Chapter 62 Song of the Enlightened One──The Eternal Story Under the Bodhi Tree(60)

The Bodhisattva tree has two polarized meanings in my life—it represents the ignorance and troubles of my youth, and it also symbolizes the affirmation of finding the true meaning of life after listening to Buddhism. "The same people, why are there so many differences?" "What is the meaning of life?" When I was young, I often looked at the row of tall bodhi trees outside the classroom and asked.The branches of the bodhi tree are like weeping willows swaying in the wind, appearing powerless and disturbed. To this day, I still remember the rustling sound of the bodhi tree when the wind blew through it, and the young self looking out the window.However, at that time, I didn't understand that everything in the world is inclusive, but there are rules to follow.

After studying Buddhism, I found that Buddhism is not a superstitious religion. The truth of Buddhism, the principle of dependent origination, can not only explain the phenomenon of the universe and life, but also can see clearly my own thoughts and guide the chaotic mind to calm...then It was a feeling of seeing the sun behind the clouds and suddenly seeing the light, as if I had found the exit of the road of life. When I knew that the Buddha became enlightened under the bodhi tree, I was very surprised!A tree that accompanies my troubles turns out to be the tree that protects the Buddha to become enlightened!During the more than ten years of my life as a monk, I often think of the Buddha under the bodhi tree.

Buddha was enlightened amidst afflictions.Didn't the Buddha, who decided to become a monk and practice Taoism, also suffer from seeing people's birth, aging, sickness and death?In the end, the Buddha became a fully enlightened person, breaking through from the state of "unawareness" and "unenlightenment", and reaching the state of enlightenment—the arising and extinction of afflictions is impermanent, suffering, empty, and selfless, thus cutting off the fundamental self Perseverance, life is no longer unnecessary pursuit and grasping... No wonder the scriptures say: "Afflictions are Bodhisattvas". If we blindly avoid afflictions and lose the opportunity to practice in afflictions, how can we be enlightened?

At dusk, I walked to the linden tree in the parking lot, and suddenly found that the body and branches of the linden tree are so thick and resolute, and the leaves are bigger than my open hands! It turns out that the bodhi tree is not weak like a weeping willow. Why is the bodhi tree like this when I was young?I couldn't help but laugh, is the situation born from the heart? At this moment, I am standing under the bodhi tree, and the leaves are dancing in the evening wind, and Ye Yexin seems to be singing a story of an enlightened person in the wind.I will always remember the Buddha under the Bodhi tree, and myself under the Bodhi tree.

Buddha said: "Everyone has the potential to become a Buddha." Isn't it?I took off a "giant leaf" and carefully inspected its delicate lines under the light. This kind of leaf once fell on the sitting Buddha, and it also fell on my heart... (full text) (This picture is provided by Wu Xiaodan)