Hi, I am Kiwi Kawaii ^^ More than 2500 years ago, Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment whilst meditating beneath a fig tree in northern India. That tree became known as the bodhi tree, or tree of enlightenment. His spiritual illumination made clear to him that people suffered in life because they clung to impermanent situations, people, and objects as though they would last and, in doing so, resisted the natural flow of life, which was perpetual change. In order to escape from suffering, one had to let go of the insistence on permanent states of being and recognize that all was in constant flux, nothing would last, and nothing, therefore, had any lasting meaning. One could leave suffering behind, he taught, by recognizing the Four Noble Truths which led one toward the mental and spiritual discipline of the Eightfold Path and, as one proceeded on this path, one would leave sense-attachment behind and achieve nirvana (literally a “blowing out” of cravings and attachment). As long as one resisted the nature of life, one was trapped in a never-ending cycle of rebirth and death (samsara) but, by following his path, one could attain liberation. He continued to teach until his death, at age 80 and, afterwards, his disciples continued his vision and established schools in his name.
