Earrings Allowed?

[Ishna]

I have three piercings in my ears. Sometimes I feel guilty for having them because a Sikh "is not supposed" to have pierced ears. I was vaguely aware of the slavery connection, but it's not part of my cultural history as a Westerner so, being aware that Gurbani doesn't expressedly forbid pierced ears, I've left them in. I look around my sangat and I don't see a woman without pierced ears, so then I wonder why I worry at all.

Examining my motivation for getting them in the first place: the two in my lobes I got before I became as serious about Sikhi as I am now. I got them to look prettier, I was in-between relationships and without self confidence. Not a positive mental place to be getting piercings.

I got my cartilage piercing when I rebelled against religion in the middle of last year. It was for me an act of defiance. I have always liked the "tough" look of the cartilage piercing, and wanted to stand as a strong woman who wouldn't be controlled (ironic when you think of the slave history!).

Today, the earrings are just there. Whether they are pierced or clip-on earrings, I think my own mind-set about them would be exactly the same. I still fail to understand why on one hand piercing ears is not allowed but wearing clip-ons is, when the mentality is the same, in this day-and-age.

I often think about removing my piercings, but they've taken so long to heal - much longer than usual. I'll have to remove them if I decide to wear dastaar but I think I'm quite a ways from that yet. The earrings are a source of self-confidence for me now, I don't think I look right without them.

Ironically, when I was a Pagan teenager, I was following physical Sikhi much closer than I am now. I never cut any of my hairs, never pierced my ears or anything because I didn't want to mess with the way my Goddess had made me. I lost that resolve in the spiritual gap as I was seeking between Paganism and Sikhi.

The moral of this story: don't get any piercings, because like alcohol, once you have them you won't want to give them up.

 

[jasbirkaleka]

animatedkhanda1Pls. can some-one quote a Shabad from Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji that, in no uncertain terms,specifically forbids the wearing ear-rings by women.
Women in every continebt of the world have been wearing ear-rings for thousands of years.This is really news to me that they wore it as a symbol of slavery.
What is wrong in looking more atractive? Is it not one of the reasons that we all, includings the Sikhs, wear clothes?
Why is it that Panthic Sikh Rehat Maryada,a recently drafted, man-made document, is considered so sacrosant that no changes can be made in it.
Lasly what do we do with 99.9 Sikh women who wear ear-rings/yellingsardarni

 

[pamma]

Wearing earings or any jewellery is a very personal issue, why mingle it with religion? What is religion? Is it the goal or a means to a goal? I'll request my friends at SPN to lay stress on naam , once you start enjoying naam all these issues seem trivial.Rise up friends and let religion lead us to spirituality.

 

[Gyani Jarnail Singh]

Ear piercing was a Religious requirement for Yogis...just as Circumcision is for Muslims. No circumciison..no muslim..no ear rings..no Yogi. Gurmatt doesnt agree with BOTH.
Some sadhu orders had to have Matted hair..plastering with sap of the peepal tree to have luxuriant growth ( an idea for those who have sp{censored} hair ha ha)....others had to PULL out each hair by the root...this is also not as per Gurmatt..a Sikh cannot have matted hair..the Kangha comb ensures this. A few more rather disgusting religious requirements are mentioend by Guru nanak ji sahib...all not as per gurmatt...brahamchareeism..celibacy..running away to forests caves etc for simran..etc etc.

Jewellery per se is NOT Banned..our Sikh GURUS wore the ebst clothes, rode the ebst horses, had golden plumes on dastaar like Royalty, had necklaces and all that...the issue is PIERCING AS A RELIGIOUS REQUIREMENT....if you cna over-ride that by saying..i am NOT doing it for religious reasons..then soemone else cna say i am getting circumcised for helath reasons...BUT the fact is one cannot become a Yogi without piercing/ or amuslim without circum !!..and BOTH piercing/circum are NOT REVERSIBLE. once done..permanent.

 

[pamma]

But definitely women were not yogis, what about them? In today's scenario we don't identify a Hindu by seeing the pierced ears. People all over the world have pierced ears, are they all Hindu yogis?

On the same lines, a different issue I'm bringing up. We should not be meddling with our hair, right? With due respect to all, what should a woman with excessive facial hair do? Go to her work place with a beard and be the laughing stock of all? Come on lets be practical, concentrate on doing good of all whom we can, get out of malice, of pettiness and above all enjoy Naam, the only Saviour!
After death we are not going to be judged as to how strictly we followed our rules but how strictly we tried to be good human beings and how much time we spent in thanking and remembering the Akaal purakh.
I may not be very well versed in religion but there is one lesson I teach my children as a teacher, and that is to be a good human.
Wahe Guru be with us all.

 

[Ishna]

I think regular piercing is reversible. You take the earring out, it grows back over. It's the big stretchy ones that don't grow back over. And I think cartilage doesn't grow back over either.

So the core of the principle is actually not to alter the physical form. That holds far more water than saying it's a non-religious requirements (as in non-Yogi) in today's world where people are far less likely to associate their piercings with a religion, I think.

 

[KulwantK]

Sat Nam, everyone!
Thank you all for the answers you have given. There are a couple of points to also consider regarding the pierced ears, earrings, and pierced noses and nose rings and such.
There are accupressure/accupuncture points all over the face, as well as the body. When the ears and nose are pierced, it has been found in various studies that such piercings change the way the nervous systems functions; most interestingly that when the nose is pierced, the individual is rendered more suggestible and docile. This would most definitely be something to consider!

 

[Harry Haller]

Ive considered it, and I'm booking my wife in next week

 

[Gyani Jarnail Singh]

watch out..after the Beadbi and satikaar fellows finish with meat and alcohol..they are coming after the ear rings and nose rings..bet on it....the Road map is there....japposatnamwaheguru::whatzpointsing:

 

[Ishna]

I know lots of strong women with nose piercings, I'm not sure about that study.

What is the Sikh view around altering the physical body? If I want to pierce my belly button, how can any Sikh take issue with that? If I pierce my ears with the same mentality, what could the problem possibly be?

 

[spnadmin]

Sat Nam, everyone!
Thank you all for the answers you have given. There are a couple of points to also consider regarding the pierced ears, earrings, and pierced noses and nose rings and such.
There are accupressure/accupuncture points all over the face, as well as the body. When the ears and nose are pierced, it has been found in various studies that such piercings change the way the nervous systems functions; most interestingly that when the nose is pierced, the individual is rendered more suggestible and docile. This would most definitely be something to consider!

I sincerely think that the argument of "altering" the body fails in a lot of ways. What if an amputation were required to save your life? The issue of piercing...and I am sorry to repeat myself on this point...does not go to altering your body purely in and off itself. The prohibition against piercing is in the SRM because piercings are associated with religious beliefs that cloud the issue of Sikh identity. Please go back and read earlier posts in this thread.

As soon as we start listing all the ways in which our bodies can be altered it is clear that the focus has shifted to a more latter day "don't do this" and "don't do that" aspect of religion (any religion) which loses its pertinent focus. Choice gets very blurry. This also takes us far from the concerns voiced by findinmyway ji in which our reasons for piercing need to be considered. Is this need coming from "ego?" Have we explored our motivations for piercing. Are these motivations consistent with Guru Nanak's message. IMHO thinking about yourself as a Sikh who keeps a spiritual eye on the the 5 evils gives the guidelines one needs to make decisions about piercing and everything else that puts dilemmas in our path, large and small.

 

[Kanwaljit.Singh]

@Ishna ji

ਮਃ ੧ ॥
First Mehl:


ਕਿਉ ਮਰੈ ਮੰਦਾ ਕਿਉ ਜੀਵੈ ਜੁਗਤਿ ॥
How is evil eradicated? How can the true way of life be found?


ਕੰਨ ਪੜਾਇ ਕਿਆ ਖਾਜੈ ਭੁਗਤਿ ॥
What is the use of piercing the ears, or begging for food?


ਆਸਤਿ ਨਾਸਤਿ ਏਕੋ ਨਾਉ ॥
Throughout existence and non-existence, there is only the Name of the One Lord.


ਕਉਣੁ ਸੁ ਅਖਰੁ ਜਿਤੁ ਰਹੈ ਹਿਆਉ ॥
What is that Word, which holds the heart in its place?


ਧੂਪ ਛਾਵ ਜੇ ਸਮ ਕਰਿ ਸਹੈ ॥
When you look alike upon sunshine and shade,


ਤਾ ਨਾਨਕੁ ਆਖੈ ਗੁਰੁ ਕੋ ਕਹੈ ॥
Says Nanak, then the Guru will speak to you.


ਛਿਅ ਵਰਤਾਰੇ ਵਰਤਹਿ ਪੂਤ ॥
The students follow the six systems.


ਨਾ ਸੰਸਾਰੀ ਨਾ ਅਉਧੂਤ ॥
They are neither worldly people, nor detached renunciates.


ਨਿਰੰਕਾਰਿ ਜੋ ਰਹੈ ਸਮਾਇ ॥
One who remains absorbed in the Formless Lord


ਕਾਹੇ ਭੀਖਿਆ ਮੰਗਣਿ ਜਾਇ ॥੭॥
- why should he go out begging? ||7||

 

[Kanwaljit.Singh]

And this Shabad talks of 'piercing' in first line which Guru likes:
http://sikhitothemax.com/page.asp?ShabadID=3146

 

[Ishna]

Kanwaljit ji, thank you for providing those shabads. In the first one you posted, Guru Nanak Dev ji has asked what is the use of pierced ears. He's not saying "do not pierce your ears puny human!"

In the second one, I believe Guruji is talking metaphorically about piercing the mind.

SPNadmin ji: The beautiful thing about Sikhi is that it has room for logic. If your hand is ganggreen and your arm needs to be cut off to save your life, go for it. That is a different kettle altogether to altering the body for pleasure or ornamentation, as with pierced ears.

This is possibly an example of how the SRM might be upgraded: perhaps instead of banning earrings it should ban the wearing of any other religious symbols or any body modification for religious purposes other than Sikh.

What possible reason could someone have to pierce their ears if they are not trying to look better? Thereby, banning the practice outright protects those who might not be able to realise they might pierce their ears for reasons which go against progression towards becoming a Gurmukh.

 

[sachbol]

Piercing nose or ears might have been banned but almost all Sikh
women (That includes my mother, my wife my daughter and my
grand daughter) have pierced their ears and most of them their
noses.
You may say this is anti Sikhism but question is, can you stop them ?icecreamkudi

 

[Ishna]

It's not up to anyone to stop them (except grace), it comes down to their personal relationship with the Sat and, taking what others have learned before them, figuring out what is a true and wholesome practice and what isn't, and then applying it in their lives.

The SRM banning earrings because they are used within some religions may be true, however it is akin to banning the consumption of all meat because some of it is ritually slaughtered, to my mind.

I think the primary issue of earrings in the diaspora is they serve no other purpose but to improve one's outer image and serves nothing other than the Ego. It has no logical or rational purpose in Sikhi.

 

[Gyani Jarnail Singh]

Its also to control HAUMAII....False Pride...

IS saying...WHY LIE ?? not the same as saying..DONT LIE ?? WHY WEAR ??? isnt it saying..DONT WEAR ???

Wearing earings to "look better"... is it the same as...the INJUNCTION to Chun chun ke bandhi dastaar...the Sikh is instructed to tie the DASTAAR DAILY..taking care to ensure each Layer is carefully and nicely straightened out...pulled tight..so the dastaar doesnt look shabbily tied ! ???? why a sikh must take so much care to ensure his dastaar LOOKS GOOD..whiel to "look good" wearing ear rings is banned ?? is there a contradiction ?/
The answer is NO...the dastaar injunction is DISCILINE..REHAT..no laziness of instant dastaars allowed...

 

[aristotle]

Will the non-piercing type earrings be allowed in Sikhism? They don't pierce the ear and work on the principles of magnetism using tiny magnets at both ends, they don't fall off and are comfortable too.......

 

[Ishna]

It it up to the individual, but I would say the end result is the same whether you have pierced ears or wear fake ones. The objective is still to look for no other reason other than societal peer pressure and egotistical pride. That is, pride for the sake of the ego.

It is a challenge in the west to go without earrings.
They are almost part of clothing for females and one can feel underdressed in the office without them.
I am struggling with my own ego to part ways with my three ear piercings (down from five almost a year ago), so I know it's not as simple as I make it sound.

 

[aristotle]

But there is a slight difference, Sikh Rehat Maryada specifically bans the piercing jewelery, in that case is the non piercing jewelery permitted?? That would perhaps help the Sikh females adjust better in the society they live.