[see: \u201cCompassion, basically<\/a>\u201d]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bodhisattva<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A \u2018bodhisattva\u2019 is a Buddhist term for one on the path to personal awakening while caring for all others. It\u2019s a very inclusive path, therefore Compassionate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m no Buddhist, but I see the Buddhist philosophy as quite inspirational to the core<\/a>. Many insights are profound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The vows<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There are many versions. This is the one I like most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vowing the impossible<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n These are not conceptual promises to be kept. It\u2019s about full-hearted striving. It\u2019s also about achieving, but this lies within the striving itself. [see: \u201cNot the Winning, but the Striving<\/a>\u201d]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Superficially seen, it may seem contradictory. In-depth, it\u2019s paradoxical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You go for it and keep going for it even if it\u2019s unattainable and even so, beyond comfortable boundaries. (Mere-ego doesn\u2019t like this.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n You want to achieve, and you don\u2019t, and that\u2019s a good exercise in frustration-less desire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Being perfect, ready to grow<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n These vows show paths. Progressing on these paths is an invitation to a mental shift, getting more open and ready to grow mentally. You learn to look at many things differently, more creatively, and more Compassionately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since you don\u2019t attain the vows’ goals, you fail. In this full-hearted failing, you know you are perfect already. This is your being a perfect human being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This also invites you to transcend mere-ego, to see your being part of a bigger whole that is your total self. Through this, symbolically, you also see your being part of an even much bigger whole that continues striving. The vow is from this feeling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AURELIS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One can recognize each of the vows in the AURELIS project, respectively in the striving:<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the last one, you can see the AURELIS take on Compassion. [see: \u201cTwo-Sided Compassion<\/a>\u201d]<\/p>\n\n\n\n AURELIS and Buddhism<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n AURELIS is not Buddhism, but I see it as a modern development compatible with where Buddhism at its best can \u2013 and should? \u2013 aim to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I mean with this the purely philosophical kind of Buddhism that puts Compassion entirely at the forefront, even before stories about any Buddha that was or will be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In any case, as described above, the four vows are pretty Aurelian.<\/p>\n