Tattoos in Buddhism, Acceptable or not???

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Demarous
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Tattoos in Buddhism, Acceptable or not???

Post by Demarous »

I am now following the Buddhist path, and have thought about the possibility of becoming a Monk. I have Tattoos from years ago and wonder what the thoughts of tattoos are within Monks as i know that personal adornment is a problem?!!
Does anyone know? What are your opinions? Does it, or should it matter?
Demarous.
:shrug:
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Re: Tattoos in Buddhism, Acceptable or not???

Post by Dhammanando »

Tattoos are only an impediment to receiving ordination if one was marked with them as a punishment for a crime.
Yena yena hi maññanti,
tato taṃ hoti aññathā.


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Demarous
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Re: Tattoos in Buddhism, Acceptable or not???

Post by Demarous »

Thats good, wouldn't want something i did in my youth holding me back! Thank you.

:smile:
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Mexicali
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Re: Tattoos in Buddhism, Acceptable or not???

Post by Mexicali »

Now that bhante has answered, I'm going to go off topic a bit....

Just as a personal preference, I'm not a fan of the "dharma" tattoos that seem to be getting more popular with Buddhists my own age. I understand that there's no explicit instruction not to do it in most traditions, but it seems like such an unwise use of resources, unnecessary harm to one's own body, and affected. Then again, I'm just not a fan of "hip" Buddhism in general.

Obviously, I'm not referring to people who already have tattoos, so no offense demarous. If you plan to become a monk, you wouldn't be the first heavily tattooed one. Hope it works out for you if it's the path you choose!
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Re: Tattoos in Buddhism, Acceptable or not???

Post by Jechbi »

tattooed%20child.jpg
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Re: Tattoos in Buddhism, Acceptable or not???

Post by puthujjana »

Mexicali wrote:I understand that there's no explicit instruction not to do it in most traditions, but it seems like such an unwise use of resources, unnecessary harm to one's own body, and affected.
I thought about getting "This too will pass" (just these few words) tattooed on the back of my hand or somewhere else where I will have to see it the whole day...

That would be a good reminder.

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Re: Tattoos in Buddhism, Acceptable or not???

Post by Individual »

Dhammanando wrote:Tattoos are only an impediment to receiving ordination if one was marked with them as a punishment for a crime.
What if the tattoos are of a racist or sexist nature? Also, what about the case of extreme tattooes, like large tattooes on a person's face?
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Demarous
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Re: Tattoos in Buddhism, Acceptable or not???

Post by Demarous »

I would have thought in this case it would probably be wise to get them covered up with a non offensive tattoo, Can't imagine a swastica on the forhead not offending anyone!!! You're right though, if they were offensive, not that my ones are, but if they were, would that become a problem??? :thinking:
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Re: Tattoos in Buddhism, Acceptable or not???

Post by Fede »

You do know that a swastika is an ancient Buddhist symbol?

http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/s ... astika.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Demarous
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Re: Tattoos in Buddhism, Acceptable or not???

Post by Demarous »

I Was not aware of that........so.....i guess it wouldn't be so bad!!!! :smile:
"Happy, at rest, may all beings be happy at heart. Whatever beings there may be, weak or strong, without exception, long, large, middling, short, subtle, blatant, seen & unseen, near & far, born & seeking birth: May all beings be happy at heart."
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Re: Tattoos in Buddhism, Acceptable or not???

Post by Jechbi »

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Re: Tattoos in Buddhism, Acceptable or not???

Post by BlackBird »

Some places you go have paintings adorning their walls, similar in nature is it not?

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Re: Tattoos in Buddhism, Acceptable or not???

Post by Individual »

Fede wrote:You do know that a swastika is an ancient Buddhist symbol?

http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/s ... astika.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Yeah, but let's say it's a swastika, with the words "HEIL HITLER" or "SEIG HEIL" underneath it, hmmm?
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Re: Tattoos in Buddhism, Acceptable or not???

Post by Dhammanando »

Individual wrote:What if the tattoos are of a racist or sexist nature? Also, what about the case of extreme tattooes, like large tattooes on a person's face?
These aren't given in the Vinaya as impediments to ordaining, nor are they nowadays treated as such.

I remember when I lived with Ajahn Maha Boowa there was a Thai monk in the community, Phra Sutchai, who had once done some serious done prison time for armed robbery. While in prison he had got one of the other prisoners to tattoo a naked woman on his back. This didn't stop him ordaining, though of course he came in for quite a bit of ribbing about it from the other monks.

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Dhammanando Bhikkhu
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Re: Tattoos in Buddhism, Acceptable or not???

Post by Cittasanto »

I personally have 2 tattoos and am going to get another to complete the arm (my avatar is the next tattoo) people can make mistakes and get gang marks and racist symbols etc then realise there mistakes so they can either have them covered up or removed, but some will keep them as a reminder of past mistakes as a means of remembering lessons learnt.

ps the symbol in the middle of my avatar means where ever you throw me I shall stand and is the three legs of mann (Manx triskelion) which is on my national flag, and coat of arms http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Man" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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