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doppelgänger;884691 said:There's a tradition of baldness among many orders of Christian monks, too.
Hair represents vanity and attachment to worldly things.Why do monks shave their heads?
Are there bald female monks?
Hair represents vanity and attachment to worldly things.
(Hmm.... why did the story of Samson and Delilah all of the sudden come to mind?)
Ya gotta admit, or at least I do, that there is something incredibly symbolically powerful about the act of shaving one's head. Whether its a Buddhist monk or Britney Spears, it is almost always associated with renunciation of one's past life.
There's a tradition of baldness among many orders of Christian monks, too.
Yeah, I see that now. Even a cancer head shave can be seen in that light.Hair represents vanity and attachment to worldly things.
(Hmm.... why did the story of Samson and Delilah all of the sudden come to mind?)
Ya gotta admit, or at least I do, that there is something incredibly symbolically powerful about the act of shaving one's head. Whether its a Buddhist monk or Britney Spears, it is almost always associated with renunciation of one's past life.
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.Why do monks shave their heads?
Are there bald female monks?
Hair represents age and growth. By shaving it, you are symbolically starting over...
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.)
Well, I looked for pictures on the internet but couldn't find any. Which is probably just as well, since that would be kinda disrespectful.I have to confess my ignorance about this, Lilithu. Could you give us some more info?
Ah, so it's only the Chinese. That makes sense as I don't recall seeing it on others. Thank you for the info. They still sound like merit badges to me.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.