Week 13 Story, The Bodhi Tree.

The Bodhi Tree, Source

Siddhartha climbed slowly up the crumbling washout. The endless cycle of the rain season had eroded away the steep path carrying with it the flaking dander of Meru. Now the steep grade laid dry. Clouds of dust plumed with the impact of rock and dirt chunks pulled loose from the man’s struggling accession. The only visible moisture came from the streaks of salt-lined perspiration streaming from the man’s frail frame. The drops formed tiny dust-coated globes embedded in the shifting soil before they disappeared completely into the moisture hungry rock and sand. Methodically, each boney finger carefully probed the ground searching for a solid hold to support the man’s skeletal frame. The man’s energy was spent from weeks of moving through the forest with only roots and berries to nourish him. To make a misstep on the fragile balance of loose earth he climbed upon could consume the little energy he was moving with.  Finally reaching a place where the soil allowed grass to take root, Siddhartha pulled himself to level ground. Before him, tucked into the mountainside, was a large fig tree with dark bark and thick foliage of light green heart shapes blanketing the grass with shade. The tree’s trunkline was thick and broad with its arterial branches starting low and stretching wide across the glade where it stood. The shape of the tree called to Siddhartha. It’s body spanned into the space before him with an attractive elegance despite it strength and scale.

“Hello Bodhi,” the man said in easy greeting. “Now that I see you I know that I have found the cradle of where I may find what I seek.”

The fig tree responded only with the dancing shade it cast before the saint.

“I will gather blades of grass that grow in your protection to make a seat among your roots. Will you grant your steadfastness as I search for the end to death and suffering?”

Bodhi stood with wide blank acknowledgement of the man before it.

“Thank you,”Siddhartha offered with clasped palms and a low bow.

The saint found a crotch in the roots where the ground was depressed into a shallow bowl. The he laid a small bed of grass blades. He stepped into the center, allowed himself to slowly sink to a sitting position and crossed his legs into a lotus position. Letting his eyes lose focus into the branches of the Bodhi reaching out to the atmosphere, he exhaled slowly and intently.

Siddhartha contemplated before the tree of knowledge and came to this conclusion. Ignorance lies at the root of death. We die because we don’t know how to avoid old age, suffering, or despair.

“Bodhi shows us this now.” He whispered to himself.

From there, Siddhartha considered the body of the tree.

In his mind, he spoke to the universe. “The roots make connections to the minerals below us. The trunk anchors the sky to the ground. The branches tie the nourishing leaves to the body to be nourished. The leaves seek the energy surrounding them patiently for deliverance. To suppress ignorance is to suppress impression. To suppress impression is to suppress perception. To suppress perception is to suppress name and form. To suppress name and form is to suppress the six senses. To suppress the six senses is to suppress contact. To suppress contact is to suppress sensation. To suppress sensation is to suppress desire. To suppress desire is to suppress ties. To suppress ties is to suppress existence. To suppress existence is to suppress birth. To suppress birth is to suppress old age and death. To exist is to suffer. Desire leads from birth to rebirth, from suffering to further suffering. By stifling desire, we prevent birth, we prevent suffering. By leading a life of holiness, desire is stifled, and we cease to endure birth and suffering.

With that stream of consciousness, Bodhi introduced the Buddha to the world.

Author's Note:

In this story, I wanted to simply create the setting in which the saint Siddhartha found his enlightenment. It is, perhaps, the most pivotal moment in his life and only the Bodhi tree was there to witness all of it.

Bibliography:

Andre Ferdinand Herold, The Life of Buddha, http://sacred-texts.com/bud/lob/lob03.htm#page_3