You Are Beautiful When You Don't Hide

Acharya Prashant: There was this man who was known for his hidden riches. And the entire city used to be envious of him. It was said that in his lockers there were huge bricks of pure gold; the man otherwise lived quite an average, almost pedestrian life.

He would say that, “It is very important to live with frugality and simplicity; I don’t want to be ostentatious. But obviously, I have a huge treasure.” And the entire city would accord and respect him. And his words were given a lot of weightage within the family. It was being seen that he appeared like living a fulfilling life.

When he was about to die, he called his son. The son said, “Father, now that you are about to depart, kindly hand over to me that prized treasure.” The father said, “Alright, yes of course!” So, he gave him the keys.

The son went to the vault, opened it and rushed back shouting and crying. He said, “Father, there has been a big theft, somebody has taken away all the gold and replaced it with ordinary bricks.” The father lay expressionless, motionless. The son said, “Father, do you know what? Your savings of an entire lifetime are gone; all we have there are these ordinary bricks. The father said, “What do you think, I don’t know? Obviously I have always known. Even my father knew!”

Now the son is perplexed. He said, “What do you mean? Is it being going on since generations?” Father said, “Now you too must know, that these are bricks of gold! It will help you lead a satisfied life, and you will get a lot. A lot of respect, consideration; you will be feared.”