You may have had a good education but did you learn anything? What is the difference between education and learning? An education is something you acquire in an institution whereas learning is a continuous dynamic in a process called life. Unfortunately most of us learned to confuse one with the other when 'they' taught us that learning was memorizing and life was a stroll in the park. As soon as we finished with school, college or university many of us could be heard rejoicing with the words, "Thank goodness that learning stuff is over, now I can go and make some money"! Little did we realize the learning had just begun.
What's the difference between education and intelligence ? Education is based on a worldly knowledge and academic development, whereas intelligence is based on self-awareness and self-development. Once again we are confused when we believe our academic qualifications are a route to self-improvement. They are merely a measure of our knowledge at a particular point in time, often within a narrow specialist area, not a sign of how well we know ourselves, or how well we are able to manage our thoughts and emotions or build loving relationships with others.
What's the difference between learning and intelligence ? Learning is something you do, whereas intelligence is something you already have. Unfortunately our confusion between these two means we believe we are becoming more intelligent when we learn, whereas the reverse is more likely to be true. It is often more intelligent to unlearn what we have been taught!
The level of intelligence used in our formal education is fairly easy to develop. Known as 'rational intelligence' it is a mechanical and sequential process within our consciousness in which we use reason, logic and analysis, while drawing on past experience, to make decisions, choices and take action. It takes time, requires much 'thinking', and easily drains our mental energy. Rational intelligence has its deepest roots in a material self-perception. When we see ourselves as material beings, finite and limited, the physical world is perceived as mechanical, predictable and controllable. What we see around us becomes either threatening or pleasurable. On the one hand we learn that the world is something that has to be survived, while on the other hand it is a source of sensual stimulation. For all these 'reasons' we see it as something we need to control, order and exploit. This in turn drives the development of our rational skills as we seek to understand how the world works and create physical and mechanical (rational) ways to control our environment.
To cut a long story extremely short the outcome is the 'materialist paradigm' of which the most recent manifestation is globalization. Rationality still rules the world. But it obviously doesn't work. The level, magnitude and quantity of stress, conflict and violence in the world have never been greater. We have used our rational intelligence to create brilliant technologies…fast. By doing so we have shrunk the world, bringing every living being on the planet physically closer together than at anytime in human history. The reality however, is that in our hearts we have never been further apart. While we may speak to each other more, we actually say less. While we exchange massive amounts of information we share less wisdom. A world built by scientific research and technological development may be an impressive creation of our rational skills but it is an increasingly unhappy world, rapidly being stripped of the human feelings of caring, empathy and compassion. It is a world that lives mostly on physical stimulation.
Both the speed of change and the deterioration of relationships in the last ten years has created a need and a context for the ideas and abilities of 'emotional intelligence' (EQ). This has started in the corporate world of management development, and is seeping into education systems. Emotional intelligence is the awareness of ones own emotions and feelings and the ability to see and understand their cause. This is basis of being able to control our emotions and be the master of our feelings. EQ is the capacity to empathise, (not sympathise) with others emotional state. These are essential relationship building skills within all areas of our lives, including our academic endeavours, but plainly absent from the national curriculum. Where rational intelligence has traditionally focused on the task, so that we go to work to do a job, emotional intelligence reminds us we can't get the job done effectively and consistently unless we 'get along'. The emotionally intelligent individual goes to work to form and build relationships and partnerships as much as getting a job done. While IQ (task focus) has tended to drive us further apart, EQ (relationship focus) begins to bring us together.
The deepest form of intelligence is spiritual intelligence. This is based in the awareness of who we are, a conscious connection to our core values, and the ability to consistently align our attitudes and actions with those values. While love is a core value of every human being, it is a much misused and abused word. It's true meaning has become confused with desire, dependency and the most prevalent trait within all material cultures, attachment. Spiritual intelligence is the internal capacity to know and live by the true meaning of love, an energy that emanates from every human being which, when neither blocked or distorted by attachment, naturally embraces and uplifts others without the desire for anything in return. Not an easy task in a world where we are 'educated' to do the opposite. Spiritual intelligence is therefore the ultimate unifier.
The learning and development of spiritual intelligence has nothing to do with adherence to any particular belief system. It begins with self knowledge i.e. awareness of one self as spirit not form, as soul not body, as 'the being' and not 'the doing'. Unfortunately our education is almost entirely based on a material self-identity. When we see and experience ourselves as only physical entities we also learn to believe that love and happiness can only be felt through physically stimulated experiences. This is the illusion that sustains the prevailing economic paradigm based on people as consumers and producers at a material level. This same illusion keeps people seeking love and happiness in places they cannot be found i.e. outside the self. When we believe love and happiness come from outside ourselves we are never far from dependency and addiction. Then we become consumers of pills, potions, treatments and therapies to overcome our addictions. Obviously a very unintelligent way to live.
In many ways it's good news if you have left school. It means you are now enrolled in the real school, the only school, the school of life. It is a school in which every scene is a page in the Book of Life, filled with symbols and laden with meaning. Being able to read this book is beyond the boundaries of academia and beyond the capacity of the rational mind. It is a school where every relationship is a workshop and every 'other' is your teacher. It is a school where you can quickly learn that your thoughts and feelings are the brushes and paint that you need to creavte your story on the canvas of your life.
If real learning is happening in the school called life, the self awakens to itself and realises the true purpose of life is to fully express the unlimited qualities and capacities of the self. The self realises that real learning is the unlearning of all that confines and confuses. In the school called life learning cannot be avoided. Not learning by memorizing, but learning by doing, by reflecting on the intention behind action and then discerning the quality of the outcome. Welcome back to school!
Question: At what level do you think you need to focus your learning now and why?
Reflection: What do EQ and SQ have in common?
Action: Find good teachers of EQ and SQ either directly (personal relationship) or indirectly through books/seminars etc |
