What my tattoo means to me.

Since as a student in university, (for those who knew me well, i am a Buddhist and a Hindu.) , in the town called Manipal, quiet, a very conducive place for student. Throught my 5 years in India, i had gone for pilgrimage instead of coming back home to Malaysia to this place call Prashanti Nilayam.
In 5 years, I've been to this holy pilgrimage place 8 times.
From Manipal, I have to take a 8 hours bus ride to Bangalore, then board another bus for 4 hours before reaching the gates of Prashanti Nilayam.
The grnd entrance into Prashanti Nilayam, a telegu word which means abode of peace. You'll see people from all around the world,Japanese, Malaysian, Japanese, Bosnian, Italian, German, Trinidad and tobago, and more.
The Mandir "main temple" is where special ceremony are held. In those 8 times i visiteed this place, i will alway feel blissfull, spiritually energized, and felt closer to God. A place of tranquility.
This is a hall where people would wait for our for our spiritual Guru would perform Darshan, ( God than manifest as man -hence called Avatar, who will walk among the crowd and perform healing by manifesting holy ashes from the palm of his hands.
My then my interest in hinduism grew, and i bought tons of books on hinduism. There are so many similarities between Buddhism and Hinduism. Back in 1994, during the Sarin nerve gas attack, thousand of Japanese came here for the Guru's blessings, miraculously they became better. Oh, yes, i met Goldie Hawn there!
The white building is the place where the Guru rest in between Darshans.
People would start to fill the all 3 hours before Swami(a term we use for Enlightened individuals) to come out for Darshan.
Lighting of Swami's resident at night.
After reading several books, there is this particular book written by the late John Hislop, entitled my Baba and I, i must have read that book at least seral hundred times. each whenever i am in trouble and needed a solution, i would read the book, and miraculously WILL always find the answer in that book.
Being a vegatarian for 8 years, being totally immersed in the Hinduism, for 12 years , i have always wanted to get a tattoo of the sanskrit OM, but fear of parents reaction. After a while, i know my tattoo means something deeply personal to me, and its not a fashion statement. It is tattoed at a strategic area where it is kept hidden.
So, one day, i thouht to myself, if i have this undying love for a tattoe for over 12 years, then its meant to be. So... i got myself tattoed.