The Bodhi Tree
Pilgrimage Trees Part II
To survive and thrive a long, long time, it helps that a tree is the holy site with hundreds of devoted people to care for it. Even so, in our rapidly changing environment there are new challenges not faced by the temple monks even a hundred years ago.
This most important pilgrimage site, where Prince Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment while meditating under a Sacred Fig (Ficus religiosa), is where generations of fig trees have been nurtured and cared for, all descended from the original Bodhi Tree at Bodha Gaya, located in the Indian state of Bihar. Since the time of the Buddha, these sacred trees have received the utmost care and attention by generations of Buddhist monks, nuns, and lay people. By 2020, just before the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic struck India with devastating impact, the Bodhi Tree in the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodha Gaya received 4 million pilgrims annually.
Contrary to popular belief, the tree now growing at the Mahabodhi Temple is not the original tree where the Buddha meditated for forty-nine days. The Sacred Fig generates its own descendants when nearing the end of its natural lifespan of around 200 years. Stump sprouts, root suckers, and seedlings emerge healthy and ready to take the place of the parent tree and in less monitored settings that encourage the growth of just one specimen tree, a parent tree may form an entire grove of offspring and clones which carry on the cycle of living and dying as a forest of figs. There may have been other trees older or larger nearby but in the 4th century B.C., for reasons known only to the young prince, this was the tree that caught and held his attention - literally and figuratively.
Emperor Ashoka traveled to the site two hundred and fifty years after the Buddha and established a monastery and temple there. His temple and grounds were replaced many times (A.D. 450, 1079, 1157) and in the 1800s partially restored by Sir Alexander Cunningham then completely restored by Burmese Buddhist monks in 1882. Any tree on site has had to contend with an active human-built environment and the impact of multitudes of pilgrims every year. Over time, and despite constant care and attention, the Bodhi Trees are exposed to a wide range of chemicals leaching from building materials, reflected heat from structures (made more intense by a warming climate), even tons of burnt incense dust spread across its root system that cause nutrient depletion. Many Bodhi Trees were intentionally destroyed by war, terrorism, and damages incurred by religious persecution. The most recent Bodhi Tree at the Mahabodhi Temple, planted in 1881, became sickly about ten years ago. It has since been nursed back to health by a forest pathologist NSK Harsh.
Interviewed for VICE in 2018, NSK Harsh - who cares for sickened sacred trees around the world - suggested that the Bodhi Tree may have been under great stress due to warming temperatures as well as premature heat defoliation or heat-leaf-drop due to the close proximity of heat reflecting marble flooring. Industrial pollutants like construction dust that cover leaves and stop photosynthesis and carbon monoxide from increased vehicular traffic haven’t helped.
“I employ sense and science. We encased the metallic props beneath the branches with rubber and foam bedding, so that the branches are not damaged. The foliage was regularly removed and manure added. We were regularly finding ways to save the tree from diseases like mealybug. Any injuries to the stem or branches were treated with a special paste. The tree was also suffering from a scarcity of major nutrients like nitrogen, copper and potash. To counter that, we applied micronutrients to the old roots once or twice a year, depending upon the requirement,” NSK Harsh said.
In another interview with Tricycle Magazine, NSK Harsh suggests that high intensity lights strung around the tree to illuminate it at night may have also played a part in its stress. “The sources of the tree’s ailments, including, among other things, the high-intensity electric lights installed just beneath the tree to guide nightly visitors. The lights inhibited its daily respiration and posed heat risks for low-hanging branches. Besides being affected by the lack of darkness, the tree’s daily process of photosynthesis was impaired by a coating of carbon on the underside of the tree’s leaves, the result of devotees’ candle offerings.”
Unlike pilgrimage sites that consist of human-built, non-living elements like temples. churches, and monumental structures, trees as pilgrimage centers are living and dynamic. Leaves and shreds of bark shed by the Bodhi Tree are quickly gathered from the ground and collected to create a dry compost spread under the tree to restore its soil. Birds sing from the wooded grounds all around blending in with Dharma chants and songs offered by monks and nuns and meditation groups. Animals wander in and out, sometimes walking beside the pilgrims as they circle the temple. In the delightful nature-inspired Buddhist customs regarding temple grounds protocol, animals like stray dogs and cats are regarded as fellow caretakers and attendants to the Bodhi Tree and, while they are gently discouraged from begging for food, they are welcomed to attend any ceremony or retreat.
Many descendants of the Bodhi Tree given as gifts or transferred to other sacred Buddhist temple sites around the world receive ordination and enter into the community of monks or nuns for whom their care is ensured. They are wrapped in colorful robes that represent their sacred nature. On occasion, the Bodhi Tree itself may hold a swath of yellow or saffron cloth at the end of a limb, but its sacred garments are usually arranged on the lattice stonework surrounding its trunk. These may be garlands of marigolds or drapes of robe cloth.
The sanctification of trees among Buddhist communities is on the rise as climate change and industrial land use threatens forests worldwide. There are estimated to be over ten-thousand ordained trees in Asia with the largest number in Sri Lanka at 300. Tree ordination and giving of vows has become an important Buddhist practice since 1988 when it was first employed to give threatened trees protection against logging and environmental abuse.
Pilgrims flock to the Bodhi Tree (and its descendants around the world) as a way of bearing witness to the event that happened here and to seek refuge, as the Buddha did, beneath its spreading limbs. protected and enfolded on the difficult path to Enlightenment. It a tree that beckons all pilgrims from all religions to seek peace together under its protecting canopy.
At the foot of the Bodhi tree, beautifully seated, peaceful and smiling, the living source of understanding and compassion, to the Buddha I go for refuge. The path of mindful living, leading to healing, joy, and enlightenment, the way of peace, to the Dhamma I go for refuge. The loving and supportive community of practice, realizing harmony, awareness, and liberation, to the Sangha I go for refuge. I am aware that the Three Gems are within my heart, I vow to realize them. I vow to practice mindful breathing and smiling, looking deeply into things. I vow to understand living beings and their suffering, to cultivate compassion and loving kindness, and to practice joy and equanimity. I vow to offer joy to one person in the morning and to help relieve the grief of one person in the afternoon. I vow to live simply and sanely, content with just a few possessions, and to keep my body healthy. I vow to let go of all worry and anxiety in order to be light and free. I am aware that I owe so much to my parents, teachers, friends and all beings I vow to be worthy of their trust, to practice wholeheartedly, so that understanding and compassion will flower, and I can help living beings be free from their suffering. May the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha support my efforts.
Thich Nhat Han
Notes:
Cleveland Museum of Art. “Siddhartha at the Bodhi Tree” ; “Worshippers Giving Offerings to the Bodhi Tree”
VICE. “The Bodhi Tree is Dead…” May 3, 2018 (retrieved 7/20/2024)
Tricycle, The Buddhist Review. “Bodhi Tree in Need of TLC” Summer 2019 (retrieved 7/20/2024)
Friends of the Earth. “The Story of Tree Ordination in Sri Lanka.” February, 2014 (retrieved 7/20/2024)