--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This study is not for the amateur. It's…" description: "\"This study is not for the amateur. It's not for the dilettante. It's not for the cult follower. It's not for someone who wants everything done for them..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d1/frederick-lenz-8_buddhism_this-study-is-not-for-the-amateur-it-s-n_1971435.jpg" --- # This study is not for the amateur. It's not for the… ![“This study is not for the amateur. It's not for the dilettante. It's not for the cult follower. It's not for someone who wants everything done for them. It's not for the one who just wants to stare with that fixed dog-like devotion towards the teacher.” quote by Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d1/frederick-lenz-8_buddhism_this-study-is-not-for-the-amateur-it-s-n_1971435.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d1/frederick-lenz-8_buddhism_this-study-is-not-for-the-amateur-it-s-n_1971435.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d1/frederick-lenz-8_buddhism_this-study-is-not-for-the-amateur-it-s-n_1971435.jpg) > “This study is not for the amateur. It's not for the dilettante. It's not for the cult follower. It's not for someone who wants everything done for them. It's not for the one who just wants to stare with that fixed dog-like devotion towards the teacher.” [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote warns that true mastery requires active engagement, not passive or superficial involvement. **In simple terms:** Real learning demands effort, not blind devotion. Key Takeaway Engage deeply, avoid passive learning. Themes learning mastery engagement Mood challenging reflective Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - education - personal development - spiritual practice - skill acquisition - mentorship Key Concepts active participation critical thinking self-reliance Questions to Reflect On - Are you actively practicing what you learn? - How do you avoid becoming a mere follower? A Different Perspective Passive observers gain little; true growth needs effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Amateur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amateur/) [Buddhism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buddhism/) [Buddhist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buddhist/) [Cult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cult/) [Cult Follower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cult-follower-3312637/) [Devotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devotion/) [Devotion Teacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devotion-teacher-3312635/) [Dilettantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dilettantes/) [Dog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dog/) [Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/done/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Etiquette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/etiquette/) [Fixed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fixed/) [Followers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/followers/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Staring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/staring/) [Study](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/study/) [Study Amateur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/study-amateur-3312633/) [Teacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teacher/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) ## Related quotes > [Humility simply means that you do a great job at everything and it isn't really a big deal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/humility-simply-means-that-you-do-a-great-job-at-everything-and-it/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [It's considered very, very bad karma, if I can cut to the chase, to take power from a teacher and not use it for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/it-s-considered-very-very-bad-karma-if-i-can-cut-to-the-chase-to-take/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [In the esoteric teachings, a transference process takes place between teacher and student where knowledge is actually transmitted from one to the other. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/in-the-esoteric-teachings-a-transference-process-takes-place-between/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [What's important is to be supportive of all who practice. Anyone on any level, even if they don't call it self-discovery, who is seeking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/what-s-important-is-to-be-supportive-of-all-who-practice-anyone-on/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [If someone is in the same state of mind and doesn't seek to block your success, you have a friend. Such friends are rare,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-someone-is-in-the-same-state-of-mind-and-doesn-t-seek-to-block/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [As you become more aware of your own imperfections, you simultaneously become more aware of the overall perfection of the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/as-you-become-more-aware-of-your-own-imperfections-you-simultaneously/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Simplify your life and your mind. Think more of infinity and less of yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/simplify-your-life-and-your-mind-think-more-of-infinity-and-less-of/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Self-hate doesn't create enlightenment. It just causes you to not enjoy the current moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/self-hate-doesn-t-create-enlightenment-it-just-causes-you-to-not/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [It is very important to always hold the thought of an enlightened teacher in your mind in a very positive way. When you direct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/it-is-very-important-to-always-hold-the-thought-of-an-enlightened/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [An enlightened teacher simply expresses enlightenment in their life by living. It is the student's job to gain the teachings. The teacher's job is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/an-enlightened-teacher-simply-expresses-enlightenment-in-their-life/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Your mantrum is the awareness of the dream - to enjoy and appreciate and have gratitude for all; neither to condemn nor to liberate,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/your-mantrum-is-the-awareness-of-the-dream-to-enjoy-and-appreciate/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Do not feel that you are destined not to make that final liberation in this life. This is egotism in a reverse form. Don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/do-not-feel-that-you-are-destined-not-to-make-that-final-liberation/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [What is important in self-discovery is the person who keeps going, who has a smile, who is kind to others, who works hard at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/what-is-important-in-self-discovery-is-the-person-who-keeps-going-who/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Any individual is capable of realizing the truth at any time. No tradition is necessary, no chain, no lineage. Once you have realized the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/any-individual-is-capable-of-realizing-the-truth-at-any-time-no/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [In America people have this funny idea about enlightenment and money. Money expresses a level of commitment. Studying enlightenment is like going to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/in-america-people-have-this-funny-idea-about-enlightenment-and-money/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) ## More by Frederick Lenz > [There are places that are very draining. There are places where there is another dimensional crossover but to a dimension that is not powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/there-are-places-that-are-very-draining-there-are-places-where-there/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You can draw power from everything in your life. In order to do that, everything has to be set up in a proper way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-can-draw-power-from-everything-in-your-life-in-order-to-do-that/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Everyone will admire you when you do well. What a horrible thing to do to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everyone-will-admire-you-when-you-do-well-what-a-horrible-thing-to-do/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [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/) > [I think the most miraculous thing is learning. I get out of the way and let the students learn. Then you get to watch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-think-the-most-miraculous-thing-is-learning-i-get-out-of-the-way/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [If you choose to draw from the inner well of free will, then you can make choices that are outside your current karmic patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-choose-to-draw-from-the-inner-well-of-free-will-then-you-can/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Enlightened people live in very charged states of attention, with a tremendous power circuiting through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/enlightened-people-live-in-very-charged-states-of-attention-with-a/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Only alone can you go into eternity. Only alone can you feel the transcendental light. It is not a shared experience because if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/only-alone-can-you-go-into-eternity-only-alone-can-you-feel-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The sound man, immune as to a sacrifice of straw dogs, faces the passing human generations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-sound-man-immune-as-to-a-sacrifice-of-straw-dogs-faces-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Karma means changing planes of reality or changing fields of attention. There will be perhaps a resulting physical action stemming from the change of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/karma-means-changing-planes-of-reality-or-changing-fields-of/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You and I are both life. There's just the experience of every moment. We like to call them moments. There isn't really such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-and-i-are-both-life-there-s-just-the-experience-of-every-moment/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Why waste your time being around people who drag you down? You don't live forever, at least in this life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/why-waste-your-time-being-around-people-who-drag-you-down-you-don-t/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Everybody here is so caught up in the game of life they don't see death. They don't see beyond their deaths. They are on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everybody-here-is-so-caught-up-in-the-game-of-life-they-don-t-see/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) [Explore all 4,399 Frederick Lenz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) ## More Amateur quotes > [“The amateur doesn't appreciate the need for experimentation. He wants his experts to know.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner-2/the-amateur-doesn-t-appreciate-the-need-for-experimentation-he-wants/) [B.F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner-2/) > [A professional is a man who can do his job when he doesn't feel like it. An amateur is a man who can't do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agate/a-professional-is-a-man-who-can-do-his-job-when-he-doesn-t-feel-like/) [James Agate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agate/) > [My father was a GP; my mother was a teacher and amateur actress. My father was a bit of a storyteller, but the acting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ciaran-hinds/my-father-was-a-gp-my-mother-was-a-teacher-and-amateur-actress-my/) [Ciaran Hinds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ciaran-hinds/) > [I did a musical when I was 17, an amateur show, and I loved it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taron-egerton/i-did-a-musical-when-i-was-17-an-amateur-show-and-i-loved-it/) [Taron Egerton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taron-egerton/) > [Every artist was first an amateur.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/every-artist-was-first-an-amateur/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“The definition of a professional is one who does a job well even when they don't like it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-sheinwald/the-definition-of-a-professional-is-one-who-does-a-job-well-even-when/) [Alan Sheinwald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-sheinwald/) > [I think most amateurs dread playing a 180-plus-yard par 3 even more than a hard par 4. Part of it is psychological: You think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-els/i-think-most-amateurs-dread-playing-a-180-plus-yard-par-3-even-more/) [Ernie Els](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-els/) > [I read a lot of 'Nancy Drew' books as a kid and considered myself a bit of an amateur detective.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelsea-cain/i-read-a-lot-of-nancy-drew-books-as-a-kid-and-considered-myself-a-bit/) [Chelsea Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chelsea-cain/) > [Professionalism is environmental. Amateurism is anti-environmental. Professionalism merges the individual into patterns of total environment. Amateurism seeks the development of the total awareness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/professionalism-is-environmental-amateurism-is-anti-environmental/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [You count a man's U.S. Amateur titles after he starts winning professional majors. That's something any intelligent golf writer with a sense of history…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-jenkins/you-count-a-man-s-u-s-amateur-titles-after-he-starts-winning/) [Dan Jenkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-jenkins/) > [Most amateurs are so worried about mis-hitting the shot or hitting it off line, they don't make an aggressive move. You'd be surprised how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keegan-bradley/most-amateurs-are-so-worried-about-mis-hitting-the-shot-or-hitting-it/) [Keegan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keegan-bradley/) > [Amateur boxing is one of the safest sports around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-calzaghe/amateur-boxing-is-one-of-the-safest-sports-around/) [Joe Calzaghe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-calzaghe/) > [“Amateur: One reckless enough to risk being interesting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-barringer/amateur-one-reckless-enough-to-risk-being-interesting/) [David Barringer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-barringer/) > [Time management is probably the biggest thing I've had to learn to deal with being on the PGA Tour, whether it be media or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rickie-fowler/time-management-is-probably-the-biggest-thing-i-ve-had-to-learn-to/) [Rickie Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rickie-fowler/) > [When people buy, rescue, or otherwise acquire a dog from unscrupulous breeders or amateur rescue groups, they are making a decision with ethical consequences.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-katz/when-people-buy-rescue-or-otherwise-acquire-a-dog-from-unscrupulous/) [Jon Katz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-katz/) [Browse all 352 Amateur quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amateur/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "This study is not for the amateur. 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