Zen Circle Tattoo Ideas and Meanings 🖤⭕🖤

Zen tattoo meaning

The zen symbol is associated with Zen Buddhism and Japanese calligraphy. It means the moment when the mind is completely freed from thoughts and ideas, allowing the true essence of a person to create.

This image is one of the few recorded in history. In 1707, the monk Hakuin saw the skill of the calligrapher of the Zen people, which astonished him to the point of burning his brushes, believing his painting to be a non-reflective inner essence.

The most attractive Zen pattern among the masters is the enso (Zen circle). It is a symbol of completeness, wholeness, the cyclical nature of being. It is a graphic representation of the content of the Heart Sutra.

Such a wearable image may be in the form of a closed or open circle. In the first case, the circle is a symbol of continuous karmic rebirths, and the space in it is a sign of liberation and enlightenment. The second option indicates something whiter, majestic, inseparable from the outside world.
Such an image in the body symbolizes:

• lightning;
• force;
• elegance;
• the universe;
• empty.

Both women and men decorate the body with such a tattoo. It is most often applied to back, the side, the shoulder, he arm and the chest.

Zen circle tattoo with ornamental leaves and cane on forearm

Sometimes different elements can be inscribed in a zen circle:

• A tree , as a symbol of unity with nature, the desire to leave everything mundane and connect with the forces of the surrounding world, become spiritually purer, contemplate and enjoy it. Owners of such tattoos do not like to be around people, but their loneliness does not cause them discomfort.

• Lotuses: a symbol of life, the beginning of a new path, rebirth. The Enso and lotus tattoo means the connection of life and death, eternal existence and happiness.

• The point in the center of the Zen circle symbolizes the dial, time, its transience. Those who have such a tattoo control their life, their time, they are very responsible and know what they are doing.

• A sign of belligerence, strength, confidence, resistance and sometimes aggression is the enso tattoo, within which a warrior or a dragon is represented.

• The inscriptions inside or next to the Enso tattoo reflect the life motto of a person, the desire to correspond to these words, to draw strength and energy from them to achieve their goals.

• The image of a monk with a Zen circle- a symbol of wisdom and self-knowledge, fight for spiritual balance and inner harmony.

The Zen circle tattoo is universal, it is equally suitable for both men and women. Most often, the image of the Zen circle is applied to the shoulders, arms, legs, chest or back. Traditionally, this image is quite large in size, but small variants are also found and they are in no way inferior to large-scale tattoos.

The Zen circle tattoo has a fairly limited performance. But if you want and interact with a professional tattoo artist, you can create a unique image. For example, using the watercolor technique, complementing the drawing with blurry colored spots. Alternatively, you can experiment with combining the Zen circle with Buddha images and other oriental elements. And since the Enso symbol is closely associated not only with Buddhism, but also with Japanese calligraphy, Japanese hieroglyphics will not be superfluous to create a unique sketch of a tattoo.