The Flame that Loses Nothing

In a transactional world where we treat everything as scarce, we often guard our ideas, hoard our resources, unwilling to share. 

The reason? 

If we give this away, we will have nothing left.

If I share what I know, I will make myself replaceable.

There is a little story about a little lamp:

A little lamp flickered in the darkness. 

A woman lit her own lamp from the light and passed on the light to others in the dark. 

That was when the little lamp realized that its worth was not measured by illuminating the entire world alone, but by igniting the light in others. 

The Mahabharatha in the Shanthi Parva mirrors the same thought: 

यथा दीपेन दीपोऽन्यः प्रज्वलत्यविकम्पितः ।

न हीयते तस्य दीप्तिः प्रकाशश्च प्रवर्धते ॥

Yathā dīpena dīpo'nyaḥ prajvalatyavikampitaḥ |

Na hīyate tasya dīptiḥ prakāśaśca pravardhate ||

This means that ‘Just as one steady lamp can kindle another flame without losing any of its own brilliance, its light does not diminish in the least—yet the illumination everywhere around it increases manifold.’

Many of us suffer under this false belief that we have to bear the burden of illuminating the entire circle by our own single effort.

However, this is not real leadership.

Guarding your insights out of fear that a junior would surpass you, leads to your stagnation.

Sharing a skill, even encouraging others, costs you nothing, better yet, it builds an ecosystem where everyone is clear and this multiplies the impact.

Psychologically, the moment you can spark confidence in someone else, you brighten the horizon for others - including yourself.

So, sharing what you have diminishes nothing in you, but brightens everything around.

So kindle the next lamp and fear not because your flame will be just as bright and the road ahead will be far easier to travel.