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Tattoos and piercings?

Micsunderland3Micsunderland3
edited February 2010 in Buddhism Basics
hey, i was wondering what people on here think about piercings and tattoos?

I was possibly considering getting a small tattoo. I was thinking a zen circle would both look cool and be meaning full.

Kind of like this guy : http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3069/2436780185_1bc00468a5.jpg

Is it more right for a girl to get an ear piercing than a guy? Don't see why it would be, besides the fact that its just more socially accepted.

Are there any Buddhist teaching specifically against body alteration?

I would love to read personal opinions as well.

Thanks everyone.

Comments

  • LesCLesC Bermuda Veteran
    edited February 2010
    I have an earring and four tattoos... to each his own.
  • ValtielValtiel Veteran
    edited February 2010
    This has nothing to do with Buddhism. It's your body and your choice. Buddhism is about making mindful and skillful decisions - there's no right or wrong answer.

    I have even seen monks with western-style tattoos.

    The Buddha is depicted with pierced, stretched earlobes.

    Take into considering placement and size, whether it be a piercing or tattoo. Don't do anything spur-of-the-moment, and find a reputable shop with high health and safety standards.
  • LesCLesC Bermuda Veteran
    edited February 2010
    And you might want to check out this thread...

    http://newbuddhist.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3131
  • RayfieldNeelRayfieldNeel
    edited February 2010
    I have this on my left shoulder.
    I've been weird on the tattoo thing..the bottom line is that I started out my adult life a rather conservative fellow, but seem to be more and more open to new possibilities as I age. I would have sworn never to get inked a several years ago...then found myself sorta neutral to it...then became interested in the dharma and thought it would be nice to have this on myself as a reminder.
    ..
    dwheel.jpg
  • Quiet_witnessQuiet_witness Veteran
    edited February 2010
    I just got my first Dharma tattoo on Satuday. I have several others but myDharma tattoo will serve as a great reminder for me.
  • PalzangPalzang Veteran
    edited February 2010
    Our teacher told us that Dharma tattoos are actually good for alleviating body karma. You can see my Sengdongma mandala tattoo on the link that Les gave you.

    Palzang
  • MindfulMeMindfulMe
    edited February 2010
    I have a tattoo of the Great Compassionate Mantra (Om Mani Padme Hum) and it serves as a reminder to be constantly compassionate towards the suffering of others.
  • BrigidBrigid Veteran
    edited February 2010
    I love Dhamma tattoos. They're so worthwhile.
  • Quiet_witnessQuiet_witness Veteran
    edited February 2010
    Palzang,

    The words of your teacher that you mentioned on the forum earlier inspired me to seek out a Dharma tattoo for me. I did a zen variation of the Gankyil. When it heals I will post a picture.

    Brigid- I agree and I had a cool moment while I was getting it. I focused my breathing and did a silent meditation. The pain was insignificant, I can't quite put it in words but I will call it zen-like moment not like I felt with my other tattoos. This time it was as if I saw through the pain, it was there but not. I will express it better later.
  • BrigidBrigid Veteran
    edited February 2010
    Quiet_witness wrote: »
    Brigid- I agree and I had a cool moment while I was getting it. I focused my breathing and did a silent meditation. The pain was insignificant, I can't quite put it in words but I will call it zen-like moment not like I felt with my other tattoos. This time it was as if I saw through the pain, it was there but not. I will express it better later.
    I think I might know what you mean. I do some interesting things with the muscle and nerve pain in my back and legs. It transforms into other things while still being there. It's so hard to explain. Sometimes when my concentration is really good I can turn the pain into something like pleasure. Sometimes when I'm practicing detachment by deliberately thinking of the pain as 'not-me' and 'not mine' it will fade in intensity. Sometimes I play around with the definition of 'pain' by thinking of it only as 'sensation'; neither good nor bad. That has interesting results too. Sometimes the pain fades, sometimes it changes into an itch. All sorts of interesting things. Pain is such a fantastic, juicy tool. There's so much you can do with it.

    Oooops. Got carried away there. I find pain to be such an interesting topic for practice. After I posted my last entry I was actually wondering if any of you guys who got tatts had used practices while going through the pain. I can't wait to hear about it.
  • comicallyinsanecomicallyinsane Veteran
    edited February 2010
    Chicks with tattoos and piercings are super hot. I don't have any myself but I hate jewelry and I don' know what I would want on me for the rest of my life.
  • PalzangPalzang Veteran
    edited February 2010
    Quiet_witness wrote: »
    Palzang,
    The words of your teacher that you mentioned on the forum earlier inspired me to seek out a Dharma tattoo for me. I did a zen variation of the Gankyil. When it heals I will post a picture.

    Excellent, QW. I'd love to see it.

    Palzang
  • Micsunderland3Micsunderland3
    edited February 2010
    Palzang wrote: »
    Excellent, QW. I'd love to see it.

    Palzang
    So would I.
  • MountainsMountains Veteran
    edited February 2010
    Wow! I've been considering exactly the same kind of dharma wheel that Rayfieldneel has, but I wasn't sure if getting such a tattoo was simply feeding my ego. I think it would serve as a good daily reminder. Every time I look in the mirror I will see it there. I may very well get one.

    Thanks for this thread!

    Mtns
  • distortedchilddistortedchild
    edited February 2010
    I have the same problem as CI. I just don't like any thing in a permantent sense. I love things obsessively for a short period of time and then move on. *shrug*
  • RayfieldNeelRayfieldNeel
    edited February 2010
    I can relate to the thoughts about permanence. (irony?) A lot of thought went into my decision to get the dharmawheel; was I doing it for others, to satisfy some superficial need of my own, or for a purpose? I'm a human being, so I'll admit that it's probably a cocktail of reasons that I wouldn't want to hear about myself...but at the end of the day it was to have a reminder. I've been heading towards the Eight-Fold Path for nearly all of my life, and I'm pretty confident that laser removal will never be necessary. :p

    An interesting thing about tats...once I had one, the stigma was just...gone. Getting another is no big deal at all in my mind. My wife is less convinced. :rolleyes:
  • skydancerskydancer Veteran
    edited February 2010
    I'm too conservative to get a tatoo. I'd be more likely (but haven't chosen it) to get additional earrings. At least it would be such a good use for the ones I'm alway losing--the orphan earrings.

    I appreciate tatoo art, but it's not for me.
  • PaxPax
    edited February 2010
    I have a sun tattoo on my left upper arm, I'll be getting a couple more over the next year or so...it's just skin and I'm in no danger of messing up any future super model gig by having them. :D
  • comicallyinsanecomicallyinsane Veteran
    edited February 2010
    sky dancer wrote: »
    I'm too conservative to get a tatoo. I'd be more likely (but haven't chosen it) to get additional earrings. At least it would be such a good use for the ones I'm alway losing--the orphan earrings.

    I appreciate tatoo art, but it's not for me.


    Being conservative contradicts nature.
  • MountainsMountains Veteran
    edited February 2010
    comicallyinsane wrote: »
    Being conservative contradicts nature.

    Can I quote that? I've always said anyone who has the least compassion for another being can't be conservative by definition, but I'm usually just labeled as a kook and/or a left wing liberal (oooh, the "L" word!) and dismissed.

    :)

    Mtns
  • comicallyinsanecomicallyinsane Veteran
    edited February 2010
    Yeah use it. The Universe is always moving. It never stays the same. That's why being conservative and keeping things the same is a contradiction to everything.
  • PietroPumokinPietroPumokin
    edited February 2010
    comicallyinsane wrote: »
    Being conservative contradicts nature.
    Teddy%20Roosevelt.jpg
  • comicallyinsanecomicallyinsane Veteran
    edited February 2010
    Hey he used to wear burlap underwear. That's why they called him the rough rider.
  • RayfieldNeelRayfieldNeel
    edited February 2010
    People get carried away with the "conservative" and "liberal" labels. I used to be very caught up in it. Like many things, you break things down to a granular enough level, and find that the differences amount to nothing.
  • Quiet_witnessQuiet_witness Veteran
    edited February 2010
    I was listening to NPR at lunch yesterday and they were talking specifically about the two ideologies' :werr: ( ihate to use that word) similar complaints and mudslinging techniques. Differences between conservative and liberal are minut; ultimately, we all want the same thing more or less, health and happiness for us and our loved ones, the minor differences come from how we seek it.
  • MountainsMountains Veteran
    edited February 2010
    Quiet_witness wrote: »
    ultimately, we all want the same thing more or less, health and happiness for us and our loved ones, the minor differences come from how we seek it.

    I disagree that the differences are minor. While I don't want this to devolve into a political diatribe, it's pretty much undeniable that as a whole (in the USA) conservatives don't really care much for the welfare of anyone less well off than themselves. Just ask them whether or not we should guarantee health care for everyone in the country. Or what they think about almost any kind of entitlement program that they are not personally receiving benefits from. They want theirs for themselves, and everybody else be damned. At least that's what it appears like to me.

    Mtns
  • RayfieldNeelRayfieldNeel
    edited February 2010
    Mountains wrote: »
    They want theirs for themselves, and everybody else be damned. At least that's what it appears like to me.

    Quiet_witness is quite correct, and I'm qualified to comment, as someone who would have quickly identified himself as conservative many years ago. It's largely a matter of methods and perspective. There is plenty of delusion on both sides. People get so caught up in "being liberal" or "being conservative" that they close their mind to ideas from outside of their camp. I don't use either label for myself; preferring to be issue-oriented.

    It's definitely a challenge to sit down with someone of the opposite camp and practice "compassionate listening" as Thich Nhat Hanh might say, isn't it?

    I apologize to the forum; I may be at least partly responsible for setting this thread on a course to OT. Back to tattoos and piercings, anyone? :)
  • MountainsMountains Veteran
    edited February 2010
    How much difference is there in the cost of something like that dharma wheel in a single color vs. two or three colors?? I've never been into a tattoo establishment, so I have no clue what they cost.

    Mtns (how was that for re-railing the discussion?)
  • RayfieldNeelRayfieldNeel
    edited February 2010
    Not sure about the color thing, since all I've experienced is black ink. I wouldn't THINK it would add much cost. I paid something like $120 for mine plus a tip, for an hour's time in the chair. Be prepared to tip the guy generously, if you feel that he's done a good job. This seems to be pretty standard practice.
  • Quiet_witnessQuiet_witness Veteran
    edited February 2010
    Color usually does not add cost whatsoever. What adds cost is shading, details, and time spent on it.
  • RayfieldNeelRayfieldNeel
    edited February 2010
    Shading also adds pain. :p
  • LesCLesC Bermuda Veteran
    edited February 2010
    Now that's funny, cuz I think just the opposite! Outline is done (generally) with a larger (thicker) single needle, while shading is done with a group of smaller needles. It's been my experience (4 tattoos so far) that the single needle seems to be more pronounced, while the multiple needles seem to be more diffused. But I've also learned, each persons experience is different. I would also concur that colour adds nothing to the cost. Tattooing is largely based on a per hour basis, and of course intricacy and detail make the task take longer, therefore cost more.
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