Pilgrims passing
so many open hearts.
Open minds,
searching.
Smiles,
bows to the place
where the Buddha attained enlightenment.
Will any so attain today?
Praying,
looking up
through the branches,
squirrels, leaves, birds, statues,
life and icons woven together,
and a glimpse of something more;
something clearer,
brighter.
Then David comes
and I have to go.
Siddharta Gautama attained enlightenment under the pipal tree (ficus religiosa), growing on this spot. Thus he became the Buddha and the tree, the Bodhi Tree. "For seven days after the Enlightenment, Buddha continued to meditate under the tree without moving from his seat. Another week passed in walking meditation, and for a third the Buddha contemplated under the Bodhi tree." (from the previously linked page.) This is said to be the sixth or seventh Bodhi Tree since the Buddha's time, a direct descendent of the original.