Where are all the hairy monks?

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kilanta
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Where are all the hairy monks?

Post by kilanta »

Many times in Thailand I've been wondering why I never see a monk of western origin who is hairy. Secretly I've been thinking that maybe some of them shave off their excess fur? In vinaya this seems to be falling under unnecessary beautification and/or maybe being too concerned about one's looks. Or maybe shaving excess chest hair standing out under robes falls under a rule for trying to be neat when in public? Or do they just ordinate those who aren't excessively hairy? This has been bothering me a while since the few thais I know don't consider a hairy westener an exactly nice thing to look at. Yet I'm sure there are lots of hairy fellows who are strolling on the path and have gone forth too in Thailand.
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cooran
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Re: Where are all the hairy monks?

Post by cooran »

Hello kilanta, all,

Not sure - there is no instruction to remove bodily hair. Here is what the Vinaya states:

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/auth ... .ch01.html

With metta,
Chris
---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 ---
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poto
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Re: Where are all the hairy monks?

Post by poto »

Not all of us westerners are hairy man-beasts.

I'm a westerner in my 30's and I do not have a hairy chest or back.

I do have a small amount of Native American in me, but am mostly of German decent, with some Irish and other stuff in there.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." -- C. S. Lewis
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pilgrim
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Re: Where are all the hairy monks?

Post by pilgrim »

I've seen Sri Lankan monks with hairy chests. Thais and other east asians tend to be a lot less hairy.
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Mojo
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Re: Where are all the hairy monks?

Post by Mojo »

more body hair = more testosterone = less interest in monkish endeavors?
barcsimalsi
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Re: Where are all the hairy monks?

Post by barcsimalsi »

Hair in a confining region is not to be removed. Whoever should do so: an offense of wrong doing"...
Isn't this rule disrupt hygiene care?
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piotr
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Re: Where are all the hairy monks?

Post by piotr »

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Bhagavaṃmūlakā no, bhante, dhammā...
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