Spiritual Intelligence: What We Can Learn from the Early Awakening Child [Paperback]

Marsha Sinetar (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 214 pages
• Publisher: Orbis Books (March 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570754276
• ISBN-13: 978-1570754272
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,224,144 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Childhood's Inner Organizing, April 15, 2000

By 

Maure Quilter, M.A., LMFT (Lafayette, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spiritual Intelligence: What We Can Learn From the Early Awakening Child (Hardcover)

As a former teacher, school administrator, and currently working as a Licensed Marriage Family Therapist, I highly recommend Marsha Sinetar's latest creative endeavor, Spiritual Intelligence.

Marsha Sinetar captures the seriousness of childhood's inner organizing, who/what imprinted us as little people and formed us as resilient searchers? How on earth did we survive, grow through some of our early life hurdles - when information was scanty and mentors few and far between? How did these early, sometimes indescribable losses transmute into gifts of gold, wisdom, courage?

The gift Marsha Sinetar has of swinging from early child history to the adult now is rare indeed. I can think of no category this new gift slips into. Spiritual Intelligence is more like experiencing a look at one's entire life. This gem brings to light the gifts of early inspirations and deep, deep wounds. No minimizing here. Marsha speaks of her own earliest experiences in occasional spare paragraphs. These glimpses deserve slow thoughful reflection - these pieces of her history allow us, as her long time fans, to see a bit of where she's walked. Marsha reveals morsels of her own Journey with Goldilock's balance - "not too much, not too little, but just exactly right." With this same incisive vision, Marsha draws from early lives of the famous and the ordinary. We can all relate to Marsha's snippets of courage, her own and others.

Sinetar's book includes, rather than excludes; it takes in, embraces an array of beliefs, welcoming all to taste of her gifts. I can imagine younger readers savoring Spiritual Intelligence, as well as the seasoned who perhaps are still puzzling out their confusing youthful path. I can see the self-taught, as well as sophisticated thinkers, able to glean, deepen, learn from Spiritual Intelligence.

Marsha's "early awakeners" help us, help ourselves to risk - Marsha's weavings of Love stories and Spiritual Intelligence spin the way to our deepest healing. A must have for the ages.

Spiritual Intelligence enthralled me, no - enthralls me still. This work is a confidante for all. This book is a prism reflecting fresh light for all teachers, Religious, as well as those in the public arena. Spiritual Intelligence is a rich support for therapists, healers, Ministers, Priests, Rabbi's, and all peoples on a personal Journey.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Out of the Spirit of Babes, July 18, 2000

By 

John M. Rossini - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spiritual Intelligence: What We Can Learn From the Early Awakening Child (Hardcover)

Once again, Dr. Marsha Sinetar shows us in this fabulous book, how cultivating the spirit yields a fulfilling life in the material world. By examining the lives of gifted children, Dr. Sinetar eloquently describes the traits (some of which are not so obvious) of practicle spiritual intelligence which include empathy, positive rebellion, and capacity to forgive. The book provides some delightful examples of how allowing a child's uniqueness to shine can lead to a child having an exemplary life. Such is the case, Dr. Sinetar explains, with Marlin Perkins (Wild Kingdom) who as a child so loved to carry around spiders and reptiles that neighbors were afraid to shake his hand. It's a good thing, Marlin's parents did not force him to always be neat and clean. This book is about helping both children, and ourselves as adults, as Dr. Sinetar gives us permission to 1. respect ours and our children's need for private time, 2. take time for play (beware of the "cult of efficiency" in school and business which can kill creativity), and 3. forgive ourselves for past cowardice, and narcissism -- and move on. "Spiritual Intelligence" is a valuable, practicle, and inspiring work.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Innovative Look at Fast-Growing Spiritual Intelligence, June 23, 2000

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Spiritual Intelligence: What We Can Learn From the Early Awakening Child (Hardcover)

"Spiritual intelligence is inspired thought. It is light, the kiss of life that awakens our sleeping beauty." That's the definition of this subject by the author, and a good sample of her quite lyrical writing style.

For those interested in developing their own and their children's spiritual intelligence, this book is an innovative resource that will stimulate many useful self-examinations. It is creatively done, providing a perspective that I have not seen used in other books about spiritual intelligence. The book's main weakness is that the pictures painted about the key points in developing spiritual intelligence can be a little murky at times.

Everyone has a list of people they consider to have been spiritually intelligent. The premise of this book is that many of these people formed that spiritual intelligence at an early age. By considering them while they were children, and spiritually precocious children today, you can get a perspective on the steps involved in enlightening and maintaining more spiritual consciousness.

The key elements discussed in this book include built-in authority based on self-awareness and intuition; a broad view of the world; high morals; strong optimism; a delight in experience based on intuition; a clear vision of where one is headed; deep hunger for relevant parts of that vision; creative thinking; and a pragmatic sense of reality. Sounds like a lot, doesn't it? Well, it is so there's lots of room for each of us to expand spiritual intelligence.

Each chapter explores one or more of these elements. Here is the chapter structure: There will be a quote from a young person that captures the chapter's main point. Then there will be a story of a person who most view has having been spiritually intelligent, when that person was a child. Other stories will build on that base, usually including one or more about the author. The points of the chapter are summarized at the end, in case you got lost a bit.

The power of the book is that many of these stories will remind you of your own childhood. These insights will take you deeply into the meaning of the material, and help you see how it applies to your life today and to the children you parent or know.

The only reason I did not give the book one more star is because some of the chapters got to be a little too amorphous for me. One story will tell you one thing. The next story will tell you not to do too much of that thing. The third story will take you off in a different direction. Then three more stories follow, in still different directions. As a result, the complete point is often lost to me in a haze of qualifications. If you love ambiguity, you should give this book five stars.