The story is well-known: The prince of the Shakya clan left his privileged life to achieve enlightenment, eventually giving up the life of an ascetic to sit under the Bodhi tree; here he achieved the final goal. The Buddha reached Paranirvana at the age of 80 upon the death of his body, but the Bodhi tree lives on, in various incarnations. The tree itself has an interesting story to tell.
The original tree was destroyed and replanted from cuttings at least three times. The most recent planting at the site of the Buddha’s enlightenment at Bodhgaya was recorded by a British archaeologist about 120 years ago, after the older tree died. The Mahabodhi tree, supposedly grown from a cutting of the southern branch of the original tree under which Siddhartha sat, parented the trees at Sri Mahabodhi and Anuradhapura. When the original Mahabodhi tree died, it was replanted from a cutting of the Anuradhapura tree and is still standing today.
Ficus Religiousa, member of the moraceae is sacred in Hinduism and Jainism and is a traditional place to sit and meditate. The fig tree is known for its considerable medicinal properties, which may have been a contributing factor to its revered status. The leaves, fruit, and seeds are used for lung and gastric ailments, while the bark, sap, and roots are an antiseptic that can treat gum disease and other infections. Chewing on a leaf or piece of bark can stave off stomach upset (common then and now) and many other illnesses, making it an ideal place to sit in extended meditation.
Seen at Wat Mahathat Temple in Bangkok
Sometimes known as the strangler fig, the young shoots can reach the ground and grown back up to the canopy, creating the aesthetically pleasing appearance to the trunk. This also allows the tree to grow to exceptional heights and have an incredibly long life. The tree at Anuradhapura is thought to be the oldest documented sapling of the original Bodhi tree in the world, planted by the Buddhist nun Sanghamitta in the third century B.C. Scientists this year began work in the laboratory to clone the original tree against future disaster.
In more recent times, the Bodhi tree has been planted from cuttings all over the world. Ficus Religiosa can only produce viable seeds when the pollinator wasp is present, making cuttings from a living tree the only way to produce seedlings. Lay people grow them on their altars and gardens from cuttings in respect and remembrance of the Buddha's struggle and victory over his mind. It is interesting to note that "transmission" is achieved in much the same way- not from parent to child, but directly communicated and traced back to the original transmission of the Dhamma by the Buddha to five fellow ascetics in the Deer Park at Sarnath.
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