• Welcome to all New Sikh Philosophy Network Forums!
    Explore Sikh Sikhi Sikhism...
    Sign up Log in

Why Are We Not Allowed To Cut Hair When It's Ok To Cut Nails, Since Both Are Created By God?

ravneet_sb

Writer
SPNer
Nov 5, 2010
866
326
52
no we got the answer in the thread some time ago, try reading it

Sat Sri Akaal,

Faith develops after self realisation,

than only one can have faith on "SELF"

and is confident personality.

To argue is role of mind.

One is still in doubt within own self act, and want's to confirm on act.


It is difficult to choose path and adhere to it.


To transform "Sikh" to "Khalsa Sikh"


Waheguru ji Ka Khalsa
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh.
 

Harry Haller

Panga Master
SPNer
Jan 31, 2011
5,769
8,194
55
Thanks Harry Haller Ji!
I am reading through the posts. Can you please provide the particular page or post on this thread to which you were referring?

no, I am sorry you will have to do that yourself, however, having read the answers, I feel that the subject has been covered, if you do not feel the same feel free to raise any questions on the already substantial material that has been posted, and I am sure someone will supply you with the missing answers that you need.

perhaps to assist us, you could provide us with all your login names so that duplicate answers are not given to questions from another account, or better still reply to them yourself!
 
Sep 8, 2010
70
78
Los Angeles
Sat Sri Akaal,

Faith develops after self realisation,

than only one can have faith on "SELF"

and is confident personality.

To argue is role of mind.

One is still in doubt within own self act, and want's to confirm on act.


It is difficult to choose path and adhere to it.


To transform "Sikh" to "Khalsa Sikh"


Waheguru ji Ka Khalsa
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh.

Yes. My thoughts exactly!

Ravneet Ji,
You are my new favorite writer! You have this unique way with words...it's almost poetic. :wah:
 
Oct 6, 2023
40
0
18
Re: Why are we allowed to cut nails but not hair?

Tejwant Ji,

I understand the difference. There is none. Term Home Sapiens refers to Humans.
Anyways, if you are referring to all pre-historic humans, the answer is that, as far as we know, they didn't cut their nails or their hair. They didn't use toilet paper either.
Can I respectfully ask you, what was the point of this question?



Well, something with sound reasoning and logic. Preferably factual logic.

Something like this:-
Question:- Why do metals conduct electricity efficiently?
Answer:- Because they have free electrons due to larger nucleus.

Question:- Why do we take antibiotics when sick?
Answer:- Because antibiotics kill disease causing bacteria.

Something that does NOT involve "Because that's the way it is", "Because that's what our ancestors did", "Because our hair capture spiritual energy!" or "Because ghosts live in our hair who will come out if we cut them!"


Obviously I cut nails. But we both understand what my question means. Why is it wrong to cut hair when it is ok to cut nails since both are part of God gifted 'Roop'. That's what I am seeking an answer for.


Again, nails are also part of the natural way, the way we were created. This does not answer my question.


Now statements like these make me upset. First of all I never said I am unable to work. I just said I have to be more cautious. I am doing research in microelectronic applications specific to telecom. That's why I had specifically referred to semiconductor wafers in my earlier post. When working with microelectronics, all sources of dust need to be covered. Unless you are bald, you have to wear a special cap. And unless you are clean shaven, you have to wear surgical mask or something similar. Since my beard captures significant dust, I wear a mask in lab. You mention Intel. I regularly visit labs of many major chip manufacturers like STM, Freescale, AMD and Intel.

So don't assume stuff. I am NOT "wrong". You are.



I get this. And I respect it. But if this is the only reason for keeping hair then all we are trying to do is 'look different' from Hindus and look similar to Mughal emperors. And since we don't have Mughals or Brahmins wearing turbans anymore, how is this relevant today?





There are many more kinds of skepticism including Philosophical skepticism and Political skepticism. But a skeptic is a skeptic. One who critically thinks about all things before accepting any concept. And it is in no way a negative trait. It only makes you stronger in your beliefs since you have actually examined them instead of taking someone's word for it. So to answer your question I am a skeptic. The only kind and all kind.

Let me be honest. Inspite of being a Gursikh so far, my faith in our religion isn't as strong as it used to be. Reason being, everytime I question a reason behind a religious belief, be it wearing a 'kada' or keeping the kesh, it always comes down to "Because that's the way it is" and "That's what our ancestors did". It used to be good enough for me when I was a kid but not any longer.

I hope you understand the source of my frustration and I truly hope someone can answer my original question!

Best Regards
It seems that there are bigger reasons that you are struggling and talking about hair is covering a bigger question. You mentioned something about your family not being useful or a guardara. Think about if it is a deeper problem to you than cutting your hair.
To clarify, I am not a Sikh. I am a Muslim. But I do know a little about Sikhism and I find it inspiring. Just my personal opinion.
Sikhs don’t cut hair for several reasons.
1. They want to look different. They wanted to look different than Muslims (awkward to read just how much some Sikhs don’t like muslims as a muslim)and Hindus.
2. Sikhs are supposed to not care about their appearance. Instead they should worry more about spiritual matters and seva.
3. I can’t remember the third reason but I literally googled the answers I wrote. Search Ten Reasons Why I Cover My Hair. It talks about kesh too.
Also some people might find it strange for a Muslim to be answering a Sikh’s question. But I once thought about converting to Sikhism then decided not to. I do like the ideals though.
 
Oct 6, 2023
40
0
18
I understand one of the reasons we are not supposed to cut/trim our hair is because we want to keep the 'roop' given to us by God intact.

But even the nails were given to us by God. Why is it ok to cut them regularly and not hair?

Both nails and hair are made up of dead tissue and hygiene aspect applies to both equally.

Last time I asked this question on a forum, someone told me that this is because our Gurus told us to do so.
But I am looking to find out why we were told to do so. How does this actually bring us close to God spiritually?
New Science Article by IFLScience:
As science progresses we are constantly learning new things about the human body, from finding differences in voice prints between people who have diabetes and the general population, to noticing whole new organs inside the human head.

Add to that list a new sense of touch, which we weren't aware of before. Humans sense touch mainly through receptors in the top layer of skin, and in the skin surrounding hair follicles detecting the movement of your hair. However, a team analyzing single cell RNA sequencing data of human skin and hair follicles found that hair follicles themselves contain a higher than expected percentage of touch-sensitive receptors.
 
Oct 6, 2023
40
0
18
Tejwant Ji,
I don't agree with your response.



Nope. These two terms are pretty explicit. They mean what they mean. You can't just interchange some body's words to fit your own agenda. I must say you are beginning to sound like people I met once who were trying to ban evolution from our schools and replace it with creation theory. They were masters of debate and kept manipulating the meaning of word 'theory'.
I thought we Sikhs were above such tactics.




Not yet. I will continue to seek an answer and I will surely get it. And as I said before, I will definitely share it with you.



Best Regards.
I like your determination. I found a cool new science article although it is not necessarily an argument for shaving or not.

They then stimulated the hair follicle cells, and found that this activated the adjacent sensory nerve cells. After being stimulated, the cells were passing on a signal to the nerve cells, but the team didn't know how. Analyzing the hair follicle cells in culture, they found that they were releasing the neurotransmitters serotonin and histamine.

"The release of different signaling molecules is likely to facilitate interaction and communication with different sensory neurons surrounding the follicle," the team explained in their paper, "leading to a variety of physical and emotive effects within the nervous system and brain."
 
Oct 6, 2023
40
0
18
Tejwant Ji,

Seriously, if you have trouble understanding the meaning of a few words, all you need to do, is ask me and I will explain it to you. As I said before, it's never too late to learn.

In my earlier post I had to use sentence formation to explain to you the difference between 'impractical' and 'unable.' I think I will need to do some more of that for you.

Let's start:-

Words of the day is 'justification' which also means 'reason'.

I will give you an example.
Suppose my local utility company by mistake sends me a bill of 100 thousand dollars. Now I know there is a mistake since there is no way I can use up that much electricity in one month. So, without anyone else forcing me, I, myself, on my 'own', go to their office to ask for 'justification' for the bill. Now would this 'justification' be called 'self-justification'. I don't think so. It would be called 'justification' and they will need to provide it since they sent the bill.

So, in a similar manner, since I was born in a sikh family, my religion requires me to have long hair. Without following the guideline blindly, I set out to find the reason behind this religious guideline, preferably from people who are more learned about this matter than I am.
I asked my parents. They said "To question the religious guideline is a blasphemy" So I asked the Bhai ji at my Gurudwara. He said that's what Rehat maryada says and so we have to follow it without asking for reason. And so here I am asking for reason from people who have been analyzing our scripture for a long time. And so I am asking for a 'justification' or a reason behind this requirement of having long hair.



Now I will also need to explain to you the difference between 'decision' and 'justification'. Let's start.
Whether to keep my hair or not will be my 'decision' and not my 'justification'. The 'decision' that I will make after getting the 'justification' or reason from the people who are more learned about Sikhism than I am.


Best Regards.
So you want an answer regardless of if you will cut your hair. This is reasonable although I don’t have an amazing answer.
 
Oct 6, 2023
40
0
18
A related question: What about people who can’t keep their hair? For example if they have cancer.
I would hope that your god waheguru wouldn’t punish for something like that.
 
Oct 6, 2023
40
0
18
I understand one of the reasons we are not supposed to cut/trim our hair is because we want to keep the 'roop' given to us by God intact.

But even the nails were given to us by God. Why is it ok to cut them regularly and not hair?

Both nails and hair are made up of dead tissue and hygiene aspect applies to both equally.

Last time I asked this question on a forum, someone told me that this is because our Gurus told us to do so.
But I am looking to find out why we were told to do so. How does this actually bring us close to God spiritually?
This question got me thinking: why do I pray towards Mecca? Because God isn’t found only in one direction.
It’s a symbol for me and other people of always remembering to turn to God and praying in another direction won’t harm God in the least.
I think that this might be the same situation as cutting hair in sikhism. I’m not sure so forgive me if I am wrong but I think that cutting your hair or nails would not harm God in the least. It’s not done for god. It’s done for you. It’s a symbol of being part of the khalsa, those who were willing to die in devotion to the gurus and for justice.
 
Oct 6, 2023
40
0
18
I understand one of the reasons we are not supposed to cut/trim our hair is because we want to keep the 'roop' given to us by God intact.

But even the nails were given to us by God. Why is it ok to cut them regularly and not hair?

Both nails and hair are made up of dead tissue and hygiene aspect applies to both equally.

Last time I asked this question on a forum, someone told me that this is because our Gurus told us to do so.
But I am looking to find out why we were told to do so. How does this actually bring us close to God spiritually?
My apologies for replying to such an old post. I hope you have an answer now
 
Top