Hi,
I'm seriously thinking of getting a tattoo done when I go to Thailand in February.I'd like to have the prayer " Om Mane Padme Hum "in the Tibetan sanskrit over my heart.It might not be the same thing ,but on holiday in Sri Lanka last year I heard of a guy who had a tattoo of the Budda on his leg and the locals were offended at it and insisted that he covered it up,and he wasn't treated very well either.
If my prospective tattoo would cause the slightest offence to anyone I wont bother getting it done at all.
Grateful for your comments about this,
G .J
Hi
It is offensive to have a tattoo of Buddha and that the tattoo was on his leg, because the further towards the foot you go, the more disrepectful it becomes. A friend of mine had a tattoo of Buddha on her ankle and that was deemed offensive.
If you are having a Buddhist mantra, just make sure the Tattooist understands sanskrit. The tattooists in Thailand are very good.
My husband (who is Thai) had a very small tattoo done on the inside of his arm of a mantra in Buddhist sanksrit and that is fine.
Hi Sunbird,
I'm a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism and personally I don't find it offensive that someone would have an 'Om mani padme hung' tattoo. However, in pre-communist Tibet, stones with the mantra carved or painted on them were considered to be sacred and it was also considered offensive to walk over a mantra which had been made in this way.
To be absolutely sure, and get reliable advice about it, I suggest you e-mail this Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Scotland and ask them :
or this Tibetan Buddhist centre in London:
Kind wishes,
Elen
Hiya Sunbird.....
I have many tattoos, and most of mine were designed end administered by a Buddhist monk now living in the UK.....I know some monasteries in Thialand do have tattoo rituals.....maybe you could have one done by the monks. Their traditional way is with sharpened bamboo......similar too the Maouri tradition.
http://spencerlittlewood.tripod.com/
A wonderful and permanant reminder of your visit to thailand
Thanks everyone,
I can now see why the people were offended about the Buddha tattoo.That's the problem ,the guy's stuck with it now where ever he goes in the world.
The mantra tattoo that I want will be genuinely meant ,and I can't see that it should cause any problems to any one. I'll definately contact the monastry and ask them about it .
To change the subject a bit ,I understand that the scottish monastry is a good place to buy singing bowls, I'll ask about that while I'm at it.
Thanks again,
Kind regards,
G.J