Month: November 2024

“Be a source of inexhaustible sustenance that pervades all consciousness.” – Today’s Reading

Be a source of inexhaustible sustenance that pervades all consciousness.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 40 – Return is the movement of the Tao. Yielding is the way of the Tao.

Today: “You have to develop the sensitivity of the brain that lets you know the truth: the Unknown is known to me.” – Yogi Bhajan

Try these meditations:

Meditation: NM0163 – Feel God Within You, The Kindness in You

Meditation: NM142 19940615 – Bless the Planet Earth and Let the Heavens Descend in You

Meditation:  One Minute Breath

See lecture on cold showers

See Meditation:  Breath of Fire

Previous reading: “Interlopers are usurping authority and power that is not rightly theirs. Be careful of questionable engagements. Know who you re dealing with.”

Previous previous reading: “Beset with impediments, proceed calmly with your purpose. It is your resolve applied to your intention that produces changes in the desired direction. Then, you only have to watch to see what happens.”

Related posts

The teacher

48 – Forty-Eight.  Ching / The Well

Deep Waters Penetrated and drawn to the surface:
The Superior Person refreshes the people with constant encouragement to help one another.

Encampments, settlements, walled cities, whole empires may rise and fall, yet the Well at the center endures, never drying to dust, never overflowing.
It served those before and will serve those after.
Again and again you may draw from the Well, but if the bucket breaks or the rope is too short there will be misfortune.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

There is a Source common to us all.
Jung named it the Collective Unconscious.
Others hail it as God within.
Inside each of us are dreamlike symbols and archetypes, emotions and instincts that we share with every other human being.
When we feel a lonely separateness from others, it is not because this Well within has dried up, but because we have lost the means to reach its waters.
You need to reclaim the tools necessary to penetrate to the depths of your fellows.
Then the bonds you build will be as timeless and inexhaustible as the Well that nourishes them.

Six at the top means:

This well is dependable and available to all.
Supreme good fortune.

One draws from the well
Without hindrance.
It is dependable.
Supreme good fortune.

Swimming pool at sea

The well is there for all. No one is forbidden to take water from it. No matter how many come, all find what they need, for the well is dependable. It has a spring and never runs dry. Therefore it is a great blessing to the whole land. The same is true of the really great man, whose inner wealth is inexhaustible; the more that people draw from him, the greater his wealth becomes.

3 – Fifty-Three.  Chien / Gradual Progress

The gnarled Pine grows tenaciously off the Cliff face:
The Superior Person clings faithfully to dignity and integrity, thus elevating the Collective Spirit of Man in his own small way.
Development.
The maiden is given in marriage.
Good fortune if you stay on course.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

Adaptability mixed with integrity will bring a calm, steady progress.
Move from your center, always faithful to your principles, yet with the flexibility to weather any tempest.
Yours is not a meteoric rise to the top, but the solid, confident footing of one who has a clear vision of what can be, and who is willing to climb the distance to reach it.
The oracle foresees companionship along the way — a Divine comfort on any journey.

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Today: “You have to develop the sensitivity of the brain that lets you know the truth: the Unknown is known to me.” – Yogi Bhajan

You have to develop the sensitivity of the brain that lets you know the truth: the Unknown is known to me. The same sensitivity that is totality and Infinity in every unique human being and can only be achieved through discipline. Discipline of the consciousness is the acknowledgement of the spirit. All human difficulties can be eliminated once you have a harmony between conscious mind and subconscious mind toward the supreme conscious mind.. .Harmony between conscious and subconscious is a gateway to Infinity and that is the spirit we are talking about.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: LA544 – 870610 – Know and Experience the Unknown

See related posts

What else Yogi Bhajan said

Tao Te Ching – Verse 40 – Return is the movement of the Tao. Yielding is the way of the Tao.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 40

Return is the movement of the Tao.
Yielding is the way of the Tao.

All things are born of being.
Being is born of non-being.

Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 40 – Return is the movement of the Tao. Yielding is the way of the Tao.”

“Interlopers are usurping authority and power that is not rightly theirs.   Be careful of questionable engagements.  Know who you re dealing with.” – Today’s Reading

Interlopers are usurping authority and power that is not rightly theirs.   Be careful of questionable engagements.  Know who you re dealing with.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 39 – In harmony with the Tao, the sky is clear and spacious

Today: “You must understand, what you call living is just the continual vibration of breath coming in and out” – Yogi Bhajan

Try these meditations:

Meditation: KWTC 19970630 – For Faculty of Self Engagement

Meditation: LA936 980609 Four Stroke Breath to Build Intuition

Meditation:  One Minute Breath

See lecture on cold showers

See Meditation:  Breath of Fire

Previous reading: “Beset with impediments, proceed calmly with your purpose. It is your resolve applied to your intention that produces changes in the desired direction. Then, you only have to watch to see what happens.”

Previous previous reading: Maintain your character and uphold your principles according to your duty. Do not let anyone down, including yourself.”

Related posts

The teacher

7 – Seven.  Shih / Recruiting Allies

Deep Water beneath the Earth’s surface:
Untapped resources are available.
The Superior Person nourishes and instructs the people, building a loyal, disciplined following.
Good fortune.
No mistakes if you follow a course led by experience.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

You must gain support from others.
Find a way to make others want to see your objectives met as badly as you want it.
How can they profit from the attainment of this goal?
Can you command confidence that you are just the person that can bring this plan to fruition?

Six in the third place means:

A wagonload of corpses this way comes.

Perchance the army carries corpses in the wagon.
Misfortune.

US Army Wagon Train

US Army Wagon Train near Rurdosa, Texas 1916

Here we have a choice of two explanations. One points to defeat because someone other than the chosen leader interferes with the command; the other is similar in its general meaning, but the expression, “carries corpses in the wagon,” is interpreted differently. At burials and at sacrifices to the dead it was customary in China for the deceased to whom the sacrifice was made to be represented by a boy of the family, who sat in the dead man’s place and was honored as his representative. On the basis of this custom the text is interpreted as meaning that a “corpse boy” is sitting in the wagon, or, in other words, that authority is not being exercised by the proper leaders but has been usurped by others. Perhaps the whole difficulty clears up if it is inferred that there has been an error in copying. The character fan, meaning “all,” may have been misread as shih, which means “corpse.” Allowing for this error, the meaning would be that if the multitude assumes leadership of the army (rides in the wagon), misfortune will ensue.

15 – Fifteen.  Ch’ien / Modesty

The Mountain does not overshadow the Plain surrounding it:
Such modest consideration in a Superior Person creates a channel through which excess flows to the needy.

Success if you carry things through.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

The Cosmos is moving toward equilibrium.
Extremes are being tempered, excess is beginning to shift toward the empty.
You can use these moderating influences to strike a balance in the world around you.
Remember, though, that this Leveling will not come about through an arrogant confiscation of excess, but through subtler persuasions.
Modesty and moderation are the keys.

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Today: “You must understand, what you call living is just the continual vibration of breath coming in and out” – Yogi Bhajan

“You must understand, what you call living is just the continual vibration of breath coming in and out. Just delay it either way and intellect must immediately stop giving thoughts. Moment the link of thought wave will stop, you won’t perceive emotion… so simple. It doesn’t take much for you to work on that. Simply you should be conscious of the breath.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: LA088 790222 Egyptian Meditation

See related posts

What else Yogi Bhajan said

Tao Te Ching – Verse 39 – In harmony with the Tao, the sky is clear and spacious

Tao Te Ching – Verse 39

In harmony with the Tao,
the sky is clear and spacious,
the earth is solid and full,
all creatures flourish together,
content with the way they are,
endlessly repeating themselves,
endlessly renewed.
When man interferes with the Tao,
the sky becomes filthy,
the earth becomes depleted,
the equilibrium crumbles,
creatures become extinct.

Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 39 – In harmony with the Tao, the sky is clear and spacious”

“Beset with impediments, proceed calmly with your purpose.  It is your  resolve applied to  your intention that produces changes in the desired direction. Then, you only have to watch to see what happens.” – Today’s Reading

Beset with impediments, proceed calmly with your purpose.  It is your  resolve applied to  your intention that produces changes in the desired direction.  Then, you only have to watch to see what happens.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 38 – The Master doesn’t try to be powerful; thus he is truly powerful.

Today: “Thirty-one minutes of Breath of Fire every day will regulate the pituitary.” Yogi Bhajan

Try these meditations:

Meditation:  TCH36-1-A00713 – Pain and Ecstasy – Triangle of Knowledge

Meditation: TCH2012 960727 – Warrior’s Exercise for Opening the Energy into the Shushmana & Balancing the Hemispheres of the Brain

Meditation: Release obstacles in your path

Meditation:  One Minute Breath

See lecture on cold showers

See Meditation:  Breath of Fire

Previous reading: “Maintain your character and uphold your principles according to your duty. Do not let anyone down, including yourself.”

Previous previous reading: “Retreat to a higher ground where the danger cannot reach you. Anything you lose will be returned to you.”

Related posts

The teacher

3 – Three.  Chun / Difficulty at the Beginning

Thunder from the Deep:
The Superior Person carefully weaves order out of confusion.

Supreme Success if you keep to your course.
Carefully consider the first move.
Seek help.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

New ventures always pack along their inherent chaos.
Though this is an annoyance at best, and can even imperil or downright doom an endeavor, it is also the friction needed to polish your project to jewel brilliance.
Learn from these early obstacles.

 yin
yang above: K’an / The Abysmal, Water
yin
yin
yin below: Chên / The Arousing, Thunder
yang

 

THE NAME of the hexagram, Chun, really connotes a blade of grass pushing against an obstacle as it sprouts out of the earth – hence the meaning, “difficulty at the beginning.”
The hexagram indicates the way in which heaven and earth bring forth individual beings. It is their first meeting, which is beset with difficulties. The lower trigram Chên is the Arousing (51); its motion is upward and its image is thunder. The upper trigram K’an stands for the Abysmal (29), the dangerous. Its motion is downward and its image is rain. The situation points to teeming, chaotic profusion; thunder and rain fill the air. But the chaos clears up. While the Abysmal sinks, the upward movement eventually passes beyond the danger. A thunderstorm brings release from tension, and all things breathe freely again.

THE JUDGEMENT

Difficulty at the beginning works supreme success,
Furthering through perseverance.
Nothing should be undertaken.
It furthers one to appoint helpers.

TIMES OF GROWTH are beset with difficulties. They resemble a first birth. But these difficulties arise from the very profusion of all that is struggling to attain form. Everything is in motion: therefore if one perseveres there is a prospect of great success, in spite of the existing danger. When it is a man’s fate to undertake such new beginnings, everything is still unformed, dark. Hence he must hold back, because any premature move might bring disaster. Likewise, it is very important not to remain alone; in order to overcome the chaos he needs helpers. This is not to say, however, that he himself should look on passively at what is happening. He must lend his hand and participate with inspiration and guidance.

THE IMAGE

Clouds and thunder:
The image of difficulty at the beginning.
Thus the superior man
Brings order out of confusion.

CLOUDS AND THUNDER are represented by definite decorative lines; this means that in the chaos of difficulty at the beginning, order is already implicit. So too the superior man has to arrange and organise the inchoate profusion of such times of beginning, just as one sorts out silk threads from a knotted tangle and binds them into skeins. In order to find one’s place in the infinity of being, one must be able both to separate and to unite.
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Today: “Thirty-one minutes of Breath of Fire every day will regulate the pituitary.” Yogi Bhajan

“Thirty-one minutes of Breath of Fire every day will regulate the pituitary. Pituitary will regulate the entire glandular system. Glandular system will change the nervous system. Nervous system will tell the organic system of the blood to just recapture itself.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation:  Breath of Fire

Related Posts

What else Yogi Bhajan said

Tao Te Ching – Verse 38 – The Master doesn’t try to be powerful; thus he is truly powerful.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 38

The Master doesn’t try to be powerful;
thus he is truly powerful.
The ordinary man keeps reaching for power;
thus he never has enough.

The Master does nothing,
yet he leaves nothing undone.
The ordinary man is always doing things,
yet many more are left to be done.

Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 38 – The Master doesn’t try to be powerful; thus he is truly powerful.”

“Maintain your character and uphold your principles according to your duty.  Do not let anyone down, including yourself.” – Today’s Reading

Maintain your character and uphold your principles according to your duty.  Do not let anyone down, including yourself.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 37 – The Tao never does anything, yet through it all things are done

Today: “Inhale deep and hold the breath to your capacity, then exhale and inhale again and hold.” – Yogi Bhajan

Try these meditations:

Meditation: NM0336 – For Inner Strength

Meditation: LA135-19791029 Resolve Inner Conflict

Recap: Healing and Meditation Class at Yoga West with Hari Nam Singh 2018-09-18 – Inner Projection

Meditation:  One Minute Breath

See lecture on cold showers

See Meditation:  Breath of Fire

Previous reading: “Recognize your unique position in this upside down time. Find openings that will make the situation easier for your fellow travelers. Understand that a turning point is near and that eventually things begin to change into their opposites.”

Previous previous reading: “Retreat to a higher ground where the danger cannot reach you. Anything you lose will be returned to you.”

Related posts

The teacher

32 – Thirty-Two.  Hêng / Durability

Arousing Thunder and penetrating Wind.
Close companions in any storm:
The Superior Person possesses a resiliency and durability that lets him remain firmly and faithfully on course.

Such constancy deserves success.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

Endurance is the key to success in this situation.
However, durability is not synonymous with stone-like rigidity.
True resilience requires a flexibility that allows adaptation to any adverse condition, while still remaining true to the core.
Can you maintain your integrity under any circumstance?
Can you influence the situation without giving opposing forces anything to resist?
Then you will endure to reach your goal.

Six in the fifth place means:

To submit to insult is to invite injury.

Giving duration to one’s character through perseverance.
This is good fortune for a woman, misfortune for a man.

Woman and man
A woman should follow a man her whole life long, but a man should at all times hold to what is his duty at the given moment. Should he persistently seek to conform to the woman, it would be a mistake for him. Accordingly it is altogether right for a woman to hold conservatively to tradition, but a man must always be flexible and adaptable and allow himself to be guided solely by what his duty requires of him at the moment.
48 – Forty-Eight.  Ching / The Well

Deep Waters Penetrated and drawn to the surface:
The Superior Person refreshes the people with constant encouragement to help one another.

Encampments, settlements, walled cities, whole empires may rise and fall, yet the Well at the center endures, never drying to dust, never overflowing.
It served those before and will serve those after.
Again and again you may draw from the Well, but if the bucket breaks or the rope is too short there will be misfortune.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

There is a Source common to us all.
Jung named it the Collective Unconscious.
Others hail it as God within.
Inside each of us are dreamlike symbols and archetypes, emotions and instincts that we share with every other human being.
When we feel a lonely separateness from others, it is not because this Well within has dried up, but because we have lost the means to reach its waters.
You need to reclaim the tools necessary to penetrate to the depths of your fellows.
Then the bonds you build will be as timeless and inexhaustible as the Well that nourishes them.

[/su_spoiler]

Today: “Inhale deep and hold the breath to your capacity, then exhale and inhale again and hold.” – Yogi Bhajan

“Inhale deep and hold the breath to your capacity, then exhale and inhale again and hold. All that is required to get rid of the urge to smoke is to repeat this breath seven to fifteen times a day for seven to fifteen days. Within that period of time you will make the body’s metabolism go through the change to substitute oxygen in place of nicotine. You can also eliminate the stress that was formerly removed by smoking by putting a few raisins in your mouth and chewing them. The best way to chew raisins is to crush them with your teeth and paste them on your upper palate, and then suck on them.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: LA135-19791029 Resolve Inner Conflict

See related posts

What else Yogi Bhajan said

Tao Te Ching – Verse 37 – The Tao never does anything, yet through it all things are done

Tao Te Ching – Verse 37

The Tao never does anything,
yet through it all things are done.
If powerful men and women
could center themselves in it,
the whole world would be transformed
by itself, in its natural rhythms.
People would be content
with their simple, everyday lives,
in harmony, and free of desire.
When there is no desire,
all things are at peace. Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 37 – The Tao never does anything, yet through it all things are done”

“Recognize your unique position in this upside down time.  Find openings that will make the situation easier for your fellow travelers.  Understand that a turning point is near and that eventually things begin to change into their opposites.” – Today’s Reading

Recognize your unique position in this upside down time.  Find openings that will make the situation easier for your fellow travelers.  Understand that a turning point is near and that eventually things begin to change into their opposites.

He answers a Higher calling.
Whether he survives or whether he falls, he will serve as the inspiration to those who will overthrow the oppressive regime.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 36 – If you want to shrink something, you must first allow it to expand

Today: “When you feel very weak and you feel like having a bourbon on the rocks or black tea or Coke, whatever, forget about the commercialization. Let’s talk about what you can substitute for it by yourself. Breathe and hold. ” – Yogi Bhajan

Try these meditations:

Meditation: LA135-19791029 Resolve Inner Conflict

Meditation:  One Minute Breath

See lecture on cold showers

See Meditation:  Breath of Fire

Previous reading: “Retreat to a higher ground where the danger cannot reach you. Anything you lose will be returned to you.”

Previous previous reading: “Looking at your connection with all things, realize also your penetration with all communications and the expression of your being. Include all relations with now, past and future as well as with all beings, living and dead.”

Related posts

The teacher

12 – Twelve.  P’i / Stagnation

Heaven and Earth move away from each other.
In the ensuing void, the small invade where the great have departed.
There is no common meeting ground, so the Superior Person must fall back on his inner worth and decline the rewards offered by the inferior invaders.

Difficult trials as you hold to your course.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

It is natural to assume that, if Earth above Heaven forms the hexagram for Peace and Paradise, then the opposite configuration, with Heaven over Earth would represent the antithesis of Paradise, Hell.
Not so.
This hexagram is actually the Dark side of Peace, its unsavory byproduct, Stagnation.
In a time when most of our wants are provided, there is little need for the heroes, the artists, the great thinkers and innovators.
As they recede into the shadows, Idleness, Apathy, and Lassitude come to the forefront.
Peace has become boring, bland, unchallenging — Stagnant.
Now our attention turns to the quick fix, the instant celebrity, the fad, the one-nighter, the current buzz.
There is no room for depth.
If you are a passionate soul, you must wait for a better time to find kindred spirits.
In these times, they are only curious legends, bas-relief, dead poets.

Nine in the fourth place means:

He answers a Higher calling.
Whether he survives or whether he falls, he will serve as the inspiration to those who will overthrow the oppressive regime.

He who acts at the command of the highest
Remains without blame.
Those of like mind partake of the blessing.

Ohm

Ohm
The time of standstill is nearing the point of change into its opposite. Whoever wishes to restore order must feel himself called to the task and have the necessary authority. A man who sets himself up as capable of creating order according to his own judgement could make mistakes and end in failure. But the man who is truly called to the task is favored by the conditions of the time, and all those of like mind will share in his blessing.
52 – Fifty-Two. Kên / The Mountain

Above this Mountain’s summit another more majestic rises:
The Superior Person is mindful to keep his thoughts in the here and now.

Stilling the sensations of the Ego, he roams his courtyard without moving a muscle, unencumbered by the fears and desires of his fellows.
This is no mistake.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

There is a higher vantage point available to you, but it is obscured by the visible peak of personal ambition.
To climb to this higher plane, you must shake off the desires and fears of the conscious, visible world around you.
To make this journey you must quiet the Ego, empty your mind of past and future, and dwell totally in the moment at hand.
Thorough mindfulness of what is before you is the only tranquility.
Be. Here. Now.

[/su_spoiler]

Today: “When you feel very weak and you feel like having a bourbon on the rocks or black tea or Coke, whatever, forget about the commercialization. Let’s talk about what you can substitute for it by yourself. Breathe and hold. ” – Yogi Bhajan

“When you feel very weak and you feel like having a bourbon on the rocks or black tea or Coke, whatever, forget about the commercialization. Let’s talk about what you can substitute for it by yourself. Breathe and hold. If you know Breath of Fire you are lucky, but you look odd doing it in the market… so breathe in, hold as long as comfortable, and breathe out. Oxygen will substitute for the drug and you will be out of it. How many breaths does it take? Seven. If you can inhale and hold for seven breaths, your oxygen will be complete in your circulating blood, and you shall not need what you are longing to have.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: LA135-19791029 Resolve Inner Conflict

See related posts

What else Yogi Bhajan said

Tao Te Ching – Verse 36 – If you want to shrink something, you must first allow it to expand

Tao Te Ching – Verse 36

If you want to shrink something,
you must first allow it to expand.
If you want to get rid of something,
you must first allow it to flourish.
If you want to take something,
you must first allow it to be given.
This is called the subtle perception
of the way things are.
The soft overcomes the hard.
The slow overcomes the fast.
Let your workings remain a mystery.
Just show people the results. Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 36 – If you want to shrink something, you must first allow it to expand”

“Retreat to a higher ground where the danger cannot reach you.  Anything you lose will be returned to you.” – Today’s Reading

Retreat to a higher ground where the danger cannot reach you.  Anything you lose will be returned to you.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 35 – She who is centered in the Tao can go where she wishes, without danger.

Today: “Any time you do not have the answer for something —anything —it doesn’t matter what the question is —hold the breath in.” – Yogi Bhajan

Try these meditations:

Meditation: LA673-19910205- Third Chakra

Meditation: Drib Dhristi Lochina Karma

See lecture on cold showers

See Meditation:  Breath of Fire

Previous reading: “Looking at your connection with all things, realize also your penetration with all communications and the expression of your being. Include all relations with now, past and future as well as with all beings, living and dead.”

Previous previous reading: “You are able to exert considerable influence in your righteous path. Use your position well, as humble as it may be, shining for all to see as you face new and formidable challenges.”

Related posts

The teacher

51 – Fifty-One.  Chên / Thunder

Thunder echoes upon Thunder, commanding reverence for its father Heaven:
In awe of Heaven’s majestic power, the Superior Person looks within and sets his life in order.
Thunder mingles with startled screams of terror for a hundred miles around.
As the people nervously laugh at their own fright, the devout presents the sacrificial chalice with nary a drop of wine spilt.
Deliverance

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

A thunderbolt of Cosmic judgement crashes to earth.
For the common person, it’s just a momentary fright soon forgotten, its warning unfathomed and unheeded.
But to one who understands its significance, this thunder is a signal to awaken.
Centering the Self, seeking balance, the enlightened person will respect and align himself with this Higher Power, while his fellows remain subject to the whims of every passing storm.

Six in the second place means:

This thunder erupts from the ground beneath your feet, delivering real danger.
Abandon your belongings and climb to higher ground.
Don’t grieve over treasures left behind.
They will return to you in seven days.

Shock comes bringing danger.
A hundred thousand times
You lose your treasures
And must climb the nine hills.
Do not go in pursuit of them.
After seven days you will get them back again.

Nine hills

Nine hills

This pictures a situation in which a shock endangers a man and he suffers great losses. Resistance would be contrary to the movement of the time and for this reason unsuccessful. Therefore he must simply retreat to heights inaccessible to the threatening forces of danger. He must accept his loss of property without worrying too much about it. When the time of shock and upheaval that has robbed him of his possessions has passed, he will get them back again without going in pursuit of them.

19 – Nineteen.  Lin / Noble Calling

The rich, loamy Earth on the banks of the Marsh provides fertile soil for exceptional progress.
The Superior Person is inexhaustible in his willingness to teach, and without limit in his tolerance and support of others.

Supreme Success if you keep to your course.
But be aware that your time is limited; your power will wane, as Summer changes to Fall.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

You are in a position to help another.
This is a temporary situation, because your power is cyclical, seasonal.
Knowing this, you must perform your good deed without hope of reward.
You are not furthering your own process, but another’s.
Though you may cherish this other, you will never possess.
Touch without grasping.
Take comfort in becoming a fond memory.
Nurture, then let go.

[/su_spoiler]