Acharya Prashant explains that a flame burning twice as bright and lasting half as long is not a warning, but an invitation to transformation. He emphasizes that focusing on the personal life span of a flame is a result of misplaced individuality, whereas one should focus on the light produced and its effect on the environment. A candle's process is the continuous sublimation of matter into light, which represents the process of self-awareness and nirvana. As matter disappears, only light remains, and for one who values light over wax, the melting of the wax is a cause for celebration rather than grief. He further clarifies that this burning is not death but a coming to life, where the personal self dissolves into a total, undivided presence. While the physical duration of a flame might be reduced, it brings to life a thousand other flames, ensuring that light remains even after the individual flame is gone. This dissolution applies to mental patterns and conditioning; as one becomes more radiant, the old mental self dies to give way to light. Those attached to the 'wax' or the physical form may mourn the loss, but those who understand see it as the ultimate transformation into light.
