Stupid curiosity...

[pink_trike]

In early Buddha iconography he's often shown with a mustache but I've noticed that now monks never have facial hair. If so, in light of the early iconography, why? Is it specifically required that monks shave their face? Or is it simply a custom that evolved from the shaving of the head?

[David N. Snyder]

Do you have an example to show or quote? The only statue / image I remember seeing with the mustache is Padmasambhava; but he is from the 8th century AD.

At the museum in Sarnath all of the very old statues were with shaven faces.

[zavk]

Hey I was pondering the same question recently too. Given how most holy people/renunciants in India had (and still have) facial hair, how did it come about that the members of the Sangha do not keep facial hair? But in kungfu films, we often see the abbott or master of Shaolin wisely stroking his beard.

[pink_trike]

They are rare, so images are difficult to find. It is apparently limited to the Gandharan period and later iconography that was influenced by that period. Here's what I was able to find.

[pink_trike]

Not sure about this one. It looks similar to the one I once saw at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum, but can't really tell from this pic if it is actually a mustache.

[mikenz66]

I think the seated Buddha in the middle is like the one in In the Buddha's Words, by Bhikkhu Bodhi. I've seen one of those, I think in a travelling exhibition from the British Museum. They are from Gandhara, Pakistan, Second Century, according to the note in the book.

I thought that was relatively early for Buddha images...

Mike

[pink_trike]

The Greeks invented the image of the Buddha. Before the Greeks, all that existed were symbol representations that may or may not have represented an actual Buddha (given that nearly all of the symbols have astronomical significance).

Sometime between the 2nd century BCE and the 1st century CE, the first anthropomorphic representations of the Buddha were developed. These were absent from earlier strata of Buddhist art, which preferred to represent the Buddha with symbols such as the stupa, the Bodhi tree, the empty seat, the wheel, or the footprints.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greco-Buddhist_art

[appicchato]

...how did it come about that the members of the Sangha do not keep facial hair?

Not all...the Venerable Nyanaponika (author of the well known 'Buddhist Dictionary') sported a full beard for many years...he's in the middle...

[Dhammanando]

Is it specifically required that monks shave their face?

na bhikkhave massu vaḍḍhāpetabbaṃ

“Bhikkhus, the beard is not to be allowed to flourish.”
(Vin. ii. 134)

In the Vinayalankāra vaḍḍhāpetabbaṃ is glossed as dīghaṃ kārenti – “to cause to be long.”

But as no particular length is specified the application of the rule varies according to local custom. The Burmese are the strictest, permitting no facial hair at all. The Thais are slightly less strict. Having dry skin I prefer not to shave too often and can usually get away with about a week’s growth before the other monks start murmuring about it. The Sinhalese seem to be the most liberal. I’ve seen photos of some of them sporting fairly substantial beards.

Best wishes,
Dhammanando Bhikkhu

[zavk]

Ah... thank you for your responses, Bhantes.

[puthujjana]

Not all...the Venerable Nyanaponika (author of the well known 'Buddhist Dictionary') sported a full beard for many years...

Bhante, please excuse me for correcting a minor error, but the author of the "Buddhist Dictionary" and the monk in the middle of the picture is Nyanatiloka.

Here is another picture:



from left to right: Ven. Piyadassi Thera; Ven. Ñânatiloka Mahâthera; Ven. Ñânaponika Thera

More pictures: http://www.buddhistisches-haus.de/photo ... r=misc_old

with metta

[mikenz66]

Bhante, please excuse me for correcting a minor error, but the author of the "Buddhist Dictionary" and the monk in the middle of the picture is Nyanatiloka.

Those Western monks in Sri Lanka last century were so confusing: Nyanatiloka, Nyanaponika, Nanamoli, Nanavira, Nyanatusita... Luckily they ran out of "N"s by the time Bhikkhu Bodhi turned up...

Metta
Mike

[appicchato]

...the author of the "Buddhist Dictionary" and the monk in the middle of the picture is Nyanatiloka.

Here is another picture:

Thanks puthujjana...I knew I was looking for Ven. Nyanatiloka and went right on ahead and typed Ven. Nyanaponika...

The photo you've provided is in the Buddhist Dictionary, which is what set me off to find a photo (online) of him...

Be well...

[Peter]

Those Western monks in Sri Lanka last century were so confusing: Nyanatiloka, Nyanaponika, Nanamoli, Nanavira, Nyanatusita... Luckily they ran out of "N"s by the time Bhikkhu Bodhi turned up...

Maybe it's probably really Nbodhi or Nyanabodhi and he changed it.

[pink_trike]

Is it specifically required that monks shave their face?

na bhikkhave massu vaḍḍhāpetabbaṃ

“Bhikkhus, the beard is not to be allowed to flourish.”
(Vin. ii. 134)

In the Vinayalankāra vaḍḍhāpetabbaṃ is glossed as dīghaṃ kārenti – “to cause to be long.”

But as no particular length is specified the application of the rule varies according to local custom. The Burmese are the strictest, permitting no facial hair at all. The Thais are slightly less strict. Having dry skin I prefer not to shave too often and can usually get away with about a week’s growth before the other monks start murmuring about it. The Sinhalese seem to be the most liberal. I’ve seen photos of some of them sporting fairly substantial beards.

Best wishes,
Dhammanando Bhikkhu

Thanks, Ven. for the info.

[jcsuperstar]

i know some east asian buddhas have facial hair to show that the buddha is from the west, most of the time it's amida buddha with the facial hair though( like in your picture of the dai butsu in japan who is amida)

[David N. Snyder]

Speaking of 'facial hair' . . . some Sri Lankan monks even shave the eyebrows!



Bhante Gunaratana is a member / leader in the Siam Nikaya sect of Theravada and those monks shave all facial hair, including the eyebrows. But I am pretty certain that is just cultural, as the Vinaya mentions nothing about eyebrow shaving.

[appicchato]

Speaking of 'facial hair' . . . some Sri Lankan monks even shave the eyebrows!

All Thais as well...started a couple hundred years ago to differentiate themselves from Burmese 'spy' monks...

[pink_trike]

Speaking of 'facial hair' . . . some Sri Lankan monks even shave the eyebrows!

All Thais as well...started a couple hundred years ago to differentiate themselves from Burmese 'spy' monks...

So why does it continue? Are there still Burmese spy monks?

[mikenz66]

All Thais as well...started a couple hundred years ago to differentiate themselves from Burmese 'spy' monks...

So why does it continue? Are there still Burmese spy monks?