The ancient tree of Bodhi and where Buddha Shakyamuni.

Fourteen or fifteen miles south west of Pr? Gbodhi, is the old Bodhi tree where Shakyamuni Buddha succeeds. The wall was built of brick, high, steep and solid. The rare and glorious types of flowers are shimmering around and on fine sand, the weird grasses that we have never seen elsewhere grow sumptuous on the ground. 

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France H i the decay of record that the "bodhisattva toward tree  asvattha , spread grass  Kusa  and sat down, facing east." Mara put three women to tempt his Ma but Bodhisattva conquered them. Though he did not say to the court k i m diamond ( yajrasana ), probably also had something marked where the Buddha attained enlightenment. In the eight chapters of the  Great Tang Dynasty ,  Xuanzang wrote:

Fourteen or fifteen miles southwest of Priggodod, we reached the Bodhi tree. The wall was built of brick, high, steep and solid. Wall length from east to west and narrow from south to north. Perimeter wall thickness of five hundred sets. The rare and glorious types of flowers are shimmering around and on fine sand, the weird grasses that we have never seen elsewhere grow sumptuous on the ground.

The gate is open to the east and towards the Neranjarà River. The south gate connects to a large flowering lake and to the west is blocked by a high rock slope. The northern gate leading to the throne (Samghàràma). The territory in the walls contains a lot of relics. There are many stupas and vihara, all of which are built by monarchs, deities and elders of all countries in Jambudvipa (India) to commemorate the teachings of the Buddha. Buddha.

What Xuanzang m i êu description can still be found until now. In that same chapter, Tsang said the court k i m diamond, still exist when he came to visit, even though it could have been restored:

In the middle of the campus around the Bodhi tree is the diamond court. It was built a long time ago, from the beginning of this life and appeared on the earth. It is in the three worlds of the world, stretching to the net of gold (Skt., Kàncana-mandala) and appearing on the ground. It is made of diamond and circumference of over one hundred feet. It is called the diamond because all the thousands of Buddhas in this life have settled there and enter the diamond samui (samadhi). It is also called bodhimanda because this is the place where enlightenment is born.

Even earthquakes shake and shake, only this place does not shake nor shake. When Tathagata is about to attain Enlightenment, he goes on all four directions, the earth shakes and shocks. But when he came to this place, they were all quiet and calm. When the last great one approaches and the Dharma begins to destroy, the sand covers the place and will hardly see it.

Kings of kings all over the land, hearing of the size of the diamond tower, set up two statues of Avalokitesvara looking east to mark the northern borders. male. When I asked an old man about this, he said, "When the statues sink to the ground and are no longer visible, the Dharma will disappear." The statue of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara in the south was buried to the upper part of the chest.

The bodhi tree  on the diamond is a piapal tree. Once upon a time, when the Buddha stood still, the tree was ten meters high. Although it has since been destroyed and torn down, it is still four and a half meters high. The Buddha sits under the tree and attains attainment of the sense-meaning, so it is called bodhi (enlightenment). Its body is ivory, branches and dark green leaves. The leaves do not wilt in summer or winter, but still dense throughout the year does not change.

The eastern bodhi tree is a vihàra, commonly called the Great Tower. Tower height 48 or 51 m, wall on lower tower has twenty feet circumference. The tower is built of green brick and covers the lake. On each pedestal, there is a yellow statue on each floor. The four walls are really sophisticated; There are statues like jade string and hermit statues. At the top of the tower is a gilded àmalaka, also known as jade or jade bottle.

The eastern block (vihàra) is a multi-storey communal house. The heads extend out from the third floor, and the trusses, columns, handrails, doors, windows are carved with gold ornaments of gold ornaments and are full of precious pearls. The rooms  are spacious and have large triple doors. On the left side of the gate there are built-in pedestals, the left is the statue Avalokitesvara, and on the right is the Maitreya Bodhisattva statue or Maitreỵa. The statues are cast in gold or silver and three meters higher.

Court k i ến this building is a stupa house, not a small tower church relics  (sarirani).  From the outside, it seems to be a nine-storey tower, but in fact it has only two floors.

In the north, the Bodhi tree is where the Buddha went. Even after Tathāgata attained enlightenment, he did not leave the seat, but remained in meditation for seven days, free from deluded thoughts. When he came out, he went north to the tree and walked from east to west for seven days. When he had walked ten steps, eighteen flowers appeared at the place he had just passed. The bricks rise here and make a pedestal 0.9 m high. According to the first level, this platform covers the Buddha footprints only life expectancy of a person. First, he makes a sincere prayer, and then measuring the pedestal, the pedestal will be big or small according to his life will be long or short.

Biography of Hsuan - Tsang,  The Great Great  Wall of Compassion , written by Hue Lap, summarizes Hsuan - Tsang 's description of Bodhgaya and more information:

In the middle is the diamond tower (vajràsana ...) It is called vajra because it is strong, not destroyed and has the potential to destroy everything. If you do not believe this, He could not exist on earth. If this coil was not made of vajra, the earth would not be able to withstand this resolute samadhi.

So when the Buddha wanted to dress up Mara and attain Enlightenment, they must be here; If they are elsewhere, the earth will move and fall apart. And v ì so have thousands of Buddha seated on the court diamond (Vajrasana) from the beginning of heaven and earth. It is also called bodhimanda (attainment of enlightenment). Legend even when the world moves and shocks, only the place does not move.

In the last  one or two hundred years, the destiny of sentient beings has deteriorated, and even when they are standing under the bodhi tree, they can not see the vajrasana.

Bodhi leaves do not fall in summer or winter; However, on the day of the Buddha's passing, every leaf falls off, and throughout the day it grows as green as ever. On that day, kings from various countries gathered under the Bodhi Tree, as well as their entourage, watering the trees with milk, offering lamps, spreading flowers, gathering leaves and then returning home.

Shamans  Xuanzang linden homage and statue Buddha attained enlightenment by the Bodhisattva Maitreya or Tu Thi (Maitreya) embellishment. He knelt on the ground and mourned so mournfully, the tears of pain flowed down his face:

The disciple  has no idea of ​​where he was and what rebirth occurred when the Buddha attained Enlightenment. Now, in the time of the statue, the disciple finally arrived here. Why is the student's karma so deep?

That day was the last day of the retreat, and thousands of bhikkhus were gathered there, but everyone cried as the mage mourned. In one of the week (yojana) of that place there are many relics. Xuanzang stayed there for eight days and went to worship everywhere.

Tower Bodhisattva at night

2. Bodhgaya (Bodhgaya) History

Between the times of King Asoka and the Sunga Dynasty set up by King Pusvamitra about 185 BC, all Bodhgayas  Bodhi , a diamond and a lotus pond. This can be confirmed by referring to a bas-relief in Bhārhut in the second TK before the  eldest son of Elāpattra. Naga  (āgaràja)  Elàpattra also appears in the epic epics of Mahàbhàrata  and  Rāmāsana;  In the Buddhist sutras, this dragon king took refuge in the teachings of the Buddha. This work presents rectangular plant  bodhi  in Left side with bottom pedestal (diamond court). On the pedestal can see the relics of scattered flowers, which indicates that scattered flowers are a custom. In India today, people also throw flowers to bless. Below is an image of a human hand, a picture of a dragon on the head of the first person (a topic commonly seen in Hindu art). This is the dragon king Elppattra.

On the lower left is a lotus pond and the upper half of the three figures, the dragon king and two courtiers. Higher on the right side, the dragon appeared as a dragon in the first year in the lotus pond because of Shakyamuni's order to keep the dragon out of shape. The Vajradhara (Diamond) guardian goddess (Brahma) is on the left.

I learned two things from this relief. First, the Buddha statues are no more. Second, indigenous people worship a snake god; This goes to Hinduism and is accepted by Buddhism.

Asoka's inscription indicated that he had visited the Bodhi tree   ten years after the coronation. Legend of this pilgrimage is the source of what Asoka called his "Dharma travel" ( dharmayàtrà ). Buddhist sources agree that after the king visits Kapilavastu, the ancient capital of the Shakyamuni tribe, he goes to the Bodhi tree   and praises the enlightened event of Shakyamuni. He offered a bodhi tree   offering of 100,000 gold coins, spreading a tower there and then leaving. The followers of the Buddha later respected King Asoka's pilgrimage to the Bodhi Tree  . He did two things that the bhikkhus did not do: he worshiped the bodhi tree   by sprinkling incense on the tree and convened a conference once a year (pancavàrsika ).

The fairy tales tell that Queen Tisyaraksità of King Asoka tried to make the  Bodhi  dead, but the king was using water to save the tree. According to   the Yangtze diocese , Queen Tisyaraksità followed the "heresy" and secretly cut the tree at midnight. Asoka was very sad and prayed wholeheartedly for the resurrection of the tree, and sprinkled the incense on the tree. Soon the tree rose and the king immediately "surrounded the tree a brick wall higher than three meters; I still see this wall today. " However, a few centuries later, the Sultan of Bengal, who ruled before 606, cut trees to destroy Buddhism. Legend of Pumavarman, the last descendant of King Asoka, "was full of sorrows, soaked with the milk of thousands of cows, and within a night, the tree revived."

According to  Cao Cao  ,  the king of Asoka, Asoka's queen cut down the  asvattha , and he revived because he had bathed him. Xuanzang recorded three texts on the destruction of the Bodhi tree  : Asoka himself, Queen Tisyaraksita of King Asoka and King Sasànka; In each case, the stem survives and the tree grows again. The intention of destroying this tree is certainly true, but it is not clear how many generations between the present tree and the tree of Shakyamuni have settled.

After Mahinda's journey, Asoka's father arrived in Ceylon (Sri Lanka today) to lecture Buddhism there, the concubines of the Ceylon clan expressed the desire to live the religious life and request the Bhikkhus come here to spread the word to them. Princess Samghamitta, the queen of Asoka, led a delegation of eleven bhikkhus, carrying a branch south of the Bodhi tree   requested by King Ceylon. King Asoka cut the branches miraculously and put it on the boat. King Ceylon visited the delegation at Jambukola harbor and planted trees there. Finally, eight shoots sprout and these shoots are planted in many locations.

About a century after the reign of King Asoka, a sandstone banister was erected around the Bodhi tree   in  Bodhgaya and a small tower was erected. Type of handrail in the normal form. There are four orthodox square or octagonal reliefs that are shaped like many people and objects on the fore and aft. Many fairy tales (such as  Jàtaka)  and large circles touch the lotus. The protrusions on each side of the pillar serve as a basis for horizontal rock strips, connecting the rock pillars. The horizontal stones are also sculptured lotus flowers and other large circles. The stones on the top of the pillars are externally emblazoned with a lotus crown and inside with lots of animals.

On the pillars there are many types of relief, including the lotus and the common animal. There are also some scenic reliefs from the Buddha's life, but according to the custom of the time did not sketch the Buddha bearing the figure. There are also scenes from the  Jàtaka  and the symbols of the astrological circle. A drawing of a sun god driving a horse drawn by four horses is the first known painting of this god. The sculptures outside the banisters are simple, but lions, horses and winged elephants show Persian influence. There are also some short lines, one of which indicates that the parapet was IndrÃgngrimitra, reigning in the first tense in front of the TL, offering:

The  bodhimanda  under the bodhi tree   is called the diamond court and it is a special respect for the disciples of the Buddha. When Xuanzang consulted this area, there is a prevailing belief that not only Gotama Buddha but also many Buddhas have attained Enlightenment there. In Sri Lanka today, the high platforms under the bodhi tree  in the temple grounds are called  bodhimanda according to the attainment of the Enlightenment in Bodhgaya.

The railing around the diamond was restored several times. Perhaps restoration is necessary because a part of the balustrade has been lost or need to be expanded.

The last tower was destroyed and buried in the sand. When the king of Burma sent three courtiers to unearth the buried pyramids in 1856, the British government in India no longer despised the site. In 1863, a moat was excavated by Major Meade around the tower under the supervision of General Alexander Cunningham. In 1878 Rajendralala Mitra published an academic report on Bodhgaya and next year Alexander Cunningham inspected the site. In 1880 Sir Asley Eden, the deputy governor of Bengal, commissioned JDBeglar to excavate there. In the following year, JDBeglar not only discovered the diamond court but also restored the relics of the Buddha stored there. Details of the excavation are recorded in the  Mahàbodhi  or  Great Tower of Bodhi by Alexander Cunningham. The last general restoration was undertaken by the British government in India in 1880-81.

The Great Bodhi Bodhisattva, which we see nowadays in the Mauryaan period (317 - about 180 BC), has been called the "crown tower"  (ràjapàsàdàcetika = ràjapràsàdàcaityaka).  Until recently, homeless mobs who played pilgrim pilgrims gathered around the stupa and defiled it. Now the tower is being treated by a management board of concern and conservation. According to legend and records of Xuanzang, Asoka built a stone wall  (andr)  around the bodhi tree   but now the stone wall has disappeared.

Nearby is a stone banister, and since the inscription on the inscription almost coincides with the periodic inscription of King Asoka, it is believed that the walls are now derived from a wall built in the time King Asoka. The small white tower next to the Great Pyramid architecture, re-create the main characteristics of the great stupa. Since both Hsuan - Tsang and Fa - Hsien did not comment on the stone footprint in the Buddha 's footprint near the Bodhi tree   and behind the Great Stupa, it is difficult to predict its age.

When Buddhism diminished, Bodhgaya became the holy place of Hindu followers, owned by high-ranking Hindu masters called  mahanta.  Since 1953 this site has been managed by a government commission. Gaya is fifteen kilometers away, which has long been an important shrine of Hinduism, but for most Indians, Bodhgaya is just a tourist destination. Pilgrims visit Gaya to celebrate the sacrifice of ancestor worship in fifteen days ( pitrbhaksà).Normally Gaya has a population of about 300,000 people, but in the holiday season, the legend has risen to 900,000. Many gods are worshiped with Vishnu as the god most admired by the people. Pilgrims flock to Vishnupada Tower in the city center and perform sacrifices. Gaya has some lakes for bathing (baptism). A few square tanks with level on three sides. No lake has level on all four sides. Buddhist disciples in the dark ages have criticized the bathing ceremony in Gaya has no merit. END=NAM MO SAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=THICH CHAN TANH.THE MIND OF ENLIGHTENMENT.VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=GOLDEN LOTUS MONASTERY=AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.4/2/2018.