When you take the bodhisattva vow, you make certain promises and take on certain disciplines because of your surroundings. You commit yourself, not for yourself, but for others’ sake. On a more refined level, having done such a thing, there is an immense input into your memory. You realize what you have done, and you realize that you are stuck with that particular process and style of thinking for the rest of this life, as well as the lives to come. You cannot actually shake it off by saying that it was a rehearsal–it becomes a part of your basic existence.

From “Making a Commitment,” in The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma, page 120.

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