Until the first post about Judaism goes up by our lovely resident photographer Andrew, I’ll be putting up leftover thoughts about Sikhism. University has begun again and so I am busier than usual, but maybe I’ll keep my act together long enough to post…oh…every week or so at this rate.

Doing my best to adhere to the dietary restrictions, though I had some sausages today without even realizing what I was doing. It’s easy to forget these things when your mind is more on philosophy rather than religion. Though it’s kind of a fine line…
Ah well, enough about that. Let’s talk about beards.

Me with beard.

This whole thing about not cutting your hair raises a lot of interesting questions about devotion and God’s will.

Me, still with beard.When one cuts their hair, they are in essence saying that God’s plan wasn’t quite right. This is absurd as the traditional Sikh would reason- God is totally and unbelievably perfect and this shows through in It’s creations. By cutting our hair, we are in some ways choosing not to see ourselves as God fashioned us, but by how we decide to see ourselves. It seems, in the Sikh sense, that choosing to cut one’s hair is the same as choosing not to devote themselves to God.

However, there are some obvious practical concerns as well. I mean, unshorn hair is aAgain...still with beard. rather obvious sign of ones place in a religion. As I remarked in the introduction, it makes it hard to hide where your convictions lay. It isn’t necessarily just a sign of devotion, though it is still a sign of commitment.

Yet I’m curious. How do Sikhs feel about those who shave, cut, and even dye their hair? Are they mistaken? Uninformed? Or is it perfectly acceptable? The Sikh religion seems to entail that any path to God is valid, so long as it is done genuinely, so really, there should be no problem.

Now with less beard!However, it is not a question of religion or faith when we cut our hair, or shave off that itchy stubble on our face or on our legs. It is a question of vanity, and of convenience and practicality. When I get up in the morning, I did not approach my morning routine with the reverence and mindset of my daily prayers. I picked up the razor simply because I thought I looked better, and felt cooler, with less hair.

And even less! Notice the mutton chops! Fashionable!It does not seem that Sikhism is alright with this. Things done for the flesh are clearly not done for God, but for the self, for the body. The end is not faith, it is not commitment to your duties as a Sikh.

It seems to me that whether or not semone grows their hair out defines where they lay in Sikh eyes. it determines whether or not you live in devotion to God.

And what does that say about those of us, a great majority of the world, who don’t just let it all hang out?

Yes folks, this is normally what I look like. I can't remember whether or not I was naked in this photo....