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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BhagatSingh" data-source="post: 163198" data-attributes="member: 2610">Confused ji, Allow me to interject.Monastic traditions do exist. Udasis and Nihangs (warrior monks) I know are monastic. I am not sure if the Nirmala and Sevapanthi traditions are monastic.Some Udasis keep long hair, others don't and may shave their head bald. Nihangs always keep all their hair.Yes that sounds like the Udasi and Nihang traditions.Well you can leave your hair and not bother with it as Sadhus and Udasis do. You can also leave it and tie it up into a turban as the Nihangs do. There are no concerns like the ones you mention.To be honest anything can become an object of vanity. Hair or no hair.Not really. You can maintain hygiene even with long hair. It requires a bit more work though.Definitely. But I think shaving of hair or leaving it alone are both just ways of differentiating one's monkhood from the laymen.Yes that is the origin of keeping hair in the tradition. Hair is actually a mark of renunciation in the tradition. In line with already-existing ascetic/monk thought.</blockquote>