Jain Spirit 2002 10 No 12

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 32

LIFESTYLE
EMOTIONS DO MATTER
Mala Kapadia comments on the new American fad of Emotional Quotient (EQ) as an ingredient of success, explaining how emotions have always been
important in Indian tradition
T
HE SUDDEN INTEREST IN EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN the West makes it sound like a new component in the realm of Intelligence that has just been discovered by the scientists. In fact, emotions and intelligence have both been thought as opposing each other - the heart vs. the head. The awareness of their effect on each other has grown exponentially over the past few years as a response to the fast changing organisational realities. The world as a global village has posed different challenges, and the parameters for success are changing fast. Emotional Intelligence has thus become the latest mantra of success.
Technical expertise, IQ or academic excellence have traditionally been the barometer of success where the organisational situations were well defined and the rules of the games clear. The changing scenario is posing totally different challenges, where one needs to adapt not only to the changing rules but the change in games as well. Globalisation has created work cultures that require IQ or technical expertise only as threshold capability, which is then complemented holistically by emotional competencies. Research studies of star performers, leaders and successful professionals have all revealed one common thread: they are emotionally intelligent.
The conventional view of emotion is weakness - it is seen as interfering with good judgement, a sign of vulnerability, obstructing reasoning, undermining authority and compli cating business management. The paradigm shift with the advent of the emotional intelligence concept portrays emotions as a sign of strength, essential to good judgement. It makes the person real and alive, enhances reasoning, generates influence, builds trust without authority and sparks creativity and
innovation.
Emotions, motus anima (in Latin), mean the spirit that moves us. The latest neurological evidence indicates that emotion is the indispensable fuel for the brain's higher reasoning powers. The scientific exploration of emotions have emerged in two different dimensions - one, purely physio
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logical, which studies the evolution of the human brain, the emotion centres, the neural circuits, etc. The second research is to understand emotions as 'energy' that moves us. Our emotions, as much as or even more than our bodies and minds, contain our histories - every line and verse of every experience, deep understanding and the relationships in our lives. They comprise the feeling of who we are and enter our systems as energy. Energy, as we have been taught, is neither created nor destroyed. It flows. This energy is the primary source of influence and power.
In India, the scientific study of emotions and emotional intelligence is centuries old, almost dating back to the 2nd or 3rd century B.C. Bharat Muni, the founder of Natyashastra, has detailed the description of feelings and emotions as bhava and rasa. He has classified them in eight main families, namely Shrungar, Vir, Karuna, Hasya, Rudra, Bibhatsa, Bhayanak and Adbhoot. Rasa are emotions felt with an intensity that creates energy. Bhava are feelings which are fleeting, which may be momentary and may die before they reach the intense state of becoming an emotion. The families of emotions and feelings described by Daniel Goleman in the Appendix of 'EQ-why it matters more than IQ' correspond to the families of rasa and bhava to a large degree. Again, the invoking of bhava or rasa is an internal process based on the genetic makeup and the level of consciousness of an individual. Any bhava or rasa, when experienced with intensity by an evolved person, loses the materialistic or worldly connotations and transcends to the highest sense of bliss. This transformation of bhava or rasa to a higher state can easily be related to emotional intelligence.
The purpose of any true religion is to evolve our consciousness to a higher level. My Reiki Master is a Jain and she regularly expands my horizon into Jain philosophy and values. It confirms my beliefs that all true religions ultimately align with the universal principles. Jainism contributes to Emotional Intelligence as it is based on forgiveness,