Wishing at the Banyan Tree: Wishing-for-Children Rituals in the Buddhist Scriptures and in Contemporary Women’s Practices in Myanmar and Beyond

Abstract

In the leadup to the Buddha's enlightenment, Sujātā, a woman from a wealthy family, helped break the Buddha-to-be's fast by offering him milk-rice in the mistaken belief that he was the banyan tree spirit-deity who granted her wish for a son. Wishing for children in front of special trees was and remains part of a wider popular practice of making wishes before wishing-trees, originating in the tree cults of ancient India. This paper explores wishing-for-children rituals in the Buddhist scriptures and in contemporary Myanmar, as well as beyond its borders. It pays special attention to the range of terminology used in wishing rituals and highlights the myriad of ways that a woman's act(s) of wishing for a child—whether at a banyan tree, at a pagoda, or in other spaces—helps pave the Buddhist path to becoming a mother. However, it also shows that laymen participate extensively in wishing-for-children rituals, and that monks in Burmese Buddhism may engage with tree spirit-deities, special trees, and the practice of adhiṭṭhān. I argue that a clear understanding of the reality of lived Buddhism will elude us if scholars continue to ignore the blurring of the lines between male and female practices and between monastic and lay practices.