How important is uncut hair (kesh)?

SSA everyone.

I have a simple question. Do you consider someone who follows Sikhism to be less Sikh if they don't keep their hair uncut?



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Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.

My short answer is YES.

Please, before you get angry or defensive, hear me out.

The SRM definition of a Sikh notwithstanding, being a Sikh involves more than a set of beliefs, imo. "Following Sikhism" involves keeping kes.

Being a Sikh is an experience, a set of experiences, in fact. Part of those experiences involve being willing to be readily identifiable, to have the courage to stand out, to be different.

One way of doing this prescribed by our Guru jis especially by Guru Gobind Singh ji is to keep kes. I admit that this is difficult - in different ways - both for men and women. A man with waist-length hair tied up in a turban doesn't look much like the boy next door, unless you happen to live in Amritsar or Anandpur Sahib. (Even there, it is getting less common.) Having hairy legs and underarms, not to mention unruly eyebrows, is likely to get a girl made fun of by her peers, even worse should she have the slightest hint of a mustache. Whoever said it was easy.

My experience is that most worthwhile things are not easy. Hey, I didn't create this world, I just live in it.

My husband and son died rather than cut their kes. Of course, cutting the kes wouldn't have been a simple haircut, it would have been a denial of their identity, of everything they had held sacred. It would have been an act of cowardice.

Please read on before blowing up at me.

That said, not every Sikh feels the need to keep kes. It is a personal decision. If a Sikh does not find it meaningful, if s/he isn't ready to stand out in a group, that's where s/he is at this moment. If it isn't meaningful, perhaps s/he needs to cut. I think that's sad, but possibly necessary to that individual.

Personally, I feel that looking like a Sikh is part of being a Sikh, and not the only part. Other things are important, too. I am not among those who says that if you don't keep kes, you aren't a Sikh, but again I say, you're missing something if you don't.

The Importance of Kesh (Hair)


Kesh (hair):
The keeping of uncut hair is given a great deal of importance in Sikhism. But what is so special about hair?

Historical significance: Well the history of hair goes back to the Bible. The Bible talks of a man called Sampson who obtained supernatural powers through his long hair. His hair was later cut and consequently he lost his powers. It is also a fact that most of the world's prophets and saints including Jesus, the Sikh Gurus and Hindu prophets kept uncut hair.

Meaning: G. A. Gaskell writes, 'Hair of the head is a symbol of faith, intuition of truth, or the highest qualities of the mind.' - Dictionary of all Scriptures Sikhs believe God to be a perfect creator. It therefore follows that whatever He creates is perfect. The keeping of uncut hair is therefore, recognition of God's perfection and the submission of a Sikh to the Will of God.

Function: Most Sikhs regard hair as a gift fromGod. But what does this gift actually do for us? Wellthe functions of hair can be divided into 5 sub categories. These include an ornamental function,physical function, psychological function, Sikhspecific function and a spiritual function. Ornamental function: Nature has decorated aman with a beard and a moustache to differentiate between a male and a female. A good example from the animal kingdom is a lion with its majestic mane.

Physical function: Just like the skin, the hair helpsto synthesize vitamin D from sunlight. It also helpsto supply the piturary gland (located in the head)
with phosphorous. Phosphorous is an elementwhich is used in meditation by the aforesaid gland. The hair on our body regulates body temperatureand our eye lashes, nostril hairs and ear hairs help to keep out dust particles.

Psychological function: This is by far, one of themost important functions of hair. People cut their hair to look good for other people, and although everyone wants to look sexy and cool, a Sikh is encouraged to impress God and not bother so muchabout the opinions of everyone else. Keeping hair therefore encourages us to become less vain and more God orientated.

Sikh specific function: Uncut hair is a mark of Sikh identity. The 10th Sikh Guru instructed all his Sikhs to come before him with long hair and weapons. Long hair also represents sacrifice, because there have been many Sikhs like Bhai Taru Singh, who preferred to have their scalp removed instead of their hair cut.

Spiritual function: Hair enhances the ability of a human being to experience God. This can be explained by understanding the workings of electromagnets. An electromagnet consists of an iron rod with a coil of wire wrapped around it. The strength of an electromagnet can be increased by increasing the number of coils. Now in a human being, there are nine visible inlets/outlets (2 nostrils, 2 ear holes, 1 mouth, 2 eyes, 2 below the waistline). And the 10th inlet is located in the head and is invisible. It is called the Dasam Dawar. This is where we experience the reality of God and we can consider this to be the iron rod. Hairs are like coils of wire which amplify spiritual energy at the 10th inlet. A greater quantity of head hair will lead to more coils in the (Joora) knot and therefore a higher concentration of spiritual energy. Of course, it is possible to experience God without any head hair like Buddhists. However anything that helps us to experience God more easily should be welcomed. Hair is essentially a spiritual technology that makes it easier to connect with God.

Conclusion:
Wearing 5K's does not automatically make a good Sikh and in addition to this, wearing the 5 K's without understanding their purpose is silly. The 5 K's are not meaningless symbols, but instead are items which aid us in living a life revolving around God and submission to His Will.

source: http://sikhvibes.blogspot.com/2009/07/importance-of-kesh-hair.html

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Each and every religion has certain fundamental commandments. The Sikhism is no exception, too. A Sikh should always wear five Ka'Kars (Kesh, Kangha, Kara, Kirpan and Kachhera). There are many historical reasons to wear five Ka'kar by a Sikh. A considerable number of scholars have devoted their attention to the historical fact. It should be mentioned that the five Ka'Kars are beyond the scope of the present volume. Among them only one, i.e., "Kesh" is being taken here into consideration. Sardar Sarup Singh Alag, the author of the book "Hair Power" tried to highlight the natural and scientific causes for the upkeeping and preservation of hair. He did not take the problem from the viewpoint of a common believer. Contrarily, he tried to present the matter to his readers by logically and simple, understandable language.

The Sikh Cultural Center, Calcutta with a view to aware the common people for hair preservation is publishing certain important and relevant part of the said book in the present form of pamphlet with the permission of the author (Extracted by Sardar Kulwant Singh). During this year 1999, the Sikhs in India and abroad have taken various programs in commemoration with ter-centenary birthday of Khalsa Panth. The present publication is a humble attempt of the Sikh Cultural Center on the auspicious occasion of the great and holy ceremony. Its Bengali version translated by Dr. Deepak Chattaraj is also available from the office of the Center.
Calcutta, Dated April 1999
Honorary GEN SEC.
The Sikh Cultural Center

In the religious literature of the world there are many evidences which suggest that God has created humans with great interest. The earthly material used for this purpose was kept kneaded for two centuries. (It is just an assumption and has no relevance with modern calendar system) and then another hypothetical period of 280 years was spent on giving shape to this creation so that the humans thus created should look the most lovable in all respects. Everything was done with many enthusiasm and conscious efforts. The Jewish and Christian churches also contain evidences to the effect that God created man in His own image and put His own particle as soul within him. On the basis of all this, it can be easily presumed that God did not add anything, including hair, to human body which could be termed as superfluous. Thus, trimming the hair amounts not only declining the gift given by God but also disfiguring the shape given to man by Akalpurkh i.e. Lord God. In other words, it can also be taken to mean that by so doing man takes pleasure in finding faults in the blue print prepared by God and thus showing off himself as better qualified and more competent than the creator Lord. In sum, this amount to endeavor equaling Him and even excelling Him by trying to improve upon His work. Ironically, the creation is getting zealous to override the Creator, thereby allowing ungratefulness to predominate. The only point of consolation in this behalf is that this blunder of cutting and disowning hair has not been made by man since the times of Adam, but the same is in practice only since few centuries.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/sikh-sikhi-sikhism/31056-how-important-is-uncut-hair-kesh.html

The Industrial Revolution in the 18^th and 19^th centuries in the West provided increased avenues of employment, but at the same time lack of security measures in the factories led to several fatal accidents caused by long hair. To avoid such accidents, the workers started, though unwillingly and with a heavy heart trimming their long hair. Consequently, the number of people with long hair like that of Shakespeare decreased and with the passage of time such a breed became almost extinct. But inspire of all this one positive development that had taken place there, was a lot of good and deep research on the hair. They wanted to ascertain the benefits of keeping hair and also to find out the changes they effect in human body and temperament. The research carried out with this end in view has highlighted the fact that the hair serves as a factory providing Vitamin D for the body. Vitamin D protects a person against the fatal disease like Tuberculosis and is an essential element for bones, teeth and the nervous system. This is an item that is becoming scarce today. The reason behind its scarcity is that Vitamin D in vegetables is missing to a great extent as a result of the insecticides being sprayed for the protection of vegetable crops from certain diseases. Consequently, the lackness of Vitamin D is being felt throughout the world. The developed countries have realized this and keeping in view the grave scarcity of Vitamin D, have started producing synthetic Vitamin D. They add this vitamin to the food of the children so that they must not grow up physically weak and mentally tense persons. As against these developed and affluent nations, the poor countries can easily get precious Vitamin D for their children free from the open Sun through their long hair. The significant research has also revealed that longer the hair the more will be the production of Vitamin D through the interaction of Sun heat with the oil in the hair. Thus all this shows that keeping hair is very important for one's physical as well as mental well-being. It has also been proved on the basis of experiments that the hair tied in the form of a knot on the top of the head are capable of attracting the maximum heat energy of Sun just as the television antenna has the capacity to hold photo waves from the atmosphere. (According to Tessitas, the ancient Germans also used to tie their long hair into a knot on the top of their heads. May be, they did so with a view to obtaining the above mentioned benefits). If the rare of Vitamin D can be obtained free from Nature only by keeping long hair, health wise also it becomes imperative for human beings to keep long hair.

If the hair are not trimmed, their length, growth stops automatically after reaching a certain length. In this situation, hardly 0.5% of the protein that we take in with our daily diet, is spent on their upkeep. On the other hand, the trimmed hair consumes much more protein because this has to be spent on the re-growth of the hair. Had the hair stopped re-growing after having been trimmed once, there would have been no extra expense of protein. However, keeping in view the multidimensional usefulness of the hair for human body, Nature has created within the human body an interesting mechanism to help continuous growth of the hair. This mechanism continues being operational till one breaths one's last. Thus, this mechanism goes on spending more protein on the re-growth of the hair after a person shaves them off or trims them. Nature does this so as not to deny a person the varied benefits of hair. It seems modern man is busy in shaving off the hair under a sort of atheistic culture whereas God is ever involved in their growth. God is quite serious about the hair, whereas man is equally careless. Let us wait and watch the final outcome. Meanwhile, we can only say there is a sort of deadlock as under:


Unfortunately, God's Will shall prevail on the long run because He knows the mystery and significance of the hair, whereas modern fashionable man on the other hand knowing the importance of hair tends to be careless, But we must at least think in the light of this fact that hand, foot or any other organ of the body if once get chopped off, does not sprout again, but on the contrary if we trim or shave off the hair, they grow up again soon except in very old age. It must be presumed from this fact that importance of the hair can be more, and certainly not less than hands, feet or other organs of human body.

It is generally observed that the Hindus perform the first mundane (shaving off hair of the head) of their children at the age of 2 or 3 years. On this occasion, the head is completely shaved off. On this shaven head, the hair grows up to half centimeter within one month. The hair grows more rapidly in the case of youth vis-à-vis the small children. In the case of the former, the hair grows 1/8^th of an inch in just three days. Nevertheless let us make the case of 2-3 year old child the basis of our contention: his hair grows half centimeter in one month. On average, every person has 85,000 to 1,25,000 hairs on his head. If we take the child to have one lac (hundred thousand) hair on his head, we shall find that such a child spends energy from his body to grow one hair up to the length of 50,000 centimeters or 500 meters if his total growth is computed on a one single hair. If he is in the habit of getting his hair regularly trimmed throughout his life, we can well imagine the amount of energy he might use to grow up the hair again and again. Thus valuable energy and minerals are wasted just for nothing. There should be limit to one's ignorance, but as Ghalib has said 'Who can instruct the already learned.' Man by trimming his hair, is harming himself in many ways.

Another harm that trimming of hair causes is, that the hair have been the means of receiving energy for brain from the sun, but by trimming then we destroy to great extent that system and there by render the mechanism almost inert. It does not imply that social classes prone to trimming hair, lack intellectual level even without keeping full hair, they could have accomplished much better had they kept hair intact. Thus we do feel sad that they unwittingly make those means inoperative, which has to supply large quantity of energy to human organism. If we take into account the cumulative loss suffered generations after generations, it seems certain that trimming of hair is certainly an impediment in the way of realizing the aim of perfect human intellect. It thus is certainly a grat disadvantage for the entire mankind. Who will consider it wise to continue the trade causing continuous loss? Think and be watchful. This is the need and the expectation of time.


Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=31056

http://www.sikh.net/sikhism/W/Hair1.htm

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Personal thought for your consideration:

In the final analysis, every soul has his / her life path to WALK in order to discover the life purpose.

A "SIKH" can either be a Gurmukh ( Waheguru centered ) & choose the path shown by our Gurus and thus be BLESSED, or be a Manmukh ( Self centered ) and be a "lost soul" and float around in life here & here-after!

Harbhajan S. Sangha

Thank you Mai ji for a great answer. But I have one question though. So iyo it's important to keep our hair so that we can stand out? Is it not more important to keep it out of love and respect for God’s creation? And here, may I add another question? If we keep our hair out of love for God’s creation, why do we cut down plants and trees? Some also ask why we cut our nails, but then I know we only cut the dead part of our nails.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mai Harinder Kaur Other things are important, too. I am not among those who says that if you don't keep kes, you aren't a Sikh, but again I say, you're missing something if you don't.

Yes, I agree. I don’t believe it’s ok to tell someone that they are not a Sikh just because they cut their hair. But it’s true that they are missing a part of all those things that define a Sikh.

The most important reason not to cut our hair is that Guru ji has asked us, told us not to. That is the first and most important reason that I keep kes. I am a Sikh; I follow Guru ji, as best I can. Keeping kes is something any of us can do well, I think. That my Guru ji asks it is, by itself, enough.

There are other secondary reasons, too. Respect for the way Akaal Purakh has designed us is another. There are all sorts of other reasons why it is healthier not to cut, as you can read in the article posted by Soul_jyot. I have written all this in other threads. I am approaching this from a slightly different direction.

Guru ji never told us not to cut plants and trees. Also, I think using common sense would tell us that we need food to eat and buildings to live in.

So the most important reason for keeping kes, according to you is because Guru ji said so? But why did Guru ji ask us to keep our kes uncut? I have always believed that kes is kept uncut because God's creation is to be respected, and that is also the answer I get from most Sikhs I have asked. But then this does not fit with cutting down plants and trees.. =/

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS to both, those who keep their kes and those who don't.


1. Do you tend to DISLIKE/NOT RESPECT people who do NOT keep their hair uncut?
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=31056

2. Do you tend to LIKE/RESPECT people with UNcut hair more?

http://www.gurbani.org/gurblog/2009/08/15/the-gurbani-says-judge-yourself-not-others/

THE GURBANI SAYS JUDGE YOURSELF, NOT OTHERS


ਨਾਨਕਪਰਖੇਆਪਕਉਤਾਪਾਰਖੁਜਾਣੁ॥: Nanak parkhe aap kayu ta paarakh jaan: O Nanak, if someone judges himself, only then is he known as a real judge (Sri Guru Granth Sahib 148 ).
ਇਸੁਮਨਕਉਕੋਈਖੋਜਹੁਭਾਈ॥: Is mann kayu koee khojo bhaaee: Let each person examine his own mind, O brother (Sri Guru Granth Sahib 1128 ).
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=31056


Here we have it.
Judging others is a madness – pastime of a crazy, worldly person in control of his false ego-sense (Haumai): lust, anger, and so on. Also called Manmukh — materialistic or unenlightened being — the daily life of a such person engrossed in evil ways is full of its natural contentions, contradictions, jealousy, usual competitions, selfishness, corruption, falsehood, baser desires and fears. Consequently, he ends up living a wrong life in all his worldly contacts and experiences; thus wasting useful time and energy by undergoing tensions, strains, and creating chaos and confusion within and without.


ਮਨਮੁਖਬੋਲਿਨਜਾਣਨ੍ਹ੍ਹੀਓਨਾਅੰਦਰਿਕਾਮੁਕ੍ਰੋਧੁਅਹੰਕਾਰੁ॥ਥਾਉਕੁਥਾਉਨਜਾਣਨੀਸਦਾਚਿਤਵਹਿਬਿਕਾਰ॥: Manmukh boli na jaananee onaa andari kaam krodh ahankaar ..: The Manmukhs (material beings) do not even know how to speak. They are filled with lust, anger and false pride (i.e. all evil passions, which are the faults of the same false ego-sense or Haume). They do not know the difference between good and bad; they constantly think of corruption (Sri Guru Granth Sahib 1248 ).


Judging (Parkhanaa, Parakh, etc.) oneself means to know "Who Am I?", and then improve himself through self-purification and self-observation while alive – not after death, but here and now. To know the time as time, to know the space as space, to know the world-appearance as appearance, to know the Source as Source, and to know oneself as the Source (Joti-Svaroopa) is being the "real judge" (Paarkhoo). This only is Self-Realization — to know one’s Essential Nature as Pure Awareness (Joti-Svaroopa).

We are strongly urged by the Gurbani to renounce such "evil ways". Instead, we are challenged by the Gurbani to look within to examine and judge ourselves – and eradicate our own negativity, Bikaars, faults, shortcomings, etc. If we dare doing what the Gurbani asks us to do here, then and only then one will be known as the "real judge".
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=31056


ਪ੍ਰਣਵਤਿਨਾਨਕਗਿਆਨੀਕੈਸਾਹੋਇ॥ਆਪੁਪਛਾਣੈਬੂਝੈਸੋਇ॥: Pranvat Nanak giaanee kaisaa hoi. Aap pashaanai boojhai soi: Prays Nanak, what’s the nature of the Giaanee (the Spiritual Being, the Wise one, etc.)? (He is the trure Giaanee) who recognizes his Real Self (Originality, Essential Nature, etc.), such (the Self-Realized one) understands God (Sri Guru Granth Sahib 25).

ਇਉਕਹੈਨਾਨਕੁਮਨਤੂੰਜੋਤਿਸਰੂਪੁਹੈਅਪਣਾਮੂਲੁਪਛਾਣੁ॥੫॥: Iou kahai Nanak mann toon joti saroop hai apanaa mool pashaan ||5||: Thus says Nanak: O my mind, you are the embodiment or the True Image of the Divine Light (i.e., God) – recognize your Origin ||5|| (Sri Guru Granth Sahib 441).


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Personally I follow the following teachings of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji:

ਏਕੁਪਿਤਾਏਕਸਕੇਹਮਬਾਰਿਕਤੂਮੇਰਾਗੁਰਹਾਈ॥: The One God is our Father; we all are the children of the One God (Sri Guru Granth Sahib 611).

ਏਕ ਨੂਰ ਤੇ ਸਭੁ ਜਗੁ ਉਪਜਿਆ ਕਉਨ ਭਲੇ ਕੋ ਮੰਦੇ ॥੧॥: Ek noor te sabh jagu upjiaa kaoun bhale ko mande ||1||: From this One Light, the entire universe has welled up. So who is good, and who is bad? ||1|| (Sri Guru Granth Sahib 1349).

With Divine love & Blessings of Waheguru Ji,

Harbhajan S. Sangha

What Soul_jyot has written is totally correct. What can I add to it, except that I am not there yet.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=31056

How important are first impressions?

When I meet a keshdhari Sikh, I feel really good and, I admit, have a good impression. I feel a bit sad, even a bit betrayed at mona Sikhs.

Our shaheeds died rather than cut their hair, including those in my own family. That has a direct bearing on my feelings.

I tend to like and respect keshdhari Sikhs more at the beginning.

This sometimes changes as I get to know the person better. Some keshdhari Sikhs are really, well, really not nice people. Some monas are wonderful people.

I have found it necessary to move beyond the first impression to get to know the person under the hair follicles. It takes more than kesh and Kaur/Singh somewhere in your name to make a Sikh. (But that's a start.) rangesingh::happykaur:

Charan ji, why do I feel that I'm being led into a trap of some sort?

Ah, wonderful!