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Spiritual intelligence is a higher dimension of intelligence that activates the qualities and capabilities of the authentic, in the form of wisdom, compassion, integrity, joy, love, creativity, and peace. In the last few years ago, there has been a growing debate and some changes on the concept of intelligence in educational area. There are three dimensions of intelligence: cognitive intelligence, emotional intelligence, and spiritual intelligence. The latest concept in intelligence is of spiritual intelligence (SQ). Then the concept of spiritual intelligence (SQ) was introduced. Spiritual intelligence allows you to tap into a new source for development of educational achievements. The spiritual intelligence helps an individual to live his individuality in line with the recent scientific inventions about the true nature of reality. The present research paper is an attempt to explore the various types of development in spiritual intelligence that have been given by various psychologists and educationists from the time the concept has conceived and growth in educational areas. The development and promotion of the spiritual intelligence can be considered as methods for improving students’ academic achievement. This can be promoted and revolted through a rich educational environment and leads to better educational performance in the academic achievement.

The objective of this paper is to study the development of spiritual intelligence in educational areas.

Palmer (1998) describes the spiritual as “the diverse ways we answer the heart’s longing to be connected with the largeness of life - a longing that animates love and work, especially the work called teaching.”

(Zohar & Marshall, 2000) King, Speck, and Thomas (2001) state that religion is a framework for a system of beliefs and values, while spirituality involves a person’s belief in a power apart from his own existence.

Oxford Dictionary of Current English (2001) defines spiritual as “having to do with the human spirit as opposed to physical things.”

Wink & Dillon (2002) define spirituality as “the self-existential search for ultimate meaning through an individualized understanding of the sacred.”

Vokey (2003) emphasizes spirituality as a relational event; it either consists of or leads to experiences of connectedness with our deepest selves, other human and non-human souls, to the natural world and the cosmos beyond and the larger purposes and powers that transcend an ego’s limited concerns.

 King (2008) spirituality is best defined as an unbound set of personal drives, behaviors, experiences, values, and attitudes which are based on a quest for existential understanding, meaning, purpose, and transcendence. In addition, this personal quest typically involves the apprehension of a spiritual depth or nonmaterial dimension to reality

Spiritual Intelligence

Zohar (1997) states that “Spiritual intelligence is the intelligence that makes us whole, that gives us our integrity. It is the soul’s intelligence, the intelligence of the deep self. It is the intelligence with which we ask fundamental questions and with which we reframe our answers.

According to Zohar (2000), “Spiritual Intelligence is the intelligence with which we access our deepest meanings, purposes, and highest motivations.”

Buzan (2001) states that “awareness of the world and one’s place in it.” Spiritual intelligence is a set of mental abilities, making it one component of a person’s total intellect (Oxford Dictionary of Current English, 2001).

According to Vaughan (2002), “Spiritual intelligence is the capacity to recognize multiple levels of consciousness; the awareness of spirit as the ground of being; and the awareness of one’s relationship to the transcendent, to all people, and to the earth.” She believes that spiritual intelligence exists as a potential in all people and can be cultivated by a variety of practices or training. She also emphasizes the relationship between spiritual intelligence and adaptation to stressful events.

Nasel (2004) states that “the application of spiritual abilities and resources to practical contexts. People use spiritual intelligence when they draw on their spiritual abilities and resources to make meaningful decisions, deliberate over existential issues, or attempt problem solving in daily life.”

Wigglesworth (2006) states that “the ability to behave with compassion and wisdom while maintaining inner and outer peace (equanimity) regardless of the circumstances.”

Ronel and Gan (2008) “define SQ as ability to understand the world and oneself through God-centeredness and to adapt one’s life according.

Spiritual intelligence has been described as the ultimate intelligence by Zohar and Marshall (2000), who place it at the top of a hierarchy, with emotional intelligence below and rational intelligence (IQ) below that-

SQ=P (IQ+EQ)

Where P = Presence

IQ= intelligent quotient

EQ=emotional quotient

Howard Gardner’s (1983) qualify skills as intelligence. These are:

1. First, this intelligence must have moral capacities attached to it.

2. Secondly, the ability to adopt, solve problems in specific contexts, and living with an ethos.

3. Third, the development with advancing age of these faculties.

Indicators for Spiritual Intelligence: According to Zohar and Marshall (2000), indications of a highly developed spiritual intelligence include:

1. A high level of spontaneity

2. Being vision and value-Led

3. The capacity to be flexible

4. A high degree of self-awareness

5. Compassion and celebration of diversity

6. A capacity to face and use suffering;

7. A capacity to face and transcend pain

8. Sense of vocation

9. Positive use of Adversity

10. Ability to Reframe

11. A reluctance to cause unnecessary harm;

12. A tendency to see the connections between diverse things (being ‘holistic’);

13. A marked tendency to ask ‘Why?’ or ‘What if?’ questions and to seek ‘fundamental’ answers;

14. Possessing a facility for working against convention.

15. Humility

Danah Zohar and Ian Marshall (2000) introduced 12 qualities of Spiritual intelligence:

1. Self-awareness: Knowing what a believes in, values, what and deeply motivates me

2. Spontaneity: Living in and being responsive to the moment

3.Vision- and value-led: Acting from principles and deep beliefs, and living accordingly

4. Holism: Seeing larger patterns, relationships, and connections; having a sense of belonging

5. Compassion: Having the quality of “feeling-with” and deep empathy

6. Celebration of diversity: Regarding other people for their differences, not despite them

7. Field independence: Standing against the crowd and having one’s own convictions

8. Humility: Having the sense of being a player in a larger drama, of one’s true place in the world

9. (i) Ask fundamental “why?” questions: Needing to understand things and get to the bottom   of them

10. Ability to reframe: Standing back from a situation or problem and seeing the bigger picture; seeing problems in a wider context

11. Positive use of adversity: Learning and growing from mistakes, setbacks, and suffering

12. Sense of vocation: Feeling called upon to serve, to give something back.

Noble (2001) contends that her research agrees with Emmons’ model and adds two additional core abilities:

1. The recognition capacity that physical reality is embedded within a larger, multidimensional reality with which we interact, consciously and unconsciously and subconsciously.

2. The conscious pursuit of psychological and mental health, not only for ourselves but it is important for global community.

Cindy Wigglesworth 2006 her model of SI consolidates 21 skills into four quadrants:

1. Higher self/ ego self-awareness

2. Universal awareness

3. Higher self/ ego self-mastery

4. Spiritual presence/ social mastery

Amram (2007) identified seven major themes related to spiritual intelligence:

1. Meaning (experiencing meaning and purpose in daily activities)

2. Consciousness (trans-rational knowing, mindfulness, and practice)

3. Grace (trust, love, and reverence for the sacred)

4. Transcendence (holism, nurturing relationships and connections)

5. Truth (acceptance, forgiveness, and openness to all truth)

6. Peaceful surrender to Self (ego lessness, accepting one’s true nature)

7. Inner-directed freedom (liberation from attachments and fears, discernment, integrity)

Diedrich (2008) offers that there are three major aspects of spiritual intelligence as follows:

1. Identifying with one’s Higher Self or Spirit rather than with the ego 

2. Understanding Universal Law - Cause and Effect

3. Non-attachment

The four quadrants of spiritual intelligence are defined as:

1. Higher self/ Ego Self-Awareness

2. Universal Awareness

3. Higher self / Ego Self-Mastery

4. Spiritual Presence / Social Mastery

Steps to become Spiritually intelligent

Bowell (2004) adds that there are seven steps to acquire the spiritually intelligent self for the practical pursuit of purpose, success and happiness. They include:

According to Wigglesworth (2006), describe these four skills for SQ. These include:

1. Higher self/ego self-awareness

2. Universal awareness

3. Higher self/ego self-mastery

4. Social mastery / spiritual presence

Components of Spiritual Intelligence

Robert Emmons originally proposed 5 components of spiritual intelligence:

1. The capacity to transcend the physical and material.

2. The ability to experience heightened stats of consciousness.

3. The ability to sanctify everyday experiences.

4. The ability to utilize spiritual resources to solve problems

5. The capacity to be virtuous.

King (2008) suggests four main components of spiritual intelligence:

Mamin (2008) has suggested, summarized and reconciled number of different capacities relevant to spiritual intelligence and resulting behavioral outcomes:

1. Existential thinking

2. Holistic thinking

3. Transcendental awareness and spiritual presence

4. Expansion of consciousness

5. Connection to spirit

6. Personal meaning creation

7. Vision and values alignment

8. Perspective of service

9. Compassion

10. Humility and acceptance

11. Spontaneity and non-attachment

In the present study, the historical method is used. It is analysis and conceptual type study. This is usually accompanied by an interpretation of these events and of their relevance to present study related to student achievement. The present study is to find out the lines on which the concept of spiritual intelligence has emerged.

“We are not human being having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual being having experience”. –Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Human intelligence is full of complexity and Intelligent Quotient, Emotional Quotient and Spiritual Quotient alone or in combination is inadequate to explain the vast richness of the very essence and imagination of the human intelligence which is very useful in today’s achievement of student. Spiritual intelligence actually performs quite well according to the academic achievement of student’s criteria for the future development of the students. It represents a set of mental abilities, self-thinking, self-awareness and self-motivation. Spiritual intelligence is the blend of cognition with morality, we can enhance positivity and quality of life and nonmaterial aspects of reality. Spiritual intelligence is the intelligence of the soul which helps to analyze the cause of a person’s existence and to attain heightened states of consciousness.

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