Poñhila was a senior monk who knew the Pitaka well and was actually teaching the Dhamma to many monks. Because he knew the Pitaka, he was also very conceited. The Buddha knew his weakness and wanted him to mend his ways and to put him on the right path. So, whenever Poñhila came to pay obeisance, the Buddha would address him as ‘Useless Poñhila’. When Poñhila heard these remarks, he pondered over those words of the Buddha and came to realize that the Buddha had made those unkind remarks because he, Poñhila, had not made any serious effort to practice meditation and had not achieved any of the path or even any level of mental absorption.
Thus, without telling anyone Venerable Poñhila left for a monastery at a place twenty miles (leagues) away from the Jetavana monastery. At that monastery there were thirty monks. First, he went to the most senior monk and humbly requested him to be his mentor; but the elder, wishing to humble him, asked him to go to the next senior monk, who in his turn sent him on to the next. In this way, he was sent from one to the other until he came to a seven year old arahat sàmanera. The young sàmanera accepted him as a pupil only after ascertaining that Poñhila would obediently follow his instructions. As instructed by the sàmanera, Venerable Poñhila kept his mind firmly fixed on the true nature of the body; he was very ardent and vigilant in his meditation.
The Buddha saw Poñhila in his vision and through supernormal power made Poñhila feel his presence and encouraged him to be steadfast and ardent. At the end of the discourse, Poñhila attained arahatship
