不看僧面看佛面

bù kàn sēng miàn kàn fó miàn

lit. not for the monk's sake but for the Buddha's sake (idiom)

fig. (to do sth for sb) out of deference to sb else

不

bù

no; not so

看

kàn

to see; to look at

僧

sēng

(bound form) Buddhist monk (abbr. for 僧伽[seng1 qie2])

面

miàn

variant of 麵|面[mian4]

看

kàn

to see; to look at

佛

fó

Buddha; Buddhism (abbr. for 佛陀[Fo2 tuo2])

面

miàn

variant of 麵|面[mian4]