Buddhist Tattoos

[Swanky]

I love that endless knot, I've also seen it with curved lines which I think looks nicer. You should ask around to see if having a tattoo is acceptable with being a monk, or do a Google search. Sexy looking artwork. Too bad you are considering being a monk, girls love nice tats.

Edited October 28, 2008 by Swanky

[BigSnake]

Short answer NO> a dobble no if you a joining the Monk Hood, might make you look like an ex-gang banger turn Monk Why not check out a first class sticker shop around your town and have your design made as a Sticker, wear it for awhile, like it, keep it.

[khaowong1]

I find it interesting to see that many people answering this question give the answer, NO. I cannot count the number of Buddhist temples I have been to in Thailand, and see very few monks with out a tattoo. No, having a tattoo will not stop your chances of becoming a Buddhist monk. What will stop your chances is your reasons. You should have some Thai friends help you about approaching a abbot to ordain. You should also be commmitted to learning to speak Thai. There are few temples that have any monks that speak English. As far as I know, there is no such thing as a Buddhist missionary or chaplain. I spent three months ordained at a temple North of Bangkok where no one spoke English and it was difficult. But I had a good dictionary.

[kebo]

hi khaowong,

i'm not sure if you read my international buddhist college thread... i emailed the school, and they said a knowledge of thai is not neccisay.. although a reading knowlege of pali, sanscrit, tibetan, nipongo or mandari is.. i've been contemplating a tattoo for 8 years... i do change my mind often.

Hmm Wikipedia has a Buddhist college stateside listed, which mentions Buddhist chaplains. I've been into Eastern thought for about 12 years.. almost got initiated into Hinduism.

[jdinasia]

Short answer NO> a dobble no if you a joining the Monk Hood, might make you look like an ex-gang banger turn Monk Why not check out a first class sticker shop around your town and have your design made as a Sticker, wear it for awhile, like it, keep it.

Come to Thailand ... meet some monks.

[kebo]

I need a tattoo because I'm a prisoner. I'm imprisoned by vicious sensory desires.. and I need a Buddhist tattoo to ward of Mara.

(joke). Actually, I'm thinking the endless knot might be better than the dharma wheel bacause my sources tell me that the endless knot brings luck.

[caffeinetrip]

Hi. I just got two Sak Yan's from Wat Bang Phra and had a great experience!

My Taxi driver spoke okay english and was able to help me translate the meanings with the master monk, but I would really apperciate it if anyone here could give me a fuller explanation of my Sak Yans, the meanings, and the literal translation of the words.

Thanks in advance!

[khaowong1]

I agree with jdinasia. Come to Thailand, meet some monks. There is a temple in central Bangkok close to the river, Wat Mahathat. They have a foreigner section there, section 5. There should be some monks there that speak English, there have been every time I was there. Talk to them. Get a feel for it. Then make up your mind. They even have a great bookstore there. I have bought many Buddhist books from there. I hate to say this, cause someone is going to call me on it, but Thailand or Sri Lanka is the Buddhist capitals of the world. You want to learn Buddhism, come here.

[khaowong1]

You are interested in tattoo's. Did you read the article here: Sak Yan and Their Meanings by agsnowden. It's a good artile on the Buddhist tattoo. One of the most famous tattoo artists now is Ajahn Noo Kampai. He's the one who gave the tattoo to Angelina Jolie.

[Swanky]

''He's the one who gave the tattoo to Angelina Jolie.''

Which one? She has several.

[5tash]

''He's the one who gave the tattoo to Angelina Jolie.''

Which one? She has several.

The Sak Yant on her left shoulder.

Unfortunately this is becoming quite a fashion. Some superstar has a religious tattoo and some people think it's "cool" to have one too, without any idea what it stands for, shame.

Around Bangkok I have seen a number of Thai girls (bargirls I would imagine by the way they were dressed) with an exact replica of Jolie's tattoo, just to look cool and appeal to "farang" men. Thai men would never go for this type of girl. In my opinion these girls are totally disrespecting what the tattoo stands for.

[kebo]

Hmm, I don't think I'll get a tatoo.. there are too many good reasons not to:

There are many better things to do with the money it costs to get a tattoo: buy a book, buy 20 pounds of rice, or oragami lessons, etc.

Plus, the endless knot I was interested in is more Tibetan.. and today my interest is in pure land and zen...

Plus, what if in 10 years I have a calling to be a Muslim priest... I might be rejected the opportunity.

Besides, I have an amulet. It is a sea shell I found on an uncharted island in the Philippines.. I've been wearing it around my neck for 2 years.

[caffeinetrip]

Hello, I went to Wat Bang Phra and received a few Sak Yans. I had an english speaking translator with me whom did a fair job translating for me and the master monk, however, I was hoping someone here could give me a better understanding and maybe a literal translation of the words itself.

(I posted this as a reply in someone elses's thread but it got lost in the pages, please delete the other one and not this new topic, thank you.)

[ozsamurai]

ask here

http://www.sak-yant.com/

[camerata]

I think the script used in sak yants is ancient Khmer (Phasa Khawm) and Pali rather than Thai.

[sabaijai]

''He's the one who gave the tattoo to Angelina Jolie.''

Which one? She has several.

The Sak Yant on her left shoulder.

Unfortunately this is becoming quite a fashion. Some superstar has a religious tattoo and some people think it's "cool" to have one too, without any idea what it stands for, shame.

Around Bangkok I have seen a number of Thai girls (bargirls I would imagine by the way they were dressed) with an exact replica of Jolie's tattoo, just to look cool and appeal to "farang" men. Thai men would never go for this type of girl. In my opinion these girls are totally disrespecting what the tattoo stands for.

Aj Noo gave Ms Jolie the haa thaew (Five Lines) on her left shoulder blade, as well as the tiger and surrounding images along her lower back.

[rgs2001uk]

For those living in Thailand and able to read Thai, there is an interesting article in the latest edition of the popular magazine, mae nak, the article is called, sak yant plian che wit hy dee koon, a rough translation would be sak yants change life for the better.

The girl had a dragon done at a cost of 199 baht.

I dont know if Aj Noo himself is still tattooing or not, there were others there who were also tattooing, a common complaint i heard from Thais was to do with the pricing, not only of the sak yant but also the cost of the other trinkets amulets etc.

I am not a Bhuddist, and i dont want to turn this into a slagging match, however there is a lot that comes under the umbrella of Bhuddism, that your normal Thai does not recognise as Bhuddism, has never heard of, or just doesnt understand.

There is also another of these "temples" operating in phra pa daeng, that has a certain popularity amongst shall we say, those at the lower end of the totem pole of Thai structure.

There are many jobs,careers, lines of employment such as government service that prohibit employees from having tattoos, probably a reason why your normal middle class Thai actually doesnt have tattoos, and rightly or wrongly frowns upon those who do, as being uneducated and of a lower social standing than himself.

[mrsbrownstone]

Strictly speaking monks can tattoo women if they take care not to touch their bodies with their hands. Thus the only points of contact are the sak yan stylus and a dabbing cloth. I have watched a monk at Wat Bang Phra tattooing one woman on her tongue, then another on her forehead. In both cases, of course, they were 'invisible' tattoos using sesame oil. They process raises a pattern of red welts that go away after a few days.

Hi,

I'm currently living in Chiang Mai and studying Thai language at the Chiang Mai university as part of my degree in England. As part of my year abroad, I have to do a research project on something of interest in Thailand and as I already have western tattoos, I decided to do my project on Thai tattooing and it's symbology.

I would like to visit Wat Bang Phra, and do some research, but I also hope I can get a tattoo as well. Does anyone know if they tattoo women with ink or only use the seasame oil? Also I was wondering if the monks are willing to discuss the tattoos and their meanings, or are they too busy tattooing?

I am heading down to Bangkok in the middle of December for a few days and I hope to go then.

Thanks for any advice,

Lucy

[nampheng]

sawasdee kha

hey guys, im in need of some serious advice!!

i am a young Thai-American female. raised mostly by my grandparents in that traditional, yet americanized, Buddhist household. i am Buddhist, thats the religion i put all my faith into. im definitely not a extremely devoted Buddhist but i do believe in it. im going to turn 18 in december and i've wanted a tattoo for a WHILE now. lol. never was sure of what to get, but i always knew i wanted something to reflect my Thai culture. i believe that tattoos should always have a special meaning, not just something you want spur of the moment.

lately, i've taken a GREAT interest in these sak-yan tattoos. i mean it connects both my culture as well as my religion all in one! i have finally found the perfect tattoo i want. also, i love simple designs so i instantly fell in love with this. here is the exact tattoo i want [http://www.sak-yant.com/archive/ongkpra/] i hope the link shows up, if not i'll just upload the pic just to be safee

my only worry is, im not sure about how to go with getting this. i know ideally, you're suppose to go to a Wat and get it done by a monk for a more spiritual, deeper meaning but frankly, i'd rather get it done in a parlor due to the fact that i am the biggest punk when it comes pain. the way i see it, i dont think it should matter HOW i get it as long as i BELIEVE in it, ya know? but still, i just want to make sure that if i do get this tat in a parlor, i wont get bad luck or anything because of it.

also, does placement matter at all? i mean, obviously i know not to get it on my foot or anything lol but i really want to get it on the center of my back.. moreso upper rather than smack dab in the middle.. would that be okay?

ah i asked this question on yahoo answers but my feedback was minimal =\ so hopefully i'll get more help from you guys on here

so yeahh, i just need some more clear cut info about myyy specific question.. any feedback will be deeply appreciated. please & thank youuu

take care guys

[sabaijai]

Placement does matter, if you believe in the sak yan systems here.

There is no difference in the pain level whether in a parlor or a wat. Unless you are referring to machine versus manual stylus, in which case the manual way is less painful than the machine.

[jts-khorat]

I think the script used in sak yants is ancient Khmer (Phasa Khawm) and Pali rather than Thai.

That is korrekt, normally Khorm script is used. Khorm is actually not that different from nowadays Khmer, there are lots of resources on the internet and with a littlle searching you will be able to transliterate all the letters used.

There comes the complication however: In most cases one letter stands for a whole word or even line of a Buddhist sutta or even more komplex, a whole combination of suttas. They are never just mottos or 'sentences' that can be just literally translated. As such a Yant might have rather far-reaching meaning and should only be implemented after long counseling of the needs of the person getting the tattoo. Also, following its roots in Khmer traditions, many yant dip deep into Brahmin traditions.

Without actually having looked in detail on your yants, a quick guess would be that the first could be a derivation of suttas in connection with the Brahma Sahampati, simply because the use of Erawan (three-headed elephant). A good lead would be the Maha-parinibbana Sutta describing the last days of the Buddha, or other suttas in the Samyutta Nikaya connected to Sahampati.

On further thought. A temple implementing a yant without such research into the patient cannot, in my opinion, follow any high standards and is most likely just a money-making operation.

And a person getting a yant without having a spriritual need for it, having it researched for a long time and finally decided after a spiritual process could, again in my opinion, just go to the next tattoo parlor and get some menaingless symbols tattooed on his body (which the chance is high that they are, when the monk applying it had such a low standard, he might not actually be able to read or understand this yant either).

In this case, hard as it sounds, it really does not matter what your yant means. If you had been serious about getting it, you would have known beforehand.

[jts-khorat]

To soften the statement in my last post somewhat, it is of course never late to diminish ignorance and read. Maybe here would be a good starting point, and the whole website is a treasure trove of information: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn...6.1-6.vaji.html

[ruread]

I took some pictures in Thailand of some one with these tattoos and was wondering what they all meant and any other information on them.

[konjianghai]

http://www.sak-yant.com/sakyant6.html

[mijan24]

http://www.sak-yant.com/sakyant6.html

konjiangha the link that you have provide will not open can you check it from your end please.

[tc4mez]

anyone here have any idea on how does one get a tattoo by an ajahn? went to some websites but have difficulty understanding written thai, i frequent bangkok often for work & looking to get one done by reputable ajahn.

angelina jolie had one done by an ajahn sometime back, i did a bit of reading up & realise the design was choosen by the ajahn, so if one is to get a tattoo by an ajahn, they can't choose the design themselves? perhaps someone can help me clear my doubts...

looking to get this tattoo on my back, any idea what this tattoo is call in thai?

Regards,

tc4mez

[Aussie Andy]

This was done by Ajarn Noo, his website is http://www.arjannoo.com/ but be warned, he is VERY expensive.

"Sak yant" is what it is called in Thai, the tattoo in the picture is "ha teaw" or 5 lines (sorry for the way I've spelt this).

[mijan24]

This was done by Ajarn Noo, his website is http://www.arjannoo.com/ but be warned, he is VERY expensive.

"Sak yant" is what it is called in Thai, the tattoo in the picture is "ha teaw" or 5 lines (sorry for the way I've spelt this).

AA do you have an example of his (ajarn Noo) costing ?

[tc4mez]

This was done by Ajarn Noo, his website is xxxxx but be warned, he is VERY expensive.

"Sak yant" is what it is called in Thai, the tattoo in the picture is "ha teaw" or 5 lines (sorry for the way I've spelt this).

Yes I've heard that he is expensive but for a few months I have never get to know the exact pricing, is there a spokesman for ajahn noo whom we can contact via email or mobile? Preferably english speaking...

For the "ha teaw" that you have mention, is it different for every person? read from some sites that one of the lines is on your zodiac sign, can someone enlighten me?

Regards,

tc4mez

[sabaijai]

This was done by Ajarn Noo, his website is http://www.arjannoo.com/ but be warned, he is VERY expensive.

"Sak yant" is what it is called in Thai, the tattoo in the picture is "ha teaw" or 5 lines (sorry for the way I've spelt this).

AA do you have an example of his (ajarn Noo) costing ?

The haa taew as seen in the Jolie photo costs 10,000 baht at Aj Noo's. If it's any consolation, his team's work is exceptionally fine.

Good question about whether the haa taew is customised for each person. I always assumed it was the same for everyone, but I don't know for sure.