# Hair Today. Hair Tomorrow



## spnadmin (Dec 4, 2009)

*Hair Today, Hair Tomorrow
* Nanak Singh              Nishter
 _                 The theory of evolution infers tht every species adapts in its                  anatomy, changes advantageously to itself in its struggle for                  survival against the set of challenges it has to confront. It                  retains the characters which give it an edge and discards those                  which are either of no use or a liability. The fact that human                  hairs have been retained and evolved through the grim battle of                  human survival for millions of years is a definite pointer to                  they being of a genetic asset the significance of which is not                  yet perceived by us._

             At              a time when the Sikh community is celebrating events like the Mr              Singh competition and the newspapers have carried pictures of young              Sikhs sporting dazzling turbans, it is all the more necessary that              we focus the debate on why an increasing number of Sikh children,              particularly young ones, are preferring to lose their hair. Why do              our youth cut or destroy kesh or prefer pigmentation? 

Some of the less              informed Sikhs are carried away under the influence of dominant              trends in society or fashions and deprive themselves of this most              invaluable boon by God and become apostates and irreligious in the              eyes of other, religious persons irrespective of any faith.  

Unmindfully they              become instrumental in degrading the sanctity of Sikhism. Surely              there must be some purpose of nature in endowing the highest              creation on earth, the man, with longest hair on the scalp coupled              with biggest brain (cerebrum). No other animal living being has such              a big cerebrum in its skull. Nor this crown of glory to adorn its              head, as well befits the King of all creation of this globe.

The man is              decidedly a hairy animal with distinctive and specific regional              distribution of his hairy coat. His whole body surface is studded              with hair excepting only palms and soles. It is the human being              alone who possesses the longest hair over his head and so on his              face, among the whole animal world. There is little hair on face to              the fair sex but she has got longer and denser hair on her scalp              than her counter-part, the man. 
Baldness is the              usual of man whereas females seldom get bald.

Here, I am              discussing the essentiality. And indispensability of growing uncut              hair of whole body without doing any harm to them in any way and              without changing their natural colour by dyeing according to the              decree of “Sikh Rehat Maryada” (Sikh Code of Conduct). I will try to              focus on the importance of wearing, caring, protecting and              preserving the wholesome existence of naturally grown hair.

According to              Sikh belief and practice, it is the long hair which is essential              coupled with turban, and as you all know, the Sikh apostasy begins              with cutting, trimming or shaving hair, and then the turban on the              head disappears. The long hair and turban on head speaks volumes of              the identify of a Sikh, just on sight even from a distance.

God has been              attributed with thousands of descriptive names in Hinduism (Sanatan              Dharam) and with ninety nine descriptive names in Quran. Sikhism              believes that God is without name and has innumerable Names. Sikhism              endorses all the names and has given another name as numerical One.              That is how, Shri Guru Granth Sahib starts with the digit One for              God, but not with any particular name of God. 

* The Sikhs do                  not have any problem with the people of other faiths, who do not                  follow the footsteps of their founders in keeping hair and                  destroy the God given gift. Sikhs do not question the matters of                  the faith of other religion, whatever they may be. The behavior                  of the civilized society demands that they in turn should learn                  basic ethics not to interfere, question or create problems for                  the Sikhs, who vehemently follow their founders in keeping hair.*

Kesh is the              Sanskrit word for hair. Keshava is also one of the names of God in              Hinduism, which means “having beautiful hair.” In Hinduism, hair has              been attributed as the most important part of the body, which could              be sacrificed instead of offering sacrifice of the self. Now a days,              hair is kept to be sacrificed at the occasion of pilgrimage of              temples. 

Only in Andhra              Pradesh, there are three famous temples where men and women devotees              from all over the world come to offer their hair. 1-Shri              Vekateshwara  Swamy Temple at Tirupati, in Kadapa district; 2- Shri              Narsimha Swamy Temple at Bhongir in Nalgonda district; 3- Shri Raja              Rajeshwara Swamy Temple at Vemalwada in Karimnager district. These              temples get an annual foreign exchange income of crores of rupees by              exporting the offered hair. This indicates the sanctity and worth of              keeping and sacrificing the hair in Hinduism.

*Sikhism — a              new way of life *

Sikhism is a new              way of life based on humanism and enhanced with spiritualism. It is              the latest religion which got recognized among world’s major              religions. Sikhism does not believe in any segmentation of human              race in the name of caste, creed, religion, country, race and              gender.  

It believes that              Humanity is one religion. Shri Guru Nanak Sahib initiated this              mission about five centuries ago and it was collectively structured              by the genius and living of the Ten Gurus during a span of their              Guruship tenure of 239 years. Sikhism stood for protection of              religious freedom by sacrifices and even by using force. It believes              that all religions and scriptures are equally good and different              paths to approach to God. It does not believe in converting people              into its folds, and do not refuse to entertain if any person wants              to embrace Sikhism. Even then it has attracted more than 30 million              people as staunch followers. This is a new record that during such a              short span of time no other religion could voluntarily attract so              many followers. The reason is obvious and simple because it has the              potential to meet and overcome the challenges of human life in all              adversities. As any innovation is the result of the experiences and              shortcomings of the prevailing practices. It does not infer that all              the other religions are in any way inferior or incomplete. The basic              teaching of Sikhism is that all the religions and their Scriptures              are equally true. A person who does not reflect over it is false.              (Page No. 1350 - Shri Guru Granth Sahib)”. 

At the same time              we cannot deny the thumb rule that every later innovation is              improved and advanced in concept and advantages in all respects.              That is why people always may opt for the later superior commodity. 
*
             Modernisation * 

For example,              take liquor and gambling. It is banned in some religions. But              Sikhism has developed the idea by prohibiting intoxication in any              form and earning without doing any earnest labors. No religion              prohibits tobacco, but Sikhism strictly banned consuming of tobacco              in any form. I need not remind that today tobacco has been proved to              be the most deadly killer of the human race through cancer,              hypertension and a number of cardio respiratory diseases requiring              most expensive treatment. No religion of the world gives equal              religious and social status to women. Whereas Sikhism, grants              complete equality at par with men. It also allows them to perform              religious rites in the Gurdwaras even during the period of              menstruation which is a natural biological process. Shri Guru Nanak              Sahib has declared her supremacy saying that how do you call her              impure, who gives birth to saints and kings and responsible for              growing the human lire. Only God exists without a woman. It has              abandoned all religious rituals and liberated the masses from the              clutches of priestly class and any need of mediators between human              being and God. 

Pilgrimages and              fasts for a few days a year are prescribed in most of the religions.              But Sikhism does not endorse pilgrimages and advocates forever              remembering God, minimum eating and minimum sleep throughout the              year and all through the life. Wearing turban over the head protects              from hot and cold weather and fatal head injuries for which helmet              is invented now and made necessary for the riders of horses and two              wheelers all over the world. But the Sikhs are exempted, because              they already posses ways and methods earlier than this technology.

* The Muslim                  invaders faced a problem as the conquerors and the conquered                  both were keeping hair and wearing turban. To distinguish by                  appearance they ordered that no Hindu should keep the hair and                  wear the turban. This had made the high caste Hindus to keep a                  bunch of little token hair over the head, hidden in the shaved                  hair of the head as Choti. *

Take a weapon.              Only responsible officers of the government agencies are allowed to              carry a weapon, that too on official duties. But in the aircrafts,              no body is allowed to carry any weapon, whereas the Sikhs are              allowed to carry a Kirpan of six inches blade in the domestic              flights. This keeping of Kirpan (weapon) for men and women is              another glorious tenet of Sikhism for maintaining self-respect and              self-confidence as a sovereign person of Wondrous God (Wahguru Ji Ka              Khalsa) to serve the society.
Some three years              ago, on 23-9-2006 at Madurai in Tamil Nadu State, a person met the              President of India Dr. A.P J. Abdul Kalam at Circuit House. The              women sub-inspector was suspended for allowing him to see the              President along with a plastic razor in his possession on the charge              of” dereliction of duty. In contrast, on 2-11-1996 at Rashtrapathi              Nilayam at Hyderabad this author though at that time undergoing              trial under TADA, was allowed to carry Kirpan for receiving the              State Literary Award to be given by the President of India. When the              security people objected, the Military A.D.C. to the President HE              Shankar Dayal Sharma, came to receive me at the entrance.

This is an              example of a bearded Sikh commanding the dignity and respect from              the First Citizen of the Country which no other citizen is entitled              to. My intention in quoting these examples is just to project that              Sikhism is not an orthodox or outdated religion as told by the              people who want to condemn Sikhism without giving any justified              reasons. Whereas it is established that it is the religion relevant              for all circumstances and ages and that its tenets are the most              scientific and helpful for healthy, secured and dignified life.

*Founders of              other religions *

We have to admit              that there are certain disparities in all religions and their              ideology. But at the same time, there is a much similarity between              founders of all religions that they kept long hair and flowing              beards. For example, take Zoroaster the founder of Zorastrianism,              Abraham founder of Judaism and Moses, Jesus Christ founder of              Christianity and Hazrat Mohammad founder of Islam and his Khalifas              were having long hair and flowing beards. The images of Gautam              Buddha founder of Buddhism and Mahavir founder of Jainism are also              seen with long hair tied as a knot over the head. All the Greek              philosophers, rishis, munis, sadhus, saints, all religious and pious              persons of every religion throughout the world including Tolstoy and              Rabindra Nath Tagore kept long hair. We can observe on television              screen everyday, female and male with long flowing hair moustache              and beard are taking part in thrilling fights of Free Style              Wrestling and other games and the hair do not cause any              inconvenience or obstruction in playing their games and making them              victorious. 

*Hair - not a              mere identity *

The theory of              evolution infers that every species adapts in its anatomy, changes              advantageously to itself in its struggle for survival against the              set of challenges it has to confront. It retains the characters              which give it an edge and discards those which are either of no use              or a liability. The fact that human hairs have been retained and              evolved through the grim battle of human survival for millions of              years is a definite pointer to they being of a genetic asset the              significance of which is not yet perceived by us. Any artificial              interference in the scheme of nature by destroying them may prove to              be a hazardous move the consequences of which can be catastrophic.

One of the main              cause of today’s stressful life is an induvidual’s desire to              artificialy look good. And the tragedy of today’s fashion is that it              is carved by the businessmen for promoting their income. By any              means they want to make the money. They mould the men folk to look              like a woman and they also mould the women folk to look like a man              for meagre gains, destroying their separate identities blessed by              God. They are trying to become wiser than the God by interfering              with the nature. 
*
             Sikh — a role model* 

The Sikhs do not              have any problem with the people of other faiths, who do not follow              the footsteps of their founders in keeping hair and destroy the God              given gift. Sikhs do not question the matters of the faith of other              religion, whatever they may be. The behavior of the civilized              society demands that they in turn should learn basic ethics not to              interfere, question or create problems for the Sikhs, who vehemently              follow their founders in keeping hair and Kirpan. Actually speaking,              the Sikhs should have been taken as a role model.

If anybody asks              me, why I keep hair? I say you are asking a wrong question. We neither keep nor              it is in anybody’s reach to keep hair. It is the law of nature, and              we
faithfully abide              by it. It is better for you to see the mirror and ask yourself, what              has made you destroy the God given gift? You will get the answer              that the Sikhs’ appearance is God Made, and not barber made.  

* Now the                  majority community of the slaves and sycophants of those days is                  enjoying the fruits of freedom today, but for the Sikhs, only                  the rulers have changed from the Mughals to the British and then                  to the present indigenous ones. The difference for us is that                  then we fought for the nation and others, and now we are                  struggling for our right of honorable existence. The                  circumstances have not changed for the Sikhs. We should                  therefore be ever prepared for everlasting struggle for                  self-respect and separate and independent identity. Let us                  pledge, preserve and protect our dignity and individuality from                  assimilation into the ocean of majority.*

Hair are a boon              and this body coverage could not be a meaningless exercise for God.              He is our creator and caretaker. Nobody else could be more concerned              for our betterment than Him. When He has given this body, He lakes              care of it for proper maintenance and upkeep to meet the physical              requirements. This is His foolproof mechanism. He is not a              manufacturer of any commodity or car, where the responsibility of              maintenance lies with the purchaser. God takes care of each breath              and every moment of our life. He is not negligent of His creation.              Our problem is that, we do not have full faith in Him and His Will              for keeping this body healthy in every manner. This is because of              deficient knowledge that, we do not understand the importance of His              boon, nor we ever tried to know something about it. On the other              hand, we take it as a bane and curse on our body. We work on a              simple formula, “Whatever is beyond our understanding is wrong and              useless.

You might have              observed ships sailing in the water with the wind. The crew just              opens the sail and the ship sails without any effort with added              speed with the wind. Whereas, to sail against wind, the crew has to              make tireless efforts. The Sikhs happily allow the hair to remain in              the most comfortable and natural manner, which does not require any              hard effort or expenditure for living according to the will of God,              like sailing with the tail wind. To sail against head wind and live              against the law of nature one has to remove or to cut hair according              to his own wish and size for that purpose one has to spend thousands              of rupees and thousands of man hours of his life. People get tired              of this exercise, but God does not stop growing the hair, each day              and every moment He constantly grows the hair on our body according              to His Will. 
*
             Why to keep hair?* 

The right              question is why shall we cut our hair? There is no convincing answer              for it. But there is a logical answer for “why are the Sikhs              religiously asked not to remove the hair?” The basic tenet of              Sikhism is to abide by the Will of God. (Shri Guru Nanak Sahib Ji -              Jap — page No.3 — Shri Guru Granth Sahib). The God in his Will and              wisdom has created the complete human being. To interfere with the              God given body by circumcision, puffing a hole in the ear or nose              and cutting or dyeing the hair are prohibited and treated as              disobedience to God’s Will. A God fearing person can never prefer              his will and wish to prevail over the God’s Will and can never make              any alterations in the God gifted boon, which could attract His              displeasure. 

After this              explanation, another typical question may be posed. Then why do you              cut the nails? Nobody cuts nails of the wild or stray animals.              Generally people cut nails of the pets. Nails and hair grow up to a              particular size, after that growth is stopped. The nails by constant              use, wear out which keeps them trimmed automatically by nature. If              the human being also does not cut nails, it would not grow              indefinitely as some people preserve and protect them for a show.              The nature maintains its size acceding to individuals’ requirement.              In the name of cleanliness people do not tolerate the size it grows              to. And moreover the dead part of the nail is removed as dead hair              is also atomically removed by combing. So the comparison between              cutting the hair and nails is not logically correct.

The hairs keep              us protected from the hot and cold weather and maintain the body              temperature according to the individual’s body requirement. You can              observe the people living in cold countries and hot countries, and              they keep moustaches and beards and long hair covered with some or              other headgear. Generally a Sikh does not receive any sunstroke as              he is fully protected from any fatal injuries, vicissitudes of the              climatic extremes due to these both natural hair and artificial              protection of turban.

*Hair- a              symbol of sovereignty *
 
The Muslim              invaders faced a problem as the conquerors and the conquered both              were keeping hair and wearing turban. To distinguish by appearance              they ordered that no Hindu should keep the hair and wear the turban.              This had made the high caste Hindus to keep a bunch of little token              hair over the head, hidden in the shaved hair of the head as Choti              or Shikha, which is visible even today among the orthodox upper              caste Hindus, They cannot give any justification or reason for              keeping it. Actually, as far as the historical fact is concerned,              the position is that shaving the hair was mark of slavery for the              Indians in those days. They were also not permitted to hold any              weapon and ride on the horse. 

The 10th              Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, has pulled out the Sikhs from the              concept of slavery and declared that, the Sikhs henceforth shall be              called _Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa_ (People of the Wondrous God) and              shall not shave the hair, and will ride the horse and keep a Kirpan              (weapon). He took on the mighty Mughals and declared that the Sikhs              (disciples) are a sovereign people and can never be conquered by any              human force. The Sikhism had thereafter sowed the seeds of              independence and nurtured it with their sacrifices. Now the majority              community of the slaves and sycophants of those days is enjoying the              fruits of freedom today, but for the Sikhs, only the rulers have              changed from the Mughals to the British and then to the present              indigenous ones. The difference for us is that then we fought for              the nation and others, and now we are struggling for our right of              honorable existence. The circumstances have not changed for the              Sikhs. We should therefore be              ever prepared for everlasting struggle for self-respect and separate              and independent identity. Let us pledge, preserve and protect our              dignity and individuality from assimilation into the ocean of              majority community through keeping Kesh (hair), Turban, Kirpan and              suffixes of Kaur and Singh with our names.

See pictures and read at this link http://worldsikhnews.com/2 December 2009/Hair Today Hair Tomorrow.htm


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## Sinister (Dec 4, 2009)

I'll put these posts to an end once and for all

dont worry its the cleanest Carlin clip ever:

YouTube- Hair by George Carlin


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## spnadmin (Dec 4, 2009)

Why do you want to put these posts to an end once and for all?


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## Sinister (Dec 4, 2009)

hmm... im not sure...but the fact that this subject has been debated endlessly on several hundred other threads on this site and others and always led to bickering might be the reason i feel like putting an end to it early (although i doubt i have such capacity...Carlin might just do it)

:inca:

the video sums it up nicely. :wink:


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## spnadmin (Dec 4, 2009)

Sinister ji

Thanks for your quick response. Hair must be an important to many or it would not be so extensively debated. Interesting: It is not as hotly debated as meat v veg. :happykaur:


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## Astroboy (Dec 5, 2009)

See the pics of the various ragis and the size of their beards.
Do they have anything to do with evolution?

Bhai Harbans Singh Ji ? Discover music, concerts, & pictures at Last.fm

Bhai Gopal Singh Ragi, Party ? Discover music, concerts, & pictures at Last.fm

Bhai Manpreet Singh ? Discover music, videos, concerts, & pictures at Last.fm

Bhai Harjinder Singh Shri Nagar Wale ? Discover music, concerts, & pictures at Last.fm

Enjoy their music.:welcome:


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## spnadmin (Dec 5, 2009)

namjap said:


> See the pics of the various ragis and the size of their beards.
> Do they have anything to do with evolution?
> 
> Bhai Harbans Singh Ji ? Discover music, concerts, & pictures at Last.fm :happysingh:
> ...



Thanks
:happykaur:


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## gurbanicd (Sep 10, 2010)

dear all



The whole idea of keeping kesh or no kesh revolves around the order or hukum of the guru sahib.

Human intellect cannot go beyond a limit.

Guru says this is our turn to meet lord. You cannot meet the lord without the help of guru and 

since we are following guru nanak sahib and all ten guru had long hairs, all on spiritual path had/have long hairs.

Our guru want us to have long hairs. we should trust him, as we trust our family and friends when we ask them for direction to reach our destination.

sometime faith and trust should be given preference over reasoning

bhulan chukan di khima


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## parvin100 (Nov 13, 2010)

Sat Sri Akal,

I have gone through your writing on the importance of keeping long hair, i am not very knowledgeable on this subject. I fully agree that the nature has bestowed us with long hair for protecting us. I fail to understand, how and why we become patit, just by cutting our hair. We may be harming ourselves by cutting hair, but the humans have done many things against nature e.g. 1. we cut trees and make paper to write, this is also against nature,why we not become patit by doing so. 2. we release green house gases or emission by using cars,why we don't become patit, if we use cars and so many other things. If any Sikh becomes patit by changing the way the God has designed the human hair, then there are so many things, we are doing, which are interferring in God/Nature's ways of the life on this earth. I think, it is the values, which counts. We are alienating the youth by overemphasising on keeping long hair. The way, our preachers give lectures at the different forums, that cutting hair is like becoming patit and aliented from waheguru, are making clean shaven Sikhs/trimmed hair Sikhs to stay away from religious functions. I think, the best way is to focus more and more on teachings of Guru Granth Sahibji, and let the people learn and take guidance from it. The importance of hair can be taught in a more subtle manner, as the God's design to protct humans and not only Sikhs. The Sikhs can be guided on the importance of hair for protcting the body and Skull , and they should be taught the glorious past of Sikh warriors, and the decision to keep long hair or cut it should be left to their individual wisdom. Kindly reply, if possible.


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## spnadmin (Nov 13, 2010)

parvin100 ji

The Sikh Rehat Maryada guides all Sikhs against dishonoring the hair. Technically, however, one does not become "patit" unless one is baptized, taken khande ke pahul. At that point dishonoring hair requires a penalty by the panj pyaare. 

In India because of the way the constitution is written, it is true that the legal definition of a Sikh requires that one keep kesh. 

The best advice I have read here on the subject comes from forum member Tejwant Singh ji who advised that all of us read Sri Guru Granth Sahib and try to find its meaning in our lives. Then wait to see if keeping hair becomes the logical choice for anyone to make based on a sincere connection the Guru.


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## parvin100 (Nov 13, 2010)

Thanks. I fully agree with you and Tejwant Singh ji to study Shri Guru Granth sahib to find its means in our lives. The God has given us hair, as well as to many other animals for protection. there is no doubt that the God's design is perfect, and altering it is an abberration. When Shri Guru Gobind Singh ji ordained his disciples to abide by all the five "K", there must have been some beneficial meaning to it. Over the years, the hair has become important than the other four "K". I don't see many kangas, kirpans even with Keshdari Sikhs. Many Keshdari sikhs wear Kanga and Kirpan in a symbolic way as a necklace than as real ones. Why the hair also can't be kept in a symbolic manner. I really do'nt intend to offened anybody's feeling and extremely sorry, if any one is hurt, but my understanding is that Guruji wanted all the K togather. He wanted Hair and Kanga, so that the hair can be combed and give a good apperance. Kirpan was to defend,Karha and Kachera was to remind one to not to do anything immoral and bad. All these were the requirements of the time, and are requirements of time. I have seen many keshdari Sikhs, who have unkempt hair under the turban, and they smell, when the turban is removed, and they wash their hair once in a week only. I know, it is a very senstive matter and close to Sikhs hearts. Please enlighten me on this.   




spnadmin said:


> parvin100 ji
> 
> The Sikh Rehat Maryada guides all Sikhs against dishonoring the hair. Technically, however, one does not become "patit" unless one is baptized, taken khande ke pahul. At that point dishonoring hair requires a penalty by the panj pyaare.
> 
> ...


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## spnadmin (Nov 13, 2010)

Well parvin100ji, I do not see anything offensive in what you have written. I do feel that Tejwant Singh ji has given advice that makes it possible to take the sting out of the discussion of hair -- assuming that there are people who are interested in sincere discussion and do not want to engage in angry exchanges on the issue. As long as there is animosity -- or at least decisions we make as individuals are taken as insults and worse by the "other" side -- then no one is living as the Gurus ordained, hair or no hair.



> All these were the requirements of the time, and are requirements of time. I have seen many keshdari Sikhs, who have unkempt hair under the turban, and they smell, when the turban is removed, and they wash their hair once in a week only. I know, it is a very senstive matter and close to Sikhs hearts.


 This part imho is describing personal laziness and nothing more. You are only one individual and cannot arbitrate whether another person is going to address matters of personal hygiene or not. Or whether another person is going to live as a hypocrite or not. Too much would be on your shoulders. That is the reality of human nature.


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