Hi All
So my question is this. Should Buddhists shave all of the hair off, or have it trimmed into a more practical way?
Thanks
Caroline
Bad hair days
- octobersun79
- Posts: 42
- Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 9:01 pm
Bad hair days
Last edited by octobersun79 on Tue Apr 12, 2011 6:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Bad hair days
Buddhist, like everyone else, should wear their hair the way they like it, the way it suits them, the way it is practical or whatever other way it makes sense for them.octobersun79 wrote:So my question is this. Should Buddhists shave all of the hair off, or have it trimmed into a more practical way?
Seriously, what kind of question is that? As long as you are not a nun there are no regulations coming from Buddhism.
My personal, totally unfounded and uninformed advice to you is: Cut it all off.
Re: Bad hair days
Hi Caroline, I enjoyed reading your post as it pulled the rug out from under some assumptions I was standing on while reading it.
I just assumed you were a guy. I was getting ready to tell you how I had super duper long hair and similar experiences, then how cutting it was no big deal. Then you signed your name .
Outside of a Buddhist context I think some women look fantastic with short hair. Some women, but not all. It is a bit like a man getting a crew cut. It works for those with the shape of head and facial structure for it. In my opinion, women, even with grey hair look better with it long. Most women look neutered with short hair.
In a Buddhist context the only way I can see hair length mattering is convenience and then only for monks or very dedicated meditators. A shaved head cuts down on grooming time and the number of possessions you need to own.
I don't think hair length makes much of a difference for a lay person. I had hair down to my shoulder blades for over 5 years at least. I've had a typical short man's hair cut since then. I don't get that much more practical utility out of short hair. Pulling my hair back into a pony tail or a bun worked out just find. I do spend less time on grooming it. I haven't turned my hair dryer on in years. However, I find it to be nuisance to have to go to the barber at least once a month. With short hair, it grows out enough to look messy fast. Haircuts, at least good once aren't cheap anymore, so that is the other down side with short hair.
I just assumed you were a guy. I was getting ready to tell you how I had super duper long hair and similar experiences, then how cutting it was no big deal. Then you signed your name .
Outside of a Buddhist context I think some women look fantastic with short hair. Some women, but not all. It is a bit like a man getting a crew cut. It works for those with the shape of head and facial structure for it. In my opinion, women, even with grey hair look better with it long. Most women look neutered with short hair.
In a Buddhist context the only way I can see hair length mattering is convenience and then only for monks or very dedicated meditators. A shaved head cuts down on grooming time and the number of possessions you need to own.
I don't think hair length makes much of a difference for a lay person. I had hair down to my shoulder blades for over 5 years at least. I've had a typical short man's hair cut since then. I don't get that much more practical utility out of short hair. Pulling my hair back into a pony tail or a bun worked out just find. I do spend less time on grooming it. I haven't turned my hair dryer on in years. However, I find it to be nuisance to have to go to the barber at least once a month. With short hair, it grows out enough to look messy fast. Haircuts, at least good once aren't cheap anymore, so that is the other down side with short hair.
In reading the scriptures, there are two kinds of mistakes:
One mistake is to cling to the literal text and miss the inner principles.
The second mistake is to recognize the principles but not apply them to your own mind, so that you waste time and just make them into causes of entanglement.
One mistake is to cling to the literal text and miss the inner principles.
The second mistake is to recognize the principles but not apply them to your own mind, so that you waste time and just make them into causes of entanglement.
Re: Bad hair days
Long hair on a woman sends one of those very subtle subliminal messages, that the woman is fertile and would make a good mate. Polls have repeatedly shown 9 out of 10 men prefer women with long hair, so the message apparently works. It also makes a very good place to hide.
If you are intent on pleasing a man, leave it long. If you want to please yourself, do what you'd like; you can always grow it back if you feel insecure without it. At some point, most women decide it's more trouble than it's worth and cut it. My hair was waist length for many years; cutting it off was very freeing, as I literally didn't have to carry the past around with me any more. Also, strays quit sniffing around...
If you are intent on pleasing a man, leave it long. If you want to please yourself, do what you'd like; you can always grow it back if you feel insecure without it. At some point, most women decide it's more trouble than it's worth and cut it. My hair was waist length for many years; cutting it off was very freeing, as I literally didn't have to carry the past around with me any more. Also, strays quit sniffing around...
Re: Bad hair days
Chicks with shaved heads are hot. 'nuff said.
(or, for a more serious answer, see perkele's reply. there are no rules for non-ordained buddhists.)
(or, for a more serious answer, see perkele's reply. there are no rules for non-ordained buddhists.)
Re: Bad hair days
Your'e just saying that because you like punk rock girls. (I learned this from the other thread.)seanpdx wrote:Chicks with shaved heads are hot. 'nuff said.
(or, for a more serious answer, see perkele's reply. there are no rules for non-ordained buddhists.)
- Monkey Mind
- Posts: 538
- Joined: Sat Dec 05, 2009 8:56 pm
- Location: Pacific Northwest, USA
Re: Bad hair days
If other Buddhists refuse to wear the t-shirt I sent them, the least they could do is shave their heads. how else can we recognize each other when we are at the grocery store or coffee shop?
"As I am, so are others;
as others are, so am I."
Having thus identified self and others,
harm no one nor have them harmed.
Sutta Nipāta 3.710
as others are, so am I."
Having thus identified self and others,
harm no one nor have them harmed.
Sutta Nipāta 3.710
Re: Bad hair days
Maybe I worked in hospitals too long ¬ but when I see a shaved head on someone not in the robes of a bhikkhu/bhikkhuni, I assume they're Chemotherapy patients.
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
Re: Bad hair days
I had a girlfriend once who hated my shaved head for just such a reason, but I never understood why the presence of my eyebrows didn't alter that view.
- "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.
"And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.
- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]
Re: Bad hair days
That isn't too bad. My reflex is to think they are skinheads. If they are smiling, my reflex is to think they are nuts ( i.e. the guy who shot Congresswoman Giffords ).cooran wrote:Maybe I worked in hospitals too long ¬ but when I see a shaved head on someone not in the robes of a bhikkhu/bhikkhuni, I assume they're Chemotherapy patients.
In reading the scriptures, there are two kinds of mistakes:
One mistake is to cling to the literal text and miss the inner principles.
The second mistake is to recognize the principles but not apply them to your own mind, so that you waste time and just make them into causes of entanglement.
One mistake is to cling to the literal text and miss the inner principles.
The second mistake is to recognize the principles but not apply them to your own mind, so that you waste time and just make them into causes of entanglement.
Re: Bad hair days
And I see nothing wrong with that. Hehe! =Dandre9999 wrote:Your'e just saying that because you like punk rock girls. (I learned this from the other thread.)seanpdx wrote:Chicks with shaved heads are hot. 'nuff said.
(or, for a more serious answer, see perkele's reply. there are no rules for non-ordained buddhists.)
Re: Bad hair days
I never got my t-shirt. =(Monkey Mind wrote:If other Buddhists refuse to wear the t-shirt I sent them, the least they could do is shave their heads. how else can we recognize each other when we are at the grocery store or coffee shop?
- Monkey Mind
- Posts: 538
- Joined: Sat Dec 05, 2009 8:56 pm
- Location: Pacific Northwest, USA
Re: Bad hair days
Are you registered? Are you a card-carrying Buddhist?seanpdx wrote:I never got my t-shirt. =(
"As I am, so are others;
as others are, so am I."
Having thus identified self and others,
harm no one nor have them harmed.
Sutta Nipāta 3.710
as others are, so am I."
Having thus identified self and others,
harm no one nor have them harmed.
Sutta Nipāta 3.710
Re: Bad hair days
Don't cling to the Buddhist t-shirt... it'll only cause suffering.seanpdx wrote:I never got my t-shirt. =(
Re: Bad hair days
Don't cling, use the eightfold dryer sheet?andre9999 wrote:Don't cling to the Buddhist t-shirt... it'll only cause suffering.seanpdx wrote:I never got my t-shirt. =(
- "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.
"And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.
- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]