There was a very rich man who had three sons and was puzzled about whom to make his successor. They were all intelligent, and that was making the choice more difficult. Each was more intelligent than the other.
He asked a visiting mystic, ”What should I do?” And the mystic gave him a device: The rich man gave to each of his sons a bag full of golden coins and told them, ”Within seven days you have to fill your houses completely with whatsoever you want to purchase with this money. But the houses should be full. And whoever succeeds in filling the houses totally will be my successor, so be careful!” They all had their palaces and they were very much worried because with such a small amount of money…. Their palaces were big: how were they going to fill them?
The first son thought that the cheapest thing would be just to go to the municipal corporation andbask them, ”Bring all your trucks that throw out the rubbish and fill my house – I will pay you money for it.” It cost nothing, and they had to throw the garbage away somewhere anyway, so the first son filled his house with all kinds of rubbish, not leaving a small spot empty. But it was stinking so badly that even on the road the traffic stopped. People would not move on that road because the house was stinking so badly.
The second son thought, ”This is stupid! What my brother has done, my father is not going to like.” He had to find something better, but with a small amount of money how can you find something better? But he worked it out: he brought beautiful candles, and the day his father was to come, the son put all the candles in the house and the house was full of light.
The third son looked at the two brothers: the first was certainly stupid; the second was far superior. But there is a strange thing about candles or lamps: whatever you do… they will spread light all over, but just underneath them there will be darkness. That darkness remains without light – that is empty. Something better had to be found….
The day came when the father arrived with the mystic. In the first house they could not enter. They said to the first son, ”You are a super idiot, you are just mad! If this is the way of your thinking, then your whole life you will collect rubbish, and your whole life will stink like this palace. A marble palace, and you have filled it with all kinds of rubbish, rotten things! I cannot even enter your house. You have lost.”
The father entered the second house. He could not figure things out, because it was empty. There was just light but the house was empty. He asked the mystic, ”What is the matter with my second son? – he has not filled it.”
The mystic said, ”He has filled it. Now you need a little more intelligence to understand: he has filled it with light – the whole house is full. But he is not going to be your successor either, because under each candle there is a spot which is dark; the condition is not completed. ”Although he is far more intelligent than the first one, he has missed, missed by just a little miscalculation. He has not looked under the candles and seen that there is darkness. The whole house is not full of light.” They told the son, and he understood: it was right.
They reached the third house. There was no light, it was dark. As they entered, the third son returned the money. He said, ”I can fill the house without wasting the money. I have filled it with darkness. It is completely full, not a single corner is empty. And I have filled it with something which is eternal.”
”So you can take the money back – I don’t need it, I can manage it without wasting money.”
