Why did the Buddha's monks shave their heads & beards?

Discussion of ordination, the Vinaya and monastic life. How and where to ordain? Bhikkhuni ordination etc.
User avatar
DooDoot
Posts: 12032
Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2017 11:06 pm

Why did the Buddha's monks shave their heads & beards?

Post by DooDoot »

Dear forum

In most religious traditions, the Holy Men grow beards & long hair, which I assume to surrender to nature or God.

My question is why did the Buddha's Sangha shave their heads & beards rather than just let their hair grow freestyle?

Thank you :sage:
There is always an official executioner. If you try to take his place, It is like trying to be a master carpenter and cutting wood. If you try to cut wood like a master carpenter, you will only hurt your hand.

https://soundcloud.com/doodoot/paticcasamuppada
https://soundcloud.com/doodoot/anapanasati
SarathW
Posts: 21184
Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2012 2:49 am

Re: Why did the Buddha's monks shave their heads & beards?

Post by SarathW »

What a comparison!
Some on is missing here.
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
User avatar
Dhammanando
Posts: 6490
Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 10:44 pm
Location: Mae Wang Huai Rin, Li District, Lamphun

Re: Why did the Buddha's monks shave their heads & beards?

Post by Dhammanando »

DooDoot wrote: Wed May 16, 2018 12:32 pm My question is why did the Buddha's Sangha shave their heads & beards rather than just let their hair grow freestyle?
No reason is given in the Vinaya Piṭaka beyond the stock formula about householders complaining:
Now at that time the group of six monks wore their hair long. People … spread it about … he addressed the monks, saying: “Monks, long hair should not be worn. Whoever should wear it (long), there is an offence of wrong-doing. I allow it to be of a two months’ growth or two finger-breadths (in length).”
However, the rule happens to appear in the midst of a lot of other rules that are aimed at curtailing vanity, and so it's widely assumed that this is likely to be the purpose here too.
Rūpehi bhikkhave arūpā santatarā.
Arūpehi nirodho santataro ti.


“Bhikkhus, the formless is more peaceful than the form realms.
Cessation is more peaceful than the formless realms.”
(Santatarasutta, Iti 73)
User avatar
TamHanhHi
Posts: 80
Joined: Sat Feb 24, 2018 2:28 pm

Re: Why did the Buddha's monks shave their heads & beards?

Post by TamHanhHi »

One monk once told me it's so they don't have to worry about insects infesting the hair (lice, etc.) and just easier and clean maintenance overall.
"Just as a large banyan tree, on level ground where four roads meet, is a haven for the birds all around, even so a lay person of conviction is a haven for many people: monks, nuns, male lay followers, & female lay followers."AN 5.38
User avatar
DNS
Site Admin
Posts: 17169
Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 4:15 am
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, Estados Unidos de América
Contact:

Re: Why did the Buddha's monks shave their heads & beards?

Post by DNS »

It has to combed, brushed, groomed, styled (okay maybe those are all the same thing), colored (if you're old); all related to vanity and identity. When you're bald, you just shave it, no styling or coloring needed. It takes time to shave my head every day, but I still prefer it to the time it takes styling and coloring the hair from my younger days.

I start with an electric shaver and go over my beard and head areas and then use a razor blade with shaving cream.
sentinel
Posts: 3236
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 1:26 pm

Re: Why did the Buddha's monks shave their heads & beards?

Post by sentinel »

You always gain by giving
dharmacorps
Posts: 2298
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2015 7:33 pm

Re: Why did the Buddha's monks shave their heads & beards?

Post by dharmacorps »

I suppose on this issue you could go two directions with curtailing vanity in the holy life-- let your hair grow without concern for vanity or styling it, or shave it off. I have shaved my head for a few years and enjoy its simplicity.
User avatar
Dhammarakkhito
Posts: 1115
Joined: Tue Jun 27, 2017 7:31 am
Contact:

Re: Why did the Buddha's monks shave their heads & beards?

Post by Dhammarakkhito »

Attachments
Screen Shot 2018-05-16 at 11.17.04.png
Screen Shot 2018-05-16 at 11.17.04.png (12.78 KiB) Viewed 4832 times
Screen Shot 2018-05-16 at 11.17.14.png
Screen Shot 2018-05-16 at 11.17.14.png (21.92 KiB) Viewed 4832 times
"Just as the ocean has a single taste — that of salt — in the same way, this Dhamma-Vinaya has a single taste: that of release."
— Ud 5.5

https://www.facebook.com/noblebuddhadha ... 34/?type=3

http://seeingthroughthenet.net/
https://sites.google.com/site/santipada ... allytaught
User avatar
Dhammanando
Posts: 6490
Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 10:44 pm
Location: Mae Wang Huai Rin, Li District, Lamphun

Re: Why did the Buddha's monks shave their heads & beards?

Post by Dhammanando »

The hair and beard are just the first two items. The Niddesa's full list of gihibyañjanāni is:
Gihibyañjanāni vuccanti kesā ca massū ca mālā ca gandhañca vilepanañca ābharaṇañca pilandhanañca vatthañca pārupanañca veṭhanañca ucchādanaṃ parimaddanaṃ nhāpanaṃ sambāhanaṃ ādāsaṃ añjanaṃ mālāgandhavilepanaṃ mukhacuṇṇaṃ mukhalepanaṃ hatthabandhaṃ sikhābandhaṃ daṇḍaṃ nāḷikaṃ khaggaṃ chattaṃ citrupāhanaṃ uṇhīsaṃ maṇiṃ vāḷabījaniṃ odātāni vatthāni dīghadasāni iti vā.

"There are called the "marks of a householder: hair and beard, garlands and fragrances, ointments, necklaces, earrings, clothing, headwraps, rubbing, massages, bathing, body-building, mirrors, collyrium, garlands, fragrances, and ointments, facial powder, lipstick, gloves, ribbons, staff, rod, sword, parasol, decorative sandals, turban, jewelry, fans, white clothes, and long nails."
But this list pertains to paccekabuddhas rather than bhikkhus. Although most of the items are also prohibited in the Vinaya, not all are. We are allowed fans, for example.
Now at that time a mosquito-fan accrued to an Order. They told this matter to the Lord. He said: “I allow, monks, a mosquito-fan.” A chowry-fan accrued. They told this matter to the Lord. He said: “Monks, a chowry-fan should not be used. Whoever should use one, there is an offence of wrong-doing. I allow, monks, three kinds of fans: made of bark, made of khus-khus, made of peacocks’ tail feathers.”
Rūpehi bhikkhave arūpā santatarā.
Arūpehi nirodho santataro ti.


“Bhikkhus, the formless is more peaceful than the form realms.
Cessation is more peaceful than the formless realms.”
(Santatarasutta, Iti 73)
SarathW
Posts: 21184
Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2012 2:49 am

Re: Why did the Buddha's monks shave their heads & beards?

Post by SarathW »

mirrors
Bhante. Don't use a mirror to shave your hair?
bathing
What is this?
parasol
I know some monks use them.

[quotewhite clothes][/quote]
Why not?
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
User avatar
Dhammanando
Posts: 6490
Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 10:44 pm
Location: Mae Wang Huai Rin, Li District, Lamphun

Re: Why did the Buddha's monks shave their heads & beards?

Post by Dhammanando »

SarathW wrote: Wed May 16, 2018 11:55 pm Bhante. Don't use a mirror to shave your hair?
That, and when applying ointment to a sore, are the only occasions when a Vinaya-observant bhikkhu will look in a mirror.
SarathW wrote: Wed May 16, 2018 11:55 pm bathing
What is this?
Bhikkhus can bathe. Paccekabuddhas don't.
SarathW wrote: Wed May 16, 2018 11:55 pm parasol
I know some monks use them.
Yes, we're allowed to. But paccekabuddhas are more austere than us.
SarathW wrote: Wed May 16, 2018 11:55 pm white clothes]
Why not?
It's a term that stands for any kind of clothes that are characteristic of householders. Paccekabuddhas are gone-forth persons and so dress accordingly in rags.
Rūpehi bhikkhave arūpā santatarā.
Arūpehi nirodho santataro ti.


“Bhikkhus, the formless is more peaceful than the form realms.
Cessation is more peaceful than the formless realms.”
(Santatarasutta, Iti 73)
paul
Posts: 1512
Joined: Tue May 31, 2011 11:27 pm
Location: Cambodia

Re: Why did the Buddha's monks shave their heads & beards?

Post by paul »

"the rule happens to appear in the midst of a lot of other rules that are aimed at curtailing vanity"---Ven Dhammanando
I was told at Bodhinyana that a bald head reminds us of a skull.
User avatar
Grigoris
Posts: 422
Joined: Sun Mar 11, 2018 10:43 am

Re: Why did the Buddha's monks shave their heads & beards?

Post by Grigoris »

Jain Devardhigani.jpg
Jain Devardhigani.jpg (22.26 KiB) Viewed 4697 times
I guess this is one of the reasons why shaven headed Buddhist monks don't wear white: to differentiate them from Jain monks.
ye dhammā hetuppabhavā tesaṁ hetuṁ tathāgato āha,
tesaṃca yo nirodho - evaṁvādī mahāsamaṇo.

Of those phenomena which arise from causes:
Those causes have been taught by the Tathāgata,
And their cessation too - thus proclaims the Great Ascetic.
User avatar
Grigoris
Posts: 422
Joined: Sun Mar 11, 2018 10:43 am

Re: Why did the Buddha's monks shave their heads & beards?

Post by Grigoris »

Not all Buddhist monks shave their heads and beards.
drubwang rinpoche.jpg
drubwang rinpoche.jpg (23.49 KiB) Viewed 4694 times
konchok norbu rinpoche.jpg
konchok norbu rinpoche.jpg (47.31 KiB) Viewed 4692 times
ye dhammā hetuppabhavā tesaṁ hetuṁ tathāgato āha,
tesaṃca yo nirodho - evaṁvādī mahāsamaṇo.

Of those phenomena which arise from causes:
Those causes have been taught by the Tathāgata,
And their cessation too - thus proclaims the Great Ascetic.
User avatar
Aloka
Posts: 7797
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2009 2:51 pm

Re: Why did the Buddha's monks shave their heads & beards?

Post by Aloka »

Here's another ....


Image


.
Post Reply