A great king came to Buddha. He had brought one of the most valuable diamonds he had, a rare, unique diamond. Many kings were jealous of his diamond. He had brought it as a present for Buddha, but his queen said to him, ”Buddha has renounced all wealth.it is just a stone for him. He may like the rose flower more than the diamond. He himself is a flower, and it is far better to bring a fragrant flower to him than a dead stone.
First he presented the diamond and Buddha said ”Drop it!” Very unwillingly of course, but when Buddha said ”Drop it!” he had to drop it. It was almost as if he was dropping his own heart; that was his most precious thing. And Buddha said ”Drop it” as if it was just an ordinary stone! But he had to drop it, and thousands of people were there watching. He wanted to say no, his heart was saying no, but it was impossible to say no to Buddha and before so many people, so he dropped it. Then he presented the rose flower with his other hand. He was thinking that Buddha would accept it. He said ”Drop it!” He dropped that too. Now there was nothing left with him.
So with empty hands he bowed down to Buddha and Buddha said ”Drop it!” Now he was very puzzled and he said, ”I don’t understand you, sir, at all. Now I have nothing to drop.” And one disciple of Buddha, Ananda, started laughing and he said, ”Now the real thing has to be dropped: drop yourself! It is easy to drop a diamond. Although we could see that your heart was saying no, still in spite of all that you dropped it. It is easy to drop the flower… now the real problem is: drop yourself!
That is the only present one can bring to a Buddha: dropping of the ego.”
