The Tree in
Buddhist Symbolism and Art
Meher
McArthur Buddhistdoor
Global | 2015-12-24 |
For millennia, trees have occupied an important symbolic place in
many of the world’s religious traditions, often representing the
essence of life or a link between the human realm and that of the
sacred. In the Buddhist tradition, a number of different trees play
a critical role in the life of the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni,
most notably at the moments of his birth, his enlightenment, and
his death. In particular, the site of the tree under which the
Buddha attained enlightenment, a pipal tree in Bodh Gaya, India, is
still revered today as the locus of his spiritual awakening.
Because of its powerful spiritual symbolism, the tree also figures
prominently in Buddhist imagery. Unlike many other aspects of
Buddhist art and iconography, trees are not depicted using specific
rules and can vary greatly in their representation according to the
regional styles employed; however, their symbolism as a bridge
unifying the material and the spiritual is unchanging.
According to Buddhist legend, Queen Maya, the mother
of the prince who would later become the Buddha, Prince Siddhartha,
gave birth to him in a miraculous manner in a grove of trees in
Lumbini. When she knew that her time was due, she grasped a teak
tree with her right hand, and the baby emerged from her right side.
This tree is represented in both painted and sculpted scenes of the
life of the Buddha, as in a fine Gandharan panel in the collection
of the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. In this carving,
Queen Maya is depicted in the very sensual and elegant Indian
triple-bend (Skt.tribhanga), or S-shaped, pose, and is
surrounded by ladies-in-waiting on her left and male attendants on
her right. Her arm is shown reaching up and grasping one of the
curvaceous leaves of the tree above her, and from her right side
emerges a miniature, fully formed figure of the Buddha. Since the
scene represents a legendary moment, its symbolism is far more
important than a sense of realism. The leaves of this tree more
closely resemble the acanthus leaves of Greco-Roman sculpture than
the simple oval leaves of a teak tree.
The young Prince Siddhartha grew up in a life of
luxury, but around the age of 30 left his palace life behind to
discover the truth about life and suffering, a journey that again
led him to a tree. According to Buddhist tradition, although he
studied for years under various spiritual teachers, he was unable
to attain the spiritual enlightenment he sought until he arrived in
the place now known as Bodh Gaya, where a pipal tree
(L. Ficus religiosa) had (supposedly)
sprouted on the day of his birth. Somehow he recognized the tree,
and sat down beneath it to meditate until he attained spiritual
release. He is believed to have remained under the tree in a state
of deep meditation for several days before achieving nirvana and
becoming the Buddha. Thus the tree also became known as the Bodhi
tree, or the tree of enlightenment. The moment of the Buddha’s
awakening under this tree is portrayed in painting, sculpture, and
manuscripts, particularly in Southeast Asia. A Thai Buddhist
sculpture from the Mon-Dvaravati period (7th–9th century) shows the
Buddha seated peacefully in full lotus position beneath the
generous canopy of the tree. As in most depictions of the Bodhi
tree, the leaves have the highly distinctive, heart-shaped leaves
of the real pipal tree.
The final moments of the Buddha’s life
are also represented under trees. When the Buddha was aged 80 or
81, he is believed to have suffered from food poisoning and
retreated to a grove of sal or sala trees
(L. Shorea rubusta) in Kushinagara in
modern Bihar. He advised his closest disciple Ananda to position
him with his head to the north between two of the trees. There,
lying on a bed and surrounded by his faithful disciples, he passed
away and entered the state of final enlightenment,
or parinirvana. In many sculptures
depicting the Buddha’s passing the trees are not represented, but
in paintings of this scene, which are popular in Japanese Buddhist
iconography, his deathbed is surrounded by tall, slender sal trees
with gold or yellow leaves.
Trees appear in other aspects of Buddhist art as
well, including scenes of the Buddhist paradises, in which they are
depicted laden with jewels, representing the spiritual wealth of
those progressing towards enlightenment. There is also a tree, the
Rose-Apple Tree, on the summit of Mount Meru at the very center of
the Buddhist cosmos. This tree serves as a cosmic pillar connecting
Heaven and Earth. Considering the central role of the tree in the
Buddhist cosmos, it is not surprising that trees are central in the
life and legends of the Buddha and his enlightenment and that they
connect his material existence to his spiritual one. When the
Buddha was born, he assumed his human, material form; when he
attained enlightenment, he achieved a higher spiritual level; when
he died, he shed his physical form and fully entered the spiritual
realm. A tree was present at each of these moments, serving as an
arboreal bridge between our material realm and
enlightenment.