Why Are We Not Allowed To Cut Hair When It's Ok To Cut Nails, Since Both Are Created By God?

[findingmyway]

Having long hair makes some tasks more difficult but is easily dealt with by tying the hair up or covering it up. Long nails, however, make some tasks impossible and therein lies the biological difference.

As far as religion goes; hair makes a visible statement but nails do not. I don't think cutting your hair lessens your ability to understand the Guru Granth Sahib Ji but it does show your commitment to Guru Ji and shows the world you are not afraid of who you are and what you stand for. It makes a stand that you will defend all against tyranny. Kesh and turban add presence and grace to any human being!
Jasleen

 

[skeptic.freethinker1]

Tejwant Ji,

I used the word 'justification' in my post. No where in my post I mentioned 'self justification'. You very easily attributed the wrong term to me , then quoted the definition of that term and then went ahead with describing the negative connotations.

I'm sure you know how to use google search. Try to find the difference between the two terms.

Since the guidance of keeping long hair comes from the religion, the answer/justification of doing so would also come from religion or from the people who are knowledgeable about the religion. I don't need to create a self justification for this.


Since I was asking for 'justification' of having long hair, can you please provide me that? Or is it that you don't have any and that's why you are resorting to changing my question itself?

Don't worry if you don't have the answer. There are plenty other learned people on this forum and someone will have the answer.
Once I get it, I will PM it to you too. It's never too late to learn.

Regards

 

[Tejwant Singh]

Tejwant Ji,

I used the word 'justification' in my post. No where in my post I mentioned 'self justification'. You very easily attributed the wrong term to me , then quoted the definition of that term and then went ahead with describing the negative connotations.

I'm sure you know how to use google search. Try to find the difference between the two terms.

Since the guidance of keeping long hair comes from the religion, the answer/justification of doing so would also come from religion or from the people who are knowledgeable about the religion. I don't need to create a self justification for this.


Since I was asking for 'justification' of having long hair, can you please provide me that? Or is it that you don't have any and that's why you are resorting to changing my question itself?

Don't worry if you don't have the answer. There are plenty other learned people on this forum and someone will have the answer.
Once I get it, I will PM it to you too. It's never too late to learn.

Regards

Skeptic. free thinker ji,

Guru Fateh.

Here we go again.

Certain words in English language are implicit. Self means your own. The justification is your own. You are looking for justification as a self to keep your long hair or not.

You may deny anything you want to. It does not bother me. But the facts of self- justifications are mentioned by you in many of your posts, hence it is irrelevant whether you have used the word SELF or not.

As I said before, good luck in your own (self) decision for your own(self) justification.

End of story.

Tejwant Singh

 

[skeptic.freethinker1]

Tejwant Ji,
I don't agree with your response.

Certain words in English language are implicit.

Nope. These two terms are pretty explicit. They mean what they mean. You can't just interchange some body's words to fit your own agenda. I must say you are beginning to sound like people I met once who were trying to ban evolution from our schools and replace it with creation theory. They were masters of debate and kept manipulating the meaning of word 'theory'.
I thought we Sikhs were above such tactics.

End of story.

Not yet. I will continue to seek an answer and I will surely get it. And as I said before, I will definitely share it with you.



Best Regards.

 

[Tejwant Singh]

Tejwant Ji,
I don't agree with your response.

Nope. These two terms are pretty explicit. They mean what they mean. You can't just interchange some body's words to fit your own agenda. I must say you are beginning to sound like people I met once who were trying to ban evolution from our schools and replace it with creation theory. They were masters of debate and kept manipulating the meaning of word 'theory'.
I thought we Sikhs were above such tactics.

Not yet. I will continue to seek an answer and I will surely get it. And as I said before, I will definitely share it with you.

Best Regards.

Skeptic. Freethinker ji,

Guru Fateh.

Things are becoming hillarious to say the least.

Let me ask you some questions regarding this.

1. Is the decision to look for some justification- not the reason because you did not mention that word, your own(self) or someone else's?

2. Did some one ask you or force you to find your own (self) justification?

3. Did you mention that you are looking for your own(self) Justification to keep long hair several times or not because you know what Sikhi says about hair in SRM?

I have no need to manipulate anything.It was you who was manipulating by using nails as the shield for your own (self) justification about keeping your hair or not.

Allow me to refresh your memory, these are your words.

You are partly correct. It has lots to do with my faith which is Sikhi. I am seeking answers to help keep my faith.

The above has nothing to do with nails but your faith and that is what we are talking about. As mentioned above, SRM is very explicit about keeping long hair whether you like it or not. No religion has to give anyone any justification. Hence, it is you who is using the tactics not any other Sikh.

The justification to keep your hair or not is your own, in other words it is your self justification.

Let me also add that your desperate attempt to insert evolution and creation thingy fell flat on its face because it is not part of the discussion. By the way, I am an evolutionist.. You have been keeping not a good company it seems

I have no idea why you are so much in pain or shall I say in skepticism when one can go to any Super Cuts and get one's hair chopped. After all you call yourself a freethinker. I would suggest you to get your hair cut and see how you feel. If your self justification of cutting hair rather than keeping it makes you happy then why not? In case you decide to keep you hair again, you can find self justification to do that too later on.

The answer you are looking for lies within you, not outside. It is the decision of the self no matter what justification one finds within self.

Once again, good luck in your self discovery,your self justification of the path you want to choose is with yourself, not with any religion or with any person.

Regards

Tejwant Singh

 

[Suki]

I understand one of the reasons we are not supposed to cut/trim our hair is because we want to keep the 'roop' given to us by God intact.

But even the nails were given to us by God. Why is it ok to cut them regularly and not hair?

Both nails and hair are made up of dead tissue and hygiene aspect applies to both equally.

Last time I asked this question on a forum, someone told me that this is because our Gurus told us to do so.
But I am looking to find out why we were told to do so. How does this actually bring us close to God spiritually?

There is no scientific reason behind why sikhs should not cut their hair while at the same time they are allowed to clip their nails. There is definitely spiritual and religious significance in not cutting the hair. It has two significant reasons: the first being in submission to Guru; to surrender one's ego, logic and critical thinking( in other words..intellectual surrender) to acheive the excellence or shall I say perfection in discipleship...a requirement on any spiritual path...especially the paths of Indian origin such as Sikhism, Hinduism or Buddhism. If you read Gurubani..You would know how much emphasis there is on the submission to one's Guru. So, at one pt. in the history of sikhism...keeping hair long became one of the provisions for any sikh following the Guruship of Guru Gobind Singh.
Secondly, why Guru Gobind singh came up with 5 k's as requirement for any sikh? To my knowledge, it had to do with having a distinct identity for sikhs at that time; not to mention that some of K's were the practical need for the sikh warriors. The only spiritual significance even at that time would be in my view to be in submission to one's Guru wholeheartedly.

 

[skeptic.freethinker1]

Tejwant Ji,

Seriously, if you have trouble understanding the meaning of a few words, all you need to do, is ask me and I will explain it to you. As I said before, it's never too late to learn.

In my earlier post I had to use sentence formation to explain to you the difference between 'impractical' and 'unable.' I think I will need to do some more of that for you.

Let's start:-

Words of the day is 'justification' which also means 'reason'.

I will give you an example.
Suppose my local utility company by mistake sends me a bill of 100 thousand dollars. Now I know there is a mistake since there is no way I can use up that much electricity in one month. So, without anyone else forcing me, I, myself, on my 'own', go to their office to ask for 'justification' for the bill. Now would this 'justification' be called 'self-justification'. I don't think so. It would be called 'justification' and they will need to provide it since they sent the bill.

So, in a similar manner, since I was born in a sikh family, my religion requires me to have long hair. Without following the guideline blindly, I set out to find the reason behind this religious guideline, preferably from people who are more learned about this matter than I am.
I asked my parents. They said "To question the religious guideline is a blasphemy" So I asked the Bhai ji at my Gurudwara. He said that's what Rehat maryada says and so we have to follow it without asking for reason. And so here I am asking for reason from people who have been analyzing our scripture for a long time. And so I am asking for a 'justification' or a reason behind this requirement of having long hair.

The justification to keep your hair or not is your own, in other words it is your self justification.

Now I will also need to explain to you the difference between 'decision' and 'justification'. Let's start.
Whether to keep my hair or not will be my 'decision' and not my 'justification'. The 'decision' that I will make after getting the 'justification' or reason from the people who are more learned about Sikhism than I am.


Best Regards.

 

[Mai Harinder Kaur]

My very last word on the subject.

God, Akal Purakh, Vaheguru, whatever name you care to use does not care even the tiniest bit whether you keep kes or grow your nails or any of it.

I agree with Tejwant ji. Your motive for asking this appears to be trying to justify something, probably cutting of your hair. It could also be that you want long fingernails, which are usually associated with women.

Long fingernails are considered beautiful because they show that the woman is wealthy enough to have others do her work for her. They are merely ego-driven ornaments, a sort of bragging.

Keeping kes is not a good luck charm or any such superstitious thing. It is an act of love or it is meaningless and possibly manipulative. It's very nice if there are scientific reasons for keeping kes, but in the end, unimportant. It is an act of love or an act of gross hypocrisy. Nails have nothing to do with anything in this context.

(I remember reading, a long while ago, about some Buddhist monk who grew very long fingernails as some sort of religious thing, but I don't remember much else about that. Anyway, it's irrelevant here.)

Whatever you do - or don't do - I wish you the best and am glad you asked. This has been an interesting discussion.

icecreamkaur

 

[skeptic.freethinker1]

Harinder Kaur Ji,

I think we both submitted our posts almost at the same time. For a moment I thought I lost my post which was actually right above yours.

Anyways, thanks for taking the time to respond.

I understand and respect your position on this issue that the only thing that matters is that our Guru has told us to keep long hair. That's what we are supposed to do even if there is no justification for it.
Your above views are very much similar to the views of my own mother.

I wish the above reason was good enough for me.

But this doesn't mean that our Gurus asked us to blindly do something. I'm sure they did provide a real good reason for keeping long hair. All we need to do is look for it or ask the enlightened people.

Thanks again for your post.

 

[ManinderSingh69]

skeptic.freethinker1 Ji,

do one thing, try keeping both: hairs and nails. self experiencing is the best teacher. if u really want the answer, do try this once.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

 

[arshi]

Sadh Sangat Ji

I too would like to refresh my own memory and re-read it. On a personal note I would feel naked without my turban and hair because not only do these give me protection from the elements – long nails do not offer any such cover – but also the feeling that I am serving Guru Gobind Singh’s mission to stand out and that gives me courage to excel.

The path of Sikhi is not for the faint and the weak hearted and no one is forced or should be forced into the Order. I often despair when I see individuals presenting themselves as Sikhs half-heartedly, e.g. wearing caps, keeping shorn and clean-cut beards, tying black turbans shaped to resemble hats and hair styles so as not to stand out amongst others. This is truly disgraceful and I would suggested they abandon the fold altogether – this will be no loss to Sikhi. Traveling to India in July, this year, I saw a Sikh at the Heathrow Airport with his hair combed back and tied into a pony tail. He made a ghastly sight and kept his eyes down. I was willing him to look into my eyes so that I could undress his shameful conscious by staring back – my wife was holding my arm to restrain me from saying anything. To such a person I would say ‘go to the nearest hairdresser and spare us the embarrassment and agony of you being identified as Singh. I have more respect for mona Sikhs (if there is such a term) than those who reside at the halfway house.

I apologise for the long post although a lot more can be written and said on thois topic. I believe skeptic.freethi Ji is sincere in his quest and pray he finds the right answers and justification to keep true to his faith. However, before he makes a final decision, I humbly suggest he reads up on Sikh Philosophy and History to appreciate the sacrifices made to sustain this noble way of life we refer to as ‘Sikhi’. I pray he makes the right decision. No offence meant to any of the contributors to this thread. May Guru Ji bless each and all.

Rajinder Singh ‘Arshi’
PS I like Maninder ji's suggestion.

 

[ManinderSingh69]

Respected Rajinder Singh 'Arshi' Ji,

Thanks for the appreciation. Though, i have to disagree at following point u mentioned.

"I am not sure that Sikh Gurus underwent any such analysis when recommending our saroop to include unshorn hair. I believe the Gurus laid more stress on saintliness, practicality and vanity-free appearance. "

Here, u forgot the Guru Ji himself is Nirankaar and who knows better than The Nirankaar about anything. Nirankaar needs not to analyse anything bcoz Nirankaar knows everything whether its something related to Spirituality or Technicality or Science or anything.
One example is Yoga which is also a science. Guru Ji has not asked Sikhs to do Yoga Kriyas as prescribed by Patanjali or other Yoga Gurus. Usually, any kriya/aasan they do somewhere it is related to breath or controlling the breath or slowing the inhaling and exhaling of breath . Now, in Sikhism if someone who tries Naam Simran or Simran Sadhna will find that it have the same effect as meditation. This means Naam Simran gives u double benefit. Simran plus Meditation even when it is not specified by Guru Ji in Gurbani (i'm not sure, may be somewhere in Gurbani it is specified)
Similarly, if Guru Ji has asked to keep hairs it will have some reason even if not specified.



skeptic.freethinker1@

Guru Ji Says, 'Jin Prem Kiyo Tin Heee Prabh Paayo' and here Prem can also interpreted as Prem with The Guru. And if u love 'Him' there will be no counter questions from ur side to The Guru. This is one of the basic learning from the life of Dhan Dhan Shri Guru Anged Dev Ji. I have no knowledge of Gurbani so cannot support my views with any Shabad/Tukk.
Sorry for being naive.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

 

[ugsbay]

SSA.
SkepticFreeThinker Ji your question is a valid one although for me it is a tricky one. I agree with Tejwant Ji & others who have made some excellent points on this topic. I have learned things i was not aware of in this thread. You mentioned that the hair and nails are gods creation and therefore why should one be kept and the other cut. In my opinion if they are both the same should we start tying turbans on our fingernails too ?.

 

[gurbanicd]

Re: Why are we allowed to cut nails but not hair?

Dear Skeptic-freethinker Ji

Far more learned individuals than I have already given you advice on this matter

If you want a direct answer based on logic you won't get one because the source should be the scriptures and I am fairly certain the direct comparison between hair and nails does not exist

Perhaps this is because it was never envisaged that centuries later someone would nitpick to try and justify an action that suited them personally

Apologies if that sounds harsh


freethinker ji


No one here is to pass judgement on you. Getting consent from a complete stranger on an internet forum should perhaps not be seen as justification for what you want to do

I would also respectfully suggest that if you move away form the hair thing for a moment and do everything else you're supposed to, that I daresay a lot of individuals with uncut hair don't do, then you will have a lot more to gain

I hope I have not offended you or anyone else with this post

All the best

FREETHINKERJI

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

 

[arshi]

Maninder ji wrote (italics):

Respected Rajinder Singh 'Arshi' Ji,

Thanks for the appreciation. Though, i have to disagree at following point u mentioned.

"I am not sure that Sikh Gurus underwent any such analysis when recommending our saroop to include unshorn hair. I believe the Gurus laid more stress on saintliness, practicality and vanity-free appearance. "

Here, u forgot the Guru Ji himself is Nirankaar and who knows better than The Nirankaar about anything. Nirankaar needs not to analyse anything bcoz Nirankaar knows everything whether its something related to Spirituality or Technicality or Science or anything.

I am not sure what you don’t agree with. When I wrote I was not sure Guru took any scientific analysis on board, it was a polite way of denying any significance attached to such analysis and that Guru Ji laid more stress on saintliness, practicality and vanity-free appearance and above all execution of directives as laid down in Gurbani. I am sorry for not putting it more clearly.

As I Sikh of course I believe and trust Guru Ji is all knowing and would never question or challenge his word, deed or recommendation. When you offer your head to Guru Ji, It does not matter what analysis or reasons led to his decision – one accepts his command without question.

Thanks for allowing me to clear up any misunderstanding.

You will find good support for your comments on Yoga in a very good article, also written by Dr Trilochan Singh – Sikhism and Yoga: A Comparative study in the Light of Gutru Nanak Encounters with the Yogis. I agree with you that Yoga is not a pre-requisite or essential for following the path of Sikhi.

Rajinder Singh ‘Arshi’

 

[Tejwant Singh]

Tejwant Ji,

Seriously, if you have trouble understanding the meaning of a few words, all you need to do, is ask me and I will explain it to you. As I said before, it's never too late to learn.

In my earlier post I had to use sentence formation to explain to you the difference between 'impractical' and 'unable.' I think I will need to do some more of that for you.

Let's start:-

Words of the day is 'justification' which also means 'reason'.

I will give you an example.
Suppose my local utility company by mistake sends me a bill of 100 thousand dollars. Now I know there is a mistake since there is no way I can use up that much electricity in one month. So, without anyone else forcing me, I, myself, on my 'own', go to their office to ask for 'justification' for the bill. Now would this 'justification' be called 'self-justification'. I don't think so. It would be called 'justification' and they will need to provide it since they sent the bill.

So, in a similar manner, since I was born in a sikh family, my religion requires me to have long hair. Without following the guideline blindly, I set out to find the reason behind this religious guideline, preferably from people who are more learned about this matter than I am.
I asked my parents. They said "To question the religious guideline is a blasphemy" So I asked the Bhai ji at my Gurudwara. He said that's what Rehat maryada says and so we have to follow it without asking for reason. And so here I am asking for reason from people who have been analyzing our scripture for a long time. And so I am asking for a 'justification' or a reason behind this requirement of having long hair.


Now I will also need to explain to you the difference between 'decision' and 'justification'. Let's start.
Whether to keep my hair or not will be my 'decision' and not my 'justification'. The 'decision' that I will make after getting the 'justification' or reason from the people who are more learned about Sikhism than I am.


Best Regards.

Skeptic.Free thinker ji,

Guru Fateh.

I have no difficulty in understanding what you write and how you twist things.

FYI, Justification and Reason are 2 different things and have 2 different meanings, you as a learned person should know that.

When one wants to take decision one has to decide how one should justify that in the manner of self- justification.

We are not here in this thread to show who knows more, You must know a lot more than I do but that is not the objective of this thread.

As, I suggested in my earlier post, you should get your hair cut and see how you feel and then go from there.

It is not the hair that makes a Sikh. It is learning and practicing what Gurbani says in Sri Guru Granth Sahib, our only Guru.

I was surprised in the other thread where you claimed that Ik Ong Kaar is a deity and I urged you to read Mool Mantar to find the meaning out.

So, cut your hair, read this beautiful Gurbani, practice it by putting it into prose and you will see the difference from the within. Perhaps after that this nail/hair pony trick will be in the distant past due to the real inner nourishment given by Gurbani.

Good luck in your journey.

Regards

Tejwant Singh

 

[ManinderSingh69]

Respected Rajinder Singh 'Arshi' Ji,

I pointed out ur this comment particularly "I am not sure that Sikh Gurus underwent any such analysis when recommending our saroop to include unshorn hair."
anyways nothing was wrong but clear explanation was missing. dats it.
and yea, thanks for that recommendation. Will try it out.

Rest, about this question, People ask such question only when they don't have faith and love for the Guru. Looking at the broader side, Love and Faith for Guru is also by his Grace. Lets Pray that 'The Almighty' showers his Blessings on all of us.

Bhull Chukk Di Khima

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa
waheguru Ji Ki Fateh khandaa

 

[moni]

hi,
I asked same question a few years back from my sister who is Amritdhari sikh and I got same answers...even i was not satisfied and I appreciate that you are on the way to seek truth. I dont know answer but I am on the same path..... only answer I find is SHRADHA. when GURU GOBIND SINGH asked for a head in Anandpur Sahab, only one follower who has Shradha, samarpan in Guru, got up and then 4 more, otherwise there were lacs, they cdnt...... I think in every religion one can be a follower by Shradha......
anyways if you find answer tell me also........ Respected Tejwant Singh Ji help someone, if you know pl dont laugh or taunt

 

[gurbanicd]

FREETHINKERJI

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

1. Page142 Line 7 Raag Maajh: Guru Nanak Dev

ਕਲਹਿ ਬੁਰੀ ਸੰਸਾਰਿ ਵਾਦੇ ਖਪੀਐ ॥
kalehi buree sansaar vaadhae khapeeai ||
The strife of this world is evil; these struggles are consuming it.

bhulan chukan di khima
​

 

[harryputtar89]

FYI, Justification and Reason are 2 different things and have 2 different meanings

Source:- Dictionary.com

justification - 4 dictionary results
jus·ti·fi·ca·tion   /ˌdʒʌstəfɪˈkeɪʃən/ Show Spelled[juhs-tuh-fi-key-shuhn]
–noun
1. a reason, fact, circumstance, or explanation


[Deleted my foolish comments] Sorry to Mr. Tejwant.



I have been following this thread for couple of days since I had similar questions. Actually not about the nails.....primarily only about the hairs.
Never really thought of creating a acct but the above literary gem was too funny to pass.

Guys, keep up the lively discussion.

Actually I want to share my point of view too. I'll probably post something over the weekend.