Need translation for tattoo

[vanquisher91]

I'm not here to discuss the merit of getting things tattooed on my body...etc, I'm just here for info. I've been wanting a meaningful tattoo for a long time and now that I"m out of basic training and on my own, I feel that it's time.

I was looking up the pali text for the First Noble Truth: Life is Dukkah. I can only find the pali text for the word dukkah and was wondering if it is possible to translate the phrase "life is dukkah" or if there is another translation for the First Noble Truth.

[Sobeh]

The Buddha never said "life is dukkha". Simply, there is dukkha, and dukkha is caused by craving.

[jcsuperstar]

maybe the reason you cant find it is because the 1st noble truth isn't life is dukkha

[withoutcolour]

There isn't actual text for Pali. Pali was a spoken language and has been written down in many languages including Devanagari, Sinhala, Thai, and Burmese.
You'd have to get someone to translate it into Pali (spoken), and then into a written language.

I am actually getting a Pali phrase tattooed on myself using Thai lettering, interestingly enough.

Also, as a sidenote, the first noble truth is not, "Life is suffering." That is a common misconception. It is (in one of its many translations) "There EXISTS suffering." If life was suffering, how could there be liberation?

Best of luck finding translations. Make sure to do lots of research before putting it on your body. I've been studying the phrase I'm getting tattooed on me for over 6 months, and have had monks, mantra-writers, and several Thai people check it out for me.
Tattoos are a great reminder to practice the path.


-wc

EDIT: I did not see the other responses before this one, so please excuses any redundancies.

[acinteyyo]

"Now what is the noble truth of stress? Birth is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are stressful; association with the unbeloved is stressful; separation from the loved is stressful; not getting what one wants is stressful. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are stressful.
[in pali]
katamañca , bhikkhave, dukkhaṃ ariyasaccaṃ? jātipi dukkhā, jarāpi dukkhā, maraṇampi dukkhaṃ, sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsāpi dukkhā, appiyehi sampayogopi dukkho, piyehi vippayogopi dukkho,
yampicchaṃ na labhati tampi dukkhaṃ, saṅkhittena pañcupādānakkhandhā dukkhā.

maybe "pañcupādānakkhandhā dukkhā" (the five clingin-aggregates are suffering) comes closer to what you're seeking for and is in line with what the buddha taught.

best wishes, acinteyyo

[David N. Snyder]

Which script were you thinking of using? Other than the Roman script, some other scripts I like for writing Pali are Brahmi, Sinhalese, and Chinese. Chinese characters are very popular among the young.

[vanquisher91]

Hmm....thanks for clarifying. Would the first noble truth simply be: Dukkah? Forgive my ignorance of Pali. I think I would prefer either Thai or Sanskrit lettering for the translation.

[David N. Snyder]

Hmm....thanks for clarifying. Would the first noble truth simply be: Dukkah? Forgive my ignorance of Pali. I think I would prefer either Thai or Sanskrit lettering for the translation.

Yes, dukkha could be sufficient to portray the First Noble Truth.

In Devanagari:

दुक्ख

[triciatos45]

I think you have look for a pali text society. They know what is the translation of that word for your tattoo. But it is okay if you will just let it seen by people without translating it. Tattoos with a foreign language is more artistic.

[Sylvester]

Hmm, I think the old Khmer alphabet would be very, very fetching. It's de rigueur for all Thai sakyant (religious tattoos).

You might even find a sakyant practitioner who could design the relevant alphabets into a yantra design, instead of a plain linear presentation. But I have to admit that of all the sakyants I've seen, "dukkha" has never featured in any.

[Bankei]

Don't forget that something may sound ''cool'' in english, but ridiculous in another language.

[yuttadhammo]

I once saw an American man with a tatoo in Thai:

ทำดีได้ดี ทำชั่วได้ช่ว

"Do good, get good. Do evil, get evil."

Here's something close to what you are looking for, I think...

dukkhameva hi sambhoti, dukkhaṃ tiṭṭhati veti ca.
nāññatra dukkhā sambhoti, nāññaṃ dukkhā nirujjhati

ทุกฺขเมว หิ สมฺโภติ, ทุกฺขํ ติฏฺฐติ เวติ จ
นาญฺญตฺร ทุกฺขา สมฺโภติ, นาญฺญํ ทุกฺขา นิรุชฺฌติ

"Suffering indeed it is that is born (lit: comes into being), suffering that lives (lit: stands) and that dies (lit: disappears).
Nothing but suffering arises, nothing but suffering ceases."

S. 1.5.10 vajirāsutta