Mari's Prayer, with a Twist of Math

I met Mari in front of <a href="http://www.thegarden.com/">Madison Square Garden</a> on a sunny day in October. How could I not stop and ask her about this tattoo?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAYsLAXy0sJ10SMY08z3BkybJvJpiKG2GvaVbJDb8O0XTX5SpI9VPYNZ8WJHEZH-1durZV_jC7sMFkBIBa5GrzV4NeoHWODl4Jpoys5WKDLz9Lhy0VRpGSrwx0dqHtZE3D6rME4GS-U2I/s1600/Poem+Tattoo+wm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAYsLAXy0sJ10SMY08z3BkybJvJpiKG2GvaVbJDb8O0XTX5SpI9VPYNZ8WJHEZH-1durZV_jC7sMFkBIBa5GrzV4NeoHWODl4Jpoys5WKDLz9Lhy0VRpGSrwx0dqHtZE3D6rME4GS-U2I/s640/Poem+Tattoo+wm.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><br />Mari explained that this is an <a href="http://www.ananda.org/">Ananda</a> prayer, that her friends were meditating on it for a week.<br /><br />The text, which is attributed to<span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramahansa_Yogananda">Sri Paramhansa Yogananda</a>, </span>reads:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimW04X94w2Q5brH9OdHuGVusHDqAYcjwYOj_hiiEATOcHUQKTs9GNN1uOhOLQuYzDzyTXD-zb6ay2yefWntquIVHfExZ64VjdKMInonxj7F7WFgw6glVEKIJ_LSNMw7zkRDqXv4VEliko/s1600/Poem+Top+wm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimW04X94w2Q5brH9OdHuGVusHDqAYcjwYOj_hiiEATOcHUQKTs9GNN1uOhOLQuYzDzyTXD-zb6ay2yefWntquIVHfExZ64VjdKMInonxj7F7WFgw6glVEKIJ_LSNMw7zkRDqXv4VEliko/s640/Poem+Top+wm.jpg" width="412" /></a></div><br /><blockquote><i>Make me thy butterfly of eternity.<br /><br />I burnt my past. I ignored the foreboding seed<span class="text_exposed_hide"></span><span class="text_exposed_show">s of sprouting destiny. I waded through the strewn ashes of past & future fears.<br /><br />I am the eternal present. I tore to shreds the cocoon of ignorance with the sharpness of my will.</span></i></blockquote><blockquote><i><span class="text_exposed_show">I am thy...butterfly of eternity, sweeping through immeasurable time. The beauty of my nature-wings I spread everywhere, to entertain everything. Suns & stardust are spread on my wings. Behold my beauty! Cut all the silken threads of thy shrouding folly: follow me in my flight to myself.</span></i></blockquote><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwdGlZFIjk1wO0RT3eemtMGGbHfoCY9E4_4m_UxOUD44iuCCdZ6y6j7ShuJyci6n1E4wCyEf-WCfHRYDCmlueOX9aCIbiTIdiqezrrXSLxkmXRokDjC36jGC_i_GHN9IlN0Pbs-Bb2GRw/s1600/Poem+Bottom+wm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwdGlZFIjk1wO0RT3eemtMGGbHfoCY9E4_4m_UxOUD44iuCCdZ6y6j7ShuJyci6n1E4wCyEf-WCfHRYDCmlueOX9aCIbiTIdiqezrrXSLxkmXRokDjC36jGC_i_GHN9IlN0Pbs-Bb2GRw/s640/Poem+Bottom+wm.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><br />The butterfly symbolizes transformation, a phase everyone goes through at one point or another in time.<br /><br />Also among her twenty-two tattoos is this formula at the top of her arm:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7qw5hP0iNzrVMlQKNKdZ6lpbYmanIh17DvZkb9aLCNZty9iPZdSSASMmjB8VCgVxAhQpwjZlzDfb5pFOGHww8TOaEWpm_KUp6lGqPxW1EAk-ALD8UuLdjVN1FbJUOx_CxCyWgeivUF6I/s1600/fractals+wm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7qw5hP0iNzrVMlQKNKdZ6lpbYmanIh17DvZkb9aLCNZty9iPZdSSASMmjB8VCgVxAhQpwjZlzDfb5pFOGHww8TOaEWpm_KUp6lGqPxW1EAk-ALD8UuLdjVN1FbJUOx_CxCyWgeivUF6I/s400/fractals+wm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE2H5d012XiiFBcptjUWy69vupVlbffAnDSNsKssjoi1lZ508qN0tWjnRO-wikxZljwTWURq5-BRyZDQ915wxhOTgZIb-uJC1UtjJM4_HwDj93tzQt2kSn73FPahXXRuToCf-_xw6407w/s1600/square+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Mari explained she loves math and generalized that, with this equation, "you can generate anything in the universe". In theory, at least. Here, it gets a little hazy for me. Part of this tattoo contains "f(z) = z^2 + c" which is described as a <a href="http://myweb.cwpost.liu.edu/aburns/orbits/quadrati.htm">complex function</a>. Then there is the part that equates the square root of -1 to the value <i>i</i>. This is a formula for an imaginary number. I'm bowing out here, knowing there's no way I'll be able to explain this part of the tattoo adequately. Readers are welcome to try in the comments section, below.<br /><br /><br />Mari's work was inked by Kevin at <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lansing-MI/The-Tattoo-Shop/273975515167?v=wall#%21/pages/Lansing-MI/The-Tattoo-Shop/273975515167?v=wall">The Tattoo Shop</a> in Lansing, Michigan.<br /><br />Thanks to Mari for sharing her tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Mari's Prayer, with a Twist of Math

I met Mari in front of Madison Square Garden on a sunny day in October. How could I not stop and ask her about this tattoo? Mari explained ...

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Anthony's Dragon (and more!)

I spotted Anthony on the N train in Brooklyn and was happy to see him also switching for the local R train at 59th Street.<br /><br />As luck would have it, both of us were headed home to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_Ridge,_Brooklyn">Bay Ridge</a>.<br /><br />Anthony has a bunch of tattoos, and I snapped this photo of the dragon on his upper right arm:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv_eDWkKEKbXpfYnO4kHq7742NZ0jFaRKGSETmPTlwkusDA1ARqmtnk-fcemlXwIVVOKKHVIWSa3pCbp-1ltfxh2PBWE13wQZJCzgKS5Ni6hV0jtkXJo5G1VL_5Gu9J2nsm8LBHqk3/s1600/Anthony+dragon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv_eDWkKEKbXpfYnO4kHq7742NZ0jFaRKGSETmPTlwkusDA1ARqmtnk-fcemlXwIVVOKKHVIWSa3pCbp-1ltfxh2PBWE13wQZJCzgKS5Ni6hV0jtkXJo5G1VL_5Gu9J2nsm8LBHqk3/s640/Anthony+dragon.jpg" width="362" /></a></div><br />It was inked by Joe at <a href="http://www.myspace.com/brooklyninktattoo">Brooklyn Ink</a>.<br /><br />He estimated that the work so far has been completed in about three two-hour sessions.<br /><br />Work from Joe and other artists at Brooklyn Ink has previously appeared quite frequently on Tattoosday (all posts tagged as such <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/search/label/Brooklyn%20Ink">here</a>).<br /><br />Anthony later emailed me photos of these shots as well:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxavmpuyYyiQ2l6gEx096RTJKla9h7x82zRvyCwznU0M293iupK-GtxOFfHpHhsVvULaeEdJ_4ZV4mi_rwp_sFMbjFp4e7DDnmmnJsnqQ646U_VUuocf7elRnmyKQqVT7xlP4kuk_-/s1600/anthony+forgive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxavmpuyYyiQ2l6gEx096RTJKla9h7x82zRvyCwznU0M293iupK-GtxOFfHpHhsVvULaeEdJ_4ZV4mi_rwp_sFMbjFp4e7DDnmmnJsnqQ646U_VUuocf7elRnmyKQqVT7xlP4kuk_-/s400/anthony+forgive.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS6zbuvqimYuXVrqQlSOSnWlZMELOEtLR0HP7wG4dQOhGikQLUwMNe7K3m4BrAAn_-rJyISNNvZR6OLEenY06t5scq_CShiT1W3aa8z7kZEHgKJ9CQudk5quWhfWCuY_26yzlN3eyP/s1600/anthony+tribal+sun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS6zbuvqimYuXVrqQlSOSnWlZMELOEtLR0HP7wG4dQOhGikQLUwMNe7K3m4BrAAn_-rJyISNNvZR6OLEenY06t5scq_CShiT1W3aa8z7kZEHgKJ9CQudk5quWhfWCuY_26yzlN3eyP/s320/anthony+tribal+sun.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />The praying hands holding the rosary, I recall him telling me, were tattooed at Distinction Ink in Brooklyn. The tattoo reads "Forgive me Father, for I have sinned".<br /><br />He did not tell me where he had this tribal sun done, but it's definitely an attention-grabbing piece and certainly worth a mention.<br /><br />Thanks to Anthony for sharing his tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Anthony's Dragon (and more!)

I spotted Anthony on the N train in Brooklyn and was happy to see him also switching for the local R train at 59th Street. As luck would hav...

Read more »