Tattoo you and other things in Siam

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tiltbillings
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Tattoo you and other things in Siam

Post by tiltbillings »

>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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manas
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Re: Tattoo you and other things in Siam

Post by manas »

I doubt that's allowable according to the monks' Vinaya, but:
According to Buddhist belief, to maintain the holiness and powers of the tattoo, bearers have to obey certain rules – not to kill or steal, no drugs or drinking, no lying and no sexual misconduct.
- if it gets some of the laypeople to conduct themselves better, then what on the surface appears to be clinging to rites and rituals (rather than trusting in kamma and acting accordingly), is nevertheless having some positive results.

:anjali:
To the Buddha-refuge i go; to the Dhamma-refuge i go; to the Sangha-refuge i go.
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BlackBird
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Re: Tattoo you and other things in Siam

Post by BlackBird »

In a perfect world the monks would be severely rebuked by the ecclesiastical council (who in this instance, could actually be put to good use) for not only encouraging this 'magical amulet' rubbish, but actually giving people 'magical' tattoos that make them 'bullet proof' and invincible.

Awfully divorced from the teachings of the Buddha.

Sad days.
"For a disciple who has conviction in the Teacher's message & lives to penetrate it, what accords with the Dhamma is this:
'The Blessed One is the Teacher, I am a disciple. He is the one who knows, not I." - MN. 70 Kitagiri Sutta

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Ben
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Re: Tattoo you and other things in Siam

Post by Ben »

I gotta get me one.
I'm totally sold on the snake venom and cigarette ash in the ink!
Thanks Tilt.
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

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daverupa
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Re: Tattoo you and other things in Siam

Post by daverupa »

manas wrote:- if it gets some of the laypeople to conduct themselves better...
From the article:
Some of them run maniacally, others crawl, but all mimic the creatures that are tattooed on their bodies.
I think the Buddha had something to say about this sort of thing...
  • "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

    "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.

- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]
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Ben
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Re: Tattoo you and other things in Siam

Post by Ben »

Dave,
Personally, I try not to be too dismissive of some vernacular and cultural aspects of practice. I would not presume to damn what the lay followers, described in the above article, as akin to performing rites and rituals or engaging in something akin to the dog ascetic or ox ascetic practices as was inferenced above.

The western form of Buddhism which attempts to occupy a spiritually purified and universalist approach to the Dhamma, is equally an artefact of cultural contexts inherited and invented. I believe it is worthwhile to have an acutely reflexive attitude to one's own Dhamma practice.
kind regards,

Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
daverupa
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Re: Tattoo you and other things in Siam

Post by daverupa »

Ben wrote:I try not to be too dismissive of some vernacular and cultural aspects of practice. I would not presume...
They are aspects of cultural practice which has been heavily influenced by a certain cultural transmission of the Dhamma, among other things, but to call it an aspect of practice stretches the bounds of that term past breaking, it seems to me.

Magical trinkets and cavorting fulfill which aspect of the training?
  • "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

    "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.

- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]
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Ben
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Re: Tattoo you and other things in Siam

Post by Ben »

daverupa wrote: Magical trinkets and cavorting fulfill which aspect of the training?
I would encourage you to view this as a perception that has been conditioned by a particular western (universalist) buddhist worldview of being the only edifice of genuine Dhamma.
kind regards,

Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
Sylvester
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Re: Tattoo you and other things in Siam

Post by Sylvester »

Sigh, I'd post a pic of my 108 tattoos, but they were all done in namman. Invisible...
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