Buddha and
the Bodhi tree

The teachings of Buddha

After Buddha attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, he bathed in the Nairanjana (also spelled 'Nerañjara' )river, now called the river Phalgu. He is said to have spend 7 weeks (some say 50 days) in or near Uruvela village after his enlightenment, and this place was later called Bodh Gaya in honour of what happened here.
(We will write more about these 7 weeks on page 6, because not only was the Bodhi tree (a Fig tree, called Ficus religiosa)  involved during this period, but several other trees are also explicitly mentioned in various Buddhist traditions.)

"Seven weeks he tarried there, mastering his senses, while that be himself, knew the high bliss of deliverance and let (others) behold its felicity." (Mahavamsa chapter 1)

Sarnath, also known as the "Deer Park",
 the place where Buddha presented his first teachings.
 One of the 4 holy places of Buddhism.

Then Buddha went to Sarnath, also known as the "Deer Park" to find the companions he used to wander with in the forest. The five ascetics were not impressed seeing that the Buddha was no longer a complete starving skeleton and reminded him of his former vows of denying the body. They made some fun of him saying things like: "Here comes the mendicant Gautama, who has turned away from asceticism!"

However Buddha said "Austerities only confuse the mind. In the exhaustion and mental stupor to which they lead, one can no longer understand the ordinary things of life, still less the truth that lies beyond the senses. I have given up extremes of either luxury or asceticism. I have discovered the Middle Way".

Of course we don't know exactly what happened between Gautama Buddha and his old friends. He may have told them how an instrument cannot make harmonious music if the strings are not just exactly strung right: "Too slack and they won't play at all. Too tight and they break!" He may have used other examples to convince them to consider the Middle Way, but whatever took place: the five ascetics became his first disciples and found enlightenment too . Some say that the Buddha emanated light, which convinced the ascetics.

Gautama Buddha started teaching not to debate but for the advantage of and out of compassion for human beings. 
He explained the middle way which avoids extremes.
Very briefly, the essence of this teaching can be summed up by the Four Noble Truths and the Eight-fold path.

Monks meditating and praying near the Bodhi tree

Other major teachings, which all Buddhist schools agree on, are:

• The law of dependent causation: Events are not predestined, nor are they random, but events are caused by the actions that preceded them.

• Rejection of the infallibility of accepted scripture: teachings should not be accepted unless they are borne out by our experiences.

• Anicca: All things are impermanent.

• Anatta: There is no eternal soul, and the perception of a constant "self" is an illusion.

After his birth in what is now Nepal, the ascetic phase of Gautama played mostly in Southeastern India. The enlightenment and first teachings at Sarnath took place in the Buddha's 35th year.
For the remaining 45 years of his life, he traveled the Gangetic Plain of central India (region of the Ganges/Ganga river and its tributaries), teaching his doctrine and discipline to an extremely diverse range of people, from nobles, street sweepers, outcastes, and including many adherents of rival philosophies and religions. His religion was open to all races and classes and had no caste structure. He founded the community of Buddhist monks and nuns (the Sangha) to continue the dispensation after his death and Paranirvana or complete Nirvana. He made thousands of converts.

To shun all evil.
To do good.
To purify one's heart.
This is the teaching of the Buddhas.
       Dhammapada, XIV, 5

Buddhism largely consists of the doing of good action, the avoidance of bad action, and mental training. The aim of these practices is to put an end to suffering and achieve enlightenment; either for oneself, or ideally for all beings. Enlightenment leads to touching or abiding in nirvāna (Sanskrit: "Extinguishing."). When you achieve this you do not have to be reborn again because you are no longer part of the wheel of pain and suffering. Yet some enlightened beings, such as the Dalai Lama and other great teachers, renounce this achievement and choose to be reborn again to work for the greater good of all sentient beings.
Buddhist morality is guided by principles of harmlessness and moderation. Buddhists frequently use meditation to try to gain insight into the fundamental operations of human psychology and the causal processes of the world.
While Buddhism does not deny the existence of supernatural beings (indeed, many are discussed in Buddhist scripture), it does not ascribe power for creation, salvation or judgment to them. Like humans, they are regarded as having the power to affect worldly events, and so some Buddhist schools associate with them via ritual.

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The 4 holy places of Buddhism

There have traditionally been 4 holy places in Buddhism, which are all much visited by pilgrims. They are:

• Lumbini Forest in Nepal where the Buddha was born
• Bodh Gaya (also spelled Bodhgaya) in India where he gained enlightenment under the Boddhi tree. This is place that we highlight on our website, because we find here what is probably the most revered tree in the whole world.
• Sarnath ("the Deer Park") in India where Buddhi first set the Wheel of Dharma (meaning 'Teachings") in motion by teaching his first discourse. 
• Kusinanara in Nepal, where the Buddha died in a Sal Forest.

Prayer flags near the Bodhi tree

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The Sacred Bodhi tree in Bodgaya

The Bodhi tree, which so many Buddhist pilgrims travels from far places to come and see,  is situated in the Mahabodhi Temple complex in Bodh Gaya. It is believed that the tree has died or has been destroyed at least five times. However, it has always been replanted from offspring of the previous tree.
Quite early on a cutting of the original tree is said to have been planted in Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka (You can read about this tree on the following page). The present tree in turn has grown from a sapling of the Anuradhapura tree.
Many tales are told about the Sacred Bodhi tree. It is believed that the original tree sprang up the day the Buddha was born

Bodh Gaya is now quite an international town. Over the years Buddhists of different countries (Burma or Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Japan, Tibet, China, Thailand, Bhutan) have built temples, stupas, monasteries, guest houses, and meditation centres in their own particular architectural styles. These are decorated with colourful images and Buddhist symbols. Many of them date back to the 8th to 12th century.

The Bodhi tree is close to the Stupa in the Mahabodhi Temple

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Want to learn more about Buddhism?

Some of the information on these pages about Buddhist teachings and the Mahabodhi Temple is derived from Wikipedia, a marvelous free Internet encyclopedia with good and very comprehensive sections on the Buddha and his life  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha and Buddhism and its teachings: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism
It is probably one of the best sources on the Internet, which allows a beginner to get a good overview of Buddhist doctrines and its various schools.
I also recommend the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order an international network dedicated to communicating Buddhist truths in ways appropriate to the modern world, and who have some excellent centres and rural retreats in the UK.
For example: One of the FWBO collectives in the UK, called Buddhafield, is a great example of how Buddhist compassion embraces ecology and deep care for the environment in its lifestyle and actions. Their wonderful traveling organic vegan cafe visits some of the UK festivals and inspired many people, including myself, to wake up to  the sustenance Buddhist practice can give us when we are looking for a consciousness change in which we can live the future we would like to see in the world. I hasten to add that they do this not by evangelizing, but simply through  a certain presence that speaks far louder than words. Buddhafield also organises its own retreat camps and a yearly festival. Highly recommended for anyone interested in Buddhism, deep ecology and finding a lifestyle that can help heal our world.

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