Why are monks bald? (ritual, mystic, celibacy, tradition, nuns)

[Ozzie]

Originally Posted by Willamena

Why do monks shave their heads?

Are there bald female monks?

I spent a night in a Tibetan nuns' monestary. All bald, like the blokes.

[Ozzie]

Originally Posted by Willamena

Why do monks shave their heads?

Are there bald female monks?

A salient reason for shaving the head might be to promote anonymity. Psych experiments have shown the most powerful cue for recognition is hair. Mask the hair and you go a long way towards masking the face.

[zenzero]

Hair is the crown of the individual or the ego.
Jain monks pluck each hair from its root, painful indeed. So that it never grows again. Shaving is only temporary removal of the hair.
Besides it saves lot of time for monks to focus on MEDITATION the only activity which eventually becomes a part of the person's BEING.
Love & rgds

[Seyorni]

Not all monks shave. Hindu and Jain sadhus give new meaning to the term " hirsute."

[zenzero]

Personally, it makes no differences to what the body looks like.
Hair, clothes, skin, sex etc.
The energy within each being remains the same.
Love & rgds

[kadzbiz]

Originally Posted by Guitar's Cry

Hair represents age and growth. By shaving it, you are symbolically starting over...

I have no idea what you're talking about - hee hee hee.!

[lilithu]

So we've discussed the meaning of the baldness. What about the rows of cigarette burns that grace some heads? I think they're some sort of "merit badge" but I'm not sure.

(I doubt they're really cigarette burns, but that's what they look like, and they're definitely made by burning.)

[Seyorni]

Originally Posted by lilithu

So we've discussed the meaning of the baldness. What about the rows of cigarette burns that grace some heads? I think they're some sort of "merit badge" but I'm not sure.

(I doubt they're really cigarette burns, but that's what they look like, and they're definitely made by burning.)

I have to confess my ignorance about this, Lilithu. Could you give us some more info?

[koan]

The burn marks on the heads of Chinese Monks and Nuns, represent the various precepts taken. In the Korean Buddhist tradition of which I belong, they burn (lightly) the inside of the forearm. Also the burns marks are done by touching with a lit incense stick.