Are the bald more holy?- from the Mundane To The Sublime !!!!!

[Guest guest]

Our benjamin comments ...

 

" looking at a webpage with pictures of Atmananda, Ramana,

Nisargadatta and other Advaitins, something struck me. They all

have bald or shaved heads, just like Zen monks and some statues of

Buddhas. I have also seen pictures of Brahmins with bald heads

bathing in the Ganges.

 

Then it occurred to me that perhaps what I think of as 'Buddhism' is

really a more general phenomenon where the monastic

ideal is taken to an extreme, such that the monk wishes to sever

ties with the phenomenal world as much as possible and 'stand naked'

so to speak in consciousness, or however you wish to put it. It is

simply taking 'otherworldiness' to an extreme of detachment, which

naturally coincides with a devaluation of the phenomenal world to an

illusory status. The Jains also seem to be in this mold."

 

 

WELL, benjamin - This is true ... it is form of renunciation of

the 'body' concept ... It is also a sign of 'humility and total

surrender ' to the lotus feet of the divine ..

 

and this is how a "sadhu" is identified , by his ochre robes , shaven

head , alms bowl and a danda .

 

BUT THE hare krishnas do not shabve thir head totally, they keep a

small tuft of hair at the back (called shika( to identify themselves

from "impersonalistsd" ( this is what they call advaitins) but even

in their community, full fledged sanyasis shave their heads

totally !!!

 

But in india , parents perform a "mundan" ceremony (tonsure ceremomy)

betwen the ages of 1 and 3 regardless of whether a child is a boy or

a girl .

 

Mundan ceremony IS PERFORMED performed for harmonious titillation of

the nerves and proper development of the brain. It is said that birth

hair carries undesirable ideas and traits from past birth. So they

need to be removed and new ideas full of eminence should be grown in

its place.

 

Most parents take their children to perform this ceremony where this

ceremony is performed and the Hair is offered to the Deity Balaji...

ii did put my 3 babies ( when they wre infants) through this

ordeal... beleve me , for the longest time my son feared the barber's

knife more than a surgeon's knife !!!!

 

On another note, hindu women are also supposed to shave the head

after they lose their husband ! i did not succumb myself to such a

humiliation... afte all, Long Lustrous Hair is a woman's beauty !

but believe me , now recently , in 1999 , i shaved my head totally in

Tirupati shrine and my mom was furious ! i thought by shaving my head

i was surrendering my 'ego' but how wrong i was ... because the Hair

was gone but the ego was intact and still intact!!!! smiles!!!

 

But talking of Hair,

 

THERE IS A SECT CALLED Keshdhari sikhs ,,

 

 

Guru Gobind Singh, the last of the ten gurus, told all members of the

Sikh brotherhood to wear the five Ks as a symbol to all of their

faith.

 

The Kesh

Kesh is hair. Sikhs promise not to cut their hair but let it grow as

a symbol of their faith. Because during their lifetimes it will get

very long they wear turbans to keep it tidy. They believe that this

demonstrates their obedience to God.

 

Guru Gobind Singh, the last of the ten gurus, told all members of the

Sikh brotherhood to wear the five Ks as a symbol to all of their

faith.

 

The Kesh

Kesh is hair. Sikhs promise not to cut their hair but let it grow as

a symbol of their faith. Because during their lifetimes it will get

very long they wear turbans to keep it tidy. They believe that this

demonstrates their obedience to God.

 

Hair is a lliving entity created by God and it is a disrespect to cut

it ! ( how different from hinduism)

 

then the

 

The Kanga

The kanga is a small comb used to keep their long hair tidy, but it

is more than that, it is a symbol to remind them to keep their lives

in order and "comb" away impure thoughts.

 

Long hair is a feature of many of the great religious leaders like

the Hindu Gods, Jesus, Muhammad and in particular Samson of the

Hebrew Scriptures (See Judges 16).

 

In religion, long hair is a symbol of power. The dreadlocks of a

rasta are symbolic of the power of a lion whose mane is like a

crown.

 

BUT IN REALITY ... what does all this mean ?

 

WRESTLERS shave their heads because they do not want the opponent to

grab their hair and floor them.

 

In mahabharata , when Draupadi refused to come to the court when

Dushashana requested her , dushashana grabbed her Long HAIR and

dragged her to the court and when kauravas humiliated her in that

court by disrobing her , ( of course, lord krishna saved draupadi

from totl humiliation) j she resolved she will not Tiee her Hir til

the entire kuru clan was abolished! Hekll hath no fury like a woman

scorned!!

 

Benki, this is all how one perceives things ...

 

sadhus and sanyasis keep their head shaved for the sake of external

purity, cleaniless and of course, the great reason

being 'renunciation' of the body concept. By the same token , we see

many sadhus wandeing in the himalayas with matted locks !

 

Yoy are right about my beautiful KRISHNA !

 

another name for Krishna is "KESHAVA"

 

kESH REFERS TO HAIR - ONE WITH THE BEAUTIFUL CURLY LOCKS !

 

when you meditate on Krishna you will always meditsaate on that

beautiful form of Krishna with curly hair , and a peacock feather

adorning that curly hair, with the melodious flute in his hand !

 

Kesha madhava murali manohara !

 

ONE LAST POINT....

 

i am reminded of a Kabir foha

 

 

Keson Kaha Bigadia, Je Moonde Sau Baar

Man Ko Kahe Na Moondiye, Jaamein Vishey Vikaar

 

kosaaoM kha ibagaaiD,yaa‚ jao maUMDo saaO baar

mana kaO kaho na maUMiDe‚ jaamaOM ivaYaO ivakar

 

Translation

What harm have the hair done, you shave them hundred times

Why not shave the mind, that's filled with "poisonous" thoughts

 

Poisomus means "worldly" thoughts ...

 

 

and if we ask Shri Ramana , he will say the same thing ...

 

GET RID OF THE "I" THOUGHT !!

 

my question to all advaitins , which is easier shaving the head or

gettinf rid of the I thought!!!!

 

THANKS, BENJI ... you do have the knack of discussing profound

philosophical thoughts in very mundane day to day langayage ...

 

i like that about you!!

 

HARI AUM TAT SAT!!!

 

( ideas gathered from many sources)

 

" half of what i say may be meaningless so the other half may be

meaningful" -gibran

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

>

[Guest guest]

excuse the rypos ...

 

had laser surgery on right eye ...

 

love

[Guest guest]

Thanks Adiji,

 

Your message was really interesting. I hope others didn't

think my topic was silly. I was trying to express a serious thought,

but it may have been a half-baked one with only partial truth. Most

thoughts are like that.

 

Actually, I see from your interesting message that there was

much truth in what I said. The charm of Krishna is particularly

interesting to me. For many years I have been studying only the

'bald-headed mystics', Buddhists, Advaitins, etc. The thought of a

charming and 'seductive' manifestation of God seems quite intriguing

and even daring to me. (And I know that in using the word

'seductive' in a spiritual sense, I am not being disrespectful, since

the Puranas also talk of this.) It seems that Hinduism wants to get

humans to God any way it can, by hook or by crook!

 

Still, I wonder if the more ascetic, hairless approach isn't

correlated with seeing the world as illusion, as I suggested. The

illusory nature of the world does seem to be a common theme of

Buddhism and Advaita, though some will be anxious to draw

differences. You might say that Krishna in the Gita also describes

the world as maya, and indeed he does, but the bhakti tradition

certainly seems to enjoy this illusion, at least when it points to

God and serves as a kind of bait. Maybe I have been overly

influenced by the luxurious art of the Hari Krishnas...

 

Hari Om!

Benjamin

[Guest guest]

Hari OM!

 

Dear Adiji,

 

Adi_shakthi16 wrote:

> my question to all advaitins , which is easier shaving the head or

> gettinf rid of the I thought!!!!

 

 

Beautiful post,

 

One who got rid of the I thought, shaving the head is difficult and

vice versa also. is it not???

 

With Love & OM!

 

Krishna Prasad

 

advaitin, "adi_shakthi16" <adi_shakthi16>

wrote:

> Our benjamin comments ...

>

> " looking at a webpage with pictures of Atmananda, Ramana,

> Nisargadatta and other Advaitins, something struck me. They all

> have bald or shaved heads, just like Zen monks and some statues of

> Buddhas. I have also seen pictures of Brahmins with bald heads

> bathing in the Ganges.

>

> Then it occurred to me that perhaps what I think of as 'Buddhism'

is

> really a more general phenomenon where the monastic

> ideal is taken to an extreme, such that the monk wishes to sever

> ties with the phenomenal world as much as possible and 'stand

naked'

> so to speak in consciousness, or however you wish to put it. It

is

> simply taking 'otherworldiness' to an extreme of detachment, which

> naturally coincides with a devaluation of the phenomenal world to

an

> illusory status. The Jains also seem to be in this mold."

>

>

> WELL, benjamin - This is true ... it is form of renunciation of

> the 'body' concept ... It is also a sign of 'humility and total

> surrender ' to the lotus feet of the divine ..

>

> and this is how a "sadhu" is identified , by his ochre robes ,

shaven

> head , alms bowl and a danda .

>

> BUT THE hare krishnas do not shabve thir head totally, they keep a

> small tuft of hair at the back (called shika( to identify

themselves

> from "impersonalistsd" ( this is what they call advaitins) but even

> in their community, full fledged sanyasis shave their heads

> totally !!!

>

> But in india , parents perform a "mundan" ceremony (tonsure

ceremomy)

> betwen the ages of 1 and 3 regardless of whether a child is a boy

or

> a girl .

>

> Mundan ceremony IS PERFORMED performed for harmonious titillation

of

> the nerves and proper development of the brain. It is said that

birth

> hair carries undesirable ideas and traits from past birth. So they

> need to be removed and new ideas full of eminence should be grown

in

> its place.

>

> Most parents take their children to perform this ceremony where

this

> ceremony is performed and the Hair is offered to the Deity

Balaji...

> ii did put my 3 babies ( when they wre infants) through this

> ordeal... beleve me , for the longest time my son feared the

barber's

> knife more than a surgeon's knife !!!!

>

> On another note, hindu women are also supposed to shave the head

> after they lose their husband ! i did not succumb myself to such a

> humiliation... afte all, Long Lustrous Hair is a woman's beauty !

> but believe me , now recently , in 1999 , i shaved my head totally

in

> Tirupati shrine and my mom was furious ! i thought by shaving my

head

> i was surrendering my 'ego' but how wrong i was ... because the

Hair

> was gone but the ego was intact and still intact!!!! smiles!!!

>

> But talking of Hair,

>

> THERE IS A SECT CALLED Keshdhari sikhs ,,

>

>

> Guru Gobind Singh, the last of the ten gurus, told all members of

the

> Sikh brotherhood to wear the five Ks as a symbol to all of their

> faith.

>

> The Kesh

> Kesh is hair. Sikhs promise not to cut their hair but let it grow as

> a symbol of their faith. Because during their lifetimes it will get

> very long they wear turbans to keep it tidy. They believe that this

> demonstrates their obedience to God.

>

> Guru Gobind Singh, the last of the ten gurus, told all members of

the

> Sikh brotherhood to wear the five Ks as a symbol to all of their

> faith.

>

> The Kesh

> Kesh is hair. Sikhs promise not to cut their hair but let it grow as

> a symbol of their faith. Because during their lifetimes it will get

> very long they wear turbans to keep it tidy. They believe that this

> demonstrates their obedience to God.

>

> Hair is a lliving entity created by God and it is a disrespect to

cut

> it ! ( how different from hinduism)

>

> then the

>

> The Kanga

> The kanga is a small comb used to keep their long hair tidy, but it

> is more than that, it is a symbol to remind them to keep their lives

> in order and "comb" away impure thoughts.

>

> Long hair is a feature of many of the great religious leaders like

> the Hindu Gods, Jesus, Muhammad and in particular Samson of the

> Hebrew Scriptures (See Judges 16).

>

> In religion, long hair is a symbol of power. The dreadlocks of a

> rasta are symbolic of the power of a lion whose mane is like a

> crown.

>

> BUT IN REALITY ... what does all this mean ?

>

> WRESTLERS shave their heads because they do not want the opponent

to

> grab their hair and floor them.

>

> In mahabharata , when Draupadi refused to come to the court when

> Dushashana requested her , dushashana grabbed her Long HAIR and

> dragged her to the court and when kauravas humiliated her in that

> court by disrobing her , ( of course, lord krishna saved draupadi

> from totl humiliation) j she resolved she will not Tiee her Hir til

> the entire kuru clan was abolished! Hekll hath no fury like a woman

> scorned!!

>

> Benki, this is all how one perceives things ...

>

> sadhus and sanyasis keep their head shaved for the sake of external

> purity, cleaniless and of course, the great reason

> being 'renunciation' of the body concept. By the same token , we

see

> many sadhus wandeing in the himalayas with matted locks !

>

> Yoy are right about my beautiful KRISHNA !

>

> another name for Krishna is "KESHAVA"

>

> kESH REFERS TO HAIR - ONE WITH THE BEAUTIFUL CURLY LOCKS !

>

> when you meditate on Krishna you will always meditsaate on that

> beautiful form of Krishna with curly hair , and a peacock feather

> adorning that curly hair, with the melodious flute in his hand !

>

> Kesha madhava murali manohara !

>

> ONE LAST POINT....

>

> i am reminded of a Kabir foha

>

>

> Keson Kaha Bigadia, Je Moonde Sau Baar

> Man Ko Kahe Na Moondiye, Jaamein Vishey Vikaar

>

> kosaaoM kha ibagaaiD,yaa‚ jao maUMDo saaO baar

> mana kaO kaho na maUMiDe‚ jaamaOM ivaYaO ivakar

>

> Translation

> What harm have the hair done, you shave them hundred times

> Why not shave the mind, that's filled with "poisonous" thoughts

>

> Poisomus means "worldly" thoughts ...

>

>

> and if we ask Shri Ramana , he will say the same thing ...

>

> GET RID OF THE "I" THOUGHT !!

>

> my question to all advaitins , which is easier shaving the head or

> gettinf rid of the I thought!!!!

>

> THANKS, BENJI ... you do have the knack of discussing profound

> philosophical thoughts in very mundane day to day langayage ...

>

> i like that about you!!

>

> HARI AUM TAT SAT!!!

>

> ( ideas gathered from many sources)

>

> " half of what i say may be meaningless so the other half may be

> meaningful" -gibran

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> >

[Guest guest]

qood question....

> One who got rid of the I thought, shaving the head is difficult and

> vice versa also. is it not???

>

> With Love & OM!

>

> Krishna Prasad

 

In the cosmetic industry, you hear everday new products coming up to

treat male pattern baldness and i guess men are as much egotistical

in this regard... women spend hundreds of dollars on hair products

and dressing their hair into different sryles ... and you hear all

the time about hair transplants etc..

 

but on a humorous note --- did you know that the Democratic

presidential hopeful john kerry won lawsuits for his clients in the

state of massachuseets against a company which sold a hair

restoration procedure using carpet fibres --- and you can imagine the

wrath of the customers when they discovered it was a spurious

product! of couse, kerry does not want to mention it!

 

( i think i read it in the time magazinr)

 

btw , Yul brynner is my favorite actor and he was completely bald ...

 

and shabana azmi travelled in the same plane with me and both of us

women are totally 'bald' at that time ... she had shaved her head for

a movie at that time ! and guys , we did attract a lot of attention!

one person asked me " are you going thru chrmo-therapy"

 

head represents the ego in a man/woman

 

and Hair on the head pampers this ego all the more!

 

love ...

 

oh god! let me honor my vow from this minute on!