Sri Aurobindo

Letters of Sri Aurobindo

Volume 2. 1935

Fragment ID: 17567

1935

I have been reading the philosophical writer Adhar Das. He writes of “unintelligent faith”. Is it not a queer specimen of faith?

Intelligent faith is, I suppose, “reasoned” faith; unintelligent faith is faith that believes without reasoning.

(1) If you say “X is equal to Y. Y is equal to Z. therefore X is equal to Z,– so I believe X is equal to Z,”, that is intelligent faith. If you simply see at once that X is equal to Z and believe, that is unintelligent faith.

(2) If you refuse to believe and doubt and challenge and argue till all your doubts and challenges and arguments are answered to your satisfaction, at least for the time being, then that is intelligent faith. Otherwise it is unintelligent faith.

E.g. You see Nirod and believe he is Nirod,– that is unintelligent faith. If you doubt and say he might be Narbheram or Khirod or Hitler and discuss all the possible arguments for or against his being Nirod, Narbheram, Khirod and Hitler till the whole subject is exhausted until you come to the conclusion either that he is Nirod or that he is Hitler and believe in your conclusion, then that is intelligent faith.

(3) If you believe what Adhar Das believes, that is intelligent faith. If you believe what he does not believe, that is unintelligent faith.

I hope you understand now Adhar Das’s statement.

There can be no clearing out of doubts. The mind doubts for the sake of doubting.

It is the stupidity of the mind to want a mental solution for everything.

Doubt and questioning are part of the physical obstruction.