--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Do not be a bodhisattva, do not be an…" description: "\"Do not be a bodhisattva, do not be an arahant, do not be anything at all. If you are a bodhisattva, you will suffer, if you are an arahant, you will su..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30b/ajahn-chah-4829_bodhisattva_do-not-be-a-bodhisattva-do-not-be-an-ara_2547346.png" --- # Do not be a bodhisattva, do not be an arahant, do not be… ![“Do not be a bodhisattva, do not be an arahant, do not be anything at all. If you are a bodhisattva, you will suffer, if you are an arahant, you will suffer, if you are anything at all, you will suffer.” quote by Ajahn Chah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30b/ajahn-chah-4829_bodhisattva_do-not-be-a-bodhisattva-do-not-be-an-ara_2547346.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30b/ajahn-chah-4829_bodhisattva_do-not-be-a-bodhisattva-do-not-be-an-ara_2547346.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30b/ajahn-chah-4829_bodhisattva_do-not-be-a-bodhisattva-do-not-be-an-ara_2547346.png) > “Do not be a bodhisattva, do not be an arahant, do not be anything at all. If you are a bodhisattva, you will suffer, if you are an arahant, you will suffer, if you are anything at all, you will suffer.” [Ajahn Chah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-chah/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The teaching warns that clinging to any spiritual identity or attainment leads to suffering, urging a release of self‑concepts. **In simple terms:** Holding any spiritual label causes pain. Key Takeaway Let go of fixed identities. Themes non‑attachment spirituality identity suffering Mood contemplative serene Type spiritual philosophical advice When to use this quote - Meditation retreats - daily mindfulness - teaching discussions - personal crises - spiritual study Key Concepts Bodhisattva Arahant Self‑concept Ego Liberation Questions to Reflect On - What labels do you hold that cause tension? - How can you practice without self‑identifying? A Different Perspective Some may argue that a clear path can provide guidance, yet rigid identification still risks suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Arahant Bodhisattva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arahant-bodhisattva-1488087/) [Bodhisattva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bodhisattva/) [Bodhisattva Arahant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bodhisattva-arahant-1488086/) [Bodhisattva Suffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bodhisattva-suffer-1488084/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Suffer Arahant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffer-arahant-1488085/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [For fear of causing terror to living beings, Mahamati, let the Bodhisattva who is disciplining himself to attain compassion, refrain from eating flesh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/for-fear-of-causing-terror-to-living-beings-mahamati-let-the/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [When Buddhists say, "A bodhisattva fears not the result, but only the cause," they mean that we must expend the bulk of our energy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hsing-yun/when-buddhists-say-a-bodhisattva-fears-not-the-result-but-only-the/) [Hsing Yun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hsing-yun/) > [“Wisdom is a fluid process, not something concrete that can be added up or measured. The warrior-bodhisattva trains with the attitude that everything is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/wisdom-is-a-fluid-process-not-something-concrete-that-can-be-added-up/) [Pema Chödrön](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [Few of us are satisfied with retreating from the world and just working on ourselves. We want our training to manifest and to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/few-of-us-are-satisfied-with-retreating-from-the-world-and-just/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [I realize that there's a thing called the bodhisattva ideal, and it's a very nice pinnacle of attention. It's a very egotistical thought, ultimately.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-realize-that-there-s-a-thing-called-the-bodhisattva-ideal-and-it-s/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I can hope that this long sad story, this progression of priests and ministers and rabbis and ulamas and imams and bonzes and bodhisattvas,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weinberg/i-can-hope-that-this-long-sad-story-this-progression-of-priests-and/) [Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) > [Bodhisattva, would you take me by the hand, can you show me the shine in your Japan?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steely-dan/bodhisattva-would-you-take-me-by-the-hand-can-you-show-me-the-shine/) [Steely Dan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steely-dan/) > [Pure Spirit, one hundred degrees proof - that's a drink that only the most hardened contemplation-guzzlers indulge in. Bodhisattvas dilute their Nirvana with equal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/pure-spirit-one-hundred-degrees-proof-that-s-a-drink-that-only-the/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Some students went to Milarepa and said, we should stop living in caves and meditating because we should go out and help beings as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/some-students-went-to-milarepa-and-said-we-should-stop-living-in/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [To feel overflowing love and almost unbearable compassion for all living creatures is the best way to fulfil the wishes of all the Buddhas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dilgo-khyentse-rinpoche/to-feel-overflowing-love-and-almost-unbearable-compassion-for-all/) [Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dilgo-khyentse-rinpoche/) > [Examine thus yourself from every side. Note harmful thoughts and every futile striving. Thus it is that heroes in the bodhisattva path Apply the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shantideva/examine-thus-yourself-from-every-side-note-harmful-thoughts-and-every/) [Shantideva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shantideva/) > [We have compassion because of the incredible pain and suffering which we as unenlightened beings cause to ourselves and all others through our ignorance.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/we-have-compassion-because-of-the-incredible-pain-and-suffering-which/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [Meat-eating is condemned by the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Sravakas; if one devours meat out of shamelessness he will always be devoid of sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/meat-eating-is-condemned-by-the-buddhas-bodhisattvas-and-sravakas-if/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [The heart that breaks open can contain the whole universe... All is registered in the 'boundless heart' of the bodhisattva. Through our deepest and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-macy/the-heart-that-breaks-open-can-contain-the-whole-universe-all-is/) [Joanna Macy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-macy/) > [“For an aspiring bodhisattva, the essential practice is to cultivate maitri, or loving-kindness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/for-an-aspiring-bodhisattva-the-essential-practice-is-to-cultivate/) [Pema Chödrön](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) ## More by Ajahn Chah > [If you have time to be mindful, you have time to meditate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-chah/if-you-have-time-to-be-mindful-you-have-time-to-meditate/) [Ajahn Chah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-chah/) > [Letting go a little brings a little peace. Letting go a lot brings a lot of peace. Letting go completely brings complete peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-chah/letting-go-a-little-brings-a-little-peace-letting-go-a-lot-brings-a/) [Ajahn Chah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-chah/) > [Mindfulness is life. Whenever we don’t have mindfulness, when we are heedless, it’s as if we are dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-chah/mindfulness-is-life-whenever-we-don-t-have-mindfulness-when-we-are/) [Ajahn Chah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-chah/) > [We don't meditate to see heaven, but to end suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-chah/we-don-t-meditate-to-see-heaven-but-to-end-suffering/) [Ajahn Chah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-chah/) > [Some people are afraid of generosity. They feel they will be taken advantage of or oppressed. In cultivating generosity, we are only oppressing our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-chah/some-people-are-afraid-of-generosity-they-feel-they-will-be-taken/) [Ajahn Chah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-chah/) > [Anything which is troubling you, anything which is irritating you, THAT is your teacher.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-chah/anything-which-is-troubling-you-anything-which-is-irritating-you-that/) [Ajahn Chah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-chah/) > [Know and watch your heart. It's pure but emotions come to colour it. So let your mind be like a tightly woven net to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-chah/know-and-watch-your-heart-it-s-pure-but-emotions-come-to-colour-it-so/) [Ajahn Chah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-chah/) > [A woman wanted to know how to deal with anger. I asked when anger arose whose anger it was. She said it was hers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-chah/a-woman-wanted-to-know-how-to-deal-with-anger-i-asked-when-anger/) [Ajahn Chah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-chah/) > [Sati is life. Whenever we don't have sati, when we are heedless, it's as if we are dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-chah/sati-is-life-whenever-we-don-t-have-sati-when-we-are-heedless-it-s-as/) [Ajahn Chah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-chah/) > [In practice, some come to see easily, some with difficulty. But whatever the case, never mind. Difficult or easy, the Buddha said not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-chah/in-practice-some-come-to-see-easily-some-with-difficulty-but-whatever/) [Ajahn Chah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-chah/) > [When sitting in meditation, say, "That's not my business!" with every thought that comes by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-chah/when-sitting-in-meditation-say-that-s-not-my-business-with-every/) [Ajahn Chah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-chah/) > [Proper effort is not the effort to make something particular happen. It is the effort to be aware and awake each moment, the effort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-chah/proper-effort-is-not-the-effort-to-make-something-particular-happen/) [Ajahn Chah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-chah/) > [Regarding this Dhamma, it is not something that we can simply talk about or take another's word for it. We need to develop meditation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-chah/regarding-this-dhamma-it-is-not-something-that-we-can-simply-talk/) [Ajahn Chah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-chah/) > [These days people don't search for the Truth. People study simply in order to find knowledge necessary to make a living, raise families and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-chah/these-days-people-don-t-search-for-the-truth-people-study-simply-in/) [Ajahn Chah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-chah/) > [Things are simply the way they are. They don't give us suffering. Like a thorn: Does a sharp thorn give us suffering? No. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-chah/things-are-simply-the-way-they-are-they-don-t-give-us-suffering-like/) [Ajahn Chah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-chah/) [Explore all 105 Ajahn Chah quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-chah/) ## More Bodhisattva quotes > [For fear of causing terror to living beings, Mahamati, let the Bodhisattva who is disciplining himself to attain compassion, refrain from eating flesh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/for-fear-of-causing-terror-to-living-beings-mahamati-let-the/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [The heart that breaks open can contain the whole universe... All is registered in the 'boundless heart' of the bodhisattva. Through our deepest and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-macy/the-heart-that-breaks-open-can-contain-the-whole-universe-all-is/) [Joanna Macy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-macy/) > [Meat-eating is condemned by the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Sravakas; if one devours meat out of shamelessness he will always be devoid of sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/meat-eating-is-condemned-by-the-buddhas-bodhisattvas-and-sravakas-if/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [We have compassion because of the incredible pain and suffering which we as unenlightened beings cause to ourselves and all others through our ignorance.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/we-have-compassion-because-of-the-incredible-pain-and-suffering-which/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [Examine thus yourself from every side. Note harmful thoughts and every futile striving. Thus it is that heroes in the bodhisattva path Apply the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shantideva/examine-thus-yourself-from-every-side-note-harmful-thoughts-and-every/) [Shantideva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shantideva/) > [To feel overflowing love and almost unbearable compassion for all living creatures is the best way to fulfil the wishes of all the Buddhas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dilgo-khyentse-rinpoche/to-feel-overflowing-love-and-almost-unbearable-compassion-for-all/) [Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dilgo-khyentse-rinpoche/) > [Some students went to Milarepa and said, we should stop living in caves and meditating because we should go out and help beings as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/some-students-went-to-milarepa-and-said-we-should-stop-living-in/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [Pure Spirit, one hundred degrees proof - that's a drink that only the most hardened contemplation-guzzlers indulge in. Bodhisattvas dilute their Nirvana with equal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/pure-spirit-one-hundred-degrees-proof-that-s-a-drink-that-only-the/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Bodhisattva, would you take me by the hand, can you show me the shine in your Japan?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steely-dan/bodhisattva-would-you-take-me-by-the-hand-can-you-show-me-the-shine/) [Steely Dan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steely-dan/) > [I can hope that this long sad story, this progression of priests and ministers and rabbis and ulamas and imams and bonzes and bodhisattvas,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weinberg/i-can-hope-that-this-long-sad-story-this-progression-of-priests-and/) [Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) > [I realize that there's a thing called the bodhisattva ideal, and it's a very nice pinnacle of attention. It's a very egotistical thought, ultimately.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-realize-that-there-s-a-thing-called-the-bodhisattva-ideal-and-it-s/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Few of us are satisfied with retreating from the world and just working on ourselves. We want our training to manifest and to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/few-of-us-are-satisfied-with-retreating-from-the-world-and-just/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [“Wisdom is a fluid process, not something concrete that can be added up or measured. The warrior-bodhisattva trains with the attitude that everything is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/wisdom-is-a-fluid-process-not-something-concrete-that-can-be-added-up/) [Pema Chödrön](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [When Buddhists say, "A bodhisattva fears not the result, but only the cause," they mean that we must expend the bulk of our energy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hsing-yun/when-buddhists-say-a-bodhisattva-fears-not-the-result-but-only-the/) [Hsing Yun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hsing-yun/) > [“For an aspiring bodhisattva, the essential practice is to cultivate maitri, or loving-kindness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/for-an-aspiring-bodhisattva-the-essential-practice-is-to-cultivate/) [Pema Chödrön](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) [Browse all 48 Bodhisattva quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bodhisattva/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Do not be a bodhisattva, do not be an arahant, do not be anything at all. 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