When practicing pranidhana, we can easily slide into achievement-focused success. But aspiration is not achievement. And it’s imperative for us to know the difference. We live in a society where our thirst for achievement can really hinder the spiritual practices we attempt to embody and create.
Achievement isn’t bad. It’s not wrong to want to see yourself succeed in your goals. The danger is when we locate achievement outside of us, rather than inside. We look for other people to confirm or reject our work. In seeking achievement, we find that we’re really seeking praise. We also turn our focus to outside measures of success (metrics and goals) that often don’t align with the soul of what we’re seeking to accomplish. Again, I don’t want to say that all metrics are bad. But we have a habit of allowing them to dictate our worth. And that’s a big problem. Especially because spiritual practices and inner work do not abide by the rules of metrics.
Inner work often takes a long time before anything shows up readily on the surface. That shouldn’t indicate we are moving in the wrong direction or not doing enough. But metrics of achievement can sure make us feel that way. If we truly seek to practice aspiration, our best approach is to be patient, and trust that this work will indeed bring about something good.
The other reason aspiration is not achievement is because achievement is too often focused on individual success. And, by definition, aspiration becomes embodied in our service and care for others. Our aspiration for enlightenment is not meant just for our own enlightenment, but for everyone. Our discipline is not just to make us feel confident in ourselves, but is meant to benefit the world. We don’t gain wisdom just to feel wise. We do it to share that wisdom in a way that helps others.
I was fortunate to hear the Reverend Angel Kyodo Williams recently, and I’m still processing all the good and powerful teaching she shared. (If you don’t know her, go find out about her here.) One particular wisdom nugget she shared is that American achievement is often deeply embedded in white supremacy. We achieve only by denying others, and even denying the fullness of ourselves. Achievement in a system of white supremacy rejects everything the paramita of aspiration seeks to teach us. Achievement, when employed as the engine of white power dynamics, disembodies us. Aspiration–true aspiration–places us fully and faithfully in our minds, bodies, and souls.
Lastly, I can’t overlook the potential for even something as service-oriented as the bodhisattva vow to be used as a form of white savior complex. A term coined by Teju Cole, it describes a very common theme of white people “having a big emotional experience that validates privilege.” In other words, it makes a white person feel good, but it may or may not actually benefit the person on the receiving end. We are quick to call that achievement (and give it awards), but that isn’t aspiration, either.
When pranidhana comes from a pure heart, it has wisdom in its intentions and in its application. It takes a holistic look at what is needed and what it might look like to “save all beings.” Aspiration requires discernment on our part, because the last thing we want to do is cheapen it into an empty form of achievement.
Achievement seeks to win. Aspiration seeks to bring goodness. They feel different. How can you graciously interrogate your aspirations this week?
