Buddhists shave their heads. Why Buddhist monks shave their heads, but yogis, on the contrary, never cut their hair
Why do Buddhist monks shave their heads, while yogis, on the contrary, never cut their hair? The subtle energy of a person is stored in the hair. It is very easy to feel - after a haircut, any person feels renewed - not only externally, but also internally. Such a ritual as tonsure exists in many religions and spiritual schools, through this ritual a person receives initiation into a certain teaching. It is believed that after being tonsured, a person is completely renewed - as if born again. Buddhist monks and Indian brahmacaris regularly shave their heads. Why is this done? First of all, in order to “drown out” the manifestations of personality (ego / ahamkara), as well as to regularly renew the subtle energy of a person. Thus, any desires and attachments are gradually cut off - therefore, it will be easier for the practitioner to clear his consciousness and progress in his sadhana (spiritual practice). Monks shave their heads also because it makes it easier to keep the body clean. Shaving the head in armies also promotes obedience and cohesion (in this case cohesion is achieved through lack of individuality). On the other hand, why then do sadhus and yogis, on the contrary, never cut their hair? At the beginning of their journey, yogis and sadhus go through a rite of passage, which includes shaving the head. Here they are born again and from that moment their attention is directed only inward. After initiation, they renounce everything worldly and no longer contact the outside world. They concentrate completely on sadhana and also practice tapasya (austerity) intensively. It is believed that the spiritual power (shakti) from tapasya is stored in the hair, so every yogi values his hair very much. In the Bible, in the Old Testament, there is a myth about Samson, a powerful warrior. He said: “The razor did not touch my head. If you shave me off, then my strength will depart from me. " And so it happened - he lost his immense strength and power when his long hair was cut while he slept. In Russia, there was also a belief that the power of witches and sorcerers was in their hair. To this day, they are depicted with long hair. Thus, yogis and sadhus do not cut their hair because they help to better store the results of intense spiritual practices and austerities, better to feel and feel these results. These people no longer need to cleanse their consciousness from the influence of the external world, because they do not contact with it. Brahmacaris (disciple monks) must first cleanse their subtle body of various unfavorable samskaras (subconscious impressions), and regular shaving of the head helps very well in this process. In this way, Buddhists constantly “muffle” their ahamkara (ego) and also purify themselves from all sorts of samskaras.
If you have a beard longer than 10 cm, wear dark clothes and go to church, then you must have heard in your address - "Father, has the service already begun?" And only after seeing skinny jeans, a skull on a T-shirt and an absolutely humble look, people understand - no, you are not from the clergy. In this article, we will look at the relationship of different religions to bearding. Which of them welcome, and which reject the hair on the man's face. What is a beard for spiritual people and what is the meaning of its cultivation.
Beard and Orthodoxy: the meaning of a beard in Orthodoxy
In the Orthodox world, a distinctive feature of ordained men has always been the presence of a beard. We will not quote literally the scriptures, there are many of them, and they are loaded with nuances, but the essence is this - God created people (men) in his likeness, which means that it is not good to go against nature and shave off what grows naturally. Bravery was considered the act of heretics and opponents of the church. Shaving off his beard, a man exposes his face and delicate skin, becomes like a woman. Thus, he kind of rejects his masculine principle and goes against nature, against the Law of God. There are sources that speak of the debauchery and homosexuality of these men, which is a huge sin and is condemned in every possible way. There was no place for such men in the church at the service, let alone in the monastery. It was considered unacceptable to walk among monastics with a naked face. To change the image in which you were created, to shave off your beard, standing out in this way and sticking out your necrotic nature was considered a sin. On all the icons, Jesus Christ, saints, martyrs - all with a beard. And where there are men without facial hair, youths are depicted, they have not yet entered the appropriate age. But be that as it may, in the modern Orthodox world there is no strict law to wear a beard. This is more of a tradition than an unshakable rule. You should not be embarrassed if you meet a beardless priest, although even today there are not so many of them.
Beard in Islam: what does a beard mean among Muslims
Among Muslims, growing a beard is usually classified as "Sunnah". Sunnah is a sacred legend about the life of Muhammad, these are the actions that the Prophet himself performed. That is, if he wore and grew a beard, then modern Muslims should take an example from him. Another question is what kind of beard should be. Irregular growth, shaggy and tousled beard should not be allowed. A person who does not follow the hair on his face can be considered unkempt and unkempt, and this is unacceptable among Muslims. There are many stories about when the righteous caliphs ordered to put in order and shorten the facial hair of men who looked like savages. A Muslim is supposed to be beautiful not only internally, but also externally. It should be neat and tidy. It is permissible to enter the mosque only in this form, appearing among your brothers you need to be an example for people. This is what the Prophet himself bequeathed. That is why, in the modern world, Muslims are leading in the ranking of the most beautiful and well-groomed bearded men. Having a thick and burning black hair on the face by nature, they have it according to religious laws. But it should be noted that the Muslim mustache is usually shortened, and at least once every forty days. This rule is also mandatory, since it is a sunnah.
Beard in Buddhism: Why Buddhists Shave
It is known that hair is a store of information and contains the subtle energy of a person. A Buddhist monk should be far from worldly life and vanity, so cutting and shaving is for him a moment of zeroing, suppressing human passions and taming his own ego. Siddhartha Gautama, who later became a Buddha, leaving his father's house, first of all shaved his head. Buddhist monks do the same in order to show their renunciation of the mundane and to reinforce their belonging to the "holy life." The lifestyle of a Buddhist monk is based on a large number of practice and meditation. For maximum immersion in oneself and the highest concentration, it is necessary to exclude all external stimuli and influencing factors. Another reason for shaving his head, beard and mustache is the desire of a Buddhist monk to devote himself completely to the ministries every day. Grooming your beard, brushing and washing your hair all take time and attention. Why waste energy on such mundane things, if you can put it into another sacred channel. There are certain rules about how long hair is acceptable, which means shaving your head several times a month. A razor is an essential attribute of a Buddhist monk. But it is worth noting that we are talking exclusively about monks, about people who have chosen asceticism as their principle of life. Among lay Buddhists, there are no strict rules about wearing a beard and cutting hair.
Beard in Judaism: Why Jews Don't Shave
Jews always, with all their might and under any circumstances, try to honor traditions, comprehend the wisdom of ancient scriptures and grow spiritually. It is preferable to carry out the will of the Creator in the form and appearance that was inherent in the ancestors. At the first glance at a person, it should be clear that he respects and accepts the centuries-old Jewish heritage. Beard, side locks, kippah, black robe - serve as an identifier, the representative of which people are in front of us. The Torah gives a specific setting for the Jews on the account of facial hair: you cannot cut hair in five points on the lower part of the face. One point is easy to spot - it's whiskey. Leaving hair on their temples, Jews grow sideways. But the boundaries of the other four points are extremely difficult to establish, there are no specific interpretations, so it is customary to leave the entire beard intact. Moreover, shaving off his beard, a person moves away from the Creator, for he loses a part of himself, while he was created in the likeness of the Most High. But there is a note: if a person feels that he has not attained the highest spiritual level, then one should not be afraid of shaving. Interpreting the Torah, the sages decreed: you can cut off facial hair with scissors; pluck with tweezers; shave only with kosher shaving machines (currently there are two); using a straight razor blade is strictly prohibited; you can cut your facial hair on any day except Saturday. These rules must be followed by those who strive with all their hearts to be a true and spiritual Jew. But the worldly life of a Jew is full of its own rules and nuances, so you shouldn't blame him for his shaved beard or lack of a kippah.
Victor Novitsky:
Long hair is associated with freedom, and shaved hair is associated with slavery. Moreover, this means not only explicit slavery, but also internal slavery, which sharply limits the internal world and permissible behavior. For example, security officials usually have limited horizons. Therefore, they resort to partial ("Ukrainians") or complete shaving. Very tough religions, as well as fanatical movements, also require shaving. like
Pavel Romakin:
Buddha is synonymous with teacher. A teacher is a profession, or a vocation, or a title, but this is not a specific person. To say that Buddha had a beard is like saying that the teacher had a beard. It is always necessary to specify who we are talking about. This is the first thing. Secondly, Buddhism does not provide for a parrot repetition of the image, behavior, communication style and, in general, everything that a person does. Everyone is looking for their own way, observing others who have achieved their goals.
Because they are pagans !!! God gave a beard to a man, shaving her is a sin. Bible Do not cut your head around, and do not spoil the edge of your beard. (Leviticus 19:27) Jews and zealous Christians do not shave their beards; this was invented by homosexuals and eunuchs in ancient Rome and Egypt. Hindus don't shave their beards, that's a plus. Masulmanes do not touch their beards either. Christian monks all with beards and Jesus himself and the Apostles. Buddhists say that they renounce the world in this way, it's even funny, on the contrary, they do more care for the flesh, constantly scrape their faces, they have nothing to do, how many machines have been translated. Shaving your beard is a shame. APOSTOLIC REGULATIONS Should not also spoil the hair on the beard and change the image of a person contrary to nature. "Do not bare, says the Law, your beards." For this the Creator God made suitable for women, and He recognized as obscene to men. But you, who bares your beard in order to please, as resisting the Law, you will be an abomination with God, who created you in His image. So, if you want to please God, then refrain from everything that He hates, and do not do anything that does not please Him. Look at Plato, Lao Tzu, Zen Buddhists, Confucius all with a beard! Even Darwin with the Beard. Shaving a man's beard is a sin, and growing hair on his head is a sin Does not nature itself teach you that if a husband grows hair, it is dishonorable for him, but if a wife grows hair, it is an honor for her, since hair was given to her instead of a veil? (First Epistle to Corinthians 11: 14,15)
Konstantin Smertin:
From the point of view of the Tibetan branch of my denomination, hair is a manifestation of bodily (carnal) impurity. Not in the sense of dirt, but in the sense of impure, animal, sexual energy. Buddha Shakyamuni did not take monastic vows, in addition, He had the highest realizations, and therefore His body was completely pure energy. Monks of almost all branches and orders (with some exceptions) take a vow indicating perfect bodily purity (celibacy), and therefore shave their heads. Monks who did not take such vows (for example, ministers in the Japanese tradition) also shave their heads, since shaving the head is separately prescribed in monastic regulations (see above). In the Tibetan lineage, many practitioners, on the other hand, are D.O. l. f. n. NS. wear long hair.
For several reasons. First of all, in this way the monk practices the maximum renunciation of his own it (since bald people, in other words, outwardly are not so different), and also in this way the monk deprives himself of an important sign of sexual attractiveness. There is no need for a monk, and even nuns shave their heads for a long time. And the main reason is Vinaya. This is a set of rules for monks compiled by Buddha Shakyamuni. These rules were drawn up in order not to annoy the laity with an inappropriate sight, smell, and so on. In addition, from the point of view of hygiene, bald head is much easier to care for, and the simpler the life of a monk, the better. :-)
I noticed that the longer the hair on my head, the less extraneous Thoughts enter my brain!
Having thought about this, I came to the conclusion that my own Thoughts remain (as Torsion Fields) on my hair, and thus, a barrier to unwanted thoughts from outside is created!
It's not for nothing that before, almost everyone wore long hair!
Om Sai Ram!
E Kirill
This is partly true. Hair stores information from the past, but not only. Traditions that leave hair - honor ancestors and maintain contact with them through the hair. But there is another point of view. Have you ever wondered why in the Eastern tradition, when ordained as a monk, they cut their hair and no longer let go of their hair?
The truth also happens. What is the difference?
- Om Sri Sai Ram
1) Buddhist monks shave their heads because they want to be like Buddha in everything! (And the Buddha (former prince Siddhattha), leaving home in search of a way beyond death, old age and disease, shaved off his beard and hair on his head, probably so that his subordinates would not recognize him! Since then, all Buddhist monks began to shave their heads too! )
2) By the way, hair also gives physical strength! (Please remember Samson from the Bible! ( http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samson )) As I think, the physical strength of a man is given to him by his Sinlessness! (Since men consume a lot of energy with sperm! Jesus also warned about this, saying to men that if you get aroused looking at women, you will end up in a trash heap (Gehena is a trash heap near Jerusalem!))
Om Sai Ram!
Purusha
I don't think Buddhists shave because they want to be like Buddha ...because the Buddha does not have a shaved head ... that is, a shaved head is not his symbol ... at the beginning, yes, he cut his hair, but as before and after, his hair was long and tied in a bun (which at first it spoke of his noble origin), - shaving off his hair, he renounced his royal status ... and then he did not cut his hair - they more and more accumulated the energy of his meditations ...
Buddha's hair is often depicted in such wavy curls (including on statues)
in addition to Buddhists, many other spiritual movements accompany the adoption of sannyas by shaving the head or the renunciation of the world by cutting hair (albeit not completely) ... - for example, tonsure a monk ... or tonsure of Roman priests ...
or here's another example of a naked head from another culture - the most famous of our Vaishnava contemporaries - Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada ... and he clearly did not imitate Krishna !!
it is also known that high-status Indian priests shaved the tonsures on the top of their heads in order to receive information from the Cosmos!
at Swami's darshans, one could often see Hindu women with shaved heads ... and their children were also shaved - we photographed some of them
I believe that shaving your hair - cutting a haircut - is a symbol of renunciation of the previous life and the energy accumulated in the hair ... and "zeroing" of your karma .... - abandoning the ego .... cutting off the past
then, by growing hair, a spiritual follower or guru retains all his successive stages of self-improvement in energy information stored in a special hair structure (the hair has a scaly structure in which the energy information field is well sublimated and preserved) - like Christ, for example! - or the same Buddha who did not cut his hair for 6 years, and by the time of enlightenment had hair to the waist ...
after self-realization, the hair was cut off, but to a certain length - sufficient to work no longer as antennas that capture cosmic energy, but as emitters that send transcendental waves to the surrounding world ... and to us, as Swami did !!
Swami had the most extraordinary hair imaginable !! He Himself said that His hair is a forest where people come to rest .... and. of course, each of His hairs prevented more than one catastrophe in the world - saturating space with blessed divine energy capable of influencing not only individual people, but also global events of the planetary and cosmic level
E Kirill
Buddhists have a shaved head - a symbol of purity of thoughts, a meditative mind, an empty root cause of things. The Shaivites have hair on their heads - a symbol of renunciation of the mundane and acceptance of nature as it is. The Old Believers have a beard and hair - a connection with the Family. For women, it is a symbol of chastity, a connection with the invisible world and the feminine source. Warriors have hair - a symbol of victories. )))
Choose who what
In any case, wearing hair is a sacrament. And getting a haircut is a serious step.
E Kirill
In Hinduism, this is called Mundan- ritual shaving of the hair of the head. The purpose of the ritual is to offer one's past to the Beloved Lord and to take refuge in Him. Thus, the Lord takes away everything that you had before and gives a new future.
The sacred place for the mundan among the Vaisnavas is Tirupati at Lord Balaji, among the Shaivites - the bank of the Ganges River.
In the books dedicated to Babaji, there are many episodes related to the mundan.
mahaprema
Babaji himself in the first years of his appearance on our plane most often had a shaved head
or with a short haircut, but in later years he already wore long hair up to his shoulders.
In the book "The Path of the Disciple of Mahavatar Babaji" there is a description of this ritual with an explanation of its meaning:
mahaprema
"Babaji wanted everyone who came to the ashram for a longer period, especially foreigners, to shave their heads. This ceremony is called mundan. At first, I did not consider it important for myself and did not shave my hair. I was not particularly attached to my hair, but I was afraid of the scorching equatorial sun. But after Babaji helped me to overcome my pride in performing pranam, I was ready to make a mundan. This procedure took place on the bank of the river. One old man, whom everyone called mundan baba, shaved his head to everyone who Babaji gave him this position, and he did it for free, but everyone gave him five or ten rupees. We sat on his haunches, and after prayer he began to shave me.
This first mundan was special to me, as if another part of my life was leaving forever. He shaved very carefully with his rusty straight razor, but still managed to cut me several times. After a few mundans, the skin on his head becomes tough, and then he showed his skill. In the old days, Mundan Baba was Babaji's personal barber and shaved him almost every day. I heard that one day Babaji decided that he no longer needed this fuss and, running his hand over his face, his beard stopped growing. In order not to deprive the Mundan Baba of his business, he insisted that we all go to him to shave our heads.
And in the early years, Babaji himself did this rite to his close disciples.
Mundan is one of the rituals of initiation in Hinduism. When a teacher shaves his student's head, it signifies a stage of drawing closer and accepting him. When I agreed to make a mundan, I knew nothing about it. This decision came spontaneously. intuitively.
That morning I went for darshan with a bloody scalp and was about to do pranam. Just in front of me, a woman came up to Babaji with a gift in a box tied with a rope. Babaji asked Gaura Davey to bring scissors, opened the box and examined the gift. When it was my turn and I did pranam, Babaji took my beard and deftly cut it off my left side with these scissors. Then he told me to go to Mundan Baba and shave off my entire beard, which I did after the darshan.
I rarely had to communicate with Babaji in words, since every action of him was accompanied by inner illumination or understanding. When he took me by the beard and began to cut my hair with scissors, the memory of the monastery came to my mind. It was somewhere in Europe ... in the fourteenth century ... I was tonsured a monk .... Seeing this scene before my eyes, I realized that I had been on the path to Truth for a very long time, and that Babaji had acted out this scene to remind me of this. I saw an endlessly stretching road, and I walk along it from life to life, and that this road ends at the feet of my teacher.
By the river Mundan Baba shaved off my beard, and I immediately felt an amazing joy, turning into euphoria. I realized that with this gesture with scissors, imperceptible to a stranger's eyes, he accepted me and shone me as a student. From that moment on, I no longer felt like a stranger or a stranger. My attitude towards staying at the ashram has changed radically.
Mundan has a very strong effect on appearance. Hair and caring for them takes a lot of time for women and is their main external decoration. By losing their hair, many women and some men felt a loss of their sex appeal. For a celibate life in an ashram, which was aimed exclusively at spiritual development, this had a positive effect. I noticed that there was no usual gender difference in my relationship with women with shaven heads. I began to see them simply as a person, and not as a woman.
Many have noticed that a shaved head does not require maintenance. In primitive circumstances, this makes it easier to take care of hygiene and cleanliness.According to Babaji, mundan cures many diseases.
It seems to me that there is a direct connection between hair, your ego and sexuality. When a person does not care about his appearance and does not think about his sexual role, then many psychosomatic diseases that are associated with low self-esteem and the need to be desired by someone simply disappear. It is possible that hair is related to subtle bodies, and their absence helps to establish the correct flow of energy from the brain to the universe mind.
Hindu women almost never shaved their heads, and Babaji did not insist that they do mundan. It was mainly aimed at men and women from Western countries, in which the lifestyle contains promiscuous sexual energies and which are easily aroused. Hindu women, on the other hand, are exceptionally pure, modest and shy and of high moral standards.
And another very interesting episode - from the book "Incomprehensible Babaji"
(I especially liked the mantra "Hari Hari Boom Boom")
"I will forever remember this Wednesday two days before leaving. Deep down, I was glad that I had not done the mundan. In the evening I came to Aarti. Karku Anand came up to me and said, 'His Holiness Babaji wants you to make a mundan." What a shock it was for me! What to do? Eight o'clock in the evening ... all the shops are closed ... So I went straight to Babaji and in a weak trembling voice asked Him:
- Babaji. do you really want me to make a mundan?
He looked at me with his magic eyes and said loudly:
-Yes.
I knew immediately that I had to obey. So I answered:
- I will do it in the name of the Love of Lord Shiva. - and left.
I saw two men and asked them. where to go. to make a mundan. They replied: "It is impossible, everything is closed." I insisted and said, "I need to do this. Babaji wants me to do this." Therefore, I began to walk home with them and raised the whole village to its feet. About twenty people followed me, trying to help me find someone. Finally, after a long search, we found a young Indian who agreed to make me a mundan. All these people wanted to see how he would make the mundan. There were twenty more people in the room where I spent the night, and my American friend and devoted Babaji put everyone out - only a priest from the Shiva temple remained in the room.
After the mundan, I immediately went to Babaji. Aarti had already ended, there were only four people left to receive Darshan. Babaji saw me and looked at me with a smile and with such great love.
When I performed Pranam, He placed His Divine Sacred Hand on my head and said loudly: "Hari, Hari, Boom, Boom."
I was so happy that I obeyed him, happiness overwhelmed me. The Italian devotee hugged me, kissed me and said:
"Zia (auntie) you have such a wonderful head like a yogi."
I did not notice that Babaji was standing behind me, and for the second time I was honored with mercy, because He again laid His Divine Sacred Hands on my head, saying: "Hari, Hari, Boom, Boom".
From that moment Babaji gave me his Grace and Love and 70% health. I was sick when I came to India. My doctors were amazed and could not understand what happened after this trip to India. I returned home almost healthy. They were against my trip to India because I was not feeling well ... Now, seven years later, the traces of my heart attack and other cardiac crises are gradually disappearing ... "
But Swami did not find anything about hair, probably, because what
located inside the skull is more important than what grows outside.
After all, He speaks (conventionally) several thousand times about the right thoughts, but nothing about the hair.
The same is true for long hair. And everything will be about one thing - about giving up worldly attachments.
I read that before Swami took part in the first ritual haircut for the children of devotees ...
And here is what the Apostle Paul said about the hair and its length: "Does not nature itself teach you that if a husband grows hair, it is dishonorable for him, but if a wife grows hair, it is an honor for her, since hair was given to her instead of a veil ? "(1 Cor. 11: 14,15)
And this is information about Buddha's hair and its meaning as a relic (by the way, in Kalmykia, in a Buddhist temple, the hair of Lama Tsongkhapa is also kept) ...
Chaittiyo Pagoda is a pilgrimage site and a famous Buddhist shrine in Myanmar. The pagoda stands on a huge rounded boulder, placed on top of a mountain. The stone, known as the Golden Stone, does not fit tightly to the base and is fixed in place without much reinforcement. According to the legend, the stone is held in this position by a powerful relic - the hair of the Buddha, placed in a pagoda.