Hair and Sikhi

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

Another disturbing trend i have noticed is "trim singhs". They wear a turban / paag (i wont call it a dastaar as they dont wear it as the crown of the Khalsa) and trim their beards to stubble length. What is going on really though, where is the logic behind this action?

As Sikhs the first basic rehit (code of conduct) is too keep your hair uncut all over your body, not just on your head. We leave our hair uncut as a sign of respect for Wahegurus creation amongst various other spiritual reasons which this video by Guruka Singh Khalsa explains in greater detail.

Also another video by Guruka Singh on the beard and its purpose for men.

I found a very good presentation on why Sikhs keep uncut hair on www.sikhnet.com. Ill paste some extracts.

Kesh (hair):

The keeping of uncut hair is given a great deal of importance in Sikhism. But what is so special about hair?

Sikhs believe God to be a perfect creator. It therefore follows that whatever He creates is perfect. The keeping of uncut hair is therefore,recognition of God's perfection and the submission of a Sikh to the Will of God.

Ornamental function: Nature has decorated a man with a beard and a moustache to differentiate between a male and a female. A good example from the animal kingdom is a lion with its majestic mane.

Physical function: Just like the skin, the hair helps to synthesize vitamin D from sunlight. It also helps to supply the piturary gland (located in the head) with phosphorous. Phosphorous is an element which is used in meditation by the aforesaid gland. The hair on our body regulates body temperature and our eye lashes, nostril hairs and ear hairs help to keep out dust particles.

Psychological function: This is by far, one of the most important functions of hair. People cut their hair to look good for other people, and although everyone wants to look sexy and cool, a Sikh is encouraged to impress God and not bother so much about the opinions of everyone else. Keeping hair therefore encourages us to become less vain and more God orientated.

Sikh specific function: Uncut hair is a mark of Sikh identity. The 10th Sikh Guru instructed all his Sikhs to come before him with long hair and weapons. Long hair also represents sacrifice, because there have been many Sikhs like Bhai Taru Singh, who preferred to have their scalp removed instead of their hair cut.

Spiritual function: Hair enhances the ability of a human being to experience God. This can be explained by understanding the workings of electromagnets. An electromagnet consists of an iron rod with a coil of wire wrapped around it. The strength of an electromagnet can be increased by increasing the number of coils. Now in a human being, there are nine visible inlets/outlets (2 nostrils, 2 ear holes, 1mouth, 2 eyes, 2 below the waistline). And the 10th inlet is located in the head and is invisible. It is called the Dasam Dawar. This is where we experience the reality of God and we can consider this to be the iron rod. Hairs are like coils of wire which amplify spiritual energy at the 10th inlet. A greater quantity of head hair will lead to more coils in the (Joora) knot and therefore a higher concentration of spiritual energy. Of course, it is possible to experience God without any head hair like Buddhists. However anything that helps us to experience God more easily should be welcomed. Hair is essentially a spiritual technology that makes it easier to connect with God.

To check the full presentation on all the 5 K's hit the link http://www.sikhnet.com/sikheducation/5K's.pdf

So from the above you can see the logic behind why Sikhs keep hair and how important hair is to the Khalsa Panth.

So many Singhs and Singhnia have given their lives to the Panth so we can have the honour of using the name Singh and Kaur yet we forget their sacrifices and choose to dilute our identity and try to "fit in" with the crowd by cutting our hair, trimming our beards and even in some case i have seen "trim singhs" braid their hair like they are Sean Paul or something, what the hell?

Here is a story of a true Singh of the Khalsa Panth, Shaheed Bhai Taru Singh Ji.

In the 1700's Punjab was in a state of turmoil with constant attacks by the ruling forces of Zakaria Khan against Sikhs in an attempt to wipe them (us) out. As such many Sikhs were living away from their villages in surrounding jungles from where they fought back against the oppressive rulers. Bhai Taru Singh however managed to remain in his village with the support of local Muslims. He was a farmer who used to help the needy regardless of their religion. He also used to provide supplies to the Sikhs living in the surrounding jungles and forests.

Bhai Taru Singh's father had passed away while he was young and he had been brought up by his mother, a devout Sikh woman; who instilled in him a deep understanding of the Sikh Scriptures and Sikh history and to have full faith in Sri Guru Granth Sahib. It was this faith that drove him to help others; no matter what their caste, creed or religion.

However, one of Zakaria Khan's informants made many false claims against Bhai Taru Singh, claiming that he was a dangerous person, involved in trying to overthrow the Governor. Consequently a force of 20 soldiers was sent to arrest him and despite protests from his fellow villagers; he was brought before Zakaria Khan in Lahore where he told Bahi Taru Singh that a popular person like him should be a Muslim and that if he wanted to be freed he would have to renounce his religion and identity and adopt Islam.

Bhai Taru Singh refused saying that he was a proud Sikh. The govenor offered him the choice between being put to death or accepting Islam; to which BhaiTaru Singh replied: "You are assuring me you will spare my life if I become a Muslim but can you assure me that having become a Muslim I will live forever? Are you sure, being a Muslim you will never face death? If one has to die, sooner or later, then I would love to stick to my faith whatever you may like to do to me."

Enraged by the Sikh's refusal to give up his faith, the Govenor ordered a barber to remove Bhai Taru Singh's scalp and kesh (uncut hair); which was duly placed in front of Zakaria Khan. However Bhai Taru Singh continued to live and even as he lay bleeding the Govenor was struck by a pain that ultimately led to his death and he passed away before Bhai Taru Singh gained Shaheedi.

So a humble request to all "Sikhs" who cut their hair and still call themselves a Singh or Kaur, think about your actions before you do them and "reppin Sikhi" is not through words or statements, its by your everyday actions.

Implement Rehit, Nitnem, Simran, Seva, Bani, Baana,Shaster and Kirtan into your everday life, thats "reppin Sikhi".

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh