I tried to find a little more context on the quote. Note that Alan Watts was a major popular figure for bringing zen Buddhism to western audiences. Turning thin

I tried to find a little more context on the quote. Note that Alan Watts was a major popular figure for bringing zen Buddhism to western audiences. Turning things like definitions on their heads is definitely in line with that goal. :) > We must here make a clear distinction between belief and faith, because, in general practice, belief has come to mean a state of mind which is almost the opposite 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 the 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 lets go. In this sense of the word, faith is the essential virtue of science, and likewise of any religion that is not self-deception. The previously missing sentence and the very beginning of your quote seem to address your comment: "in general practice, belief has come to mean a state of mind which is almost the opposite of faith. Belief, as I use the word here, ..." My impression is that belief has become according to Watts as an assertion of a specific hypothesis: I will open myself up to this idea if and only if the idea fits with my preexisting ones. If you are testing a hypothesis, this is a poor attitude to have, and it can affect how you perform the test: the test could be wrong but agree with your preconceptions. This is how "belief clings". Faith, as the "essential virtue of science", according to his definition would be detachment from the outcome of testing a hypothesis, "whatever it may turn out to be", with "no preconceptions". You have a question, and you are employing a method, and the outcome remains unknown until you complete the test (and perhaps even after). This is how faith "lets go". Religion of "self deception" is one where those practicing it only open their minds to any particular idea "on the condition that it fits with" their preexisting ideas. Religions that do not deceive themselves must then be religions that open themselves to new ideas, whether or not those new ideas agree with ideas they already hold.