What is faith?

[Loki]

4.What should the seeker have faith in?
3.There are so many scary things that can happen. should we be blind to them? won't we be disappointed?
2.The enlightened sufis spoke of letting go of intellect. how does that work?
1.Should we set aside our intelligence in favor of having faith?

There are two fundamental verbs in creation:

To want and to believe:

To want belongs to the realm of brain/mind, to believe belong to the realm of heart/spirit. The tree of mind starts in the brain but its roots are in the heart. This travel down towards the roots from the "want" to the "believe" is the evolution of mind/body/spirit complex. Imagine every one of us are trees with our roots grounded in Infinite Intelligence. Most of us are not aware of their roots. But some are.

Faith is knowing despite adversity and despite the law of confusion that truly and sincerely it is all good now and forever. Then the pain of present becomes irrelevant.

And faith is the most powerful force of this universe, is the miracles maker. No mater how much we want a miracle it will never happen until we really believe it will.

[kristina]

I think faith is a bit like knowledge of spirit.

It's not something you can explain or transfer to someone, it is something you gain by being open with sincerity. Like I've had faith there is something like a God, that we live in an intelligent design, but this followed an openness to the idea in which I admitted to not know and this has allowed me to touch something. Once I've touched that thing, I may not know how to define it or know everything about it, but I do know it is there to be touched and I think this is what people call faith and it is closer to a kind of knowing than belief.

Like in a relationship, faith is closer to knowledge that the link between spirits could be tested and remain strong. It is a form of knowledge of your link with the other person. In the same fashion, faith is a form of knowledge regarding your link with yourself, then you can have faith in your own spirit and inner light, you can have faith that the world is supported by a loving Logos, you can have faith in Infinity and fate, but all these things are things that it is not of the quality of the mind to contain and instead merely access.

This is a bit why I try to advocate for faith in that "All is Well". To me it is not just technique for a positive mindset and healthy emotional body, instead it is much more of a form of surrendering to an underlying truth that has its own mass and weight in our being.

I think associating faith with events is somewhat misguided, because if you have faith in Infinity then there is no avoiding events. Not everything needs to happen here and now in the distance of your self, but I think it releases fear and tension to accept any possibility that enters your mind and brings us in harmony with the core of ourselves.

So:

5.the distortion towards understanding and knowing, can it be counterproductive to the practice of faith?

Only if it becomes an end.

4.What should the seeker have faith in?

All is well and what happens is what needs to happen, enabling yourself to recognize it as it happens in its symbolic fashion.

3.There are so many scary things that can happen. should we be blind to them? won't we be disappointed?

Your truest nature is that of infinite potential. It is better to act upon the moment and its opportunities than to live in fear and doubt, follow your heart.

2.The enlightened sufis spoke of letting go of intellect. how does that work?

I think it tries to speak of a state of openness. Some people are stuck in belief that they know it all, when I believe there's always more to discover for every thing.
Even the Creator uses infinite time and experience to see its reflection and learn of Itself.

1.Should we set aside our intelligence in favor of having faith?

I think faith is found through seeking and seeking derives from intelligence, so I would say no they can't be fully separated.
Even silencing the mind in meditation derives from intelligence and experiencing with it offers to know its utilities and usefulness. Then you can have faith in meditation, but there will always be more to discover from it, which is the opposite of thinking you know everything there is to know about it.

Beautifully Said!

[kristina]

A great question and great answers! I really enjoyed this thread.

[David_1]

My thoughts:
You are held in the gentle arms of a Creator who loves you with an everlasting love!
Faith is trusting what you cannot see.

Is trust having faith in what you can see?