Scott wrote:

> > i've been planning to get a few tattoos of words in pali.
> > was wondering if anyone can help me make absolutely sure i get the
> > right calligraphy for the artist. any help would be appreciated!

For Pali writing and letters and syllables as an artifact in
themselves, apart from the dhamma content they may convey see:

Bizot, Catherine and Francois (2002) "Buddhist Writings in Southeast
Asia," in A History of Writing: From Hieroglyph to Multimedia, Flammarion

It is at least an interesting question whether tattoos actually
contain Pali or not and whether bhikkhus are the ones that administer
the tattoos.

This seems more like the magical practices specific to a given
locality that get grafted on to the Theravadan Buddhist core, like the
recent Jatukarm amulet enthusiasms.
http://www.readbangkokpost.com/business/amulet_economy/

(Even though I don't really admire magic myself, for rural folk it is
meaningful and important and expressing a negative opinion about this
sort of thing just makes one look like arrogant city folk in their
eyes.) Anyway one very legitimate strand of academic research recently
has been into the more devotional aspects of Buddhism such as relic
veneration (See John Strong's fascinating book on Buddhist relics,
2004) rather than valorizing abhidhamma above all.

Some times there are Brahman like people who perform this magic,
scribbling complicated little signs (yantras?, mantras?) over doorways
or on your forehead. (BTW some functions performed by priests in the
west like marriage are performed by laymen in Buddhism, e.g. my Tai
Lue wedding photos from several years ago was officiated by the an
uncle who did all the weddings in the extended family and featured me
carrying two cooked chickens in a bowl, a ritualized "bribing" of the
local matrons to gain entry to my own wedding!, and having lots of
string tied around my head and arms.)

Whether they use Pali or a local language in a tattoo, the script they
use (e.g. Khom) is going to be local and depend on where they are
from. My wife's family is Tai Lue and many older men have tattoos on
their thighs. Tattoos have a perceived protective or invulnerability
function, for instance in warfare, kickboxing , etc, and are often
pictures of animals rather than writing. Here are some references for
Burma:

"Un Birmane Curieusement Tatoué, Arabesques et Pierres Précieuses." A
Travers le Monde 6 (1900): 406.

Clark, J. Copper. "Burmese Tatu." Man 32 (1932). Franks, A. W. "On a
Tattoed Man from Burmah." Journal of the Royal Anthropological
Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 2 (1872): 228-233.

Gupte, Rai Bahadur. "Tatu Marks in Burma." Indian Antiquary 50 (1921):
92-95.

Rao, C. Hayavadana. "Note on Tattooing in India and Burma." Anthropos
37-40 (1942-1945): 175-179.
http://web.soas.ac.uk/burma/bib_supp_1.htm

Thanks for raising the question.
Something to keep a look out for in the future.
Lay people and their practices are an important part of Buddhism too.

Good luck in your research,
with metta Jon

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, Nina van Gorkom <vangorko@...> wrote:
>
> Dear Scott,
>
> Op 24-feb-2008, om 0:27 heeft Scott het volgende geschreven:
>
> > i've been planning to get a few tattoos of words in pali.
> > was wondering if anyone can help me make absolutely sure i get the
> > right calligraphy for the artist. any help would be appreciated!
> ------
> N: There are disadvantages to tattoos. You cannot remove them if you
> are sorry later on.
> Nina.
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>