Sunnataram Forest Monastery : Bodhi tree
225 Teudts Road, Bundanoon NSW 2578
02 4884 4262
Bodhi tree
Ficus Religiosa (Pipal tree or Bodhi tree)
Sacred to all Indian religions from the ancient time.
Growing to 30 metres, the pendent leaves of this fig tree are heart shaped and blue-green with pinkish veins on slender branches.
Slow growing, the tree starts from a very tiny seed but it can grow very large and can live more than a few hundred years.
The tree has been used as an auspicious symbol in India representing qualities of endurance, effort and wisdom.
The Buddha sat under this tree and attained Enlightenment. Since then the tree was named ‘Bodhi Tree’, meaning ‘the Tree of Enlightenment’.
During 5th Cent BCE – 1st Cent CE, Buddhists did want to create the image of the Buddha due to their deep understanding of Buddhist teachings on ‘Emptiness of attachment to self’ (Sunnata) or ‘Non-self’ (Anatta). The Buddha was represented by many symbols. When ancient Indian artists created life of the Buddha in stone carving, the Bodhi tree was used to symbolize the Enlightenment of the Buddha.