discuss these difficult and contentious terms, certain clarity on the way that these terms are understood is necessary as a prolegomena to the debate. There are many complex issues to consider in the understanding and definition of the term spiritual intelligence. The word spirit is derived from the Latin "spiritus," meaning "breath." Spirit therefore refers to the breath or the source of the nonphysical ground of life. Furthermore, Intelligence comes from the Latin, intellegentia. The term Intellegentia is derived from: inter-"between" plus legere,"choose, pick out, read" and in a literal sense means "choosing between." (Diedrich. What is Spiritual Intelligence and Why Should You Care? 2007.)

Therefore, one could argue that spiritual intelligence refers to the ability to discern or choose between elements that reveal an understanding or an apprehension of Being or the reality of existence. This is a view that is closer to the mystical understanding of spiritual intelligence and is also related to the intuitive process as a mean of entering into or evoking this form of intelligence.

One of the central issues in a discussion of spiritual forms of intelligence is the reference to an ego-centered intelligence as opposed to a form of intelligence that transcends the ego. This is a cardinal aspect as almost every spiritual tradition views the overcoming or transcendence of the self or ego as a prerequisite to the intuition or perception of ultimate and ontological reality. This view is clearly exemplified in the following explanation of Spiritual Intelligence.

Spiritual Intelligence means to choose between the ego and the Higher Self or Spirit at any given moment. That is, we choose to live, to behave, and to speak from a higher perspective. Scripturally this means: "Not my will, but thy will." In a more generic and modern sense, it is to live from one's intuition and from inspiration, to listen to and follow the Inner Voice.

(Diedrich. What is Spiritual Intelligence and Why Should You Care? 2007.)

This is a view that is more akin to Eastern rather than Western perceptions of spirituality, but it is one that also has many antecedents in the mystical traditions of all religions and systems of spirituality. To put this very simplistically for the sake of argument, spiritual intelligence has in the Western framework of logical-rational metaphysics succeeded in reducing the notion and meaning of spirituality to the human ego -- centered worldview. This reduction of everything to the human and to the rational is a central point of contention in modern metaphysics and post-metaphysical thought. In this regard, the works of Martin Heidegger will be referred to in the context of modern metaphysics in the discussion section of this paper.

There are many other definitions of spiritual intelligence in the literature. However, what comes to the fore in any in-depth discussion of these different determinations and interpretations is a central divide that can be discerned between a more rational and secular understanding of spiritual intelligence and a more intensive, wide-ranging and 'traditional' view of this term. This distinction refers explicitly to the central thesis that is being explored in this study; namely that the modern perception of spiritual intelligence and intuition is more aligned with the rational and secular view of reality and the role of intuition and that this is a view that tends to reduce or minimize the more transcendent and esoteric religious views of this term.

As one commentator puts it; "Spiritual intelligence is inherently difficult to define. It is quite separate from organised religion." (McMullen. Spiritual intelligence) While this view of the distinction between formal religion and the concept of spiritual intelligence is basically true and significant in avoiding the limiting aspects of formal religious dogma, it also runs the very serious risk of reductionism. It reduces the more traditional views of spirituality to a rather narrow secular point-of-view prevalent in educational theory and to a mindset that tends to ignore the deeper and more transcendent meanings of this term.

1.2.1. Intuition

One of the most enigmatic and insightful views of intuition and one that tends to support the central thesis that is being explored in this paper, is the view expressed by Albert Einstein. He stated that; "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift." (The intuitive mind) In other words, the rational and logical forms of intelligence has been given a certain priority in the modern context and the intuitive processes such as trance and the mystical experience that have been associated with transcendent spirituality have been relegated to an inferior intellectual positioning.

A common definition of intuition is; "Your intuition is part of your unconscious intelligence and it complements rational thinking and decision making... intuition is the glue that holds together our conscious intellect and our intelligent action…"(McMullen. Spiritual intelligence) However, this view would again tend to place intuition as secondary and even as subservient to the rational or reasoning consciousness that has become such a prevalent feature of the Western discourse in intelligence.

A different perception of intuition can be seen in the more traditional view of the relationship between intuition and religious or spiritual intelligence. For example, we could analyze the following passage by the 16th century mystic Jacob Boehme

"When thou standest still from the thinking of Self, and the willing of Self; when both thy intellect and will are quiet and passive to the expressions of the Eternal Word and Spirit; and when thy soul is winged up and above that which is temporal, the outward senses and the imagination being locked up by holy abstraction, then the Eternal Hearing, Seeing and Speaking will be revealed

(Wild, 1938, p. 98)

The above quotation refers to forms of intuition and perception of the spiritual that in fact advocates the "blocking' of the normal modes of understanding and apprehension. As one commentator state;

The spiritual is all that is beyond the conscious awareness and would include God or gods, demons, spirits and nature spirits, ghosts, non-incarnate entities, angels, devas, guardians of the threshold, guardian angels and all the intangible entities and realities of the religions where the cloud of the unknowable things exists.

(Roze, Janis, Toward the New Humanity: From Emotional Intelligence

to Spiritual Intuition)

It is this perception of the intuitive forms of spiritual intelligence that, it also needsto be taken into account in a discussion of this subject.

2. Literature review

There are many modern as well as more traditional perspectives on the issue of spiritual intelligence. A broad and inclusive view of the central terms in this study was taken into account in an assessment of the available literature. While many works may not refer specifically to the term spiritual intelligence, they would refer to related and equivalent terminology and concepts, such as religious experience and spiritual or mystical knowledge.

A work that was used extensively in the research for this study and which is one of the few works that explores spiritual intelligence through an analysis of the meaning of the intuitive process is Art and the Religious Experience: The Language of the Scared, by Martin ( 1972). Through an exploration of the religious or spiritual experience in art, the author provides an in-depth analysis of the way that the intuitive process functions to evoke and promote the understanding of the spiritual elements in art. Martin refers to the 'participative experience' in his discussion of the intuitive process and considers this a major and central aspect of the understanding of the spiritual experience and this type of intelligence.

The book covers all the major categories of artistic creation; from music to architecture and the central theme that is explored is the way that the intuitive process, by its very nature, expands and transcends the subject-object dichotomy or dualism that is a central barrier to the spiritual experience.

In essence, this work provides an invaluable contribution to the debate on spiritual intelligence as it emphasizes that view that spiritual intelligence relies largely on reception and non-egotistical participation, which is a view that runs counter to the modern rational and scientific desire to control and manipulate. In other words, this work suggests a more open and less human-centric approach that is in line with the critique of modern metaphysics by Heidegger and others.

Intuition by K.W. Wild (1938) is a surprisingly insightful and valuable contribution to the debate on this subject -- even though it is somewhat dated. The book provides a comprehensive and in-depth overview of the way that the concept of intuition has been perceived and understood by various thinkers in the history of metaphysics and theology. It therefore is a very useful resource work for an understanding of the different approaches to intuition.

The book also clearly shows the change in thinking from a more open and non-subjective view of the intuitive process to one that was influenced by the Descartian and rationalist world view, that was to become the dominant Western mode of consciousness. The section of the book entitled RELIGIOUS INTUITION is especially useful in its review of the mystical aspects of the intuitive process in relation to more contemporary views and perceptions.

A book that was useful in understanding the more modern and rational- scientific view of the meaning of intuition is Intuition and Science by Mario Bunge ( 1962). Bunge notes the complex and often ambiguous usage of the term intuition; "In some instances, "intuition" may designate a prerational faculty (sensible intuition); in others a suprarational aptitude (pure intuition, essence intuition, mystic intuition); in still others a variety of reason (intellectual intuition) ." (Bunge, 1962, p. ix) Importantly, the author takes the stance that intuitionism differs from more rational conceptions of the terms. "Intuitionism, on the other hand, is a regressive trend in philosophy, which dogmatically proclaims the existence and even the superiority of an inscrutable and uncontrollable manner of knowing. (Bunge, 1962, p. ix) This is a view that runs counter to many less rationalistic views of intuition and spiritual intelligence. The work provides an important argument in favor of the more scientific and empirical view of the meaning of intuition.

A book that deals with the important area of the intersection between Psychotherapy and Spirituality is Psychotherapy and Spirituality: Integrating the Spiritual Dimension into Therapeutic Practice, by Agneta Schreurs (2002). Schreurs explores the way in which spiritual aspects affect life-orientation in patients undergoing psychotherapy. The book also discusses the way that therapists as well as patients respond to spirituality in the therapeutic setting. The author provides a useful and necessary view of the function of the spiritual intelligence from a psychological and practical point-of-view.

The more accepted contemporary views and approaches to the issue of spiritual and other forms of intelligence is also a central focus on this paper. In this regard a work that provides essential background to modern thinking on the question of intelligence is Howard Gardner's, Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice. (New York: Basic, 1993.) This is the seminal work in which Gardner suggested that there are in fact different types and categories of intelligence. His innovative concept of multiple intelligences provides a valuable and well-accepted view of the multifaceted nature of intelligence. His view also relates to the present topic in that the theory of multiple intelligences suggests that the various intelligences develop separately from one another. He also envisages a category of intelligence called 'existential intelligence' which refers to the idea of spiritual intelligence.

Another work by Gardner that was found to be important for this study was Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century ( 2000). This is a reassessment of the multiple intelligence theory and it provides an overview of the history of MI and a response to the many myths and misconceptions that surround this theory of intelligence. In this work Gardner also refers to the possibility of a number of additional intelligences -- which includes the existential and spiritual intelligences.

A number of books were found to be useful in providing important background information for this research. One of these is William James' The Varieties of Religious Experience, (1961). This is an important work on the mode of consciousness related to the spiritual experience. James sees all religions as being of equal validity. However, this work also does not ascribe any intrinsic value to the religious experience outside of the value that it has to the individual and to the subjective desires and wishes of that person. There is therefore an emphasis on the subjective ego in the understanding of the spiritual -- which excludes the non-egoistical view of the meaning of the spiritual.

A useful counterpoint t to this view is Underhill's, Mysticism: A Study in the Nature and Development of Man's Spiritual Consciousness (1912). Underhill in fact reacts against the subjective and self-centered view of the spiritual experience that we find in James' work. Both these works are invaluable as sources for understanding the way in which Western thought has sought to grapple with an the complexity of spiritual reality and the type of intelligence required to understand it.

While books provide an important resource, some of the most pertinent views about spiritual intellect and especially with regard to the link between this intelligence and intuition were found in journal articles. For example, The Transfiguration of the Western Mind by Richard Tarnas (1990) provides a very comprehensive overview of the way in which thinking about spirituality and intuition has changed in the West. This article stresses the view that ideas about spiritual intelligence and experience have been radically affected by the logocentric and rational worldview. This work therefore adds to the argument for a deconstruction of the way that spirituality and religion have become 'enframed' and constituted by the contemporary world view.

Another article that proved to be a valuable resource was What is Spiritual Intelligence? By Vaughan ( 2002). This article reviews the current theories about spiritual intelligence, including the view that there are many different categories of intelligence that can be seen ass having distinct and separate characteristics. The author states that "Spiritual intelligence calls for multiple ways of knowing and for the integration of the inner life of mind and spirit with the outer life of work in the world." (Vaughan, What is Spiritual Intelligence? 2002, p. 16) This is an article that emphasizes the more moral and ethical interpretation of spiritual intelligence.

4. Discussion

From the literature that has been referred to the following aspects become clear. As noted above, the concept of intuition and intuitive process is also subject to the division between the rational -- scientific view of reality and a more mystical and esoteric view. This is a division that is particularly relevant to the subject of spiritual intelligence.

Spiritual intelligence presumes a method of apprehension and this method is known as the intuitive faculty. The intuitive process basically refers to knowledge or insight that is not dependent on logical or rational faculties for its value to validity. The intuitive process and the corresponding spiritual awareness are evident in the following passage from Swedenborg. He is describing the spiritual Adam;

…"he felt himself, as it were, rapt out of himself; but when he endeavoured to compose himself: lo! he saw himself in the midst of the bosom of love. . . and. . . he heard these words spoken within himself. . .'do not any longer enquire after the fountain, now that thou sittest in its veriest vein; perceive now that the love wherewith thou embracest me, is from mine. . . And thus mine from thine.'." (Wild, 1938, p. 100)

The above passage shows a very different understanding of the intuition of the spiritual compared to a modern objective approach. It should also be noted that the spiritual experience describes an intelligence that is participative and interactive and which emphasizes the loss of self rather then being controlled and self -- orientated. The character of Adam loses himself, as it were, in the interaction with the spiritual. This points to the central contention that is being discussed -- namely the fact that spiritual intelligence is approached and understood in the modern context in terms of rational and logocentric modes of understanding. This is a reduction of the possibilities of the spiritual experience and of the intuitive process.

The above is also allied to a view that has emerged in recent years that spiritual intelligence in fact is a form of consciousness that has not been recognized by formal science. " Many psychologists and men of religion suggest the possibility of other forms of consciousness than those of which we are commonly aware: considers that the mystic's vision may be due to some such unrecognized form." (Wild, Intuition.1938, p. 105)

One could add to the debate on this subject from the history of Western metaphysics with reference to the thought of figures like Bergson. For example, intuition for Bergson is a "…kind of intellectual sympathy by which one is transported into the interior of an object to coincide with what is unique and consequently ineffable about it." (Bunge, 1962, p. 11) The word ineffable has the connotation of not able to be known through reason or logic. Furthermore, Bergson believed that, "…Intuition enables us to grasp & #8230;the absolute" -- which, of course, is that which is not relative. Intuition is… superior to reason…" (Bunge, 1962, p. 11)

A very useful book that deals in depth with interaction between spiritual intelligence and intuition is Art and the Religious Experience: The Language of the Sacred, by Martin ( 1972). In this work the author discusses the intuitive process as a form of participatory experience that is essential to the understanding of spirituality. In other words, the type of intelligence that is needed in spiritual understanding is one that is deliberately ego-less and without the desire to control, determine and dominate, The author expresses this complex view as follows: "In the participative experience consciousness is released to a thing in such a way that the thing thinks in me. This is a thinking that listens, distinct from the busy-ness of calculative thinking." (Martin, Art and the Religious Experience: The Language of the Sacred p. 70) This quotation serves to encapsulate the central thesis that has been explored in this paper.

In essence, spiritual intelligence is a form of intelligence that is receptive and accessible to the spiritual or, as Heidegger might put it, the 'call of Being'. It is an intelligence that in the first instance is open to the intuitive processes such as trance and meditation that provide access to the ground of reality and to the meaning of life. In this context we could say that it is a very different form of intelligence to the rational and logical forms of intelligence,

The above discussion becomes less opaque if we place it in the context of modern and post -- structuralist thought. The philosopher Martin Heidegger stated that the era of Western Metaphysics had come to an end with the work of Nietzsche. The 'failure' of metaphysics in his view was due to the extreme human-centric bias in metaphysics and the need to reify all existence in terms of the ego and the humans self. Furthermore, Heidegger was of the opinion that contemporary thought, had been "enframed" into a certain mode of thought by the history of metaphysics.

In other words, put simplistically, the Heideggerian worldview purports that mankind faces at every level a crisis of existence, where "…the supporting and nurturing reality of Being has "withdrawn," leaving humanity vulnerable and anxious for a return to the sense of "homeness." (Vycinas, Earth and Gods: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Martin Heidegger, 1961, p. 106) Therefore, in terms of the development of metaphysics, it becomes essential to understand spiritual intelligence from a less human-centric or egotistical point-of-view.

One of the central concerns of Heidegger's philosophy is the meaning of Being.

Being, as Heidegger teaches us to see it, however, is not an abstract concept. Nor is it the highest or most general entity -- God, say, or Plato's Good -- which causes other things to be. Rather, it is that in terms of which anything at all can first be present and meaningful as what it is. It is the source of the richness in our understanding, not an empty idea.

(Blitz, Understanding Heidegger, 2001, p. 106)

Being is therefore an equivalent to spiritual reality. Although Heidegger does not use the term spiritual, his central focus was that humanity was the search for meaning which involved a certain mood or attitude to understand ontological reality that is hidden by the modern and mundane world. Heidegger uses the term 'Dasein' to refer to the human self that is searching for meaning. As he states in his seminal work Being and Time, the human encounters a lack of meaning in existence. His intuitive sense is that there is an insufficiency in its existential makeup. "Such a lack of totality signifies that there is something still outstanding in one's potentiality-for-Being." (Heidegger Being and Tim,. 1962, p. 279) This intuition of the loss of meaning in human existence can be interpreted as a form of spiritual intelligence that attempts to understand the significance of existence. From this point-of-view we could argue that Heidegger and others are exploring new forms of spiritual intelligence in an attempt to deal with the human condition. This analysis would take the debate about intuition and spiritual intelligence to a very different level to that of a purely rational and logocentric on the subject.

6: Summary and Conclusion

If one had to summarize the above debate and discussion in as few words as possible, one could use the words of Evelyn Underhill; "The sphere of our possible intellectual knowledge is thus strictly conditioned by the limits of our own personality" (Underhill, Mysticism: A Study in the Nature and Development of Man's Spiritual Consciousness 1912, p. 7) What has been suggested in this paper is that the modern view of spiritual intelligence, while insightful and valuable in many respects, is subject to the same underlying flaws and faults that we find in other disciplines and subjects that are influenced by the modern worldview. In other words, in reality our understanding of the terms intuition and spiritual intelligence are conditioned by a worldview that places the self and ego at the centre of an understanding of spiritual intelligence. This also implies that there are other and less biased approaches that can be taken to an understanding of this subject.

What becomes clear from an analysis of the literature is that there are two opposed views or approaches to spiritual intelligence. The one stance is that spiritual intelligence is just another form of intelligence that is related to other moral, ethical and compassionate forms of intelligence. While this is a positive and valid approach it is obviously very different to a view of spiritual intelligence that sees this form of intelligence in terms of a mystical, non-rational and non-egotistic contact and understanding of the ineffable ground of all reality. In the above discussion it has been suggested that this second view of spiritual intelligence and intuition is more extensive and less bound by the strictures of social constructions of reality; and that in the final analysis the modern view of spiritual intelligence and intuition is to a certain extent a reduction of the true meaning of spirituality.