Introduction

Transdisciplinary approaches integrate historically disparate scholarly approaches and perspectives from the outset of a given project¹. Transdisciplinarity offers the potential to solve complex societal challenges that are refractory to traditional approaches, through the dissolution of barriers between historical academic silos. We launched a transdisciplinary project focusing on Bodhi trees (Ficus religiosa) inhabiting the island of Kaua‘i that integrated biological and Buddhist-contemplative approaches in partnership with a local Soto Zen Buddhist community. Buddhist traditions broadly see Bodhi trees as sacred;² however, these trees are simultaneously considered invasive in Kaua‘i and the other islands of Hawai‘i.³ The resultant dissonance between spiritual significance and ecological concern on the islands presents a unique challenge, which requires a transdisciplinary approach that involves partnership with place-based stakeholders.

Here we share progress and insights resulting thus far from the first year of an anticipated three-year transdisciplinary study. We present key historical, cultural, and biological information about the Bodhi trees of Kaua‘i, and outline our contemplative fieldwork methods and community engagement experiences at the Soto Zen Temple in Hanapepe, Kaua‘i. The cultural relevance and research surrounding the Bodhi tree will be discussed. Additionally, the history of the Japanese community will be outlined, as well as our volunteer work and relationship building at the Soto Zen Temple in Hanapepe, Kaua‘i. We conclude with reflections on the advantages and challenges of our integrative approach that will help guide future research.

Our Transdisciplinary Approach

Transdisciplinary research is often defined, following the framework of the Zurich school, as coproduced and equally influenced by academic experts and nonacademic community stakeholders.⁴ It focuses on specific complex challenges that require knowledge integration to find solutions, interweaving different disciplines and their methods from the start of a project.⁵ Transdisciplinary research can be difficult to achieve, especially in traditional scientific research cultures and settings, due largely to academic constraints such as funding, time, and reportable research milestones.⁶ Additionally, centering local knowledge and concerns through long-term community engagement and coproduction with local nonacademic partners is sometimes interpreted as subjective bias or contamination to the oft-purported objective perspectives and ideals of Western science.⁷ However, the world continues to be plagued by wicked problems that have not been solved by traditional scientific or other Western disciplinary approaches.⁸ Transdisciplinary approaches offer novel ways to solve complex societal challenges by integrating multiple methods and disciplines to decolonize science and provide more holistic understandings of nature and the universe.⁹

Our transdisciplinary approach integrated perspectives and approaches from the biological sciences with Buddhist thought and practice.¹⁰ We integrated Buddhism into our research project in three ways. First, we involved the Kaua‘i Soto Zen Buddhist community tied to the Bodhi tree in our methods and activities. Second, we integrated Buddhist-contemplative meditation and mindfulness practices into our biological fieldwork protocols. Many Buddhist traditions see no separation between any analytical processes and Buddhist practice; to question, debate, and seek answers is a common practice in both scientific and Buddhist approaches.¹¹ Third, Buddhist philosophical principles underpinned our cause-and-effect framework for conceptualizing and proceeding through the project in ways that were reciprocal and building on local engagement. For example, the Buddhist concept of pratityasamutpada (Sanskrit; commonly translated as “dependent arising”) posits an interdependence-based mutual cause-and-effect framework, that all things are interconnected and arise (and pass) because of one another’s influence.¹² This concept underpins our project by shaping our thinking and consideration of the interdependent philosophies and peoples that contributed to the existence and impacts of Bodhi trees in Kaua‘i.

Hawaiian Bodhi Tree Histories And Impacts

The historical Buddha became enlightened beneath the Bodhi tree around 2,600 years ago in Bodh Gaya, India. The propagative branches and seedlings of the tree of enlightenment have served as sacred relics in temple spaces and often sanctify sites of worship.¹³ This linkage of the tree with Buddhist traditions contributed to the introduction of F. religiosa to new global locations outside of its native range in Southeast Asia, as it has been gifted from Buddhist monasteries to practitioners around the world.¹⁴

Buddhism and Bodhi trees arrived in the Hawaiian Islands through many paths over the last two centuries. One well-known route was through Anagarika Dharmapala, a renowned Buddhist revivalist and anticolonial activist from Sri Lanka.¹⁵ Dharmapala introduced the Buddhist tradition to Mary Foster of O‘ahu, a philanthropist and benefactor of Buddhist communities and traditions, and close friend of the last Hawaiian monarch Queen Lili‘oukalani.¹⁶ As thanks for Foster’s financial support in Buddhist temple reconstruction in Sri Lanka, in 1913 Dharmapala presented Foster with a propagative Bodhi tree cutting said to be directly descended from the original tree of enlightenment.¹⁷ Foster planted and grew this cutting in her gardens, which she posthumously donated to the island of O‘ahu, now known as the Foster Botanical Garden.¹⁸ Many Buddhist temples on the islands benefited from Foster’s influence and received cuttings of the tree that remains at the Foster Botanical Garden to this day, including the Kaua‘i Soto Zen Temple.

Another avenue of Bodhi tree introduction to the islands was through immigrant Japanese Buddhist communities. Many Japanese immigrants came to the Hawaiian Islands from 1885 to 1924 to do contract work in sugar plantations, quickly becoming a prominent ethnic group on the islands, making up 40 percent of the population of the Territory of Hawaii by the 1940s.¹⁹ Some of the oldest Buddhist temples in the United States were built in Kaua‘i around 1900 by Japanese communities to maintain space for their culture and customs.²⁰ To prove themselves willing to conform to American culture while continuing their Buddhist practices in the islands, there was much religious adaptation by Japanese Buddhists.²¹ Today, pews replace mats in the Buddhist temples (now often called churches) of Kaua‘i, Buddhist teachers are typically called Minister or Reverend,²² and gatherings often occur on Sundays. Through this cultural migration and integration, Bodhi trees were introduced to Hawai‘i, and continue to be an important aspect on the island today.

Alongside spiritual importance to Hawaiian Buddhist communities, Bodhi trees also present potential ecological concern to the islands. Since the introduction of F. religiosa, trees have spread and propagated throughout the Hawaiian islands, including in Kaua‘i.²³ Bodhi tree seedlings prefer to grow in cracks of cement and have the potential to damage local architecture. Additionally, there is continuous ecological concern that introduced plants may threaten native plant species, particularly on the island of Kaua‘i.²⁴ Certain control measures have been assessed to disrupt this species’ naturalization process.²⁵ The simultaneous sacred and ecologically threatening nature of Bodhi trees presents an ethical and social challenge to Kaua‘i that will require transdisciplinary approaches to resolve.

Soto Zen Community Engagement And Partnership

We centered our community engagement efforts during the annual Obon Festival at the Kaua‘i Soto Zen Temple Zenshuji in Hanapepe, located in the southern part of the island. This temple community was originally founded in 1903 within a Japanese language school on the McBryde sugar plantation, and now serves fourth- and fifth-generation Japanese-Hawaiians.²⁶ We worked closely with temple president Jerry Hirata to identify ways to provide support to the Soto Zen community during our visit, and to develop research paths that aligned with areas of interest to the community. Our activities included Obon Festival volunteer work, an invited public lecture about Bodhi trees at the Lihue Public Library, and extensive informal conversations and interactions with Soto Zen community members about topics ranging from Bodhi tree biology to the spiritual relevance of Bodhi trees to art practices with Bodhi tree leaves. Community members also shared stories of the plantation days, and of their migrant parents and grandparents who came to the island 150 years before.  

Soto Zen community members expressed curiosity and enthusiasm in conversations about our transdisciplinary project, which in turn led to further connections throughout the island. Many were excited to witness our team studying the specific Bodhi tree that inhabits the temple grounds. This large Bodhi tree resides next to a 20-foot statue of the Bodhisattva, Kannon (fig. 1A). This exemplifies two interdependent entities, cultural and biological, introduced to Kaua‘i through Japanese migration. Further, one Soto Zen community member pointed us in the direction of a Bodhi tree, previously unknown to us, that still occupied the grounds of a condemned sugar plantation in the nearby town of Kekaha (fig. 1B). This tree is utilized by local artists for its leaves, which are used to create oshibana, a pressed plant art form, and for leaf prints. 

This information evolved from informal conversations with community members, shaping our cultural understanding of Bodhi trees and demonstrating the need for the flexibility and openness that comes with the transdisciplinary approach. Engagement in local community tradition and ritual, when invited, is a critical component of relationship building in transdisciplinary research approaches.²⁷ We directly engaged in the 2023 Kaua‘i Soto Zen Obon Festival through volunteer activities, preparing and sharing information displays at the event, and participating in dance and related activities (fig. 2). We also helped hang hundreds of lanterns in partnership with local high school volunteers during festival preparation. At the Soto Zen temple in Hanapepe, Obon is celebrated with diverse food and drink offerings that range from shaved ice to “Flying Saucers” (meat- and cheese-filled pies).²⁸ A central component to the festival is the folk dancing, Bon Odori, which takes place at the center of the temple grounds.²⁹ Upon invitation, we joined in the Bon Odori, dancing for hours with local community members and other visitors each night.

Direct engagement in and support of the Obon Festival provided awareness and insight into the local Buddhist island culture, and allowed us to step into a practice unique to the cultural mélange of Japanese, Hawaiian, and Buddhist histories. In the years ahead, our team aims to continue to volunteer for the Obon Festival and engage with the local Soto Zen temple community members to maintain and expand upon our ongoing relationships to help inform and guide our transdisciplinary Bodhi tree research.

Integration of Buddhist-Contemplative Practices into Biological Fieldwork

We also infused Buddhist-contemplative practices into our Bodhi tree field research. Activities included unguided silent meditation (samatha), reading and reflection of passages from the Diamond Sutra,³⁰ and mindful observation of subject Bodhi trees and their surrounding space and context. Our contemplative approach allowed us to respectfully engage with the sacred trees and ground our minds with surrounding spaces in our place-based fieldwork. This time consumption can be a challenge, especially in a fieldwork setting, and thus requires patience and forethought.

We encountered and studied a total of eight adult Bodhi trees during our time in Kaua‘i, along with 63 seedlings derived from the larger nearby trees. These trees reproduce by seed exclusively through an obligate symbiotic relationship with a partner pollinator wasp, which was also introduced to the Hawaiian Islands during the last two decades.³¹ The presence of these seedlings near adult trees indicates viable fig fruits, the reproductive structures of this tree species.³² The eight adult trees occurred in varying contexts around the island that included residential, public-space ornamental, and Buddhist and Hindu temple-associated locations.

In addition to the aforementioned meditative and mindfulness-based practices, our approach included note-taking, group discussions, and then sampling of leaf and fig materials to be used in subsequent biological analysis activities. We also measured adult tree heights, and distances between adult trees and associated nearby seedlings for later analysis (table 1). Fieldwork concluded with cleanup and, where possible, expressions of gratitude to tree caretakers.

Table 1. Contemplative fieldwork protocol for F. religiosa in Kaua‘i. 

Activity	Time	Notes
Meditation	~10 minutes	Silent and seated, in presence of the Bodhi tree
Observation	~5 minutes	Silent mindful awareness of the Bodhi tree and surroundings, walking and/or seated
Note-Taking	~5 minutes	Silent writing of observations, reflections, or ruminations at the time
Discussion	~2–5 minutes	Researchers share notes and adjust sampling approach if needed
Sampling	~30–60 minutes	Collection of leaves and figs, measurements of tree heights and distances between adult trees and seedlings, photo documentation

Conclusion

Our contemplative transdisciplinary work in Kaua‘i integrated biological fieldwork, local community engagement through volunteer activities, and participation in ritual celebration, as well as personal contemplative practices. Through this approach, our team laid important groundwork for future horizontally coproduced research,³³ which we will continue for another two years. We integrated biological and cultural perspectives of the Bodhi tree throughout our pilot research activities, and built foundations to create ongoing partnerships with the Kaua‘i Soto Zen community and others on the island. It is critical to approach our study questions and systems with epistemological parity, as their very propagation and maintenance is dependent upon those who hold spiritual beliefs around them. Working with Buddhist concepts such as pratityasamutpada, we created and continue to develop a transdisciplinary approach that acknowledges the interdependent nature of tree with culture, culture with environment, and environment with tree.

Acknowledgements

We share our deepest gratitude with Jerry Hirata and the for inviting us to the Obon Festival, sharing key information about the history of the Kaua‘i Soto Zen community, and guiding us to Bodhi trees. Thanks to the National Tropical Botanical Garden, Kaua‘i Hindu Monastery, and Cami McQueen for guiding us to Bodhi trees on the island and sharing samples with our lab. Thank you to the Lihue Public Library for hosting our public lecture. We express gratitude to James Kiser in the OSU College of Forestry for lending us equipment for our research in Kaua‘i. Thanks go to Dana Howe for research and writing support, and to Emily Taylor for feedback on the manuscript. Financial support for this research came from Oregon State University.

Works Cited

Beer, Robert. The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs. Shambala, 1999. https://www.shambhala.com/the-encyclopedia-of-tibetan-symbols-and-motifs.html.

Bernard, Jared, Kelsey C. Brock, Veronica Tonnell, Seana K. Walsh, Jonathan P. Wenger, Dustin Wolkis et al. “New Species Assemblages Disrupt Obligatory Mutualisms Between Figs and Their Pollinators.” Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 8 (2020). https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2020.564653.

Bernstein, Jay. “Transdisciplinarity: A Review of Its Origins, Development, and Current Issues.” Journal of Research Practice 11 (July 22, 2015).

Brown, Valerie, John Harris, and Jacqueline Russell. Tackling Wicked Problems: Through the Transdisciplinary Imagination. Earthscan, 2010.

“Buddhist Wisdom of the Thai Forest Tradition.” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies. https://thaiforestwisdom.org/front-page/buddhology/journal-of-the-international-association-of-buddhist-studies/.

Denver, Dee. The Dharma in DNA: Insights at the Intersection of Biology and Buddhism. Oxford University Press, 2022.

The Diamond Sutra. Translated by Mu Soeng. Wisdom Publications, 2000. 

Izumi, Masumi. “Seeking the Truth, Spiritual and Political: Japanese American Community Building Through Engaged Ethnic Buddhism.” Peace & Change 35, no. 1 (2010): 39–67. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0130.2009.00612.x.

Kaua‘i Invasive Species Committee. “Ficus religiosa.” Plant Early Detection Program 2015–2017. https://www.kauaiisc.org/wp-content/uploads/C19-Ficus-religiosa_Prioritization-Assessment.pdf.

“Let’s Dance!” Kaua‘i Soto Zen Temple Zenshuji. https://kauaisotozen.org/archives/.

Manuel-Navarrete, David, Christine N. Buzinde, and Tod Swanson. “Fostering Horizontal Knowledge Co-Production with Indigenous People by Leveraging Researchers’ Transdisciplinary Intentions.” Ecology and Society 26, no. 2 (2021). https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-12265-260222.

Masters, Patricia Lee. Searching for Mary Foster: Nineteenth-Century Native Hawaiian Buddhist, Philanthropist, and Social Activist. American Buddhist Studies, 2017. 

Matteini, Michele. “Written on a Bodhi Tree Leaf.” Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics 75–76 (March 1, 2021): 45–58. https://doi.org/10.1086/715926.

Nordyke, Eleanor. The Peopling of Hawaii. 2nd ed. University of Hawai‘i Press, 1989. https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/the-peopling-of-hawaii-second-edition/.

Noriko, Shimada. “Social, Cultural, and Spiritual Struggles of the Japanese in Hawai‘i: The Case of Okumura Takie and Imamura Yemyo and Americanization.” In Hawai‘i at the Crossroads of the U.S. and Japan Before the Pacific War, 146–170. University of Hawai‘i Press, 2008. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824862756-008.

Ramírez B., William. “Host Specificity of Fig Wasps (Agaonidae).” Evolution 24, no. 4 (1970): 680–691. https://doi.org/10.2307/2406549.

Starr, Forest, Kim Starr, and Lloyd L. Loope. “Roadside Survey and Expert Interviews for Selected Plant Species on Molokai, Hawaii.” Starr Environmental, 2005.

Strohecker, Lissa. “Molokai/Maui Invasive Species Committee Update: October–December 2020.” Molokai Invasive Species Committee, 2021.

Takagi-Kitayama, Mariko. “Toward the Representative Organizations of Japanese Immigrants: Social Roles of Japanese Ethnic Organizations in Prewar Hawaii.” Bulletin of Tokai Women’s College, 1995. https://core.ac.uk/reader/234066120.

Tsomo, Karma. “Japanese Buddhist Women in Hawai‘i: Waves of Change.” Pacific World: Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies 4, no. 3 (2022): 25–51.

“UHM Library Hawaiian Collection HSPA—Plantations—McBryde Sugar Co.” Hawaii Sugar Planters’ Association Plantation Archives. https://www2.hawaii.edu/~speccoll/p_mcbryde.html.

Notes

1. Jay Bernstein, “Transdisciplinarity: A Review of Its Origins, Development, and Current Issues,” Journal of Research Practice 11 (July 22, 2015). ↩︎
2. “Buddhist Wisdom of the Thai Forest Tradition,” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, https://thaiforestwisdom.org/front-page/buddhology/journal-of-the-international-association-of-buddhist-studies; Robert Beer, The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs (Shambala, 1999), https://www.shambhala.com/the-encyclopedia-of-tibetan-symbols-and-motifs.html. ↩︎
3. Kaua‘i Invasive Species Committee, “Ficus religiosa,” Plant Early Detection Program 2015–2017, https://www.kauaiisc.org/wp-content/uploads/C19-Ficus-religiosa_Prioritization-Assessment.pdf; Jared Bernard et al., “New Species Assemblages Disrupt Obligatory Mutualisms Between Figs and Their Pollinators,” Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 8 (2020), https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2020.564653.
   ↩︎
4. Bernstein, “Transdisciplinarity.” ↩︎
5. Bernstein, “Transdisciplinarity.” ↩︎
6. David Manuel-Navarrete et al., “Fostering Horizontal Knowledge Co-Production with Indigenous People by Leveraging Researchers’ Transdisciplinary Intentions,” Ecology and Society 26, no. 2 (2021), https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-12265-260222.
   ↩︎
7. Manuel-Navarrete et al., “Fostering Horizontal Knowledge.” ↩︎
8. Valerie Brown et al., Tackling Wicked Problems: Through the Transdisciplinary Imagination (Earthscan, 2010), 61–84. ↩︎
9. Bernstein, “Transdisciplinary”; Manuel-Navarrete et al., “Fostering Horizontal Knowledge”; Brown et al., Tackling Wicked Problems. ↩︎
10. Dee Denver, The Dharma in DNA: Insights at the Intersection of Biology and Buddhism (Oxford University Press, 2022), 88–100. ↩︎
11. Denver, Dharma in DNA, 45. ↩︎
12. Denver, Dharma in DNA, 49. ↩︎
13. Michele Matteini, “Written on a Bodhi Tree Leaf,” Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics 75–76 (March 1, 2021): 45–58, https://doi.org/10.1086/715926.
    ↩︎
14. Patricia Lee Masters, Searching for Mary Foster: Nineteenth-Century Native Hawaiian Buddhist, Philanthropist, and Social Activist (American Buddhist Studies, 2017).  ↩︎
15. Denver, Dharma in the DNA; Masters, Searching for Mary Foster. ↩︎
16. Masters, Searching for Mary Foster. ↩︎
17. Masters, Searching for Mary Foster. ↩︎
18. Masters, Searching for Mary Foster. ↩︎
19. Eleanor Nordyke, The Peopling of Hawaii, 2nd ed. (University of Hawai‘i Press, 1989), 4–10, https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/the-peopling-of-hawaii-second-edition/. ↩︎
20. Karma Tsomo, “Japanese Buddhist Women in Hawai‘i: Waves of Change,” Pacific World: Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies 4, no. 3 (2022): 25–51. ↩︎
21. Tsomo, “Japanese Buddhist Women”; Mariko Takagi-Kitayama, “Toward the Representative Organizations of Japanese Immigrants: Social Roles of Japanese Ethnic Organizations in Prewar Hawaii,” Bulletin of Tokai Women’s College, 1995, https://core.ac.uk/reader/234066120; ↩︎
22. Kitayama, “Toward the Representative.” ↩︎
23. Bernard et al., “New Species Assemblages”; Forest Starr et al., “Roadside Survey and Expert Interviews for Selected Plant Species on Molokai, Hawaii,” Starr Environmental, 2005; Lissa Strohecker, “Molokai/Maui Invasive Species Committee Update: October–December 2020,” Molokai Invasive Species Committee, 2021. ↩︎
24. KISC, “Ficus religiosa”; Bernard et al., “New Species Assemblages.” ↩︎
25. KISC, “Ficus religiosa.” ↩︎
26. “UHM Library Hawaiian Collection HSPA—Plantations—McBryde Sugar Co,” Hawaii Sugar Planters’ Association Plantation Archives, https://www2.hawaii.edu/~speccoll/p_mcbryde.html; “Let’s Dance!,” Kaua‘i Soto Zen Temple Zenshuji, https://kauaisotozen.org/archives/. ↩︎
27. Manuel-Navarrette et al., “Fostering Horizontal Knowledge.” ↩︎
28. “Let’s Dance!” ↩︎
29. Masumi Izumi, “Seeking the Truth, Spiritual and Political: Japanese American Community Building Through Engaged Ethnic Buddhism,” Peace & Change 35, no. 1 (2010): 39–67, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0130.2009.00612.x. ↩︎
30. The Diamond Sutra, trans. Mu Soeng (Wisdom Publications, 2000). ↩︎
31. Manuel-Navarrette et al., “Fostering Horizontal Knowledge”; William Ramírez B., “Host Specificity of Fig Wasps (Agaonidae),” Evolution 24, no. 4 (1970): 680–691, https://doi.org/10.2307/2406549. ↩︎
32. Manuel-Navarrette et al., “Fostering Horizontal Knowledge.” ↩︎
33. Beer, Encyclopedia of Tibetan. ↩︎