Will this be too shitty for a tattoo?

I'll tell you what I tell anyone who wants to get a tattoo.
Think of something, then talk to the artist and have him help you express it. Don't rush it, take your time until you know what exactly you want. You can determine what it needs to mean first, or what it needs to look like first. You know where you want it, and that's a big step. But create something yourself.

Do not get an arbitrary symbol. It reeks of unoriginality.

But most important of all, do not listen to us and don't seek our approval. Do what you gotta do.

 

i like it. its some kind of zen symbol isn`t it?

 

this same symbol is on the outside of one of my books. Aikido: The Art of Peace. Where would you put it on your body?

 

It is the most important Zen Buddhist symbol. The one in my signature is more recognizable to most Americans, which is why I picked it.

 

Then in consideration of my tattoo I am god.

 

Itd look like a kid had got paint on you

 

i like the meaning of it, i like the look of it, but not as a tattoo.

 

it took five pages before someone recognized it as a symbol in zen buddhism?

cherea, you've posted that image before and i asked if you'd found religion. you said no. i don't know about other potential symbolic meanings which may apply to a black outline of a circle drawn in a single brushstroke, but to me it says: ZEN.

if you don't have religious attachment to a religious symbol, i think its tacky to wear it as jewelry, let alone as a tattoo. like those annoying hippies who've mostly never meditated for a full half hour of their life if it was all put together, yet have a big OM symbol tattooed on them. or a yin yang, or a cross, or a star of david, when these things are without meaning to the person wearing them.

its okay if that circle means something else to you, prax, but the purpose of symbols is to convey meaning, to communicate. if you are not using it for the obvious meaning, why use it? if it is simply meaning for yourself, can you not simply know it without writing it on your body? of course, this is just me playing devils advocate, the symbolism behind the tattoo i want is rather cryptic and not necessarily something that would jump out at someone.

notdeadyet, i have never seen or heard of the yin yang being used as a symbol in zen buddhism. then again, i am not a zen buddhist.

but afaik, the yin yang concept is traditional chinese metaphysics, and has been incorporated in a number of chinese religions but is not inherently religious itself.

i'm aware that zen began in china and spread to korea and japan, if i'm not mistaken, even though its primarily a japanese religion these days. still, i've never seen it used as a zen symbol. would you elaborate on this for me?

 

zen =/= religion

it began in india with boddhidharma

it's even less of a concrete worldview than taoism.

zen = "sit"

 

I neither have any tattoos nor do I plan to get any.

But if I did want one, I sure as hell wouldn't need others' opinions on whether it was cool or not.

 

even though it has meaning it's just like a circle, think about when you're older how it's going to sag and just look like someone inked you with a stamp

 

I don't like it. But I am not a fan of tattoos at all, so.....

 

Why don't you just superglue a hunk of metal to your head and tell everyone you're president of the Stargate Fangirls Club?

Freak.

 

yes. thank you. this concept has really been lost on westerners. more people should know about Alan Watts.

 

i don't care for it because of it's direct association with a religion, and it's use as a company logo. Sorry...

i think if i get another tattoo,

it'll be THIS:



For a female, i'd make it a bit smaller, myself,

but the whole mobius strip / symbol of eternity connection has always intrigued me.

 

It's the Enso. The symbol of Zen Budism.

My daughter has this same tat on her back along with a cross, star of David, ohm and the Muslim moon and star.

 

does she have a "coexist" sticker on her car?

 

Not sure. Both our vehicles have about 100 stickers apiece.

 

It would be more correct to call it a symbol of the more generic form of Zen spread throughout the United States as a part of the eclectic New Age movement. Certainly, the concept represented by the yin yang is woven throughout many of the koans studied by Zen practitioners everywhere.

A life-long Zen Buddhist purist from anywhere in the far east would almost surely say that the O symbol (enso) is by far the best one to represent the faith. I would agree, if I believed that the majority of Americans knew what it meant.

 

I do. Right next to the one that says "I messed with Texas and all I got was this lousy bumper sticker".