The Significance of Trees in the Biographical Legends of the Seven Buddhas of Antiquity

The biographical legends of the Buddhas mentioned in the Pali Canon shows a consistent story trope of similar life events and spiritual milestones of the Buddhas. Such similarities include details such as their family and social background, their spiritual inclinations from young, renunciation, striving in extreme ascetic practices, enlightenment, ministry, and Parinibbana. The Bodhi tree has been a recurring motif in the biographical legends of at least the Seven Buddhas of Antiquity mentioned in the Digha Nikaya. While the Bodhi Tree has made a consistent appearance for each Buddha's Enlightenment, each Buddha has a different species of tree as their Bodhi Tree. While there has been extensive research done on the Gotama Buddha's biographical legend, including the significance of his Bodhi Tree, little has been mentioned about the Bodhi Trees of the previous Buddhas, not to mention records of observations of the symbolic links or relationships between Buddhas of different eras and their respective Bodhi Trees. Through collecting, comparing, and analysing secondary data such as the biographical legends of the seven Buddhas of Antiquity, and data regarding the scientific qualities and cultural significance of the Bodhi Trees, this essay aims to draw links on recurring trends to shed some light on two points: 1) The practical and symbolic role of the Bodhi Tree plays in the events leading to Enlightenment. 2) The symbolic significance of the trees that could be related to the circumstances in which the Buddhas reach Enlightenment, and to elaborate on the possible reasons why biographical legends of prominent ancient Indian philosophers tend to employ trees as a recurring motif in milestones such as birth, enlightenment, and Parinibbana or Moksha. Keywords: Pali Canon, Seven Buddhas of Antiquity, Bodhi Tree, Enlightenment