--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Religions are the training wheels of self…" description: "\"Religions are the training wheels of self enlightenment. They can be helpful in the beginning but at some point they must be let go.\" — Reggie Watts" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5e/reggie-watts-4551_buddhism_religions-are-the-training-wheels-of-sel_664774.png" --- # Religions are the training wheels of self enlightenment… ![“Religions are the training wheels of self enlightenment. They can be helpful in the beginning but at some point they must be let go.” quote by Reggie Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5e/reggie-watts-4551_buddhism_religions-are-the-training-wheels-of-sel_664774.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5e/reggie-watts-4551_buddhism_religions-are-the-training-wheels-of-sel_664774.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5e/reggie-watts-4551_buddhism_religions-are-the-training-wheels-of-sel_664774.png) > “Religions are the training wheels of self enlightenment. They can be helpful in the beginning but at some point they must be let go.” [Reggie Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reggie-watts/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Religions can guide early spiritual growth but may become limiting if clung to indefinitely. **In simple terms:** Religion helps early growth, later may need to be outgrown. Key Takeaway Recognize when beliefs have served their purpose. Themes spirituality growth freedom tradition self‑realization Mood contemplative serious Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal crisis - educational workshops - life transitions - spiritual retreats Key Concepts psychology of belief personal development critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - When might you need to outgrow a belief system? - How can you honor past teachings while moving forward? A Different Perspective Leaving traditions can cause community loss. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Buddhism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buddhism/) [Enlightenment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enlightenment/) [Enlightenment Helpful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enlightenment-helpful-5289902/) [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [Helpful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helpful/) [Letting go](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/letting-go/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Religions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religions/) [Religions Training](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religions-training-3801527/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self Enlightenment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-enlightenment-912080/) [Training](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/training/) [Training wheels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/training-wheels/) [Wheels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wheels/) ## Related quotes > [This is why God created so many different religions: to be training grounds to make a path for every people, culture, custom, and tradition.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-myung-moon/this-is-why-god-created-so-many-different-religions-to-be-training/) [Sun Myung Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-myung-moon/) > [Books simply help you to see what is already within your self. That's what enlightenment is all about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/books-simply-help-you-to-see-what-is-already-within-your-self-that-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Truly experiencing the Principle Oneness is all about recognizing and allowing meaningful, loving connections with your broader self. Enlightenment is realizing you are everyone,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-anthony-gibbs/truly-experiencing-the-principle-oneness-is-all-about-recognizing-and/) [Russell Anthony Gibbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-anthony-gibbs/) > [Knowing others is wisdom; Knowing the self is enlightenment; Mastering others requires force; Mastering the self needs strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/knowing-others-is-wisdom-knowing-the-self-is-enlightenment-mastering/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [“Knowing others is wisdom; Knowing the self is enlightenment. Mastering others requires force; Mastering the self requires strength; He who knows he has enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/knowing-others-is-wisdom-knowing-the-self-is-enlightenment-mastering-2/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [Painting is a means of self-enlightenment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-olsen/painting-is-a-means-of-self-enlightenment/) [John Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-olsen/) > [Or maybe...just maybe this whole process is our training wheels towards something bigger. If we can reflect and know our lives, we might stay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/or-maybe-just-maybe-this-whole-process-is-our-training-wheels-towards/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [After my training wheels, my first real bike was a Schwinn, and my first time out, I rode down a hill, didn’t know how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/after-my-training-wheels-my-first-real-bike-was-a-schwinn-and-my/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) > [Still got my training wheels in the garage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mac-miller/still-got-my-training-wheels-in-the-garage/) [Mac Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mac-miller/) > [Tithing is like training wheels when it comes to giving. It's intended to help you get started, but not recommended for the Tour de…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ortberg/tithing-is-like-training-wheels-when-it-comes-to-giving-it-s-intended/) [John Ortberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ortberg/) > [Still got the training wheels in the garage, but I aint gonna need those Ima go hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mac-miller/still-got-the-training-wheels-in-the-garage-but-i-aint-gonna-need/) [Mac Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mac-miller/) > [I have a song called 'Training Wheels,' and it's about being in love with someone and taking it to the next level by taking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-martinez/i-have-a-song-called-training-wheels-and-it-s-about-being-in-love/) [Melanie Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-martinez/) > [Outlining is like putting on training wheels. It gives me the courage to write, but we always go off the outline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hallie-ephron/outlining-is-like-putting-on-training-wheels-it-gives-me-the-courage/) [Hallie Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hallie-ephron/) > [If you skate with an Olympic level skater, they make you so much better because you're skating behind them, and you're trying to imitate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-b-sweeney/if-you-skate-with-an-olympic-level-skater-they-make-you-so-much/) [D. B. Sweeney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-b-sweeney/) > [Now is the time to understand That all your ideas of right and wrong Were just a child's training wheelsTo be laid aside When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hafez/now-is-the-time-to-understand-that-all-your-ideas-of-right-and-wrong/) [Hafez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hafez/) ## More by Reggie Watts > [It's hard to move on when you can see too many good possibilities or any kind of possibility really. That's something that always kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-watts/it-s-hard-to-move-on-when-you-can-see-too-many-good-possibilities-or/) [Reggie Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reggie-watts/) > [I guess, in a way, I grew up mixed race: half white, half black. That question's always been on my mind: 'What are you?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-watts/i-guess-in-a-way-i-grew-up-mixed-race-half-white-half-black-that/) [Reggie Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reggie-watts/) > [I want to be able to make a movie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-watts/i-want-to-be-able-to-make-a-movie/) [Reggie Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reggie-watts/) > [If you have something you do that's unique, you just end up in situations. Your art can take you to places without you working…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-watts/if-you-have-something-you-do-that-s-unique-you-just-end-up-in/) [Reggie Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reggie-watts/) > [I like sincerely talking about market analysis and how marketing is ahead of design and design needs to catch up to fulfill the promise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-watts/i-like-sincerely-talking-about-market-analysis-and-how-marketing-is/) [Reggie Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reggie-watts/) > [I love photographs. I love taking photographs. When I see something that's great, I want to capture that. You put it out there and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-watts/i-love-photographs-i-love-taking-photographs-when-i-see-something/) [Reggie Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reggie-watts/) > [Just remember, everything you are is...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-watts/just-remember-everything-you-are-is/) [Reggie Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reggie-watts/) > [What I'm doing on stage now is just the tip of the iceberg.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-watts/what-i-m-doing-on-stage-now-is-just-the-tip-of-the-iceberg/) [Reggie Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reggie-watts/) > [When you look at a photo twenty years from now, if you look at a photo of a moment in your life, or some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-watts/when-you-look-at-a-photo-twenty-years-from-now-if-you-look-at-a-photo/) [Reggie Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reggie-watts/) > [When I'm performing, I hope my research and my experience with those things I'm talking about rings true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-watts/when-i-m-performing-i-hope-my-research-and-my-experience-with-those/) [Reggie Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reggie-watts/) > [I've been taking pictures of wherever I go, or on planes, whatever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-watts/i-ve-been-taking-pictures-of-wherever-i-go-or-on-planes-whatever/) [Reggie Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reggie-watts/) > [The most important thing is to keep creating and following my inklings as they come into being and acting on them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-watts/the-most-important-thing-is-to-keep-creating-and-following-my/) [Reggie Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reggie-watts/) > [I like that feeling of discombobulation that comes in creating an absurd world that doesn't make sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-watts/i-like-that-feeling-of-discombobulation-that-comes-in-creating-an/) [Reggie Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reggie-watts/) > [Sometimes airport security people recognize me. I'll go through the whole screening process and at the end they'll go, 'Hey, man, I really like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-watts/sometimes-airport-security-people-recognize-me-i-ll-go-through-the/) [Reggie Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reggie-watts/) > [I had a job at a movie theater for like a year and a half and then a job at a health food store…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-watts/i-had-a-job-at-a-movie-theater-for-like-a-year-and-a-half-and-then-a/) [Reggie Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reggie-watts/) [Explore all 109 Reggie Watts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reggie-watts/) ## More Buddhism quotes > [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/) > [Enlightenment is lightening up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-myers/enlightenment-is-lightening-up/) [Mike Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-myers/) > [The very best players, when they are practicing, put everything they've got into it. But then they leave it for a while. And it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/the-very-best-players-when-they-are-practicing-put-everything-they-ve/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [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/) > [“Exactly. I think the original tantric Buddhists took notice of was some very wise old people who never studied in their youth, but took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-niemczura/exactly-i-think-the-original-tantric-buddhists-took-notice-of-was/) [Joe Niemczura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-niemczura/) > [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/) > [One of the things I regret about not putting in that book or I think it's there but I didn't really elaborate on it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-warner/one-of-the-things-i-regret-about-not-putting-in-that-book-or-i-think/) [Brad Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-warner/) > [My mom and my aunties are really devout Christians. My mom married a Muslim when I was 12, so I got teachings from both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tech-n9ne/my-mom-and-my-aunties-are-really-devout-christians-my-mom-married-a/) [Tech N9ne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tech-n9ne/) > [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 extraction of discrete parts of Chöd teachings from their broader philosophical contexts is symptomatic of how Chöd has been incorporated into and transmitted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-sorensen/the-extraction-of-discrete-parts-of-ch-d-teachings-from-their-broader/) [Michelle Sorensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-sorensen/) > [Buddhism advises you not to implant feelings that you don’t really have or avoid feelings that you do have. If you are miserable you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/buddhism-advises-you-not-to-implant-feelings-that-you-don-t-really/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“That's all there is, enlightenment on the end of a cock. It doesn't get any more Zen than that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaden-wilkes/that-s-all-there-is-enlightenment-on-the-end-of-a-cock-it-doesn-t-get/) [Jaden Wilkes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaden-wilkes/) > [Aging is like enlightenment at gunpoint. Before I had cancer, I lived my life for my art. After I had cancer, I lived my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-halprin/aging-is-like-enlightenment-at-gunpoint-before-i-had-cancer-i-lived/) [Anna Halprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-halprin/) [Browse all 6,100 Buddhism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buddhism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Religions are the training wheels of self enlightenment. They can be helpful in the beginning but at some point they must be let go.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Reggie Watts" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-watts/religions-are-the-training-wheels-of-self-enlightenment-they-can-be/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Buddhism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-watts/religions-are-the-training-wheels-of-self-enlightenment-they-can-be/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5e/reggie-watts-4551_buddhism_religions-are-the-training-wheels-of-sel_664774.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5e/reggie-watts-4551_buddhism_religions-are-the-training-wheels-of-sel_664774.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5e/reggie-watts-4551_buddhism_religions-are-the-training-wheels-of-sel_664774.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Religions are the training wheels of self enlightenment. They can be helpful in the beginning but at some…” — Reggie Watts", "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": "Reggie Watts", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reggie-watts/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Religions are the training wheels of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-watts/religions-are-the-training-wheels-of-self-enlightenment-they-can-be/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-watts/religions-are-the-training-wheels-of-self-enlightenment-they-can-be/#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 } } ] } ```