Make Yourself an Island
Make yourself the lamp; lean on yourself and stand.
When shaken, do I grab only at something outside, forgetting the center within?
📝Reflection
Just before a teacher left the world, his students asked whom they should now depend on. His final answer was unexpected: do not depend on me — make yourself the lamp. This is not a call to live lonely and alone. It is a reminder that the center which will never go out, even in a shaking world, lies after all within oneself. Whenever anxious, we reach for outside authority, others' approval, sure guarantees. But all of these change and disappear. To hold within the one unchanging thing — a small lamp I can keep lit in any circumstance — that is the secret of the truly unshaken person.
🌱Apply It Today
In a shaken moment today, before seeking the answer outside, first ask: "what does the lamp within me say?" The center firms by a hand's width.
This verse is read as universal humanistic wisdom, not religion — no faith is promoted, and the reflection is 100% original ONGO content.
