What are the stages of spiritual intelligence? There are many models. For our use on UU A Way Of Life the description of the stages of spiritual intelligence involves five:
Concrete, literal
Magical and superstitious
Conceptual and reasonable
Holistic and integral
Mystical, nondual, energizing.
People grow through these stages as well as organizations like churches and cultures. People, socialized in a religious tradition, can be at different stages of spiritual intelligence as well. Some religions and churches do a better job of nurturing and facilitating this growth than others. Many churches have a center of gravity in one of these stages and attract membership with participants being primarily at one of these stages. Often as growth occurs and spiritual intelligence develops, schism can occur or some people have grown beyond the bulk of the congregation and will move on seeking support from a new group of people who share their level of SQ.
One indicator of a vibrant religion and church is one that can serve the needs of people at different levels of spiritual intelligence. These religions and churches can be described as “resilient” as compared to rigid and even brittle.
Spirituality is different from religion. Some people are spiritual but not religious and some people are religious but not spiritual and sometimes people are both religious and spiritual. At UU A Way of Life we are spiritual, but not religious. The kind of Unitarian Universalism that UU A Way Of Life attempts to share and incubate is not organizational or institutionally based. The kind of Unitarian Universalism that UU A Way Of Life describes, acknowledges, and facilitates is a way of life not merely a social club which one might attend on Sundays to have coffee and cake and socialize.
The mission of the church is to facilitate the spiritual evolution of individuals and cultures and all of humanity and sentient beings. The mission of UU A Way Of Life is to help people experience the good, the true, and the beautiful and become aware of the presence of the infinite in the finite.
You, your family, your community, your nation, the whole world is invited to join us. What is most beautiful, true, and good in your life? Leave a comment.
The mission of the church is to facilitate the development of spiritual intelligence. Having a map of stages provides a frame of reference for navigation. Using the map provided above UU seems focused primarily on the third stage of conceptual and rational. What will help it move to the fourth and fifth stages?
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