368. {371.} Bodhivandaka

I saw a green pāṭali tree,
foot-drinker growing in the earth.
Resolutely pressing my hands,
I worshipped that pāṭali tree.

Having pressed hands together,
filling my mind with reverence,
purified both inside and out,
I worshipped that pāṭali tree
as though before the Sambuddha,
Well-Liberated, Undefiled,
Vipassi, Honored by the World,
Sea of Compassion and Knowledge.

In the ninety-one aeons since
I worshipped that Bodhi tree then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that is the fruit of worshipping.

The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
I have done what the Buddha taught!

Thus indeed Venerable Bodhivandaka Thera spoke these verses.