You are doing great <| sep |> Absolutely . My family did the same thing , same old one until one day it started smoking . Got a new one and it makes a world of difference <| sep |> You can bet that I indulge in displays of ego myself . So , my comment is not from a place of judgement but from looking to what I understand from Gurbani . What I talked about is the ideal the thing we strive for . I have no doubt in my mind that shedding the ego and therefore shedding those things that have no purpose other than to inflate the ego is what Sikhs strive for . But the reality is that most of us are not at that level as students . So , is having a tattoo okay ? Sure , it okay if you have just engaged Gurbani . Are having kundiya muccha okay ? Sure , if you have just stopped shaving and committed to growing your kesh . But as we continue to get closer to the Guru I believe we grow more distant from our man the individualist mind . As that happens we ask ourselves does this serve a purpose other than to inflate my ego ? If it doesn ' t we lose it . Take the example of clothes If you dress in ripped and tattered clothes you won ' t get a job , people won ' t respect you and you ' re going to have tough time functioning in society . So to live in the world and carry out good karm having decent and even infashion clothes are helpful . Now lets think about tattoos , are they helpful ? I would say no , but we each have to answer the question for ourselves .