In the materialistic and scientific age that we are living in, formal education is generally privileging the development of logical-mathematical intelligence, as if it were capable of integrating other types of intelligence, or as if it were the only one. We can observe that in the entrance exams of the schools, from the secondary level, tests are applied in order to detect the applicants who have a high IQ, and the reagents of such tests are generally of a memoristic type in certain areas. of the general culture, and of verbal, mathematical or geometric abilities regarding logical - mathematical intelligence. Emotional intelligence is not even considered, which according to recent studies (Goleman), has a greater correlation with personal and professional success. This reductionism,it puts aside most of the human potential and leaves out of the school human beings with great capacities not only for success, but for the urgent need of beings that contribute elements for the evolution of the consciousness of the human species, and that they are capable of generating a universe of harmony, instead of increasing destruction and self-destruction.
Cynically, "quality" formal education in developed countries show the world its "advances" and its claims. A small example can be seen in the documentaries on the Discovery TV channels that when talking about "scientific advances" glorify the construction of superpowered weapons and war machines and the multi-million dollar budgets that they dedicate to research for that purpose. They are talking, for example, that by 2010, the war will be fought with robots, some of which are already being used in the Middle East: remote control spy planes. Remote Control Machine Guns, a ship they are building to develop high speed and precision, capable of loading fuel on the fly and launching atomic heads with pinpoint accuracy miles away, Oct. etc…. This is what world leaders dedicate the wealth generated by humanity. And, if we ask ourselves why? Are they stupid? Politics says that they are geniuses with doctorates, those who do such research, in the service of world leaders who are supposed to represent humanity to achieve the well-being of all… The religions, whose mission they say is to save humanity, also do "Holy wars"… As individuals, within ourselves, we also bring war, because we do not know how to live in peace, nor have harmony within ourselves… What do we lack to think, feel and act differently?at the service of world leaders who are supposed to be representing humanity to achieve the well-being of all… The religions, whose mission they say is to save humanity, also carry out "holy wars"… As individuals, within us, we also bring the war, because we do not know how to live in peace, nor have harmony within ourselves… What do we lack to think, feel and act differently?at the service of world leaders who are supposed to be representing humanity to achieve the well-being of all… The religions, whose mission they say is to save humanity, also carry out "holy wars"… As individuals, within us, we also bring the war, because we do not know how to live in peace, nor have harmony within ourselves… What do we lack to think, feel and act differently?
We can find the answer in ourselves… If we were world leaders, or geniuses with doctorates, and were invited to do research for war in exchange for large amounts of money, perhaps we would find good justifications and do the same, since we have not developed our spiritual intelligence, and our consciousness has not reached the kosmic level. We are easy victims of our emotions, and in an instant obfuscation, we do things that we would not do while being calm. We do not recognize the responsibility we have in life to achieve our transcendence and the harmony of the universe. What happens at the macrosocial level is nothing more than a reflection of what happens inside us. We simply have not developed spiritual intelligence as a species; only some exceptional individuals have done it,And they are the ones who are struggling to make humanity do it, for the benefit of the kosmos.
But what is spiritual intelligence? Until now we have only heard of intelligence as a general ability to solve new problems with the economy of time and effort; more recently, a differentiation of intellectual abilities is made, and abstract reasoning, mechanical reasoning, spatial relations, numerical ability, verbal reasoning, and speed and accuracy are considered for comparing sets of letters and numbers, but all this falls within it. field of logical - mathematical intelligence.
Howard Gardner already talks about different types of intelligence, and conceptualizes:
- Logical-mathematical intelligence, as the basis of traditional scientific activity, based on logical reasoning and measurements as the basis for the demonstration of hypotheses. Linguistic intelligence, which is expressed in the capacity for verbal expression, communication, Language ability, in hermeneutics, is the dominant intelligence in writers, communicators, and poets. Musical intelligence, manifested in the ability to harmonize, compose, and orchestrate music. Body intelligence, which is present in the ability to control the body in an outstanding way to produce a result. Chinese acrobats are an outstanding example of this type of intelligence. For example, we just saw a video of a man who lacks a leg and a woman who grows an arm,Dancing wonderfully ballet. Spatial intelligence, which is the foundation for visual arts, design and space management. It is the dominant intelligence in architects. Interpersonal intelligence, such as the ability to understand others, have empathy and ease for social interaction. It manifests itself as dominant in leaders: Intrapersonal intelligence, which allows us to understand our own internal aspects, control emotions and understand the purpose of life, and, Naturalistic intelligence, which provides sensitivity to nature, the ability to relate to she, understanding the natural environment.Interpersonal intelligence, such as the ability to understand others, have empathy and ease for social interaction. It manifests itself as dominant in leaders: Intrapersonal intelligence, which allows us to understand our own internal aspects, control emotions and understand the purpose of life, and, Naturalistic intelligence, which provides sensitivity to nature, the ability to relate to she, understanding the natural environment.Interpersonal intelligence, such as the ability to understand others, have empathy and ease for social interaction. It manifests itself as dominant in leaders: Intrapersonal intelligence, which allows us to understand our own internal aspects, control emotions and understand the purpose of life, and, Naturalistic intelligence, which provides sensitivity to nature, the ability to relate to she, understanding the natural environment.it provides sensitivity to nature, the ability to relate to it, understanding of the natural environment.it provides sensitivity to nature, the ability to relate to it, understanding of the natural environment.
This conceptualization is already more comprehensive, however, the upper Holon, the third level of intelligence, is missing: spiritual intelligence. According to Dr. Ramón Gallegos Nava, there are three levels of intelligence, which correspond to the three eyes of knowledge: emotional intelligence, with the eye of the flesh, the senses and instincts; it works in the sphere of sensitizing and allows survival; it is the first level. The intellectual, with the eye of the mind, works in the sphere of intelligibility and is capable of generating culture; it is the second level of intelligence, and the spiritual, which corresponds to the eye of the spirit, works in the sphere of transcendence and is required to achieve transcendence. It is the third level of intelligence, the highest level,the only one that allows the formation of better human beings, capable of developing their sense of unity with everything, of interdependence and of complementarity. An individual with spiritual intelligence develops wisdom, which goes beyond intellectual knowledge. An individual with spiritual intelligence, even if he has all the knowledge that is needed, does not generate weapons of mass destruction or harm others, or nature, because he knows that by doing so, he hurts himself; it only takes what is necessary from the environment to live in harmony with everything and with the laws of nature. The greater your progress in transcendence, the less needs you have.that goes beyond intellectual knowledge. An individual with spiritual intelligence, even if he has all the knowledge that is needed, does not generate weapons of mass destruction or harm others, or nature, because he knows that by doing so, he hurts himself; it only takes what is necessary from the environment to live in harmony with everything and with the laws of nature. The greater your progress in transcendence, the less needs you have.that goes beyond intellectual knowledge. An individual with spiritual intelligence, even if he has all the knowledge that is needed, does not generate weapons of mass destruction or harm others, or nature, because he knows that by doing so, he hurts himself; it only takes what is necessary from the environment to live in harmony with everything and with the laws of nature. The greater your progress in transcendence, the less needs you have.The greater your progress in transcendence, the less needs you have.The greater your progress in transcendence, the less needs you have.
Spiritual intelligence is the oldest and the newest in terms of its conceptualization. Dr. Ramón Gallegos refers to the Buddha, who called it equanimity, full vision, which gives us the ability to live in harmony with the whole and allows us to generate meaning for living.
Dr. Ramón Gallegos tells us that spiritual intelligence has among its characteristics the following:
- It provides the capacity for inner peace and equanimity. It allows us to feel that the source of happiness is within us and not in external circumstances. It allows us to establish the difference between satisfaction, which is transitory and ends when a need is satisfied, and happiness, which is permanent and comes from the sense of unity with the universe. If we do not have access to it, it is because the strong conditioning of our mind forms a barrier that prevents us from perceiving unity; Because we allow the sphere of sensitization to dominate us. It allows the ability to live to serve. It allows us to feel and understand that service is a projection of our energy to improve the conditions of all those around us, knowing that we are part of the same essence and thus generating a synergy of benefit and self-benefit,currents of harmony, dialogue and peace, which contribute to the evolution of universal consciousness. It is the basis of a win-win philosophy and way of life, it gives us the ability to understand and overcome suffering. With spiritual intelligence we learn to live the here and now. In life it is impossible to stop experiencing pain in different manifestations: physical, moral, emotional, but pain is only had when a problem occurs, when it passes, pain naturally disappears; however, the mind retains what we dislike and this makes us remember and live the pain again, then turning it into suffering. With spiritual intelligence, we really understand the principle of impermanence, we can see how pain arises and vanishes, which is reduced to its real dimensions,without doing us greater harm. Spiritual intelligence gives us strength, and turns pain into another learning experience, an experience of our human adventure, without turning it into suffering. It leads the individual to autonomy and independence. With spiritual intelligence, universal values are clearly perceived, and it is no longer acted on by external regulations, but rather does what is known to be done, by its own conviction. He thus becomes independent of external and superficial pressures, but being fully aware of his interdependence with everything. Spiritual intelligence is based on mindfulness, which is achieved through meditative practice: concentration meditation and full vision meditation. It develops the ability to solve problems of meanings and values,for it has a holarchic vision of the universe and clearly perceives the field of the values of the higher oligarchy. Under these conditions, there is no obfuscation, there is no ignorance of the mind. Consciousness penetrates into stages of greater depth, meaning and integrity. It enables one to acquire the capacity for ethical conduct, which goes beyond moral conduct. The latter is based on the concepts of good and evil of the majority, or of the group to which one belongs. Ethical conduct locates our life in a broader context, based on universal values and the autonomy that comes as a consequence. It develops the ability to focus on the "why" of things, as it always advances from apparent truth to the transcendent truth; from the apparent causes, to the first causes, and to the First Cause of all things.It increases the capacity for discernment, since it allows knowing reality as it is, from the equanimity of a serene mind, without the interference of emotions, preferences, preconceptions and opinions of others. Spiritual intelligence leads to wisdom, which goes beyond knowledge, it allows us to live in a broader context of meanings, since from the spiritual dimension, the cosmic consciousness is no longer aware only of material and superficial reality, but also he finds out what happens in the mental and spiritual order of the universe. Thus, life no longer means the same. It favors the ability to learn to be, to discover our true spiritual essence, to feel in harmony with ourselves, with our fellow men and with nature, to be happy,without depending on external circumstances.
Dr. Ramón Gallegos teaches that a world with spiritual intelligence would be a world of harmony, in which each being could experience the right they have to be happy, trusting in their fellow men, feeling their fullness and unity with the universe. Without spiritual intelligence, we have the world we are seeing: destructive, disintegrated, more instinctive than human, hedonistic, nihilistic, restricted in his vision to what the physical senses can perceive, full of cruelty and deceit, imagining that physical comforts are the end of our existence and that wealth and power signify transcendence, without realizing that they are only the cause of annihilation and loss of what gives us sustenance, full of ignorance varnished with intellectualism.
For all this, it is extremely urgent that the educators of the world transform ourselves into true educators, capable of helping the students to discover themselves, to realize their true nature and the transcendent meaning that life has.. It is an urgency and not only for the evolution of consciousness, but for the most basic thing, which is the survival of the human species on the planet, because our spiritual blindness has us on the verge of self-destruction, and it seems that we do not we realize it.
Those of us who are working on the Master in Holistic Education, under the direction of Dr. Ramón Gallegos Nava, have adopted the mission of spreading the holistic vision that should guide human actions, since it is based on universal values and true nature of Being: spirituality and universal love.
Bibliography
- Gallegos Nava Ramón (2000) The spirit of education. Integrity and importance in holistic education. International Foundation for Holistic Education, Guadalajara.Gallegos Nava Ramón (2001) The education of the heart. Twelve principles for holistic schools. International Foundation for Holistic Education, Guadalajara.Gallegos Nava Ramón (2001) Holistic education. Pedagogy of universal love. International Foundation for Holistic Education, Guadalajara.Gallegos Nava Ramón (2001) A comprehensive vision of education. The heart of holistic education. International Foundation for Holistic Education, Guadalajara, Gallegos Nava Ramón (2001) Holistic dialogues. Holistic education and perennial philosophy I. International Foundation for Holistic Education, Guadalajara.Gallegos Nava Ramón (2003) Learning to be.The birth of a new spiritual awareness. International Foundation for Holistic Education, Guadalajara.Gallegos Nava Ramón (2003) Learning communities. Transforming schools into learning communities. International Foundation for Holistic Education, Guadalajara, Gallegos Nava Ramón (2003) Pedagogy of universal love. A holistic view of the world. International Foundation for Holistic Education, Guadalajara, Gallegos Nava Ramón (2004) Wisdom, love and compassion. Holistic education and perennial philosophy II. International Foundation for Holistic Education, Guadalajara, Gallegos Nava Ramón (2004) The Path of Perennial Philosophy. Holistic education and perennial philosophy III. International Foundation for Holistic Education, Guadalajara.Gallegos Nava Ramón (2005) Education and spirituality. Education as a spiritual practice.International Foundation for Holistic Education, Guadalajara.Gallegos Nava Ramón (2007) Spiritual intelligence. Beyond the multiple and emotional intelligence. International Foundation for Holistic Education, Guadalajara.
