Buddha tree alive and healthy at age 2,500

UPI ^ | 07/20/12

[TigerLikesRooster]

Published: July 20, 2012 at 5:54 PM

BODH GAYA, India, July 20 (UPI) -- The 2,500-year-old tree under which Gautama Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment is alive and healthy, Indian scientists said Thursday.

The Bodhi tree, a large Sacred Fig (Ficus religiosa,) is in Bodh Gaya in India's eastern state of Bihar, about 60 miles from the state capital of Patna.

"The Bodhi tree is fully healthy," Subhash Nautiyal of the Forest Research Institute in India's northern state of Uttarakhand said.

Nautiyal and colleagues examined the tree after removing the cement slabs around its base, China's Xinhua News Agency reported.

"It will help the tree to receive water and nutrition in its roots," the scientists said.

The 1,500-year-old temple behind the sacred tree is visited by large numbers of tourists from all over the world, particularly from Japan.

[TigerLikesRooster]

2,500 years is a long time. It is an understatement to say that a lot has changed since Buddha's days. On the other hand, when Caesar landed on Egypt, 2,500 years had passed since Giza Pyramids were built. Our perspective of time is rather narrow, it seems.

[TigerLikesRooster]

P!

[SkyDancer]

Soon to be cut down by some Islamic ...

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

I have many Chinese friends, all proud American Christians now. And they are Buddhists too. They see no conflict between the two philosophies.

[Scoutmaster]

Soon to be cut down by some Islamic ...

He'll have to work fast. More than likely a University of Alabama fan will poison it.

[James C. Bennett]

When the Giza Pyramids were being built, the Indus Valley Civilisation, a thousand or so miles away from this tree, but in western India, had rectangular-grid towns with stone tile-enclosed sewer lines and public pools. Then the Aryans took over.

[knarf]

Either a bad cam or a bad/dirty lens ... but a short look at the tree

[HarleyD]

They need to chop it down and count the rings just to make sure.

[HangnJudge]

Soon to be cut down by some Islamic ...

He'll have to work fast. More than likely a
University of Alabama fan will poison it.

???

[theDentist]

Some Univ of Alabama fan poisoned trees in Auburn

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/auburn-university-trees-poisoned-by-angry-alabama-fan

[SkyDancer]

Sorry but I don’t think Islam is a philosophy - unless it’s the philosophy of death.

[HangnJudge]

Some Univ of Alabama fan poisoned trees in Auburn

Ahhh... Makes sense now
Cross state rivalries can get a little... testy

and Spike® 80DF herbicide is nasty stuff
http://www.dowagro.com/range/products/spike80DF.htm

I wonder if it works on Fig Trees?
Idle conjecture only

[Blood of Tyrants]

It won’t be if any Muslims are allowed near it.

[Figment]

Wow. That’s some fig tree. Does it bear fruit?

[WorkingClassFilth]

Then they aren’t Christians. Christ demands more than mere philosophy.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

“Then they aren’t Christians”

They are devoted Christians. You don;t understand the philosophy of Buddhism. There’s really no significant problems involved between the two. One is religion, the other is a philosophy about life.

[Inyo-Mono]

2,500 years is a long time. It is an understatement to say that a lot has changed since Buddha's days. On the other hand, when Caesar landed on Egypt, 2,500 years had passed since Giza Pyramids were built. Our perspective of time is rather narrow, it seems.

Very true, and there are trees near my home, Bristlecone Pines, which are nearly 5,000 years old and still living.

[HangnJudge]

You don't understand the philosophy of Buddhism.

Four Noble Truths

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Eightfold_Path

IMHO, Nothing Here that looks inconsistent with Christ's teachings

[WorkingClassFilth]

I think it is you, or your Buddhist friends, that don’t understand Christianity.

[WorkingClassFilth]

Just a short pass - dinner is ready soon...

First, the basic idea of reincarnation is anti-Biblical because we are born to die once and after that judgement.

Second, the basis of suffering is sin, not desire.

We could probably go on all night, since Buddhism is constructed to consume and redifine truth on it’s terms, but fresh sweet corn I picked 20 minutes ago is just about ready and that trumps everything right now - metaphysical claptrap notwithstanding.