BANYAN TREE

BANYAN TREE

LATİN NAME: FICUS MICROCARPA

HOMELAND: INDIA

This tree you have seen in our garden is a Chinese Banyan Tree that has been shaped by the Japanese structural pruning method known as bonsai and can normally reach gigantic sizes.

The banyan tree, which grows naturally in the geography from South East Asia to Australia, is an important symbol of Buddhist teachings, as well as a figure that has been frequently the subject of novels and children's stories in South East Asian literature.

In the geography stretching from India to China, banyan tree first appears in the hinduist creation myth of the Mother goddess Nirantali, who created the world. According to this story, Mother Goddess Nirantali created the Earth and all living things from the ficus seeds she brought with her from the sky.

In the religion of Buddhism, which emerged in the region where Hinduism is widespread, the ficus tree has gained an even more sacred identity due to the key role of Buddha on the path to becoming a god.

According to the Buddha belief, at the end of the great quest to become a god, Buddha reaches enlightenment at the end of 7 days of meditation under a banyan tree and becomes Buddha. 4 leaves believed to be from this tree are still on display at the Cultural Artifacts Exhibition Hall in Zhejiang City, China, and are considered the most valuable relics of Buddha Culture.

As in all other religions, there is a story of sacrifice in Buddhism. The god, who is believed to live in a big banyan tree, came out of the tree and says, "Gods do not eat meat, I don't want you to kill these animals" before the animals sacrificed which are brought for sacrifice. According to the belief, the Buddhist monks' traditions of not eating meat are based on this story.

According to the Zen Sect of Buddhism, the banyan tree is a symbol that does not exist in reality.

There are no Banyan trees,
A mirrored terrace is not a terrace.
Nothing in the beginning
What can dust stick to?

The poem you read above was written by Huineng, the 6th generation ancestor of the Zen Sect, because of this poem, the Banyan tree is considered a non-existent tree according to Zen Buddhism except the teachings.
In the autonomous region of Xishuangbanna in the south of China, cutting banyan trees is considered a crime and prohibited by law, and the children of those who cut the banyan tree are given as slaves to temples.