Reader Amanda T. sends this photo and writeup of her beautiful tattoo:
“This is my only tattoo. I got it right after I took the bar exam. I’d been in school non-stop since I started — K through law school, as they say — so that was a huge transition point for me. I’d thought about getting some kind of dharma wheel tattoo for quite some time to have a constant reminder of my commitment to the Eightfold Path, and I felt like that time of transition was a perfect time to reaffirm my commitment to this path in my ‘new’ life as a lawyer.
“The symbolism of flowers is something I’ve also found important in my practice, and at some point I got the idea to combine the dharma wheel with a flower, and I found the combination of the strength of the traditional wheel with the impermanent but always-renewing beauty of a flower to be powerful.
“Karen Slafter at Resurrection Tattoo in Austin, TX did my tattoo. She’s a fellow Dharma Punk and all around awesome person.”
Thanks for sending it, Amanda!
According to this roundup of new celebrity tattoos on Huffington Post, celebrity spawn Rumer Willis has seen fit to ink herself with the message “be present,” in what appears to be a sort of faux-Tibetan script.
Admittedly, this isn’t particularly fascinating. I just wanted to be the first person ever to write the phrase “sideboob Dharma.”
…by the way, the “Buddhist Celebrities” site (sort of a blog version of the list we first told you about on the Link-O-Pedia) has been updated before a “short break.”
With all of the defense of Buddhist practice tattoos and so-called hipsters that goes on here at the Horse, it’s good to represent all sides of the story. Good ol’ Konchog Norbu (no stranger to the practice tattoo) writes to report of Daniel Pinchbeck’s angle:
“I’m reading Pinchbeck’s very peculiar 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl. On p. 305, he’s on a return trip to Burning Man. This time he’s grown disillusioned, and says, ‘The avowed spirituality of West Coast hipsters, which appeared so glamorous and enticing to me at first, increasingly seemed a shallow lifestyle choice — a new form of self-congratulatory consumerism, a better way to get laid. Tattooing the Buddha on your ass was easier than pursuing the eightfold path to enlightenment.’
This one — originally posted on our old, now-defunct blog — is from previous “Body Vows” contributor Gerry Gomez, who shot the photo. Maybe it’ll be new to you:
“[It's] OM MANI PADME HUM, [the mantra of Chenrezig, the bodhisattva of compassion] on my friend Trevor’s arm.
“Tattoo by Pablo Sela of Iron Cross Tattoo, Santa Barbara, CA.”
Great ink. Nice shot, too. Thanks, Gerry!
This Dharma-tattoo was originally posted when the Horse’s original (now-defunct) blog first launched; maybe it’s new to you. It comes from reader Jenny W., from Okayama, Japan. About it she writes:
“I got this tattoo of Jizo Bosatsu at Chopstick Tattoo in Osaka, Japan in May 2006. The artist was Magoushi and I would recommend him highly to anyone in, or travelling to, the Kansai area. He was able to draw and execute this design with very little notice and dealt graciously with non-Japanese speaking clients. This is my third tattoo, the first two are also custom pieces which represent journeys, but this is the only one on an explicitly Buddhist theme.
“When I had it done I had just completed a major Buddhist pilgrimage route in Japan – the Shikoku 88 Temple route, a 1,000 kilometer circular route around Japan’s fourth largest island. Jizo is not the main focus of the pilgrimage but he is everywhere in rural Japan – at every temple, at roadside shrines, in fields and woodlands and cemeteries. He is the guardian of travellers and has come to be associated particularly with looking afterthe souls of the dead and with children. Traditionally, many women make offerings to him to remember children they have lost through miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion.
“His image was a constant presence on the journey and so I chose him to sum up my time in Japan, and to be a kind of personal guardian whilst I wander around. In this interpretation he is surrounded by falling petals of cherry blossoms – another reminder of impermanence and of Japan. Jizo has treated me well – I returned to Japan in November 2006 and hope to be here another year so that I can continue to develop my practice. I am part way through another pilgrimage route, to return to Shikoku in 2008.”
Thanks, Jenny!
Ya gotta love this submission from reader Stephen R. Lasky, PhD, of Burning Electrons:
“Here’s a shot of a work in progress on my back. This is an image of Acala, aka Vidyaraja, aka Fudo myo-o. We are almost finished with the line work. Then comes the shading and colors. The tattoo is being done by Vyvyn LaZonga here in Seattle. In Tibetan Buddhism, I think Acala is a tantric deity. He is listed up there with The Buddha, Avalokiteshvara, and Tara in The Book of Kadam, but I’ve found more info on him from Japanese Buddhism. Here’s a modified write up (I forget where I got it, but its pretty standard):
Fudo Myo-o is the Japanese term for Sanskrit “Vidyaraja,” or “Acala” a group of warlike and wrathful deities known in English as the Mantra Kings, the Wisdom Kings, or the Knowledge Kings. Myo-o statues appear ferocious and menacing, with threatening postures and faces designed to subdue evil and frighten unbelievers into accepting Buddhist law. They represent the luminescent wisdom of Buddhism, protect the Buddhist teachings, remove all obstacles to enlightenment, and force evil to surrender. Introduced to Japan in 9th century, the Myo-o were originally Hindu deities that were adopted into Esoteric Buddhism to vanquish blind craving. They serve and protect the various Buddha, especially Dainichi Buddha. In most traditions, they are considered emanations of Dainichi, and represent Dainichi’s wrath against evil and ignorance. In Japan, the Myo-o group is worshipped mostly by the Shingon Sect of Esoteric Buddhism, but among the individual Myo-o, the one named “Fudo” is widely venerated throughout Japan. In Japan, Fudo is also worshipped as a deity who can bring monetary fortune.
“And here’s my new one of Avelokiteshvara. Just a couple of hours old. The picture doesn’t do the detail justice and you can’t even see the mala in his upper right hand. Each bead is separate, although there aren’t 108 beads in the mala as it is drawn. This was done by Suzy Todd at Vyvyn LaZonga’s shop in Seattle.”
Well, thanks, and congrats on your new ink, Stephen. This is some gorgeous stuff. Enjoy it.
And do send on your Acala when he’s done.
Buddhist-themed tattoos show up in tattoo magazines all the time. There’s no way we could find or post them all. But here’s one of two that, for example, showed up in the (then-)current issue of Skin Art (#115):
This one, a green Buddha, is credited to Joe Waulken of All or Nothing in Atlanta, Georgia.
That’s one big boy of a piece of work.
This second one shown here also appeared in the same issue of Skin Art:
It’s an Avalokitesvara/Chenrezig/Kanzeon/Kuan Yin, the Buddhist goddess who “hears the cries of the world” — the Goddess of Compassion.
It’s beautifully done, what with its colors, its radiant blue lotus and dharma wheel.
Yeah, we’re a little jealous.
The artist is Marco Serio of Invisible NYC in, of course, NYC.
[This one’s a “Body Vows Classic” – which is to say it’s a Dharma tattoo from our old, defunct first site, and we present it here so you don’t miss it.]
Thanks to reader Scott who sent this pic of his tattoo, and the following explanation:
“I had this tattoo of a dharma wheel done about 2 and half years ago for a lot of reasons. Mostly to make a very visible representation of my path in a very visible place. I have tattoos on both my biceps, but those are easy enough to cover up and even I forget I have them
at times.
“But this one is always there, right in front of me, a constant reminder. And a good conversation piece when I meet new people who are quick to ask what it is, what it represents, etc.
“I have been thinking of having one of my tattoos covered over (it’s the “eighteen-year-old-what-was-I-thinking” tattoo) and possibly having a sleeve done of various Buddhist images. The Worst Horse has given me some great ideas!”
Thanks, Scott!
“Full Contact Enlightenment” blogger TMcG, a Worst Horse fave, has stumbled upon something called the Tara Art Project, which is kinda like the Horse’s Body Vows articles about Dharma tattoos (see the archives here, or see newer ones in the “Search by Category” pull-down on the side here) — only, in reverse.
We’ll let ol’ T do the talking, but it sure is cool.
Click here to “Check out the Tara Art Project.”
Check this out:
How could you not want this (except for the $50 price tag)?: “…great for t-shirts, tattoos, flyers, signs, print ads and more! Images are ready to import into your favorite applications or edited in most graphics applications. Buy and download for instant use.”
Just hope the art wasn’t nicked…
