the worst horse: "Body Vows": Buddhist Tattoos of the Worst Horse's readers, part one

Buddhist tattoos of The Worst Horse's readers, Part One.

"SPIRITUAL MATERIALISM" is something Buddhists try to avoid. That means having experiences wholeheartedly, not just to build up one's "Buddhist resume." It also means not giving in to consumerist compulsions too much: not needing a zillion Dharma trinkets, not becoming attached to objects, not collecting.

But many of today's Buddhist practitioners are collectors of -- of all things -- tattoos. It's not an inexpensive hobby.

But then, it's probably not fair to call it a hobby at all. Dharma tattoos, or "practice tattoos," can run far deeper than you might think. They're an everyday, wherever-we-go-there-it-is reminder of and tribute to the things that led us to our practice and keep us coming back to it. Here, in the first of what we hope are many installments, are some the Dharma tattoos of our friends and readers, and the stories behind them. (From the Horses' mouths, as it were.) Enjoy. [And, just added: "Body Vows," Part 2]

MY BUDDHA TATTOO was done by Dana Helmuth of Solid State Tattoo.

It's part of a full sleeve that has the Dragon Buddha Koi and Dharma wheel on my elbow, with fire coming out of a lotus.

It's not done yet but when its all said and done it will probably have taken about 25 hours of sitting.

Having it is like a constant reminder of the Buddha's teachings!

It keeps me in check. = )
-ERICK D.

TATTOOING: i think of it as painting this vessel with some auspicious symbols and mantras or syllables that will remind me, inspire me, protect me.

i like tattoos, so in some form, they are an attachment. so i have to check myself on that.

i read of monks who would tattoo auspicious symbols on themselves. so i know with right intention, motivation, there's no problem.

the reason for this tattoo is that from my first encounter with Buddhism, i was immediately drawn to this image and its meaning.

tashi mannox is the artist who designed the piece for me.

thanks for the forum to discuss. infinite blessings!
-CAESAR


	Buddha tattoo (left) and "Compassion" tattoo (right). Submitted by SEAN O.

I HAD BEEN WANTING A NEW TATTOO FOR YEARS. My first and (previously) only one was done over 25 years ago when I was in the military. I could never decide on anything. All of what I looked at seemed meaningless.

Since becoming a Buddhist several years ago, I have been thinking about getting something Buddhist-related, but again, what?, as nothing really struck a chord in me. I didn't want to be just another guy with the OM symbol on my body.

I met this man who was in prison through a letter that he wrote to my work (I work at a Buddhist company) thanking us for books he had received from us. Along with the letter came a beautiful drawing of Buddha sitting on a bed of skulls that he had done. I decided to write him, and a relationship ensued that continues today. He will be getting out of prison soon and moving to my area, and my family and I will be helping him reenter the world. Through our relationship we had many discussion via letters and phone about Buddhism.

John was always sending me Buddhist-themed drawings that he had done. One day I got this small black and white drawing of this very strange character. It was in fact the OM symbol. It derives from the Tamil language and was John's interpretation of that. I fell in love with it and decided to incorporate it into one of my hobbies, beekeeping. One of the first things I did was to make a stencil of this symbol and put in on my beehives. I also blessed the hive with a Medicine puja. I now have 4 hives and they all have the symbol on them.

One of the first products you get from the bees is obviously honey. As I was sitting one night struggling to design a logo, I decided to use the symbol that was on all of the hives. Then I had come up with a name for the product line. My wife suggested, in a sleepy daze, "OM Sweet OM." It was perfect. It all fell together. I also developed a line of creams that are made with the beeswax as well as honey. These too had the same name and symbol on them. Since I had been wanting a tattoo for a while, it dawned on my that I really wanted this OM symbol. It sort of embodied a lot of me; my connection to nature, my sense of who I am, and my path. I

made several different size versions of the symbol and drew them on my body in different places. Finally I settled on the inside of my left wrist; I wanted to be able to see it and my left arm was closest to my heart. Then I had to find the right position for the symbol. That took a few tries as well. Finally the decision was made and I went off to the tattoo place and had it done. I am very happy with it and am thinking about getting another one. I have this symbol that I found at the end of the Tibetan Kangyur that I understand represents the all encompassing Buddha. I will keep you posted.
-TONY L.

Four sleeve details from DANNY

OM MANI PADME OM.

I'm sure you all know this one. If not, it roughly translates to "Hail to the jewel of the lotus."

It is a mantra of compassion. I also like to look at it as a symbol of my growth as a person.

You can't see the whole tattoo in this pic. It wraps halfway around my wrist. (The picture was taken when I had just gotten it and it was coated with A+D ointment.)
-KELLY

THIS IS THE FIRST TATTOO I GOT, while living in Zen Mountain Monastery, after having practiced for only a couple years. I chose the bottom of my foot because I wanted this to be an intimate reminder to myself only -- and the bottom of my foot was always visible to me as I folded my legs for zazen. This is the Chinese character for "patience."

Often during meditation retreats, I found myself mentally singing a couple lines to an old Queen song: "It's not much I'm asking / if you want the truth [ . . . ] I want it all / and I want it NOW!" Dharma-grasping was a big part of my experience at that time: wanting to "advance" in my practice, to pass koans, to be freed from all suffering, to actualize anuttara-samyak-sambodhi -- complete, unsurpassed, perfect enlightenment -- now. I figured "practice patience" would never be a message that I would look back on with regret, thinking: "Yeah, patience. I am so over that!" And I liked the imagery of treading lightly, walking each step with patience.

The etymology of this character was also particularly appealing to me. The top character is composed of two radicals: knife (above) and heart/mind (beneath). This character, "a knife in the mind" means "to endure." The bottom character is composed of two parts also: one a function-word indicating "and then" and one designating a small unit of measurement. So, to endure a knife over the mind -- and then a little more -- this is what it means to practice patience.

When I had this tattoo done, I was practicing zazen as it was happening-- allowing myself to be absorbed, intimately, by fundamentally neutral bodily sensation on the sole of foot. And so it didn't hurt. As soon as my mind wandered, though, or I paused in my zazen to reflect, "Gee, this really doesn't hurt much at all," then all of a sudden the neutral sensation was labeled as unpleasant, as pain -- OW!

This is the second tattoo I got, around 5 or 7 years after the first. When I got this tattoo, the artist asked what the tattoo on my right foot was, and I told him, he then asked what the new one I wanted meant, and when I said, "humility." I recall his response: "Ah, man! You're killin' me!"

When I was in high school and up until several years after college, the word arrogant would have been, at least, the second or third adjective anyone, even my friends, would use to describe to me. And, in my arrogance, I took it as a compliment, as somehow a recognition of my specialness. My father was also arrogant, and I guess I admired it in him.

Recently, after my father's death I found a poem he'd written which included these lines:
Humility
is being open to the possibility
that it's not about you.

In retrospect, I am able to see how arrogance was perhaps his greatest single weakness, the single trait that ultimately generated the most suffering in and around his life. Now part of my practice of humility is to atone for his karma, as well as to keep vigilant for the ways in which my own feelings of specialness separate me from others.

I try to walk with both humility and patience.

This, my third tattoo, was an inspired by a pair of lines in the Anapasati Sutta, The Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing: "Breathing in, gladdening the mind. Breathing out, gladdening the mind."

I was struck that this was actually a practice I could do. I could let go, just a little, expand, open, lighten my mind -- just a little -- with each breath, coming at least a little more into grateful, if not joyful, awareness in any moment at all.
I understood how to practice it. I just needed to remember to do it. So I got this tattoo in a place I would see everything I reached for ("grasped after") anything, many times a day.

This is a character which means "happiness" and as a verb is part of the construction that would mean "gladden." When asked by people who don't have an interest in Buddhism what this tattoo means, I usually translate it as "rejoice."

In the midst of one Zen meditation retreat, I realized: although in one way of course it was me sitting zazen, in another way zazen had nothing whatsoever to do with anything so small as me. It wasn't me sitting zazen: it was the universe itself. It was zazen sitting zazen; it was the universe sitting me.

These two Sanskrit "seed syllables" make up my most recent tattoo. They are associated with the Maha Vairochana Buddha -- the cosmic Buddha pervading everywhere. Whereas Amida Buddha can be conceptualized as dharmakaya-as-compassion, or the compassionate aspect of the universe of thusness, Maha Vairochana is like the dharmakaya-as-enlightenment, hidden nowhere. As Torei Zenji writes in his Bodhisattva's Vow, "When I look deeply into the real form of the universe, everything reveals the mysterious truth of the Tathagatha. This truth never fails. In every moment and every place, things can't help but shine with this light."

These Sanskrit letters serve to remind to not look for enlightenment, but to see it.

When I sit cross-legged for zazen, with my hands together in the cosmic mudra of meditation, I can see all four of my tattoos -- and my body itself becomes a Dharma talk, a teisho, silently telling me the things I, particularly, most need to hear.
-JOSH BARTOK