SHAHEED SUKHDEV COLLEGE OF BUSINESS STUDIES; DELHI

UNIVERSITY

MADE BY:
AKSHAY KHARBANDA
SRIJAN SAXENA
VINEETH VIJAYAN
BBS-IA
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to begin with expressing our gratitude towards our project
guide Ms. Aastha Diwan for guiding us throughout our project on
“SPRITUAL INTELLIGENCE”. The project would not have been possible in
its present form without her able guidance and valuable suggestions.
CONTENTS

METHODOLOGY........................................................ .............5
INTRODUCTION............................................... ......................6
SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCE- ORIGIN AND RESEARCH..................8
WHAT IS \“SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCE\....................... .............11
Being SPIRITUAL.............................................................................11
Having INTELLIGENCE....................................................................11

RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY........................................ ........14

Religion tends to be ................................................................15
Spirituality tends to be ..................................................................15

NEED FOR SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCE.....................................16

- Personal Life Relationships..........................................................16
- Family Life Relationships..............................................................17
- Working Life Relationships...........................................................17

NEED FOR APPLICATION OF SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCE............19

1. Meditation..................................................................................37
2. Detached Observation...............................................................37
3. Reflection...................................................................................38
4. Connecting.................................................................................38
5. Practice......................................................................................38
6. Seeing .......................................................................................38
7. Serving.......................................................................................39
1. Who am I? - This is the question of identity..............................39
2. What am I? – This is the question of nature...............................39
3. How do I work? – This is the question of consciousness............40
......................................................................................................................................................................40
4. Where am I? – This is the question of context/relationship........40
5. How does it all work? – This is the question of law...................41
6. Why am I here? – This is the question of purpose......................41
7. What happens next? – This is the question of creativity............41
 METHODOLOGY

- Division of strata
Once the topic ‘Spiritual Intelligence’ was selected, we decided to
conduct a firsthand survey on it by getting questionnaires filled up by
various correspondents. We also decided to divide the correspondents
into five categories, viz.-students, businessmen/professionals, retired,
homemakers and working group.
- Collection of data
The primary data was collected by all the group members by dividing
the job of getting the questionnaires filled equally. For the secondary
data, our main focus revolved around the works of authors Dana Zohar
and Ian Marshall.
INTRODUCTION
Spiritual intelligence is about the growth of a human being. It is about
moving on in life. About having a direction in life and being able to heal
ourselves of all the resentment we carry. It is thinking of ourselves as an
expression of a higher reality. It is also about how we look at the
resources available to us.
Spiritual intelligence motivates people to balance their work schedules
to spend time with the family. Or an executive with a high SQ might look
beyond profit margins and devote time for voluntary work with orphans.
Spiritual intelligence also addresses the need to place one's life in a
shared context of value.
The transformative power of SQ distinguishes it from IQ and EQ. IQ
primarily solves logical problems. EQ allows us to judge the situation we
are in and behave appropriately. SQ allows us to ask if we want to be in
that situation in the first place. It might motivate us to create a new one.
SQ has little connection to formal religion. Atheists and humanists may
have high SQ while someone actively religious may not.
Contrary to the general perception, Spiritual Intelligence invokes the use
of reason and will. The process involves analysis and a decision. Take
the law of "gravity" as example. We don't have to feel the presence of
gravity to believe, this principle is in place whether we are a believer of
this law or not. And in application of this knowledge (wisdom), man
made decisions (technological advancement) in respect to this principle
to protect lives and properties.
In words of Marsha Sinetar, author, What We Can Learn from the
Early Awakening Child, “Spiritual intelligence is inspired thought. It is
light, the kiss of life that awakens our sleeping beauty. It animates
people of any age, in any situation. In children, that quickening makes
boys and girls want to seek out and cultivate their inborn gifts, energies,
and desires”.
SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCE- ORIGIN AND RESEARCH
Psychologists who devised tests to measure rational intelligence termed
their measure as "Intelligence Quotient (IQ)", their hypothesis being that
higher the IQ more is the rational intelligence. For long, the world gave
much importance to Intelligence Quotient. "My son has an IQ of 210!"
the proud mother would gush. "He's going to be a scientist." Such an
attitude was a legacy of the early 20th century.
While the utility of IQ in identifying potential performers is not disputed,
according to renowned psychologists IQ contributes only about 20 per
cent to the factors that determine life success, which leaves 80 per cent
to other forces. This led to further studies in the area of measuring
human intelligence. In mid-1990s, Daniel Goleman revealed findings in
neuroscience and psychology that stressed the importance of Emotional
Quotient (EQ). This makes us aware of our feelings and that of others. It
gives empathy, motivation, compassion and an ability to respond
skillfully to pleasure and pain. Goleman argued that EQ was a basic
requirement for the use of IQ. If the areas of our brain that feel are
damaged, our ability to think effectively is diminished.
Later, however, authors Dana Zohar and Ian Marshall introduced a new
dimension to human intelligence and coined the term “SQ” for Spiritual
Intelligence”. People argue that the SQ is the basic foundation for an
effective use of EQ and IQ. People also refer to it as the soul's
intelligence. While rational, logical thinking gives one's IQ, and the
associated habit-bound, pattern recognizing emotive thinking gives one
the EQ, the creative, insightful, rule-making, rule breaking thinking with
which we reframe and transform our previous thinking gives one the SQ.
Just as the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts, SQ allows one
to add a larger, deeper and richer context to the present.
Spiritual Intelligence, according to Zohar, is:
1. Self-Awareness- You know who you really are and you know that
you are connected with the whole universe.
2. Vision & Values Led – or Idealism. Children naturally want to
serve, and so do we. Vision and values led is definitive of our humanity.
3. The Capacity to Face and USE Adversity- Owning our mistakes
and adversity and using pain and tragedy to learn
4. To be Holistic- Seeing the connections between things. Being open
to and interested in EVERYTHING.
5. Diversity- Thriving in and celebrating diversity. I look at you and see
what is different in you and I say “Thank God for that!”
6. Field Independence (Courage) - A term from psychology that
means the courage not to adapt, to be independent.
7. The Tendency to Ask WHY? - Questions are infinite. In Quantum
Physics questions create reality.
8. The Ability to Re-Frame- Put things into a larger context of
meaning.
9. Spontaneity- This is NOT acting on a whim…it comes from the same
Latin roots as response and responsibility. It is not conditioned by fear. It
is appropriately “responsive to” the world
WHAT IS “SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCE”?
In order to understand both the development and application of spiritual
intelligence it is useful to first be clear on what we mean when we use
these two words.
 Being SPIRITUAL
To be 'spiritual' is to think, act and interact from an awareness of self as
spirit not form, soul not body.
Most of us are taught to believe we are our physical forms, and so we
identify with our body or the labels we give to our bodies such as
nationality, race, gender, profession etc.
This wrong sense of self is what creates all fear, anger and sadness in
life. From a spiritual point of view these ‘unnatural’ emotions are always
the result of ego (misidentification), which then blocks access to your
true spiritual nature which is peaceful, loving and joyful.

 Having INTELLIGENCE
Intelligence is to use what you know in the right way at the right time in
the right place with the right intention.
For example if you 'know' your self as a spiritual being you will also
'know' that you do not own or possess anything. When something in
your life is damaged or lost, it does not affect you in any way – you are
able to use your spiritual power to accept and move on.
If someone praises the clothes you wear, or insults you in any way or
comments negatively about your looks, you are NOT affected because
you ‘know’ that your real beauty lies within your character, within your
nature, which no one can ever take away. In that moment you draw on
the inner power of that knowledge and use it to remain stable in the
face of others negativity. In effect you are drawing on your spiritual
strength which is only released when you know who and what you are,
and then using that strength in the right way, in the right place at the
right time.
One of the qualities of SQ is wisdom. This includes knowing the limits of
your knowledge. Other ingredients are values such as courage, integrity,
intuition, and compassion. Spiritual Intelligence is recognizing time
honored rules and applying the same to our modern situation. Unless an
individual observed this prescription, Spiritual Intelligence will not
benefit a person.
The transformative power of SQ distinguishes it from IQ and EQ. IQ
primarily solves logical problems. EQ allows us to judge the situation we
are in and behave appropriately. SQ allows us to ask if we want to be in
that situation in the first place. It might motivate us to create a new one.
SQ has little connection to formal religion. Atheists and humanists may
have high SQ while someone actively religious may not.
Spiritual intelligence therefore has to do with people's thoughts and
beliefs, rather than their bodies and physical surroundings. You need to
become aware of your thoughts (invisible energy). Your thoughts,
together with your feelings and words, create your actions. Your actions
or behaviour are a direct reflection of who you really are. Spiritual
intelligence therefore does not mean an automatic connection with
religion.
RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY
Often the very word ‘spiritual’ invokes concepts of religion and religious
belief systems and dogmas which, for some, can trigger feelings of
aversion. So it’s good to clarify the differences.
It has been said that most spiritual people are religious but few religious
people are spiritual. Why? Religion, in an organized sense, tends to
encourage the individual to attach to a packaged set of externally
prescribed beliefs, whereas spirituality tends to encourage detachment
from all beliefs and use the practice of a meditative and reflective
process to reveal and realise what is true. Religion in its original
meaning is to ‘reconnect’. Religion in a spiritual sense would be religion
in the true sense of the word, which is to reconnect with the original and
authentic self, and ones true spiritual nature, which is essentially
peaceful and loving. When one is ‘being spiritual’ ones religion is
peace. This is not possible until all attachments are dropped, most
especially to beliefs and belief systems.
The following is a ‘contrast of tendencies’ between religion and
spirituality. ‘Tendency’ here means frequently, but perhaps not in every
case. For example religion tends to be male dominated and spirituality
tends to be a more feminine domain, but in neither is it absolute.
Religion tends to be Spirituality tends to be
Structured Free flowing
Male dominated Androgenous
Oppressive Emancipating
Conforming Metaphysical
Institutionalized Individual
Doing Being
Patriarchal Equality
Social Control Liberating
Culturally defined Transcendent
Separating Bringing Together
Applies to some Applies to all
Religion tends to be Spirituality tends to be
Exclusive Inclusive
Dogmatic Flexible
Restrictive Expansive
Ego (based on attachment to Humility (which emerges
beliefs) naturally with the freedom of
non-attachment)
Controlling Allowing
NEED FOR SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCE
In the ‘inner game’ of the relationship that you have with your self, the
highest purpose at this time is to ‘be your self’. Not so easy if you don’t
know who/what you are. In the outer game of relationships with others,
the highest purpose is to ‘be of service’.
The spiritual intelligence unit serves to assist people in any context
(corporate, community, family) to develop their spiritual awareness,
capacity and intelligence, and then to use that intelligence to be more
effective as an individual, and thereby expand their capacity to make a
greater contribution to the endeavours of others.
Spiritual intelligence also plays a very important in practical life. Each
area of life contains a set of relationships. Both success in life and
levels of satisfaction in each area of life depends on how well one is able
to interact within those relationships.
Spiritual intelligence expands the capacity to understand others at the
deepest level. Spiritual understanding also allows discerning both the
‘true cause’ of behaviour without judgement, and serving the ‘true
needs’ of others until people themselves learn to meet their own needs.
This capacity is developed by first learning to free oneself from
attachment and neediness and being able to meet our own inner needs.
Attachment and neediness are the opposite of being spiritually
intelligent.

- Personal Life Relationships

Spiritual intelligence frees you from neediness and clinginess in your
personal relationships. When you realize you already have within you
what you seek from others (love, happiness, peace) you are then free to
act and interact without any ‘agenda’. In effect, you act from an
authenticity that desires nothing of another, but serves only to give.
Paradoxically this frees both parties to ‘be themselves’, which is the
deepest foundation for any open, healthy and harmonious relationship
built on the twin spiritual values of trust and respect.

- Family Life Relationships

The culture of family life can easily revolve around too much
‘familiarity’. This results in behaviours which can swing from rejection,
resistance and avoidance one moment, to attachment, dependency and
clinginess the next. Being spiritually intelligent in a family context allows
individuals to find a more mature way to relate, free of emotional
dependency, and able to embrace ‘the other’ regardless of their
behaviour or their emotional state.

- Working Life Relationships

When spiritual intelligence is brought into the workplace work ceases to
become a daily chore in order to earn money, and becomes a creative
process of service and contribution. Others are seen and treated as
people and not objects/resources to get a job done, and individuals have
an opportunity to learn the inner, invisible and subtle skills of building
and sustaining relationships in any area of life. These abilities include
building trust, acting with integrity, empathising at a level beyond
emotion, and the leadership of others through a consistently proactive
attitude and positive vision.
NEED FOR APPLICATION OF SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCE
AT WORK
Spiritual intelligence is something everyone has but few learn to
develop. While our academic education was focused around rational
intelligence, some of us may have recently encountered and perhaps
trained in emotional intelligence. Rational intelligence manages facts
and information, using logic and analysis to make decisions, whereas
emotional intelligence is necessary to understand and control ones
emotions and feelings, while being sensitive to the feelings of others.

Spiritual intelligence on the other hand, is necessary:

• To find and utilise the deepest inner resources from which comes the
capacity to care and the power to tolerate and adapt
• To develop a clear and stable sense of identity as an individual in the
context of shifting workplace relationships
• To be able to discern the real meaning of events and circumstances,
and be able to make work meaningful.
• To identify and align personal values with a clear sense of purpose.
• To live those vales without compromise and thereby demonstrate
integrity by example.
• To understand where and how each of the above is sabotaged by the
ego, which means being able to understand and influence ‘true
cause’ .
Some of the outcomes of the development and practice of spiritual
intelligence include an ability to stay calm and focused in the face of
crisis and chaos, a more selfless and altruistic attitude towards others
and more enlightened and relaxed perspective on life.
While many people think there is nothing spiritual about work and the
workplace, there are many areas of working life in which spiritual
intelligence can be applied. These are perhaps three of the most
important:

 Personal Security and how that effects Personal

Effectiveness
We believe our security is dependent on the physical/material
components of life (money, property, objects etc) which, in turn, depend
on our job. In fact, this material mindset creates feelings of insecurity,
as everyone knows that job/money/property/things all come and go, and
we have little or no control over when people do. This insecurity
generates fear, otherwise known as stress, which then effects
performance at work and relationships within the workplace.
The development of spiritual intelligence is the awakening of a deeper
awareness of ones self as a non material being, a source of many
intangible talents, previously undiscovered character traits,
undeveloped personal qualities and innate values. Each of these
invisible inner attributes of the self can never be taken away, and when
consciously developed and used people become the ground within the
self in which a stable sense of security is anchored.

 Building Relationships and Interpersonal Understanding

One of the foundations for healthy relationships is empathy. The
building of an empathic relationship is difficult for many managers as it
challenges them to reach beyond the facts and functions of a task, and
into the feelings and emotions of the person carrying out the task. This
falls squarely in the arena of emotional intelligence. However there is
another layer below, which is the ‘cause’ of the emotions. All emotions
are caused by the self. Seeing the original cause, and understanding
what it means, is the territory of spiritual intelligence
When a manager sits down to coach staff through performance
problems people will need IQ to gather and marshal all the facts, EQ to
identify the emotions which are affecting performance and SQ to discern
the true cause and why (meaning) the emotions were created in the first
place. It doesn’t mean today’s manager becomes a psychologist or
spiritual teacher, but it helps to know and understand specific aspects of
this inner landscape.

 Managing Change and removing the Road Blocks

Resistance to change emerges through behaviors such as controlling,
complaining, criticising, withdrawing, denying, withholding and many
others. The emotional content of resistant behaviours is always fear
and/or anger. Even when the changes are rationally understood to be
good, some people still create feelings of fear or resentment. This is due
to attachment to a comfort zone, therefore an external dependency on
the way things are. All attachment is grounded in EGO. The ego is
always the one and only barrier to positive change. Then, when
something happens to that external environment, it feels like it is
happening to the self. This is the deepest level to which spiritual
intelligence can see. When someone has learned to see and understand
this very invisible and intangible inner mistake, people liberates their
self from fear and anger, which is stress at an emotional level, thus
restoring full effectiveness in relation to the task, and the process of
working with others. Building your SQ may help you when you reassess
your work situation.
BUSINESS CASES FOR SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCE

- Medical Field
In medical field, there are many doctors with high IQ who are known to
perform complicated surgeries. People have learnt and adopted best
medical practices/techniques. There are talented doctors; however, the
patients are not satisfied with the quality of services offered. It proves
that doctors (even with very high IQ) alone cannot satisfy the patient.
Patients want something more. Apart from talented doctors, people
want caring nurses, cheerful receptionists, disciplined ward boys,
hygiene conscious sweepers etc. If all these are combined together, it is
nothing but an efficient management with high SPIRITUAL QUOTIENT
(SQ). Intelligent doctors help in achieving patient satisfaction but a more
important role is to be played by the management which must have a
human touch, which is not possible without a high level of SQ.
Management with high SQ includes everybody - doctors, nurses, ward
boys, receptionists, sweepers and all of them must have an appropriate
level of SQ. Doctors are respected in the society because people are
instrumental in alleviating the sufferings of ill people. It is this very
important aspect of their jobs, which have given them a ‘God-like’ status
in the society. Somehow, this God-like status has not proved to be a
motivational factor. Unfortunately, it has created a higher level of
negative ego in them. When a person becomes very possessive about
himself, i.e. I am a doctor, I alone can do this, my name must come first
etc., it creates negative ego which is self destructive and works against
the interest of the organisation. Therefore, the doctors’ ego needs to be
managed. Doctors become victim of negative ego due to various social
and historical reasons. Their negative ego is reflected in many ways
such as:
a) People do not like to work under a non-doctor manager,
b) If patient asks many questions, people prefer them to be handled by
their assistants,
c) If somebody does not address them by the word ‘Doctor’, people feel
hurt,
d) People keep patient waiting for hours and if someone complains, he
does not like it,
e) He hates the rules (such as the rules under Consumer Protection Act,
Application of Criminal Procedures Code etc.) which govern them.

All these are manifestations of negative ego which most of the doctors
are unaware of. To control and overcome this negative ego, the doctors
need to give spiritual bent to their thoughts. It will make them more
productive for the society.

Doctors may follow the following suggestions:

 Believe in the saying - ‘Where a needle is needed, sword will not help’.
People are important for the hospital so are the sweepers. No job is
superior or inferior. Surgery is important, so is the cleaning of toilet. If
the surgery is not done in time, it may kill the patient. Similarly, if
hospital is not kept clean, it can spread infections in the hospital and
play havoc with patient’s lives. Hence, a hospital cannot afford to
underestimate the job of sweeper.

 By treating the patient, people are doing their job. So people should
not expect anything from the patient or his relatives or society in
general.

 People should learn to manage their ego. Negative ego does not help
one in any way. It does not raise anybody’s status/position in the
society.
 Human service is a great job. Doctors take care of sick people and
thereby do a great job. People are fortunate that God has chosen them
for this noble job.

 People should think of themselves to be simple men. People can be

useful to common people only when people identify themselves with
them. People shouldn’t desire for special status in the society. It will be
a handicap to them and will drive them away from the general
masses.
 Doctors should curb their desire for materialistic pleasures because it
has no end. People will never reach their goal and therefore will always
remain dissatisfied. Dissatisfaction is the mother of unhappiness.
Hence, if people are not happy, how can people make their patients
happy?

 Lastly, doctors should have regard for the rules and laws. The rules
and laws are made to serve patients’ interest. None is supreme than
the patient.

There can be many tips like the ones above but doctors will be able to
search them provided people have an urge for the same. If their spiritual
quotient is enhanced, people will prove to be the greatest assets for the
society and their usefulness will be increased many folds.
-Security Issues
In any job function there must be specific methods or procedures
adopted to ensure effectiveness and productivity, as well as quality. To
get an overall success commitment and participation is required by all
employees. Work culture and understanding on latest issues must be
cultivated to provide maximum output with minimum capabilities. In any
corporate organisation security is one of the main department that need
modification towards present need and challenges.
Malaysia is well ahead in its development towards nation building. The
Malaysian plan (i.e. NEP – new economic policy) is already half way
through. Now Malaysian government is promoting k3p program (an
education system to encourage people to read, listen and observe). This
is the only way to instill knowledge indirectly at all level within the
community.
Security is one of the parties involved in upgrading knowledge. Perhaps
conscientious training of security personnel is the single most critical
factor which affects the success of security operation. It is through
training that we maintained commitment and continuing education of all
security staff, personal and supervisory representative.
The philosophy of service is based on strategic self interest and
business prospers. One must agree that the most successful department
is the ones that have delivered outstanding result, driven by simple
mural imperative to provide quality service. With good quality and
performance, the immediate result is that you loose one thing which you
can’t afford to loose i.e. credibility, but we must accept reality.
To impart this knowledge, the Malaysian authorities maintained a
commitment through training to the continuing of all our security staff.
The standard format of training has proven valuable on the expectation
of security operation and management system in globalization.
Though the perceptions are changing, there is still a striving on the
mottos:
1) To protect
2) To serve
3) To preserve
4) To prevent
Through the job function principles and strategies in line with economic
development of the world, emotional interaction is prime for personal
and professional success. For change of qualities in life, there also have
to be a change the attitudes. This is when the following qualities have to
be upgrade and check:-
A) IQ (intelligence quotient)
B) EQ (emotional quotient)
C) SQ (spiritual quotient) and
D) KQ (knowledge quality)
Spiritual quotient- Teaching spiritual is an intricate process as there
must be an effective method to do it. Malaysian culture and religion has
spiritually educated many people in the country as well as countries that
are struggling with spiritually and those that have a fist native culture
and religion as a secondary one.
Malaysian society understands the issue. The training programme is so
designed to help belief effectively. The SQ method of undertaking was a
noble approach towards SQ educator since the current societies in
Malaysia are rich in values. On the other hand, the Malaysian culture
and religion divides the leaning of SQ into several levels, which makes it
easier for leaning. SQ is hence being taught to Malaysian workers to
modify their attitude as SQ is a better way to make them better citizens
as SQ’s main forces are simplicity and creativity.
With the Malaysian population of multiracial and religion, its adoptions
of legends, myths, belief whether from oriental, east and western opus’s
and SQ play a vital role in introducing modification and practice which
will ensure it does not fade into obscurity in traditional norms.

- Children
Spiritual quotient if inculcated from a very early stage of life can prove
to be very instrumental in framing the overall personality of a child and
sensitizing him/her towards various aspects of life.
There are various specially designed transformational programs which
aim to transform children in a very short period of time. The inner
beliefs and thought patterns of the child are explored and positive
changes made. Such programmes show children the importance of
correct thinking, vision, discipline and persistence with the use of
interactive games and cultural storytelling .these are unique and radical
program that creates a self confident and creative child. Training
techniques include games, play, exercises, breathing and stories to
develop a myriad of skills; success and leadership qualities, a knowing
of their real self, confidence building, stress management,
communication, expression skills and concentration.
Such programmes for children and teenagers supplement regular
academic training. People help develop a complete, confident and
creative child. Programs can be custom designed for schools, colleges,
and other educational institutions as per specific requirements. These
learning programs give an edge to the children which is needed for real
world success. In such programs, a child is exposed to the qualities of
perseverance, wisdom, decision-making, vision, discipline, and human
values. Thereby improving relationship skill and infusing essential
leadership qualities required for excelling in today's competitive world.
Such programs are more effective on children as their minds are fertile.
These programs teach them about the nature of the mind, methods to
discipline and use it effectively, and how to avoid negative tendencies.
Breathing techniques and awareness exercises are also taught in an
entertaining manner through practice and use of wisdom stories. This
program makes children calmer, disciplined, creative, and more self-
aware.
ANALYSIS
The data collected from correspondents belonging to various strata of
society is summed up and analysed below:-

STUDENTS

The correspondents in the student category broadly belong to the age

group of 13-20 years, most of them being adolescents. Though some of
the students scored high and fell into the category of ‘high spiritual
intelligence’, a few also scored pretty low. However, the average score
of students show that people are the lowest scorers. This means that
people are more egoistic and less sensitive.
The reason for this is primarily the ‘age-factor’. It was observed that the
few students who scored high were the eldest of those surveyed. Also,
most of the correspondents in this category were school students and
are therefore still in the transformation and developing stage of their
minds. Students being immature, people do not recognize the
importance of this crucial dimension in determining their actions and
decisions. Also, students lack experience of various life situations and
were hence, unsure of their true behaviour in many questions. Therefore
students need time for gaining some experience of life and introspection
to be sure of their feelings and reactions.
To sum up, students were observed to be lesser emotionally balanced as
maybe their minds are have not fully evolved and they would be
learning as they grow. Hence, they are the least scorers.
HOMEMAKERS

Housewives were the average scorers in the survey. Here too, although
there were a few who scored high, most of them fell into the category of
‘medium spiritual intelligence’. It was observed that the homemakers
who lived in joint families had better spiritual quotient as people have to
be aware of their true feelings and actions so that people do not hurt
anyone else’s sentiments in the family. However, people were somewhat
unsure of their actions towards the outside society due to lack of
exposure to the outside world. Also, housewives have more time to
introspect their thoughts. However, many of them seemed a bit
frustrated due to the monotonous housework people have to do
everyday.
Although these people have good self-awareness levels, people
somewhat lack confidence, thereby resulting in a medium average
score. Housewives seem more secure, maybe as they are quite able to
put things in a larger context. Also, this stratum came across as people
who would approach towards a problem from its root level. They had a
good level of self- awareness in them and hence, seemed to be more
emotionally balanced.
SERVICE CLASS

This stratum is again the medium scorer. Service class includes all those
people who do jobs for others and do not own any business. Their
confidence and self-awareness levels are generally good as these people
are used to reporting to their superiors. Hence being ambiguous of their
own feelings and thoughts would severally dent their confidence.
Moreover, again attributing to their service status, this stratum is highly
responsible. However, their scores have been brought down as most of
them feel insecure about their jobs and hence, lack loyalty.
These people, quite surprisingly, viewed changes as an opportunity for
growth. This maybe because of the fact that the major part of the
service class is now concentrated in the private sector, which they
change jobs quite often for growth prospects. They had a great deal of
self awareness too. They were less egoistic and were ready to help
others, sometimes even strangers, though they considered others as
different from themselves. These people came across as fighters who
would try hard to force things their way. However, this class felt insecure
easily, which means they can really do blunders at times. Also, they
acted with sensitivity towards their surroundings as perhaps they were
not too good at seeing things from a larger perspective.
To sum up, this strata, though has a fighting spirit and great confidence
levels, they many a times act quite submissively and more with feelings.
PROFESSIONALS

This is the stratum which misses the category of high scorers by a

notch. This stratum included those people who had a either a business
or practice of their own. Since people have been handling their own
businesses, people essentially have an outstanding confidence in
themselves. People had the full control of their lives and were highly self
aware. This was the most competitive stratum and had a constant zeal
to improve, motivation for them being directly related to results.
However, the factor that led their scores down was observed to be high
stress levels in strata this stratum. Improving their spiritual intelligence
would definitely help them in combating the stress.
Among other aspects on which, professionals were found to be lacking
was their acceptance towards change which they viewed as
inconvenient but unavoidable, Also, this stratum was found to be quite
unoptimistic towards improving their status quo and was largely inclined
towards leaving things to their natural course. This is evident from their
responses towards the questions on their life’s current scenario. Also,
while facing challenges, professionals preferred to face them with a
smile on their faces and preferred to handle the situation at hand with
an open mind. This is mainly because of work profile of professionals
which makes them immune to challenges.
Professionals were also found to be more a bit more egoistic than any
other stratum as they did not prefer to sacrifice their personal ego to
serve others. To sum up, professionals came across as balanced people
with an above average spiritual intelligence and special abilities to view
events in a larger perspective and assign a meaning and purpose to
their lives.

RETIRED

This is the most spiritually intelligent stratum. The biggest factor making
them the highest scorers is their age. These people have a huge
experience of life backing their thoughts and actions. Owing to this
experience, they are able to put thing in a larger perspective,
understand the underlying cause of a situation and thereby decide a
best reaction. Moreover being the most aged, people are the most
mature stratum. Also, this experience of life gives them a great ability to
put and see things in a larger context, thereby increasing the
spiritualism in them all the more.
Also, having retired from service; people have time for introspection
which improves their self-awareness. Retired people were the most
spiritually balanced stratum, barring a few exceptions. The
correspondents scoring low in this stratum essentially had a weak
educational background. However, being physically weak makes them a
bit unconfident.
Moreover, having been relieved of their social responsibilities, these
people are more spiritually inclined by way indulgence in meditation,
yoga, visits to spiritual teachers, etc. It is also to be noted here that
such visits to spiritual teachers is found to be more popular in this
stratum than in any other stratum.
WORKING OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE

In our questionnaire, each response to a question was allotted marks

according to the extent of spirituality depicted by the response. Thus, all
the marks for the responses were summed up to derive the total score
and hence judge the spiritual intelligence of the person.
The data collected from the questionnaires has first been divided into
the five strata considered, i.e., students, homemakers, service class,
professionals and retired. Out of one hundred respondents included in
the survey, about twenty were there from each stratum. Then, to derive
a conclusion regarding performance of each stratum, average of total
scores of each stratum was taken and analysis done thereon.

A comparison of the performance of each stratum has been

shown in the graph below:

Comparison of various strata of society

60 52
48.7
50 43.8 44.1
40 33
Score

30
20
10
0
Students Homemakers Service Professionals Retired
Class
Strata
From the above graph, it is clear that the retired people have
the highest spiritual intelligence (52), while students (33) are
the least scorers. Homemakers (43.8) and service class people
(44.1) score almost the same to fall in the medium SQ category.
The professionals (48.7), though fall in the medium category,
they miss the high SQ category by a whisker.

RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

To enhance one’s spiritual intelligence, one has to first learn the essence
of spiritual intelligence and then strive towards building it. The key
methods to learn and develop Spiritual Intelligence are given below:

1. Meditation
Meditation is the cultivation of self awareness. In the meditative
process you learn about your self as you begin to realize the answers
the seven questions for yourself. Meditation will also help you restore
the ability to control your thoughts and feelings, sharpen your ability to
discern truth from illusion, and thereby make more intelligent choices.

2. Detached Observation
This is the ability to disengage from the world of action and interaction
outside your self, and to disengage from the world of thoughts and
feelings within your consciousness. It is not avoidance of either world,
but a way to see more clearly and therefore understand more deeply
what is actually happening. This practice is also essential in order not to
‘waste’ energy at mental and emotional levels, where much of your
tiredness has its origins.

3. Reflection
This involves taking time out on a daily basis to review and re-assess
past experiences and ‘insperiences’ of the interactions with others. This
allows the self/soul to build awareness of the connection between inner
world of thoughts and feelings and the outer world of action and the
consequences of those actions.

4. Connecting
There is a higher source of spiritual power and it is possible to connect
with that source and empower oneself. This accelerates the
developmental process increasing both the depth and breadth of your
spiritual intelligence. Energy absorbed from the highest source is
essential to clearing the inner clutter and to focus your consciousness.
Meditation is the preparation for this process of connecting.

5. Practice
New learning, new insights, new realisations are only theories and have
no power to change your life unless people are brought into action,
allowed to shape new behaviours, and then perfected in the process of
expression. Practical action is essential to sustaining the momentum of
developing spiritual intelligence.

6. Seeing
Spiritual vision is learning to see only the best in others and by doing so
empowering others to develop the best in themselves. From a spiritual
point of view seeing is creating – how you see the ‘other’ is how you will
create the other within you, which will be both a reflection of how you
see yourself at that moment and the quality of the energy you will then
give to them.

7. Serving
Being available for others and helping them develop their spiritual
intelligence is the highest form of service. The process of giving service
also enhances and sustains your own progress. The true intention of
service at any level arises from the true spiritual impulse of the heart. It
is the foundation of being human.

The more these methods are practiced the faster is the realisation of
one’s own self and hence deeper is the development of the spiritual
intelligence. Moreover, there are seven ways to build the spiritual
intelligence of a person. People are:

1. Who am I? - This is the question of identity.

Identity is destiny. How one sees himself shapes his thoughts, decisions
and life directions. Most of the people are totally unaware of their true
identity and people find themselves switching identities depending on
the situation and the conversation. This creates an identity crisis which
you either learn to disguise or to tolerate. This is also where all fear and
anger originate. Knowing one self is not a self indulgent pursuit, but
essential to dispel the illusions and confusions which we all learn, and
which lead us down the wrong paths.

2. What am I? – This is the question of nature.

Spiritual intelligence reveals the core nature of every human being as
good. Every person is a ‘potential’ source of love, peace and joy in
world. Once again this potential is blocked or distorted by learning the
wrong sense of identity and the wrong reasons for living. Our highest
values also have their roots at the core of our true nature. For example,
the core of one’s nature is love, which is the highest spiritual value
which is the basis of virtuous action when expressed as empathy and
compassion, both of which are essential to relationship building.
Unfortunately people are confused about the true meaning of love and
use the word ‘love’ in the wrong way, with the wrong meaning and, as a
result, find it difficult to empathise and have genuine compassion at all
times in all situations.

3. How do I work? – This is the question of consciousness.

As a conscious being who is aware that he is conscious and aware, he
learns little in a formal sense, about how he works within his
consciousness. This is not so much the territory of psychology or
psychiatry as it cannot be treated as an academic study. Ultimately it
lies firmly in the domain of spirituality and spiritual/self awareness.
SELF is soul is spirit is conscious, and is therefore consciousness. The
methods of self-study and self-learning are therefore based in self-
awareness. In the observation of self the interplay the five main
faculties of consciousness are seen, understood and gradually mastered
– people are mind, intellect, memory, personality traits/tendencies and
conscience.

4. Where am I? – This is the question of context/relationship

How does one see and describe where he is? Some see their context in
a small and somewhat parochial way, other see their context in a large
and more global way, while a few a sense of context as something more
unlimited and invisible.
For all of us, regardless of how we ‘see’ it, context will always be
‘relationship’. But how do you view your relationships? Are people
difficult or divisive, fun or infuriating? How do you cultivate and sustain
your relationships at the deepest level, the spiritual level? Context is
relationship is life and how successful you are will depend on your level
of spiritual intelligence.

5. How does it all work? – This is the question of law.

Deep within a person, the self/soul, there is an innate awareness of what
is true. Truth is that which never changes, and from truth comes the
laws of life, the moral rights and wrongs, and the principles upon which
a balanced and harmonious life is created and sustained. Spiritual laws
can never be broken, but we subconsciously attempt to break them due
to our lack of spiritual intelligence. This generates personal stress and
interpersonal division and conflict. What are these laws and how you
align yourself to them is the ‘fabric’ of your spiritual intelligence.

6. Why am I here? – This is the question of purpose.

Realising and living our personal purpose creates one of the deepest
dimensions of a meaningful life. It is therefore one of the deepest
motivators for any human being. Each person has a unique purpose
based on his unique combination of talents, skills and spiritual
attributes. True purpose cannot be prescribed by others, it is something
that is realised fine tuned and integrated into daily life.

7. What happens next? – This is the question of creativity.

As a conscious and aware being you are by definition ‘creative’.
Creativity will always be a key aspect to your fundamental personal
purpose and your common collective purpose. But create what, and
where and why and when? Only when you realise for your self the
answers to the previous six questions, and integrate these answers
within your self, will you know what you are here to create, and what
your role is in co-creating with others.
One already knows the answers to each of the above questions;
however people are not easily accessible to one’s day-to-day
awareness. People have been mentally obscured by the conditioned
beliefs handed down by parents, education and society. The truths to
which these question point are eternally contained within the self/soul.
The gradual cultivation of spiritual intelligence is the process of
uncovering and restoring these truths to your conscious awareness.
There are essentially seven methods to allow this to happen internally.

CONCLUSION
The conclusion from whole of the project has been drawn and shown in
the form of a comparison as below:
Without Spiritual Intelligence
• People lose their sense of
identity in things like,
nationality, race, colour,
position and then become
fearful and/or angry when
any of these false identities
are threatened.
• People blame others when
things go wrong because
they fear being seen as the
one who might
be responsible as they fear
losing their reputation or
position and therefore the
approval of others.
• People have become
dependent on their job and
pay for their sense of
security.
• People live to survive as
people are still under the
With Spiritual Intelligence
• People never lose their
sense of self, their identity,
in anything external and
people know that race,
gender, nationality, belief
system etc are simply labels
and not what ‘I Am’.
• People never blame others
for anything and always
accept responsibility for
their part, their actions.
They don’t have anything to
lose as they realise they
cannot own or possess
anything. They don’t need
the approval of others to
feel OK about themselves
• People are free of all
dependency as their sense
of security comes from
inside out and not outside
in. Their sense of security is
based on their abilities,
strengths, talents and innate
qualities as a human being
i.e. what people can give,
not on what others give
them.
• People live to serve others.
They have realised that the
 illusion that it’s survival of
the fittest, that you have to
look after number one,
because it’s simply dog eat
dog out there!
• People are easily disturbed
and feel personally
threatened by local and
global change.
• People still seek love and
happiness from others and
the world, and are therefore
still experiencing
frequent disappointment
(sadness and sorrow).
• People have a tendency to
see work as a necessary
evil, a place to go and get
money to pay the bills and
buy a few pleasures.
• People have the tendency to
see and treat people at work
as objects to get the job
done, reach the goal, and
achieve the targets. The
task often comes before the
relationship.
• People tend to take life far
only way to expand their
personal capacity to love is
to give it, use it, in the
service of others, and as
they do, they are
strengthened in the process
and paradoxically have
greater value to others as a
result.
• People are never disturbed
by the changing world
around them because that is
what the world does.
• People have realised that
what they seek in the world
(peace, love and
contentment) are already
within them and can never
be lost.
• People see work as a place
of creativity, self expression
and learning where money is
a secondary reward or
return for what is given
• People see people at work
as human beings with their
own strengths, weaknesses,
concerns, needs and wants.
Relationships always come
before the task
• People tend to take life
 too seriously because
people believe business is a
serious business, thereby
living in fear.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
 www.spiritualintelligenceunit.com
lightly, as a game, an
opportunity to play and
create, thus inducing a
greater degree of lightness
is what
 www.mindwisespiritualintelligence.com
 www.wikipedia.org
