Human Hair and the Sikhs: Preserving the Homo Sapeien Heritage
()
About this ebook
Related to Human Hair and the Sikhs
Related ebooks
Who Killed My India Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPursuit and Protection of Knowledge Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGood Hair: Health Care and Beauty Solutions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhy Chiropractic: Why Chiropractic Is an Extraordinary Habit for Extraordinary People Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Bearded Identity: How Facial Hair Influences Psychology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHuman Life-A Philosophical Audit Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSex in Religion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeath by Comfort: How modern life is killing us and what we can do about it Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Bell Curve: The Rise and Decline of Traditional Religion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDecoding Karma Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Animal Welfare in Islam Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat Is Soul? Where Does It Exist? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLost In Tangles: Accepting Natural Hair Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hinduism and Ramayana Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSummary of Butts By Heather Radke: A Backstory Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLife After 60 A Guide Part I Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI Can't Believe I Did That!: Instinctive Behavior in Humans Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNeed of the Hour/Spiritual Resource Development Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYou and Your Hair: The Ultimate Healthy Hair Masterclass for Afro Textured Hair Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOur Long Hairitage: Bringing Peace and Health to Your Head Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRationalism in Zoroastrianism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Brief History of Physical Education in India (New Edition): Reflections on Physical Education Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beast and Man in India: A Popular Sketch of Indian Animals in their Relations with the People Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSecrets of a Long & Happy Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Philosophy of Evolution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHikmah - Unfolding Mysteries of the Universe: Signs, Science, Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhilosophy of Life: Connecting Dots Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHoodoo For Beginners: An Introduction to African American Folk Magic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Science and Spirituality: Bridges of Understanding Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Inspirational For You
Celebration of Discipline, Special Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Calendar of Wisdom: Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul, Written and Se Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Confessions of St. Augustine: Modern English Version Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Feeding the Soul (Because It's My Business): Finding Our Way to Joy, Love, and Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One Day My Soul Just Opened Up: 40 Days And 40 Nights Toward Spiritual Strength And Personal Growth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Be Here Now Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Conversations With God, Book 3: Embracing the Love of the Universe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bonhoeffer Abridged: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Basis of the Motion Picture 127 Hours Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jesus Calling, 365 Devotions with Real-Life Stories, with Full Scriptures Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 50 Fridays Marriage Challenge: One Question a Week. One Incredible Marriage. Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Forgive for Good: A Proven Prescription for Health and Happiness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Knowledge of the Holy: The Attributes of God Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rumi: The Big Red Book: The Great Masterpiece Celebrating Mystical Love and Friendship Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5That Bird Has My Wings: An Oprah's Book Club Pick Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When God Winks at You: How God Speaks Directly to You Through the Power of Coincidence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anam Cara [Twenty-fifth Anniversary Edition]: A Book of Celtic Wisdom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Creative Cure: How Finding and Freeing Your Inner Artist Can Heal Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Searching for Enough: The High-Wire Walk Between Doubt and Faith Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Angels of a Lower Flight: One Woman's Mission to Save a Country . . . One Child at a Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5God Talks With Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Diary of Private Prayer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finding God in Anime: A Devotional for Otakus: Finding God in Anime, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Out of Sorts: Making Peace with an Evolving Faith Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Learning to Walk in the Dark Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/564 Lessons for a Life Without Limits Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Way of the Shaman Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Novice: A Story of True Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dear Jesus, Seeking His Light in Your Life, with Scripture references Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Human Hair and the Sikhs
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Human Hair and the Sikhs - Shabeg Singh Dhunda
Copyright © 2015 by Shabeg Singh Dhunda.
ISBN: Softcover 978-1-4828-4938-7
eBook 978-1-4828-4937-0
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
www.partridgepublishing.com/india
CONTENTS
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgement
Chapter One The Issue of Human Hair
Dr. Shabeg Singh
At The Outset
The Secret Of Human Hair
Future Man
Virility
Chapter Two Hail Hair
Dr. Birendra Kaur
The Song Of The Sikh
Hair: A Biological Necessity
Do We Need Facial Hair?
A Hairy Tale
Where The Environment Begins
Chapter Three Hair Power
Sarup Singh Alag
The Human Hair Are The Most Distinctive
Scientific Research On The Maintenance Of Hair
How Hair Are Formed
Relationship Of Hair With Teeth And Age
Care Of Hair By The Ancients
Hair And The Diseases Of Bones
An Electric Aspect Of Hair
Ignorance Of The Truth About Hair
Arguments Of Psychologists
The Hair As Cables Of Information
The Hair And Information On Health
Chapter Four Anthropological Evidence of the Unconscious Significance of Human Hair
Dr. Shabeg Singh
Chapter Five Sikhism And The Third Millennium Man
Dr. Shabeg Singh
Select Bibliography
FOREWORD
Dr. Kapil Kapoor
Former Rector, Professor of English &
Concurrent Professor Sanskrit Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)
Editor in Chief
Encyclopaedia of Hinduism
India Heritage Research Foundation USA.
N.Delhi-110092
14-04-2014
I have been quite intrigued with this short book devoted to the role and place of human hair in the human identity. This intrigued me because there is not much writing that has explored this dimension of our physiognomy.
The subject is not only interesting – it is also significant if one puts it in the perspective of human and civilisational evolution. Through a cogently woven strands of at least three discourses. Dr. Shabeg Singh has argued that man as a human being is naturally endowed with hair all over his body and this hair-cover is a genetic need and endowment of anthropoid beings, one that is crucial to the vitality of these beings.
So critical is this particular endowment, the hair that covers most of the anthropoid body, that its diminution emasculates the very being so much so that at the end of it, the species itself degenerates and may in fact die. Shabeg Singh shows how only in the last 2000 years or so, the so called ‘civilized’ man has started artificially ridding his body of this protective layer and this process has been accompanied by a gradual decline in the potency of the male, given the fact that it is the male of the species, with his generative attribute, who is endowed with this trait. The decline in populations in ‘more civilized’ communities attests this correlation between hair and generative vitality.
On can in fact infer that while the natural endowments are preserved intact in human evolution, they are emasculated in the course of what may be termed as ‘the civilisational evolution’.
Calling the hair ‘the Homo Sapien heritage’ Shabeg Singh has put together the thoughts of some established scholars and his own self to caution the human race against its suicidal practices and ensure survival by retaining its god-given properties.
It may appear that a Sikh scholar is in fact defending Sikh practices. But this limited view is not tenable. We must remember that while enjoining the preservation of kesha (hair) as one of the essential identity markers of the Khalsa (The Sikhs or literally The Pure Ones), Guru Govind Singh ji was reconnecting with the Vedic Rishis and sages who all preserved the hair. Even now the sages follow this practice and even ordinary Hindus adopt this in the third fourth ashrams of life, vaanprastha and sannyasa. So what appears, and has been called by us as ‘a civilisational’ practice is in fact a mere fact of worldly life. In the life of abstinence, the mark of highest cultural attainment, both complete absence and complete preservation of hair are both prevalent, one in Jain ascetics and the other in the sages and savants of many sampradayas. Of these two, the shearing of hair whether in ascetics or in sheep, is a practice that is contrary to nature. And what is contrary to nature is not as good for us humans as what is in harmony with nature.
I hope the book will arouse interest and provoke unorthodox thinking.
With warm regards,
Kapil Kapoor
Home/Postal Address:
B-2/332, Ekta Garden, 9-I.P.Extension, Mother Dairy Marg, Delhi-110092
Ph: 011-22723406 (Home); Mobile ()) 9810202146; E-Mail:
kkapoor40@yahoo.com
PREFACE
WHAT MAN HAS MADE OF HIMSELF
Th e greatest tragedy of the preceding millennium has not been of what man has made of man but what man has made of himself. For approximately two million years man has been maintaining his hair just as Nature had created and intended it to be. Unfortunately in the last two thousand years human beings have started sacrificing this precious natural asset at the altar of vanity. The desire to look young and smart is projected and perceived as the ideal thing. If the majority of men were bearded and this image projected as the best, nobody would shave. Look closely at a clean-shaved man’s face and you’ll see how closely he has ravaged it.
However severe the rigors of modern day living may be, it does not justify this dismembering. Man’s immunity is declining. His physical prowess is deteriorating and male infertility is on the rise. According to Dr. Rima Dada of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, not only has the quantity of sperm production declined in males around the world, there has been a decrease in quality as well. All this is because we are discarding our hair, an invaluable and virile biological asset given to us by Nature. The irony is that a bearded man is generally seen as uncivilized.
Mankind only woke up to the adverse of effects of smoking in the latter half of the twentieth century. When will he wake up to the debilitating consequences of cutting and shaving his hair. It is argued that if shaving and cutting is harmful, why aren’t the consequences being felt.
The answer is simple. Man is the climax of evolution. It took approximately two million years for man to be what he is today and it is only in the last two thousand years that he has started mutilating his hair. The symptoms are already there in the declining virility and sperm count.
I once read in a leading women’s magazine – Femina, of a competition held in a Scandinavian country to determine the most virile people. All the known masculine races of the world participated. The result surprised everyone. The Sikhs came first. There was even a photograph of the Sikhs celebrating the victory.
The aim of this book is to create awareness of the harm the human race is doing to itself by not maintaining hair in its unshorn and natural form. In this endeavour the Sikhs can serve as role models.
Amritsar
Dr. Shabeg Singh
M. +91-9501003789
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am thankful to a number of Sikh scholars namely Dr. Chanda Singh, Sardar Sarup Singh Alag, Dr. Birendra Kaur, Sardar Kharak Singh and Er.Nirmal Singh whose valuable observations and insights have made this book a collaborative effort and helped me build my thesis.
CHAPTER ONE
THE ISSUE OF HUMAN HAIR
Dr. Shabeg Singh
AT THE OUTSET
If we study the anthropological history of the human race, we will learn that for the greater part of our (Homo sapiens) approximately 400,000 years of existence, we have been keeping our hair unshorn. Though man’s presence on earth is attested to be as long as 2,000,000 years, man (the homo Sapiens), made his appearance only about 400,000 to 450,000 years ago. The creature we call man first appeared in Africa during the early part of the geological epoch called the Pleistocene of the Great Ice Age.
Most mammals possess hair. It is one of the main characteristics that distinguish them from other animals. It is the hair possessed by mammals that has enabled them to develop so far beyond their ancestors, the reptiles and hence the relevance of hair cannot be belittled. Obviously it has very important physiological functions to perform. The first men were very hairy and this unshorn state was maintained till about 500 B.C. when the ancient Egyptians started shaving. This phenomenon started initially as a sacrifice to the deities and other religious ceremonies. Human hair was an acceptable surrogate for a human victim. In Byblos in ancient Phoneicia condemned women had the alternative of sacrificing their virginity to strangers in honour of the goddess Ashtart, or shaving the head and offering their hair. It is only about 2500 years that the human race has started cutting its hair as compared to the 4,00,000 years that we have been keeping them intact.
In ancient Egypt, youths dedicated to the service of the deities had to cut off their hair and this gave rise to the custom of tonsure or shaving a priest’s head. The hairless or tonsured head was said to represent emasculation (which was demanded in many shrines dedicated to the Great Goddess); or was a symbol of the circumcised phallus; or of the solar disc; or of innocence and purity.
The ancient