This week, let's look at a story from the Vedic tradition.

A story about a young man, a teacher, and what it truly means to love without expecting anything back.

Let's dive in...

There once was a young man who had a question he couldn't get out of his head.

"How do you love someone without expecting anything back?" he asked his teacher.

"Every time I give... I notice myself waiting. Watching. Hoping they'll give something back. And when they don't... I just feel... let down."

The teacher listened without saying a word.

Then he got up slowly and lit a small lamp in the corner of the room.

The young man watched him, not sure what was happening.

The teacher then picked up a second lamp... unlit... and held its wick gently to the flame of the first.

The second lamp lit up.

Now both lamps burned quietly in the room.

The teacher turned to the young man.

"Did the first lamp lose anything by lighting the second?"

The young man stared at both flames for a moment.

They were both burning equally. Equally bright. Equally steady.

"No," he said quietly. "It didn't lose anything."

Then the teacher picked up a third lamp and lit it from the second.

Then a fourth from the third.

And the room just kept getting brighter and brighter.

He turned back to the young man and said...

"This is what it means to love without condition. You give your light... and you lose nothing. The flame doesn't ask the other lamp what it will give in return. It just... gives."

The young man was quiet for a long time.

He recalled the times he had given something to people he loved... and then quietly kept score.

The times he noticed what came back and what didn't.

Was that love? he thought. Or was that a trade I was calling love?

The teacher sat back down and said...

"The lamp that holds back its flame out of fear of losing it... ends up lighting nothing. And sitting alone in the dark."

"But the lamp that gives freely... finds itself surrounded by light."

Most of us have experienced this kind of love in our lives.

A love that never kept score. That never reminded us of what it gave. That never waited to see what it would get back.

For most of us... that love was someone who gave without ever once asking what they'd get back.

We didn't have a word for it then. We just lived it... the way a child lives in safety without ever wondering if it will be safe tomorrow.

But somewhere along the way... we start loving differently.

We start giving with one eye open. Watching... Waiting...

Keeping a quiet count of what comes back.

And that's just life teaching us to protect ourselves... That's natural.

But here's the question that sits with us when we hear a story like this...

If we try to love like that... to give without expecting anything back... won't we just end up burnt out? Drained? Wondering why it costs us so much?

And the answer is right there in the lamp.

The lamp never lost anything by lighting others.

It only burns out when it has no flame of its own to begin with.

The burnout we experience comes from giving from a place of emptiness.

Giving to be liked. Giving to avoid guilt. Giving and waiting to be repaid.

But that's a very different kind of giving than what the lamp showed us.

The lamp gave from its flame... freely, completely and without holding anything back.

And it lost nothing.

This week... maybe we look at the people around us a little differently. And ask ourselves... am I giving from my flame? Or am I giving from my fear?

Because one leaves you empty. And the other... only grows.

That's all for this week…

And if today reminded you of someone who loved you without ever keeping score... take a moment to let them know. Words don't cost anything. But they mean everything.

Happy Mother's Day to everyone celebrating today.

And thank you to everyone who's been replying and sharing your feedback.

Your feedback means more than you know, and I genuinely appreciate you taking the time to let me know what resonates.

If something in today's edition moved you, made you think, or reminded you of something you needed to hear, hit reply and let me know.

And if this story reminded you of someone… share it with them. Some things are worth passing on.

If you missed last week's edition: How to Be Grateful and Still Want More

See you next Sunday.

— Manifest Chronicles | The Mindset Behind Change