Alan Watts on Faith

“I do not, at this point, wish to seem mysterious or to be making claims to “secret knowledge.” The reality which corresponds to God and eternal life is honest, above-board, plane, and open for all to see. But the saying requires a correction of mind, just as clear vision sometimes requires a correction of the eyes.

The discovery of this reality is hindered rather than help by belief, whether one believes in God or believes in atheism. We must here make it clear distinction between belief and faith, because, in general practice, belief has come to mean a state of mind which is almost the opposites of faith. Belief, as I use the word here, is the insistence that the truth is what one would “lief” or wish it to be. The believer will open his mind to the truth on condition that it fits in with his preconceived ideas and wishes. Faith, on the other hand, is an unreserved opening of the mind to the truth, whatever it may turn out to be. Faith has no preconceptions; it is a plunge into the unknown. Belief clings, but faith let’s go. In the sense of the word, faith is the essential virtue of science, and likewise of any religion that is not self-deception.

Most of us believe in order to feel secure, in order to make our individual lives seem valuable and meaningful. Believe has thus become an attempt to hang on to life, to grasp and keep it for one’s own. But you cannot understand life and it’s mysteries as long as you try to grasp it. Indeed, you cannot grasp it, just as you cannot walk off with a river in the bucket. If you try to capture running water in a bucket, it is clear that you do not understand it and that you will always be disappointed, for in the bucket the water does not run. To “have” running water you must let go of it and let it run. The same is true of life and of God.”

The Wisdom of Insecurity- page 23-24