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May 14, 2026
The Buddha awakened under the Bodhi tree—and tradition tells us that particular tree was born on the same day as the Buddha, as one of the seven "co-natals" of the Buddha—and so its birthday is commemorated now, on Vesak.
In its honor, we therefore now take this time to introduce you to one of Dhammadharini's Bodhi trees. Dhammadharini has two Bodhi trees, and today we will introduce you to the smaller (though older!) of the two: A bonsai Bodhi which is a seed child of the Mahabodhi in Bodh Gaya India.
This tree was given to us with the founding blessings of Dhammadharini, in 2005, at the beginning of Second Vassa—the full moon of August. It came from Wat Buddhanusorn, the Thai temple in Fremont, and was a gift of their abbot, who is commonly known as Ajahn Maha Prasert. It was a gift in honor of our new, first Bhikkhuni vihara in the Western United States.
Here is the way that we heard the story of this tree:
Ajahn Maha Prasert, after completing his education and meditation training in Thailand as a monk, went and lived in India for ten years. While there, he obtained a seed from the Mahabodhi tree at the site of the Buddha’s awakening in Bodh Gaya. He then brought that seed to his home village in Thailand’s Northeast, in the province of Roi-Et.
After it grew up a little bit, it was transported to the United States—we heard that it needed to get a special passport or visa—the proper documentation needed for a Bodhi tree to depart Thailand and go abroad. The tree came to San Francisco, had quarantine, and came to live at Wat Buddhanusorn in Fremont. And then about ten years later, it was given to the Dhammadharini community.
It lived with us at Dhammadharini Vihara in the Old Town Niles district of Fremont for about four years. Then it moved with us to the Bodhi House in Fremont. It then traveled to our Aranya Bodhi forest hermitage in Jenner California, in the coastal redwood forest—however it turned out that it did not do well, living among the redwoods. So we then brought it to our rented Dhammadharini Vihara in Santa Rosa, and then from there it moved to our new Dhammadharini Monastery in Penngrove, CA in 2016—where it is happily living now.
It is a bonsai, and so roughly every two years its roots are trimmed, so it remains small.
