Highway traffic illustration
Travelling a busy highway is symbolic of all of us travelling during our daily activities. From an overall economics point of view we can classify the hundreds of different travellers into categories of professions, social interest and functions for the day. Getting into the lives of every driver and passenger is a different matter and requires an enhanced skill set.
Spiritual Intelligence – the art of authentic leadership
The art of understanding the potential and unleashing the potential of the drivers and the passengers of the traffic is what we call spiritual intelligence (SI).
A major purpose of the study of spiritual intelligence (SI) is the quest for meaning and positive movement skills. In other words, SI is the mastery of authentic meaning (the why’s and values of life) as well as the skill set needed to move situations in a positive direction, as opposed to the inclination to generate negative or toxic movement.
SI may therefore also be defined as the art of 1) understanding our inner authentic self in harmony with 2) our ability to understand and apply the outer universal laws that govern the consequences of our behaviour.
In terms of the traffic illustration, the value and merit of the behaviour of the individuals participating in the busy traffic flow is in direct proportion to the ability of those individuals to master the art of spiritual intelligence.
Old Man’s Essence
‘All of the real meaning of my old life may be summarised by my allegiance to the universal Law of Meaning: ‘All perceived meaning is contextual.’ The more I grasp the inner person that I was born to be and the more I grasp the nature of universal laws that govern all things, the more meaningful my life becomes.’
Brackets of meaning
The expression ‘brackets of meaning’ is intended to convey the concept of two enclosing brackets that empower each of us to;
- Seek out meaning in terms of our own inner peace, potential and confidence.
- Harmonise our inner peace with ‘outer’ authentic universal laws and principles that govern the consequences of human behaviour.
These inner and outer brackets provide authentic meaning to all our actions as well as confidence in our ability to move situations in a positive direction.
Old Man’s Essence
‘After all is said and done what remains is what is done.’
Spirituality has no real meaning if it does not generate positive works. The expression intelligence conveys the image of a skill set, acumen and the ability to do things. Spiritual Intelligence is the art of harmonising spirituality and actual doing of valuable and good things.
A lack of a spiritual intelligence mindset is to travel the sad road of wastage of our divine potential..
If you or I are in the busy traffic of the highway of life we will only find lasting meaning if we are prepared to invest in spiritual intelligence, no matter what we may call or label our efforts to be. If you don’t respond to the expression spiritual intelligence, fine. It is up to all of us to decide whether we are at peace with our efforts to develop to our full potential, or not.
How?
The study of spiritual intelligence may be tackled in many different ways. Most of the so-called subjects of life that we are constantly studying and applying contain the riches of spiritual intelligence. It is simply not just us at Leadership Platform that are students of spiritual intelligence! Nobody has any kind of exclusive right to be experts in spiritual intelligence. All such knowledge is vested in our Creator and in all creation around us. It is made freely available to those who seek for it with real intent.
Whatever activity or subject we may be involved in can be beneficial to our growing mastery of spiritual intelligence as we trust in the age old attributes of humility, integrity and faith in our spiritual heritage.
This article is but one of many writings, models and mentors that help us to recognise the elements of spiritual intelligence.
The concept of ‘brackets of meaning’ is a useful tool to help guide us in our eternal quest for meaning and authentic leadership.
Louis Groenewald – ‘The Old Man’
LP Leadership Platform – Multiplying Leaders. Moving Society.
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Adriaan Groenewald is an Authentic Leadership Activist
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