“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.”

Patanjali, the father of yoga

The paramita of pranidhana, aspiration, can also be described as inspiration. Like Patanjali says, when we are inspired, dormant qualities within us come alive. We realize, through inspiration, the extent of our potential.

I think this is an underrated reason we take up vows. It’s not only to give us accountability or make us feel like we are committing to something. Above all, perhaps, it is to awaken the potential within us to do whatever it is we have set out to do. The vows remind us that we are capable of far greater than we imagine.

I remember having a debate in seminary with some fellow students who believed that Jesus meant the Sermon on the Mount to be an unattainable aspiration. It was a way for him to remind us we will never be perfect and we will have to rely on God. After all, the Sermon on the Mount is a tall order, commanding us not to be angry, not to return violence for violence, not to worry, and not to store up earthly treasures.

But I completely disagreed with my classmates. I actually think Jesus meant the exact opposite of that. While of course, as a person of faith, we recognize we will rely on God and not be perfect, that by no means negates the commandments Jesus offered. Jesus told us these things in all seriousness; we are meant to attempt to live into them, even though of course we’ll fail. But the goal of that aspiration is to keep the bar high, and to remember what kind of world we truly want to create.

I wish I had known then about the bodhisattva vow, which is equally, if not more, aspirational. I vow to save all beings??? I vow to abandon greed, hatred, and ignorance??? I vow to embody the way of the Buddha completely?! The Sermon on the Mount is equally impossible…and equally worthy of our daily attempts to do them anyway.

This is the point of aspiration, isn’t it? We long for something beyond our easy reach. What kind of spirituality asks you to stay comfortable and not grow? When we see spiritual leaders who inspire us, something awakens within us, calling us to become more like them. That’s the whole point. Inspiring people lead us to aspire to be more.

There’s a reason pranidhana is called spiritual aspiration. Our spiritual traditions call upon us to be inspired to be so much more than we can imagine possible. They call upon us to be whole and complete human beings, capable of assisting in the healing of the world.

Judaism has a beautiful phrase, tikkun olam, which means to repair the breach. It is the same kind of wide and unfathomable aspiration. This world is in such disrepair; and yet, we are here to repair the breaches and broken places in every way possible.

I’ve been trying to think of how I can practice pranidhana this month, and I’ve decided to begin each day by reciting the Bodhisattva Vow. It’s a reminder that I am called, as a person of faith, to love wholly and fully, to repair the breach, to end suffering any way I can.

Is there a vow or aspiration that can inspire you this month? Consider putting it on a sticky note or index card and keeping it somewhere you can see it daily. I’m convinced the road to aspiration is paved with inspiration.