Fateh,
Much has been written about the importance of hair. Some say it holds physiological importance, others argue that it elevates our mental processing; others that it insulates our brains and still others argue that it acts directly to enhance our spirituality. And since for a Sikh, keeping his kes is mandatory we have added even further special meanings to hair. In regards to this I would like to highlight some of the more common arguments people give about the importance of hair and share my views on those.
"Hair is blessing of God"
We accept God as the Creator of this Universe and ALL CREATION that resides within it. Amongst these creations man is regarded as one of the most ingenious and magnificent of creations. For it is man alone who has the capacity and unique privilege of Realization of his Creator. Now the human body is an amazing piece of machinery and we are far far away from having full knowledge of its structure and functioning and most likely may never ever fully comprehend. God is not so careless and foolish to create features on our body which have no useful function. As to what that function is, for certain organs/tissues of our body we have gained some insight about those functions but others we still do not fully know. Even medicinal science today shows that hair serves many advantageous functions on our body. Now as to why we have so much on our head or face (men) we can argue all day but at some point we must humbly admit that God wouldn’t keep carelessly putting hair on every mans head since beginning of mans existence if it did not serve some useful purpose. What that actual purpose is only God fully knows. Even if we try we will never have full knowledge or understanding of Gods reasoning. Instead as Sikhs we are to humbly accept His Will as being right.
"Hair is a Gift of the Guru"
Some say the Kes is a gift from our Guru and we should accept it as such. There is nothing wrong in saying that hair is 'gift' from our guru, the problem only arises if we take it to the next step and say the Guru "gave" us this hair. The guru never 'gave' the Sikh anything. Anything that a Sikh has, was merely 'offered' as a gift of love by the guru. And that is why the Panj Kakaars are not mere physical symbols but rather are much more meaningful and priceless gifts of pyaar offered to us by our Guru. And like any gift only the giver of that gift knows the true value of it. Only the giver of that gift can appreciate how important and meaningful that gift truly is. The receiver can merely acknowledge that show of love and decide whether he wishes to accept or reject that gift. We see common place today when someone loses an old watch, piece of jewelry or family heirloom the difficulty and efforts they go through to try and reclaim or find it. If someone suggests to them just forget about it, it was just a pen or watch and u can get another one the person who lost it will reply no, to u it may be just a 2 dollar pen but to me its value is priceless. Why? Cruz it was a gift of love given by some friend or family member. We cling to these other worlds gifts so tightly so why the problem in showing the same love to the gifts our guru has given to us?
"Hair is a sign of a Sikh"
It is common place to hear that keeping unshorn hair is the nishani of a Sikh. That having a joora and lumbee dhari is nishani of a Sikh. Such thinking is COMPLETELY WRONG! In order to understand this one must first understand the philosophy of Sikhi. Being a Sikh is not a birth right nor is it attained by merely keeping ones hair uncut. It is a process and like any process there are stages one goes through.
1st stage = Man (ma-nukh)
We are all born as humans. A being with no name and no faith. Thus at birth we come into this world in the exact same state as any other person. When we hear the word kesadhari we often equate it with meaning a Sikh, and some take it even further and classify it as a particular 'type' of Sikh. The truth is that both meanings are wrong. Being kesadhari is not synonymous with being a Sikh or being Khalsa. In fact kes are not the sign of any religion for that matter. Kes are simply the sign of man, and that too from birth. That is why when we say that kes are the nishani of Sikh we do not understand what these kes signify. If they were the sign of any particular faith (e.g. Sikh) then followers of all other religions would simply have to pray before the respective Lord (Ram, Alah, God) that, "Oh Dear Lord, since hair are only the sign of a Sikh please stop giving me or my kids any more hair." And if after all these humble pleas before God their hair still keeps growing then why would any truly religious God-loving person keep doing a direct confrontation with God and keep opposing His Will? Maybe then they will realize that hair has more meaning then just being a ‘nishani’ of a sikh and is actually the nishani of every insaan.
2nd stage = Sikh
After one enters the first stage of being a kesadhari (manukh) the next step for one who wishes to follow Sikhi is to become a Sikh. A Sikh is the student of the Guru. And like any other student their progress and advancement is contingent on them learning. Simply put, a Sikh is one who strives for sikhaya (learning). An ordinary student studies the subject matter specific to their degree program so what subject matter does a Sikh study? Gurmat, another words the teachings of the guru as bestowed on us through Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Whereas the first stage is defined by completely accepting the gifts God has given to us with love (i.e. being a kesadhari) the second stage is defined by the person now accepting all the gifts our guru has given to us with an equal love. This is signified by the individual making honest, diligent efforts and gaining a stronger insight and understanding about gurmat. Like an ordinary school where progress of the student is symbolized by moving up to the next grade, in the school of sikhi progress of the student (Sikh) is seen by that individual moving up the spiritual ladder -- i.e. they begin to learn how to control and subdue the wandering mind. This is seen by the gradual change in the thoughts, words and actions of that individual such that with each passing day that individual begins to lead a life resembling more and more like that of his teachers (Guru).
3rd stage = Singh/Kaur
This is the final stage for one who enters the school of Sikhi. This stage is reached when one incorporates in themselves the exact same virtues, gunn, as those possessed by the Guru and God. This person now bears no enmity, anger, or hatred for anyone. He feels nothing but unconditional Love and tolerance for all those around him. This person has now become truly 'pure' both inside and out and is qualified to graduate from the school of Sikhi and become a full fledged member of the Khalsa. Symbolically this initiation is signified by the individual partaking in the khandey dhi pahul (amrit ceremony).
Unfortunately, the sad thing in today’s world is that not only have we confused and mixed up these 3 stages but we have also overlooked the importance and necessity of moving thru these stages in a gradual step-wise manner. In ordinary schooling if one wishes to attain any degree they have to undergo a specific step-wise process. For instance, in the case of becoming a professional (in any field) one first has to accept the importance and value of schooling and hone their studying skills (1st stage). IF they neglect the value of schooling and ignore it then any further progress in their academic career will become impossible. Once they've done this the person then makes their mind as to which field they would like to enter and pursue a career in. This is analogous to a person choosing which faith they would like to follow.
If the person chooses to pursue medicine, then they do the necessary pre-requisites and gain entrance into that program. Once in the school of medicine they must actively learn new material every day and gain a stronger knowledge and understanding of all the theoretical concepts (book smarts) of that field. At the same time as they are gaining these book smarts they must actively demonstrate and implement this knowledge into practical form when they start their rotations in the hospitals. This entire learning process occurs once they’ve entered this 2nd stage. When the person has mastered all the material, and has both that knowledge base in their mind and proficiency in practice they are now qualified to attain the degree from that school. Once they get this degree, they become full members of the Medical Profession. (3rd stage).
We stringently follow this process with all other worldly pursuits but how ironic is it when it comes to Sikhi we feel this process is not necessary? Is the value of Sikhi in our eyes so low that it falls even below ordinary scholarly pursuits? Is progress in our spiritual career not as important as progress in our academic/working careers? Yet we see this is exactly the mentality the majority of people apply to the pursuit of Sikhi. Every day we hear the cries and urges of granthis, parcharaks to go take amrit, become part of the khalsa panth. And what is even more disheartening is that these same granthis eagerly give these new recruits the degree of Khalsa as if handing out candy to kids on Halloween. Where has the whole idea that Sikhi is a life long learning process vanished to? Why have we devalued this schooling process into a mere overnight course? There is nothing wrong with people being eager and devoted to becoming members of the Khalsa. But they should not be rushed into the final stages by emotional or physical pressure. And if the individual themselves wishes to jump and go straight after the degree then it should be stressed by those around that person that this enthusiasm is great but it more important that the person actually first takes time to read gurbani, read Sikh history and understand the basic concepts of gurmat. Once they attain this strong base and foundation of the fundamentals of Sikhi then by all means they should be encouraged to partake in amrit ceremony. Not only will such a person be better able to withstand sinister attacks of falsehood/bramnical influence on their faith and not be misled but they will also remain strong in their faith and commitment to the Khalsa Panth and be less likely to waiver from it.
Why else such the startling disparity of the average so called member of khalsa today and those during the time of Guru Gobind Singh? During that time not a single person was willing to give up his faith or compromise even the smallest part of his faith even if it meant death, yet today we see fully "initiated" members of khalsa panth openly engaging in anti-gurmat acts of drinking, drugs, adultery, lying, stealing, killing jus for the mere sake of momentary pleasure. This lack of a foundation and proper basic schooling in sikhi is why so many people one day are jumping to take amrit and within the span of a few months or years they abandon their faith and go completely wayward.
Anyway, the topic has gone slightly astray so to stress the key points again, unshorn hair is not the sign of any faith and that includes Sikhism. Hair was not given to us by our guru. The guru merely taught us that if we wish to become one with God, we should first be ready to embrace and accept His Will. And the first stage of accepting His Will is to accept and love the manner in which He created us. Everything He has given us belongs to Him so we should accept it with love and take care of it (not fight against it and reject it)
mY bMdw bY KrIdu scu swihbu myrw ]
I am Your purchased slave, O True Lord Master.
jIau ipMfu sBu iqs dw sBu ikCu hY qyrw ]1]
My soul and body, and all of this, everything is Yours.
