http://www.francesvaughan.com/files/Spiritualintell.pdf
Vaughan, F. What is Spiritual Intelligence? Journal of Humanistic
Psychology, Vol 42, No. 2. Spring 2002, 16-33 2003 Sage Publications.
WHAT IS SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCE?
FRANCES VAUGHAN, Ph.D., is a psychologist in private practice in Mill Valley, California, and author of several books integrating psychological and spiritual development. 1-Icr most recent book; Shadows of the Sacred: Seeing Through Spiritual Illusions, draws on many years of experience as a practitioner of humanistic and transpersonal psychology and explores issues that individuals encounter on the spiritual path. She is coeditor of Paths Beyond Ego: The Transpersonal Vision, and she is a contributor to the Encyclopedia of Psychology (APA Books, 2000). She was formerly on the clinical faculty at the University of California Medical School at Irvine and has served as president of the Association for Transpersonal Psychology and the Association of Humanistic Psychology. She is currently serving as a trustee of the Fetzer Institute.
Summary
This inquiry into spiritual intelligence suggests that it is one of several types of intelligence and that it can be developed relatively independently. 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. It can be cultivated through questing, inquiry, and practice. Spiritual experiences may also contribute to its development, depending on the context and means of integration. Spiritual maturity is expressed through wisdom and compassionate action in the world. Spiritual intelligence is necessary for discernment in making spiritual choices that contribute to psychological wellbeing and overall healthy human development.
Spirituality exists in the hearts and minds of men and women everywhere, within religious traditions and independently of tradition. If, following theologian Paul Tillich, we define spirituality as the domain of ultimate concern, then everyone is spiritual because everyone has ultimate concerns. However, the term ultimate concern can be interpreted in many different ways. Some people do not consider themselves or their concerns to be spiritual. Spirituality, like emotion, has varying degrees of depth and expression. It may be conscious or unconscious, developed or undeveloped, healthy or pathological, naive or sophisticated, beneficial or dangerously distorted.
Some current definitions of spirituality can be summarized as follows: (a) Spirituality involves the highest levels of any of the developmental lines, for example, cognitive, moral, emotional, and interpersonal; (b) spirituality is itself a separate developmental line; (c) spirituality is an attitude (such as openness to love) at any stage: and (d) spirituality involves peak experiences not stages. An integral perspective would presumably include all these different views, and others as well (Wilber, 2000).
Spirituality may also be described in terms of ultimate belonging or connection to the transcendental ground of being. Some people define spirituality in terms of relationship to God, to fellow humans, or to the earth. Others define it in terms of devotion and commitment to a particular faith or form of practice. To understand how spirituality can contribute to the good life, defined in humanistic terms as living authentically the full possibilities of being human (Anastoos, 1998), it seems necessary to differentiate healthy spirituality from beliefs and practices that may be detrimental to well-being. This leads to the challenge of defining and cultivating spiritual intelligence.
WHAT IS SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCE?
FRANCES VAUGHAN, Ph.D., is a psychologist in private practice in Mill Valley, California, and author of several books integrating psychological and spiritual development. 1-Icr most recent book; Shadows of the Sacred: Seeing Through Spiritual Illusions, draws on many years of experience as a practitioner of humanistic and transpersonal psychology and explores issues that individuals encounter on the spiritual path. She is coeditor of Paths Beyond Ego: The Transpersonal Vision, and she is a contributor to the Encyclopedia of Psychology (APA Books, 2000). She was formerly on the clinical faculty at the University of California Medical School at Irvine and has served as president of the Association for Transpersonal Psychology and the Association of Humanistic Psychology. She is currently serving as a trustee of the Fetzer Institute.
Summary
This inquiry into spiritual intelligence suggests that it is one of several types of intelligence and that it can be developed relatively independently. 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. It can be cultivated through questing, inquiry, and practice. Spiritual experiences may also contribute to its development, depending on the context and means of integration. Spiritual maturity is expressed through wisdom and compassionate action in the world. Spiritual intelligence is necessary for discernment in making spiritual choices that contribute to psychological wellbeing and overall healthy human development.
Spirituality exists in the hearts and minds of men and women everywhere, within religious traditions and independently of tradition. If, following theologian Paul Tillich, we define spirituality as the domain of ultimate concern, then everyone is spiritual because everyone has ultimate concerns. However, the term ultimate concern can be interpreted in many different ways. Some people do not consider themselves or their concerns to be spiritual. Spirituality, like emotion, has varying degrees of depth and expression. It may be conscious or unconscious, developed or undeveloped, healthy or pathological, naive or sophisticated, beneficial or dangerously distorted.
Some current definitions of spirituality can be summarized as follows: (a) Spirituality involves the highest levels of any of the developmental lines, for example, cognitive, moral, emotional, and interpersonal; (b) spirituality is itself a separate developmental line; (c) spirituality is an attitude (such as openness to love) at any stage: and (d) spirituality involves peak experiences not stages. An integral perspective would presumably include all these different views, and others as well (Wilber, 2000).
Spirituality may also be described in terms of ultimate belonging or connection to the transcendental ground of being. Some people define spirituality in terms of relationship to God, to fellow humans, or to the earth. Others define it in terms of devotion and commitment to a particular faith or form of practice. To understand how spirituality can contribute to the good life, defined in humanistic terms as living authentically the full possibilities of being human (Anastoos, 1998), it seems necessary to differentiate healthy spirituality from beliefs and practices that may be detrimental to well-being. This leads to the challenge of defining and cultivating spiritual intelligence.
30 What ls Spiritual Intelligence?
Because there is little agreement about definitions of spirituality, discussions of spiritual
intelligence need to be exploratory rather than definitive. By asking what is meant by spiritual
intelligence, I hope to stimulate further discussion of this topic that I think merits further
investigation.
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