Buddhism is usually described as a teaching for becoming a buddha that was taught by the Buddha. The Buddha in this case is Gotama Siddhārtha, who was born in India about twenty-five hundred years ago. As a prince of the Śākya tribe, he began to question the meaning of life, left home, and after many years of hardship reached a state of supreme bliss and became the Buddha. The word buddha means literally “awakened one” and signifies someone who has experienced awakening or enlightenment (bodhi). Becoming a buddha is also referred to as attaining buddhahood. In other words, Buddhism is a teaching in which the Buddha explains on the basis of his own experiences how we too might become buddhas.
It is recorded that the Buddha Shakyamuni gained enlightenment beneath an aśvattha, or pipal tree (Ficus religiosa) at Bodh Gayā in India. Ever since then this tree has also been known as the bodhi (or bo) tree. Known too as the sacred fig, it is a member of the Moraceae, or mulberry, family and is famous for its profusion of distinctive cordate (heart-shaped) leaves. In the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings we read, “After six years’ right sitting under the Bodhi tree of the wisdom throne, I could accomplish Perfect Enlightenment.” The bodhi tree is similarly referred to in chapter 15 of the Lotus Sutra (“Springing Up Out of the Earth”): “I, [near] the city of Gayā, / Sitting beneath the Bodhi tree, / Accomplished Perfect Enlightenment.”
In Japan the linden, or lime, tree of the Tiliaceae, or linden, family is usually referred to as the bodhi tree, but it should be noted that although it resembles the sacred fig in the shape of its leaves and in other respects, it is a different tree. Which tree will become the bodhi tree for each of us, under which we might someday attain awakening?
Atsushi Kanazawa is a professor emeritus in the Faculty of Buddhism at Komazawa University, Tokyo. He specializes in the Indian philosophy of language and the history of Indian philosophy and culture.
