Spiritual quotient

Spiritual quotient (SQ) is described as a measure that looks at a person's spiritual intelligence in the same way as intelligence quotient (IQ) looks at cognitive intelligence. In other words it is the ability to be creative and insightful. This can be achieved through the progressive development of one's intuitive abilities and self-awareness.^[1]

We have all heard about the importance of Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and Emotional Quotient (EQ). However, The concept of Spiritual Quotient (SQ) is fast emerging as the next big aspect of scientific study as it directly correlates to a person's awareness and consciousness.

Human beings have five senses. Sight (ophthalmoception), hearing (audioception), taste (gustaoception), smell (olfacoception or olfacception), and touch (tactioception) are the five traditionally recognized senses. Spirituality is the ability to recognize that there is intelligence beyond five senses. And this intelligence creates and governs everything within and beyond the worlds we know. We can surrender to this supreme intelligence through: awareness (also known as mindfulness), contemplation (self enquiry), and prayer (dedication).

Given below are just three of the many aspects that setting ourselves on a spiritual course entails.

1. Responsibility : What all in this world are we responsible for? Ourselves? Family? Society? Country? Earth? Universe? Can answer to any of these questions be ‘no’?

Implication : Answer to this question helps define the personal vision of each individual. It helps one to intertwine one's personal vision with the larger good of humanity.

2. Humility : We are just a speck in this existence. Consider this. There are over 7 billion inhabitants on earth, and we are just a few of them. Earth is just one of the innumerable heavenly bodies in the universe. The universe in itself is billions of years old. The 70 odd years that we will spend on earth is minuscule in this scheme of things. So, how significant is our existence?

Implication : We, human beings, carry big egos, and want to feel all important. We tend to demand, and not command respect. Have we realised if we, after all, are that important? Will our arrogance or our humility make us a better leader?

3. Happiness : Human race has progressed on the back of innovation. The level of comfort enjoyed by the current generation is probably the highest ever. But can we say that we are the happiest generation that ever lived on the planet? There has been a conscious and mammoth effort to set right the outside world. But how much time have we given for our inner well being?

Implication : A long and healthy life is important for any individual. Ill-health can either halt one's progress or, even if one succeeds, result in the ‘gifts’ of a heart disease, blood pressure or diabetes. A happy individual also builds a happy family and society.

Spiritual Quotient therefore is the ability of an individual to see his personal vision and the ensuing endeavour to achieve the same through the prism of the larger good to the society, bringing good health and happiness to himself and the world at large.

The question that might come to mind after reading the above is – why do we need to be spiritual to realise these fairly straightforward implications? The answer is simple too – unless we set apart time in our daily (busy) schedule to make steady progress in our spiritual journey, we will not get time to even think about these issues. Spirituality brings depth to an individual's approach and perspective towards leading a more meaningful life.

Comparison between SQ, EQ and IQ

New tools for measuring the brain show that SQ is accomplished in a completely different way than IQ and EQ thinking. However, to be most efficiently productive at the creative, mental and cognitive level we need the perfect combination of SQ, EQ and IQ in harmonic synchronization.^[2] But first let us look at these different mental processes.

IQ: With reference to the study of Intelligence Quotient, it is seen that the neurons in the brain line up in a definite sequence.It is how we are able to repeatedly do logical things like multiply big numbers together, do accounts, analyse data or undertake a research program. We learn the sequence so we can be logical, rational and precise.The great thing about IQ is that it is measurable. So we can hand out university qualifications on evidence of IQ, or lay out procedures in organisations that tend to give tried and true results. For example the process of identifying and justifying the appointment of the right person, or a banker’s decision on the right investment are designed for IQ thinking.However it is often too risky to rely too heavily on IQ thinking. IQ is bound by the process, it stifles creativity and innovation, takes no account of the decision maker’s experience, reduces intrinsic motivation, is slow, bureaucratic, non-strategic and reduces staff confidence to use their judgement and intuition to make decisions.A famous study by Agor in the 1980s asked CEOs of companies that crashed how they got it so badly wrong. Most responded that they knew their decisions were faulty, but they felt they needed to accept the rational analysis rather than their own judgment.^[3]^[4]

EQ: The study of Emotional Quotient mainly shows us that this type of faculty is derived and developed from experience ^[5]In the brain, pathways form in a bundle of up to 100,000 neurons as we experience things. It’s like the way the setters in New Zealand formed tracks through the bush, many tracks disappeared while the most used ones turned into tar sealed highways. EQ is how we get to acquire skills, understand ourselves, and tune in to other people. Some attempts to measure these qualities have suggested that EQ skills are four times as important as IQ skills by age 40 to determine success in life.We grow EQ with abundant experiences. The limitation of EQ is that it is bound by our experiences.

SQ: The study of Spiritual Quotient reveals that it is the mental faculty which enables us to break out of the limitations that are inherent traits of IQ and EQ. It is better understood if we study the brain in analogy to an LC-coupled oscillation radio circuit, where at specific frequencies we can tune into a particular FM channel. Similarly scientific study of the brain tells us that, when brain cells oscillate at a shared slow frequency such as when we are heading off to sleep, waking up, musing, meditating, mindlessly in the shower, or jogging. These ideas are then linked with a 40Hz ripple across the brain. It’s like communicating with short wave radios. What scientists are yet to discover are what is being linked and how. The links may be inside the brain pulling together diverse thoughts into a coherent whole. Or they may be linking to universal wisdom such as Carl Jung's Collective Unconscious.^[6] This idea evolves out of the Bohm interpretation of quantum physics that at the quantum level everything is interconnected, and all information is held holographically - so the very smallest quantum of energy contains all of the information held in the universe.^[7] ^[8]However, from a practical viewpoint, it doesn’t matter how it is being linked, any more than we need to understand electricity to turn on the light switch. We know that the more we use SQ thinking the better we are at it. The brain stores billions of ideas, as well as IQ and EQ learning that has been built up - most of which we are completely unaware of. The brain’s capacity to make sense of all this data with SQ thinking greatly exceeds the most powerful computer. The challenge is that EQ and SQ are hard to measure on a regular standardized basis so they gain little respect in society compared to IQ.

Quotations

"The authors who have already begun dishing out books by the dozen on the subject of Spiritual Quotient contend that it is only SQ that set humans apart from both machines and animals. According to them SQ is about compassion and creativity, self-awareness and self-esteem, flexibility and gratitude. Thus what were once espoused by the great philosophers of the likes of Swami Vivekananda are once again being exhorted by the modern day corporate world."^[9]

Spiritual quotient

Comparison between SQ, EQ and IQ

Quotations

Further reading

References

External links