The Diligent Do Not Sleep
PUNNA WAS A SLAVE GIRL who often worked until very late at night. One day it was already nearly
midnight when she had just finished pounding some rice for the next day’s meal. Tired, she stopped to
rest for a while, and as she did, she noticed Some monks who were on their
way back to their monastery after listening to the Dhamma in a nearby forest.
She could not help but wonder what they could be doing up so late. i myself
have to be up late because I am poor and have to work hard,” she thought to herself,
but what could monks be doing up at this rime of the night?” She guessed that
maybe one of them had had an accident or was sick, or something of that nature.
The next morning. Punna was about to eat a pancake that she had made
from some leftover rice Hour when she noticed the Buddha passing by her
master’s house. She had always warned to make an offering to the Buddha but
rarely had a chance. It seemed that when she did have something nice to offer
him, the Buddha never came around, and when she did not have anything, she
would see him. Although what
she had was just a coarse pancake, she
still wanted to offer it to the Buddha, and although she was truly afraid that
he would not accept such unrefined food, she went ahead and offered it to
him anyway. lb Punna’s surprise and joy, the Buddha not only humbly accepted
her pancake, but sac down in a suitable spot and ate it right
in front of her.
After the Buddha had eaten the pancake, Punna. still curious about
he monks she had seen the
night before, asked the Buddha what they could have been doing up at such a
late hour. The Buddha replied by saying, “Punna, just as you have no time to
sleep because you have to work hard pounding rice late into the night, my
disciples do not go to sleep because they have to work hard at being vigilant
and mindful.” The Buddha then went on to tell her that it did not matter what
position one had in life, be it king, slave, or monk. What really mattered was
that one never ceased w he mindful and vigilant.
Punna
reflected on the Buddha’s words and realized the Dhamma.
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