There is no such thing, where the dust.

In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, Hui Neng, the sixth ancestor of the Zen sect, wrote a poem about the Bodhi tree, which has been widely circulated, so that many people in later generations believe that there is no such thing as a Bodhi tree in the world, but in fact people have misunderstood his intention, the Bodhi tree not only exists, but also known as the tree of thought, a kind of mulberry banyan genus of evergreen large trees. Huineng wrote the poem "Bodhi has no tree", probably from the Buddhist theory "four big empty" in the derivation of it!

The word "Bodhi" is a translation of the ancient Indian word Bodhi, which means enlightenment, wisdom, and is used to refer to a person's sudden awakening from sleep, enlightenment, and sudden entry into the path of enlightenment, the realization of the truth, and the attainment of a transcendental state of being, etc. In English, the word "Bodhi" is used to refer to a person's sudden awakening from sleep and enlightenment, the realization of the truth, and the attainment of a transcendental state of being. In English, the word "Bodhi Tree" for peepul, Bo-Tree or Large-Tree, etc., are magnanimous, great compassion, discernment of good and evil, realize the meaning of truth. In plant taxonomy, the linden tree's Latin name is Ficus religosa, which has the meaning of sacred religion.

Bodhi tree seems to be born with the deep roots of Buddhism, according to legend, more than 2,500 years ago, Buddha Siddhartha Gautama was originally the kingdom of Gavilavi in northern India (now in Nepal), the prince of the Joktamo Siddhartha, when he was young, in order to get rid of the suffering of the cycle of birth, old age and disease, to save the suffering beings, and resolutely give up the inheritance of the throne and the comfort of the royal family, to go out of the family to cultivate, to seek the true meaning of life. After years of cultivation, he finally had the opportunity to become a monk. After many years of practice, he finally sat under the Bodhi tree for seven days and seven nights, overcame all kinds of evil temptations, and at the dawn of the day when the star of enlightenment was rising, he gained great enlightenment and finally became a Buddha. Therefore, Buddhism has always regarded the Bodhi tree as a sacred tree, and India has designated it as the national tree.

The years are like water, more than two thousand years have passed, the Buddha that year, "the road to enlightenment" of the Bodhi tree has endured countless storms, has a mythological experience, in the Buddhist community is recognized as "great enlightenment" symbol. In the cultural relics exhibition hall of Putuo Mountain, Zhejiang Province, China, there are still four pieces of Bodhi leaves on display, which are said to be picked from this tree, so it has always been regarded as a treasure and treasured by people. 1954, former Prime Minister of India, Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru, came to China to visit, and brought with him a sapling cultivated from the branches of this tree, which he presented to China's leaders, Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai, in order to show the friendship of the people of China and India. Premier Zhou handed over the sapling, which represented friendship, to the Beijing Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences for maintenance, and the leaders and staff of the Botanical Garden attached great importance to it and took care of it carefully, so that it grew vigorously and flourished. Whenever monks from home and abroad come, the Bodhi tree in the Botanical Garden will be invited out to accept the monks' worship. "Cultural Revolution" during the turmoil, the Botanical Garden was labeled as "feudal capitalism", "flowers and plants" and other charges, the establishment was withdrawn, the staff dispersed, the linden tree was also forced to leave the Botanical Garden, displaced. The Bodhi tree was also forced to leave the Botanical Garden and was displaced. Fortunately, some people quietly hid it and managed it with care, so that it did not die. After ten years of catastrophe, the leaders and staff of the Botanical Garden searched for this linden tree, visited dozens of garden units and finally found it after several difficulties. At present, after the Botanical Garden staff of careful maintenance, the linden tree grows well, branches and leaves, thriving, seems to symbolize the "five principles of peace **** place" will always shine, the friendship between the people of China and India will always exist.

According to the examination and investigation, our country originally did not have a linden tree, it is initially with the introduction of Buddhism and was introduced. According to historical records, in the first year of Emperor Wu's Tianjian reign (502 A.D.), a monk, Master Zhiyao Sanzang, brought back the Bodhi tree from Xizhu (India) and planted it in Wangyuan Temple in Guangzhou (which was later renamed Guangxiao Temple). Since then, the Bodhi tree has been planted in China and has been widely spread in temples in the southern provinces and districts. Today, there are still 3 ancient Bodhi trees over 300 years old at the Hai Hanging scroll temple in Guangzhou!

The Dai people of Xishuangbanna, all of whom practice Hinayana Buddhism, are very devoted to the Bodhi tree, and many Bodhi trees have been planted in the vicinity of almost every village and temple. If someone's family is in trouble, or if pigs and chickens die of plague, or if there is a lack of harvest, they have to plant some linden trees near their villages and temples to ask for the blessing of the Buddha. Every Buddha's Day, believing men and women tie a line to the trunk of a big Bodhi tree, offer tribute and worship. The Dai people can cut down any tree, but the linden tree cannot be cut down, even the withered branches and leaves of the linden tree cannot be burned as firewood, and cutting down the linden tree is disrespectful to the Buddha, which is a sin. Before the liberation, the Dai feudal lords enacted a law: "Cutting down the Bodhi tree, the children will be punished as temple slaves". In the literature and art of the Dai people, the Bodhi tree is a symbol of holiness, good fortune and nobility. During weddings, singers always sing: "Today is the day when the Bodhi tree ascends to heaven". In love songs, young girls sing to their beloved boyfriends: "You are the tall Bodhi tree" or "You are like the Bodhi tree with luxuriant branches and leaves". In addition, in the Dai proverbs, there are also words and phrases such as "don't abandon your parents, don't cut down the Bodhi tree".

Walking into Xishuangbanna, bodhi trees can be found everywhere, but two of them are particularly worth mentioning. One is in the village of Mandah, Menglong Town, Jinghong City, with a diameter of nearly 2 meters. People usually see the linden tree are green branches and leaves, and this linden tree is growing green branches and leaves at the same time, but also will grow a kind of white branches, white as frost and snow, no green color, and every year are long, each time only one to two branches, never exceed the amount. According to local folklore, when Buddha Shakyamuni traveled to preach, had a nap under the linden tree, so the tree sense of Buddha's love of grace, especially long white branches as a return. The local Dai people regarded this tree as a "sacred tree", and built a brick wall around it for protection. Every year, when the tree grows white branches, worshipers, visitors come and go in an endless stream. Another plant in the suburb of Jinghong City, next to the Man Hall Park, the trunk is very thick, to 5 adults open arms to close the circle, it is said that the age of its tree has been more than 800 years, but the growth is still exuberant, branches and leaves into the shade. It is said that this tree and a Thai linden tree of the same age is a "brother tree", the Department of China and Thailand at the time of the two thrones of the two friends planted each other. These two friends were originally aspiring commoners, after hard work, hard work, respectively, in Thailand and Xishuangbanna to get the throne, the Thai king came to Xishuangbanna personally planted this Bodhi tree, Xishuangbanna king also went to Thailand to plant a Bodhi tree. They **** the same wish is to let the two bodhi trees live together **** long, the people of China and Thailand will always live in peace ****, and friendship will last forever. To this day, the Dai people in Xishuangbanna are still very much in love with this linden tree.

The Bodhi tree is not only rich in life, and the practical use is very wide. It is a stout and majestic trunk, the crown pavilion such as cover, both as a street tree, but also for ornamental purposes; leaf blade heart-shaped, the front end of the slender like a tail, in botany is called "dripping tip of the leaf", very beautiful, such as its long-term immersion in the cold springs, washed off the leaf, you can get a clear and transparent, thin as a gauze of the mesh veins, the name of the "Bodhi yarn". "Bodhi yarn", made of bookmarks, can prevent moths; branches and poles rich in white latex, out of the system can be made of hard gum; with the bark juice gargle can cure toothache; flowers into the medicine has sweating fever, analgesic effect; branches and trunks will grow aerial roots, forming a "one-tree into a forest" landscape; In India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, some places, people will cut down its aerial roots, as elephant fodder.

The Bodhi tree, in ancient India, called the Bibhala tree, is a very common tree in India, as common as our poplar, willow, tung, acacia. Back then, the young Prince Siddhartha at the end of the six years of austerity, sitting under an ordinary Bibhala tree enlightenment into Buddha, finally became a generation of great masters, become the Sakya clan of saints, by the later generations honored as Siddhartha Gautama. In order to commemorate the Buddha's immortal virtue of realizing the truth of life, people called the Bibhuti tree, which gave him shelter at the time of his enlightenment, the Bodhi Tree, or the Tree of Enlightenment.

In fact, mountains, rivers, grass and trees all have the Buddha's nature, and the truth is implicit in ordinary natural things. The truth is that the truth is implicit in ordinary natural things. "Bodhi" is not "bodhi", not in the tree, and even less in what tree, but in whether you have a bodhi heart. If you have a heart of bodhi, then all trees are trees of bodhi! On the other hand, if you are superstitious about the external appearance, even if you are sitting under the Bodhi tree, it is useless.