Spiritual Intelligence
“No matter how complex a system is, we judge it as having no soul if all its energies are devoted merely to keeping itself alive and growing. We attribute soul to those entities that use some portion of their energy not only for their own sake, but to make contact with other beings and care for them.”
If we expended all our energies solely on taking care of our own needs we would stop growing. In that respect what we call “soul” can be viewed as the surplus energy that can be invested into change and transformation. As such, it is the cutting edge of evolution.
Years ago the above quotes of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi changed my life because it opened a totally new meaning of what spirituality means. Until then, I was used to hearing of spirituality only in two contexts- religion and arts. What actually happened in the years ahead is realising that fostering our spiritual intelligence is the ultimate level of personal development for each one of us. As a result, we experience well-being, effectively collaborate, thrive in diversity, love and flourish.
What defines this stage of our development, which I call magnanimity, is:
—higher self-awareness triggered by an ability to learn from opposites
— appreciating diversity as the ultimate fabric of life and driver of growth
— independence from mediocrity while thriving in interconnectedness
—making choices and decisions based on values, intuition and inspiration
—continuously expanding consciousness and learning but remaining humble
— understanding challenges and mistakes as necessities for learning
— ability to see any system as a whole with its patterns and relationships
—quality of presencing and listening without judgment and cynicism
— a capacity for experiencing pure joy and unleashing creativity
— appreciating roots while chipping away from anything that is not truly us.
— courage to move from a fears & ego-driven to a love & purpose-driven life
— letting go of the need for certainty and exchange expectations with intent
— curiosity for life and ability to ask fundamental systems questions
— drive for meaning and living in accordance with what one is here for
The ultimate proof that we are indeed on the right road is experiencing synchronicities: “when you see what you’re here for, the world begins to mirror your purpose in a magical way. It’s almost as if you suddenly find yourself on a stage in a play that was written expressly for you.” — Joseph Jaworski
Follow me on Medium and be the first to read my stories.
