Always be on the Alert!

Vigilance or alert awareness is vital to spiritual growth. When we walk on the Divine path, we must be vigilant in thought, word and deed. We must take care of our physical body, eat pure and best food that we can afford, exercise and keep it healthy. We must take care to speak the truth and not hurt or harm others. We must not gossip nor speak with any malicious intent. Our thoughts should be pure. If we are not vigilant, laziness, sloth, inertia and other vices will overtake us. Our mind will keep churning useless thoughts and we will speak words which are ugly, hurtful and useless. Our actions will be mediocre. Only when we are vigilant, we will be able to correct ourselves immediately and make self-correction a part of our lives. This is the story of Punna and Buddha. It is about the importance of vigilance and its role in enlightenment. 

Punna was a slave girl. She used to work late past midnight and rise early and continue with her work. Once it was nearly midnight when she finished her day’s work. She had just finished pounding rice for the next day’s meal. She was worn out and paused to rest for a few minutes when she noticed that some monks were returning back to their monastery.  She wondered why the monks were up so late. She was poor and a slave. She had to work hard to survive but the monks were not servants. There was no need for them to be up so late in the night when they could sleep well in their comfortable beds. She felt that perhaps someone was sick or had an accident and hence they were up at such a late hour.

The next morning, Punna made a pancake from the left over rice flour and was about to eat it when she noticed Buddha passing by her master’s house. Buddha had come to Punna’s village and was giving regular discourses in the forest where his group of disciples were staying. In the mornings, he went about seeking alms from a few homes. Punna always wanted to make an offering to Buddha. She never had a chance to make an offering to Buddha as he rarely came when she had something and when she saw him, she did not have anything to offer. Now she had with her a freshly made coarse pancake. It was unrefined food eaten by the servant and slaves. She was afraid to offer it to Buddha but her intense desire to offer him something gave her courage to offer it to him.

Punna was very delighted when Buddha accepted her pancake. He took it and sat down in a suitable spot and ate it in front of her. There was appreciation on his face as he ate the food. Punna waited till Buddha had finished eating. Then she asked him about the monks she saw the previous night. She wondered why they were up so late and what they could be doing at such an hour.

Buddha replied to her: Punna, you do not have time to sleep because you have work to do. You are always vigilant and do work given to you at all odd hours as you wish to please your master. You sit up late at night pounding rice without taking rest. My disciples are also always vigilant. They sleep less as they work hard at being vigilant and mindful.

Buddha explained further to her about being vigilant. The status or power or birth of a person did not matter. Everyone should be vigilant whether it be a king or slave or monk. Only when one is vigilant, one is aware of the working of the mind, desires and ego which overturn the balance and peace in one’s life. Punna sat at the feet of Buddha and reflected on his words deeply. She attained enlightenment on the spot.

When we wish to walk the spiritual path successfully, we must be disciplined and vigilant day and night. Such vigilance helps to destroy the negative qualities and vices in ourselves. We never know when ego, attachment and ignorance can overtake us. Till the time that we are established in the reality of our Divine Nature, eternal vigilance is essential. Japa and meditation are forms of vigilance where we watch ourselves and see clearly the motive for any thought, word or deed and are able to change and transform ourselves.