---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Why are we born? We are born so that we…"
description: "\"Why are we born? We are born so that we will not have to be born again.\" — Ajahn Chah"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ce/ajahn-chah-4829_birth_why-are-we-born-we-are-born-so-that-we-w_1875249.png"
---

#  Why are we born? We are born so that we will not have to…

![“Why are we born? We are born so that we will not have to be born again.” quote by Ajahn Chah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ce/ajahn-chah-4829_birth_why-are-we-born-we-are-born-so-that-we-w_1875249.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ce/ajahn-chah-4829_birth_why-are-we-born-we-are-born-so-that-we-w_1875249.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ce/ajahn-chah-4829_birth_why-are-we-born-we-are-born-so-that-we-w_1875249.png)

> “Why are we born? We are born so that we will not have to be born again.”

[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.

Birth is an opportunity to escape the cycle of rebirth; living wisely ends the need for another life.

**In simple terms:** Birth offers a chance to end samsara.

Key Takeaway

Live wisely to break the cycle of rebirth.

Themes

spiritual liberation impermanence mindfulness karma

Mood

calm hopeful contemplative

Type

spiritual philosophical

When to use this quote

- meditation retreats
- ethical living
- teaching sessions
- personal reflection

Key Concepts

Buddhist doctrine samsara enlightenment

Questions to Reflect On

- How does understanding impermanence affect daily choices?
- What practices help you move toward liberation?

A Different Perspective

Interpretations of rebirth vary across traditions.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Birth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth/) [Born again](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/born-again/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/)

## Related quotes

> [The best thing for a man to do is to be born and, being born, to die at once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pietro-aretino/the-best-thing-for-a-man-to-do-is-to-be-born-and-being-born-to-die-at/)

[Pietro Aretino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pietro-aretino/)

> [The gift of sonship to God becomes ours not through being born, but through being born again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/the-gift-of-sonship-to-god-becomes-ours-not-through-being-born-but/)

[J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/)

> [Worship is why we are born and why we are born again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/worship-is-why-we-are-born-and-why-we-are-born-again/)

[Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/)

> [There are two kinds of beauty; there is a beauty which God gives at birth, and which withers as a flower. And there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-kuyper/there-are-two-kinds-of-beauty-there-is-a-beauty-which-god-gives-at/)

[Abraham Kuyper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-kuyper/)

> [The artist must create himself or be born again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-levertov/the-artist-must-create-himself-or-be-born-again/)

[Denise Levertov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-levertov/)

> [I don't want to be a born again anything; I was Born, OK the first time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-don-t-want-to-be-a-born-again-anything-i-was-born-ok-the-first-time/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Nature of man is not what he was born as, but what he is born for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/nature-of-man-is-not-what-he-was-born-as-but-what-he-is-born-for/)

[Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/)

> [All things in the world are born out of being. Being is born out of non-being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/all-things-in-the-world-are-born-out-of-being-being-is-born-out-of/)

[Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/)

> [“born born everything is always born thinking about it try not to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ikkyu/born-born-everything-is-always-born-thinking-about-it-try-not-to/)

[Ikkyu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ikkyu/)

> [“When you are born--what you are born into, the place, the history of the place, how that history mates with your own-- stamps who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/when-you-are-born-what-you-are-born-into-the-place-the-history-of-the/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [I was born born April 22. I got married May 22. System of a Down started started blowing up when I was 22.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shavo-odadjian/i-was-born-born-april-22-i-got-married-may-22-system-of-a-down/)

[Shavo Odadjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shavo-odadjian/)

> [“She’d been born for him. And I was born to find her…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kresley-cole/she-d-been-born-for-him-and-i-was-born-to-find-her/)

[Kresley Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kresley-cole/)

> ['Who was your mother?' 'Never had none!' said the child, with another grin. 'Never had any mother? What do you mean? Where were you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/who-was-your-mother-never-had-none-said-the-child-with-another-grin/)

[Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/)

> [I was born to play football. I may have been taught to play but everybody is born for something and I was born to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-lamela/i-was-born-to-play-football-i-may-have-been-taught-to-play-but/)

[Erik Lamela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-lamela/)

> [“Orafoura once asked me how I became who I've become, and I replied, "I was born to become. And I became because I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/orafoura-once-asked-me-how-i-became-who-i-ve-become-and-i-replied-i/)

[Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/)

## 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 Birth quotes

> [“Conception is the beginning of human life. From the time that an ovum is fertilized a new life begins that is neither that of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/declaration-on-procured-abortion-congregation-for-the-doctrine-of-the-faith-1974/conception-is-the-beginning-of-human-life-from-the-time-that-an-ovum/)

Declaration on Procured Abortion Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 1974

> [In the entire history of the universe, let alone in your own history, there has never been another day just like today, and there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/in-the-entire-history-of-the-universe-let-alone-in-your-own-history/)

[Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/)

> [The greatest mystery in life is not life itself, but death. Death is the culmination of life, the ultimate blossoming of life. In death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/the-greatest-mystery-in-life-is-not-life-itself-but-death-death-is/)

[Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/)

> [Guns have little or nothing to do with juvenile violence. The causes of youth violence are working parents who put their kids into daycare,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-delay/guns-have-little-or-nothing-to-do-with-juvenile-violence-the-causes/)

[Tom DeLay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-delay/)

> [“Every child is born as angel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/every-child-is-born-as-angel/)

[Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/)

> [Nirvana is a word that means enlightenment, being beyond the illusion of birth and death, the illusion of pain, the illusion of love, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/nirvana-is-a-word-that-means-enlightenment-being-beyond-the-illusion/)

[Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/)

> [It was no accident, no coincidence, that the seasons came round and round year after year. It was the Lord speaking to us all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-rivers/it-was-no-accident-no-coincidence-that-the-seasons-came-round-and/)

[Francine Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-rivers/)

> [We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-biko/we-do-not-want-to-be-reminded-that-it-is-we-the-indigenous-people-who/)

[Steven Biko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-biko/)

> [There are two kinds of beauty; there is a beauty which God gives at birth, and which withers as a flower. And there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-kuyper/there-are-two-kinds-of-beauty-there-is-a-beauty-which-god-gives-at/)

[Abraham Kuyper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-kuyper/)

> [Always keep the smile, because the smile is the beginning of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-imad/always-keep-the-smile-because-the-smile-is-the-beginning-of-love/)

Adam Imad

> [The wailing of the newborn infant is mingled with the dirge for the dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretius/the-wailing-of-the-newborn-infant-is-mingled-with-the-dirge-for-the/)

[Lucretius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretius/)

> [I gave birth to most of them MC's... So when it comes around to the month of May, Send me your royalty check for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxanne-shante/i-gave-birth-to-most-of-them-mc-s-so-when-it-comes-around-to-the/)

Roxanne Shante

> [“A Beautiful verse takes birth when "U"n"I" VERSE.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajesh-walecha/a-beautiful-verse-takes-birth-when-u-n-i-verse/)

[Rajesh Walecha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajesh-walecha/)

> [“There is no born evil, only a corruptible canvas darkened by a formidable perpetrator.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yefon-isabelle/there-is-no-born-evil-only-a-corruptible-canvas-darkened-by-a/)

[Yefon Isabelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yefon-isabelle/)

> [I've always thought that the most extraordinary special effect you could do is to buy a child at the moment of its birth, sit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/i-ve-always-thought-that-the-most-extraordinary-special-effect-you/)

[Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/)

[Browse all 6,183 Birth quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Why are we born? We are born so that we will not have to be born again.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Ajahn Chah"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-chah/why-are-we-born-we-are-born-so-that-we-will-not-have-to-be-born-again/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Birth"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-chah/why-are-we-born-we-are-born-so-that-we-will-not-have-to-be-born-again/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ce/ajahn-chah-4829_birth_why-are-we-born-we-are-born-so-that-we-w_1875249.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ce/ajahn-chah-4829_birth_why-are-we-born-we-are-born-so-that-we-w_1875249.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ce/ajahn-chah-4829_birth_why-are-we-born-we-are-born-so-that-we-w_1875249.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Why are we born? We are born so that we will not have to be born again.” — Ajahn Chah",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Ajahn Chah",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-chah/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Why are we born? We are...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-chah/why-are-we-born-we-are-born-so-that-we-will-not-have-to-be-born-again/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-chah/why-are-we-born-we-are-born-so-that-we-will-not-have-to-be-born-again/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
