Danah Zohar and Ian Marshall argue there is scientific and religious evidence for a third ‘Q’ of spiritual intelligence or SQ. They are building on Daniel Goleman who popularised emotional intelligence (EQ) as equally important to Intelligence Quotient (IQ). SQ is what addresses and solves problems of meaning and value. It helps place our actions in a richer meaning-giving context. It explores fundamental or ultimate questions such as what is the meaning of my life, and examines how we grapple with existential challenges of good and evil, illness and grief, suffering and despair, life and death.

A chaplain colleague commented to me about the irony of a book on SQ (building on IQ and EQ) is that from time immemorial philosophers, scholars, theologians – not to mention humanity as a whole have understood the transcendental nature of our being – that is, we are guided and challenged by our emotional and intellectual intelligence in search for self, found in the other. The book explains the science behind this, illustrates how different traditions express it, and maps what could be labelled as universal paths for its development.

The authors maintain SQ is not necessarily connected with religion. It does not come from priests or holy books but from what is internally generated within. Nevertheless, they draw on a broad mixture of traditions: Western psychology, Greek mythology, astrology and alchemy, Tibetan bardos, Hindu chakras, and Christian sacraments.

Some argue that modern Western culture is in a spiritual crisis and ‘spiritually dumb’ in that we have lost a sense of fundamental values and meaning from a connection to ‘something beyond’ (i.e. transcendent). Instead, too often people seek meaning in peripheral activities, of which the authors offer examples such as drug abuse, promiscuous sex, and materialism. Those are the obvious peripheral activities with negative connotations, but I have been discussing with other chaplains how people also pursue otherwise good distractions like an over-intense focus on fitness, work, or social media.

As chaplains we’d suggest the ‘so what’ for Army is that people risk not taking the time to link their beliefs about the world and their values, behaviours, and ethics in a manner that gives them a coherent framework for life. This is especially important for soldiers who may be asked to challenge their beliefs and values through their behaviour in war. This is part of why chaplains are committed to helping people move beyond what Zohar and Marshall refer to as ‘spiritual dumbness’ or what we might otherwise label as spiritual illiteracy or from another angle spiritual scepticism.

Zohar and Marshall offer 3 chapters of scientific evidence for SQ, including how research suggests there is a ‘God spot’ in the human brain and its neural connections and consciousness. This SQ sector of the brain is what offers creative and intuitive thinking and helps humans integrate their actions with a sense of wholeness and purpose.

Other chapters develop a model of the self that is illustrated by a lotus mandala, with six petals representing personality types and motivation. Each type can be spiritually stunted or spiritually intelligent, and with SQ and centred wholeness we can express a little of the servant leader, artist, intellectual, builder, mountaineer, and nurturing parent sides of our spirituality. A later 3 chapters offer diagnostic tools to identify personality/SQ types, and paths towards greater SQ for each type.

SQ offers three particular points for good soldiering and the associated ‘spiritual conditioning’ that the Army Training Manual now seeks to foster alongside physical and mental conditioning.

Firstly, SQ necessarily includes self-awareness. The authors suggest Western education tends to focus on facts and external world problems rather than our inner lives and motives. Yet we desperately need to reflect on what we believe and value. The book offers simple practices to help improve communication with our self, including meditation, poetry, walking in nature, listening to music, reflecting on events at the end of each day, keeping a diary of events and our responses, and keeping a diary of our dreams. These are helpful ‘spiritual practices’ for fostering self-awareness and SQ.

Secondly, the chapter on ethics ‘Our Compass at the Edge: Using SQ to Build a New Ethics’ discusses how the moral goalposts have moved in modern Western culture. It argues that we cannot just rely on top-down rules but need an internal code. The authors argue SQ is an inner compass on how to treat others. For example, SQ inculcates a reluctance to cause harm to others and the environment. The chapter is not a satisfactory comprehensive approach to ethics let alone military ethics, but I appreciate how it points to the importance of an internal compass for moral and ethical decisions. I would have liked to have read more practical advice like what was given for self-awareness.

Thirdly, SQ is invaluable when it comes to soldiers facing death. SQ helps us navigate existential issues of purpose and ethics, good and evil, pain and suffering, and especially death and killing. These are the ‘fundamental’ or ‘ultimate’ questions that humans as spiritual beings ask. What are we here for? What are our beliefs and values, and how do these shape our actions? Why should I keep going when exhausted or feeling beaten? How do I grapple with issues of good and evil, life and death? These are the most challenging existential questions and the essence of SQ.

The book underlined for me why soldiers need spiritual conditioning and also why the work and stressors of soldiering can enhance SQ. The authors comment, ‘To come into full possession of our spiritual intelligence we have at some time to have seen the face of hell, to have known the possibility of despair, pain, deep suffering and loss, and to have made our peace with these.’ Soldiering brings into clear focus the questions of how do we transcend pain and suffering and make peace with the impending death that all of us face. How we answer is among the most important tasks of SQ for soldiers.

SQ is a technical but also potentially deeply personal book with helpful resources for self-awareness and charting individual paths to greater spiritual maturity. It is not a book written from any particular religious perspective albeit drawing on a number of traditions as well as science and psychology. SQ is relevant for chaplains and soldiers interested in understanding the background of this aspect of our lives and work.

Bibliographical Notes

The book’s publisher’s details are Danah Zohar and Ian Marshall, SQ: Spiritual Intelligence The Ultimate Intelligence (London: Bloomsbury 2001)