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Summary of Question:	Why Do Sikhs Have To Keep Their Hair Regardless Of What The Religion Says?
Category:	Hair
Date Posted:	Friday, 2/14/2003 2:15 PM MST

waheguru ji ka khalsa

waheguru ji ke fateh
All I am trying to say is that in other religions there is restriction against hair. Like for example in Judaism, Jews are not allowed shave their beards and they have to wear yamcas,but majority of the modern Jews don't follow it. Same way in Islam, Muslim men have to grow their beards and wear skullcaps, but many modern Muslims don't. All I am trying to say is that in other religions people don't follow the hair restriction, but its fine. How come in the Sikh religion we are not willing to accept haircut Sikhs as modern Sikhs? Right now in Punjab (where the Sikh religion began) majority of the Sikh youths are haircut and nobody cares. So how come in Foreign countries most of the Sikhs are rigid as compared to the ones in Punjab. I am a turbaned Sikh living in America and I am fed up with being different from the rest of the crowd. All my life I have been different from the rest of the crowd and now I just want to blend in. I am thinking of getting a haircut now because I want to be like average person. I feel it is because of the hair restriction that many Sikh youths are getting a haircut. Most of the average Sikh youths don't like being different from everyone else. Sikh religion would have the number one religion in this world if it wasn't mandatory to keep long hair.Besides hair, everthing else in the Sikh religion is perfect. In the United Kingdom, the Sikh youths wear their turbans,but shave their beards and no orthodox group says anything. Till when are we going to tolerate and have young Sikh kids complaining about being harassed in school because of their turbans? How many times will the Sikh parents tell the school "that it is against our religion to haircut"? How many times is a Sikh going to be denied a job because of its turban? I know how feels to be rejected and teased because of our damn Sikhi regulations. Most of the young males in my family are haircut and most of the grown ups are Orthodox --minded turbaned Sikhs. Ever since childhood the youths were not allowed to make decisions only the grownups made as a result most of the youths revolted in my family. Just by being haircut doesn't make one a sinner. My best friend recently cut his hair because his turbaned father told him to get it. Just because my family members and my best friend are clean shaven doesn't make a difference to me. They go to Gurdwara like everyone else and they pray at home as well. They don't abuse drugs and one more thing did you know majority of the heavy drinkers are turbaned Sikhs. If by being a turbaned Sikh majority are drinkers,spouse abusers, disrespectful to other religions, Khalistani fanatics, Anti-Hindu,then what use is it being a turbaned Sikh when majority of them commit more sins then anyone else?

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REPLY
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Sat Sri Akal,

I will try to answer this to the best of my ability, though it might become a little long. Please forgive me if I fail.

Sikhism is not a religion. It is Guru Nanak's Dharma. To explain this further, I will at times quote an article my father wrote several years ago. "The word Dharma comes from the Sanskrit root dhri, that means to hold. Therefore, Dharma is the eternal nature of a particular object. Dharma refers to the natural law that describes the true nature of an object and that nature of objects is eternal.

For example, Dharma of sun is to give light and heat. Dharma of a policeman is to protect the public. Dharma of a seed is to produce a plant. Dharma defines the true nature of human beings, animals, and other living and non-living objects like plants, metals, liquids, gases, planets etc. Dharma is eternal, and it never changes. Dharma is, therefore an integral part of all living and non-living objects and thus it cannot be taken away from them.

So what is the Dharma of human beings? What is the true nature of human beings?

"Sub mae joth, joth hai soi" (SGGS, pg 13)

The Light (Waheguru) is in us, our soul is part of The WaheGuru Therefore our true eternal nature is the same as that of Waheguru. Like the sun will not give up its Dharma of giving light and heat, like plants will not give give up their Dharma of giving flowers and fruits. Similarly, human beings will not give up their Dharma. In fact, our souls, whether we know it or, whether we can realize it or not, are always seeking to merge with Waheguru, The Pure Bliss. Seeking the Lord, seeking its true nature, is the Dharma of the soul or of human beings."

The Sikh Dharma is a way of life that is *natural* to humans. It is what we were put here on Earth in our human form to do. We were put here to recognize Waheguru and merge with Waheguru. That is what the Gurus tried to explain to us in 1430 pages.

So how does hair fit into the picture? Look at it like this. We are given a path by the Gurus to merge with Waheguru. On this path, the biggest obstacle to overcome is HOMAE, YOUR EGO. If we can overcome our EGO then we are essentially merged with Waheguru. Kaam, Krodh, Moh, Lobh, Ankar are all related to Ego and will diminish if we have NO EGO.

So what is hair? I can give you a scientific definition. I can give you an empirical observation. I can give you a religious viewpoint. But does it matter? No. The point is that if YOU CAN NOT EVEN LISTEN TO THE GURU, HOW WILL YOU OVERCOME YOUR EGO? Seriously, you can search the youth forum here for all the answers about keeping hair you want, ok? But we keep our hair because our Guru told us to. And by listening to someone who knows infinitely more than we do, we quell our Ego. I'm not a doctor, and thus I am not going to perform surgery. I will go to a doctor for that. Similarly, I have not merged with Waheguru, therefore I will go to the Guru who HAS merged with Waheguru to tell give me advice on how to lose my ego.

Take a look at what you have stated: "I want to be like average person". Why? Why do you want to be average? Average is BLAH. My friend said it the best, being average is like giving up first place for third. Being a Sardar makes you different. RECOGNIZE. Our turbans constantly remind us of Waheguru, it makes us stand out. It makes us reduce our Homae. Because even in the midst of being made fun of (which I have been made fun of A LOT), you realize that you're not going to follow some AVERAGE person off the street. Some average person off the street isn't merged with Waheguru. But, Guru Nanak Dev Ji IS. Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj IS. And I will always listen to the Gurus BEFORE any two-cent loser off of the street or on TV telling me to get the latest hair style.

What does it mean to lose your ego? How far are you supposed to listen to the Gurus? Let me tell you. During the Moghul invasions, a Gursikh was captured by the Muslims and asked to convert, or else death. They tortured him. They told him to cut his hair and become a Muslim or else they will do it for him. At this point, the Gursikh became really upset. He told his Muslim captors that his Guru had told him to never cut his hair, and that if they really wanted his hair, they should instead take his scalp. And that's what they did. They TORE off his scalp instead of cutting his hair, because this Gursikh had NO EGO and was following the Guru's wishes. This Gursikh was Bhai Taru Singh.

Let me answer some of your explicit questions:

1) Till when are we going to tolerate and have young Sikh kids complaining about being harassed in school because of their turbans?
-> We will tolerate this with our last breath. There are legal recourses to take about harassment. And even if there was NO legal measure, we still WILL NOT remove our turban. A TRUE SIKH will DIE before cutting his hair.

2) How many times will the Sikh parents tell the school "that it is against our religion to haircut"?
-> Sikh parents will tell this to their school AS MANY TIMES AS THEY NEED TO.

3) How many times is a Sikh going to be denied a job because of its turban?
-> As many times as is necessary before getting a job that allows a turban.

You say, "I know how feels to be rejected and teased because of our damn Sikhi regulations." You have no idea how well I know this. I experienced this for the first 24 years of my life. I was the only kid in high school with a turban. I was the only kid in high school that had a scraggly just growing beard. I was the only kid in high school that didn't celebrate christmas. Keeping hair is NOT a regulation! I know this sounds gay, but it is a gift! Let go of your homae/ego and understand this. Let go of your krodh/anger and understand why the Gurus wanted this. Let go of your kaam/lust and understand that even if you don't get the dates you want because of your beard/turban, that is a GOOD THING!

What is the power of hair? You yourself stated that Jews used to be more orthodox. Do you know what they accomplished? Over 2000 years ago they defeated army after army trying to invade and kill them. They were outnumbered 100 to 1 and still won time after time. Then look what happened with hitler? Do you think that they were still truly orthodox thne?

What is the power of hair? Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj took an AVERAGE person in India and him into a WARRIOR that fought and defeated the Moghul Empire. They were outnumbered 1000 to 1 and still came out victorious. Why? Because they LISTENED TO THEIR GURU. That's it. We right here right now can't even keep our hair, but these people fought an Army that was more prepared, better equipped than they were and still won. These Gursikhs had no ego. They listened to the Guru, they listened to Waheguru, and from that they got the strength to literally defeat an army of 100,000. THAT IS THE POWER OF HAIR. That is the power of 20,000 strands of protien growing on your head. Do not mock it.

Cutting your hair does not make you a sinner. But does it make you closer to Waheguru? Are you going to merge with Waheguru when all you do is listen to some loud weirdo on the TV telling you to get the latest hairstyle? NO! of course not, you're just short-changing yourself then.

Anyways, that is my take on the issue. I apologize for the length of it. And please forgive me if I have said something wrong. That was not my intention. I just love my Guru, I love my Waheguru, and I love my pugh. I am proud to be and American Born Confused Desi who wears his turban on his head EVERYDAY.

Gur Fateh,
HSD