What is the different between dedication and aspiration? On the premise that a virtuous action resulting in positive karma, like liberating animals, has been done, the aspiring vow made right after this actions is dedication. When a vow or a wish is made without this premise, it is an ordinary aspiration. For example, when seeing a Buddha statue or a reliquary stupa, one prays, " May I in all future lives..." This is not dedication but aspiration. The difference lies in whether any virtuous action has been performed and any positive karma thus accumulated has been made the subject of dedication.

~Depicted from From Believers to Boddhisattvas