WORLD RELIGIONS

Detailed explanation-1: -After approaching but declining a mango tree, the Buddha chooses the fig tree (Ficus religiosa). The fig tree became known as the bodhi tree because the Buddha reached enlightenment (bodhi) after meditating beneath one such tree for 49 days.

Detailed explanation-2: -He left the contest and wandered until he found a wood apple (jambu) tree. He sat beneath this tree and entered into a trance. This event was a precursor to his subsequent meditation under the bodhi tree.

Detailed explanation-3: -He sat in the lotus position, closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing. As the night passed, he went through many different feelings. Did You Know? Sitting cross-legged in meditation, with the eyes shut, is called the lotus position.

Detailed explanation-4: -The early Buddhist texts mention that Gautama trained under two teachers known as Āḷāra Kālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta, both of them taught formless jhanas or mental absorptions, a key practice of Theravada Buddhist meditation.