Daily Meditation: Sunday, December 28, 1997

For a candle to keep its flame alight it must supply the …

12/28/1997

For a candle to keep its flame alight it must supply the flame with materials and as it does so it gradually diminishes. Combustion is therefore a sacrifice. Without sacrifice there would be no light. The flame needs food and the candle is this food. There is a similarity between a candle and a human being in that a human being too possesses all the materials necessary to feed the flame within him. These materials are all the manifestations of his personal, egotistical nature and he must sacrifice them to keep the flame alight. And what prevents him from making this sacrifice is the fear of disappearing. Of course something will disappear, but in fact this something must disappear so that something else may appear, just as the material of the candle disappears so that light may appear. You will say that after some time nothing is left of the candle. Yes, this is so, but human beings can burn indefinitely. Once lit they are able to remain so, because their combustible material is inexhaustible.