Finding Rest Under The Pipala Tree

From the Royal Buthan Monastery, it is only two minutes to the Mahabodhi Temple. Mahabodhi means "great awakening," "Maha" for great, "bodhi" for awakening. The temple was built on the spot where Buddha had his enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, a fig tree. On the west side of the temple, there is an offshoot of this fig, a huge tree that is protected by a small wall with colorful prayer flags. I am very impressed. Buddha himself would not have thought that his teaching would last that long, he only gave it 500 years. And since he lived around 600 BC, he was misjudged by a good 2,000 years.