Yogis / Hair / Ghee
Meditationtime Forum Post
Date: Posted 5 years before Jun 23, 2017
MiBeloved 5 years ago
Email Inquiry:
What are the Yogic benefits to shaving the head versus keeping the hair thick or long?
MiBeloved's Response:
There are varying ideas about shaving the hair or not shaving it. Most of these are cultural opinions which have value according to the cultural orientation one is used to. For instance, in India when someone dies in the family, the eldest son and some others are required to shave the head. Some sects do this and leave a tuff of hair called a Sikha. People who are antisocial to the culture say it is a pig tail.
In some sects it is considered holy and elevated to shave the hair but in other Sects also from India, like the Sikhs, shaving the hair is taboo and is considered to be demeaning of the males. They prohibit any shaving of any hair on the body.
To some extent I can say that when the hair is shaven, it produced certain humility because by nature, we identify ourselves by certain features, of which the hair is one. I lived in a Hare Krishna ashram environment where shaving the hair and leaving a Sikha was mandatory.
Personally I did not get any holier doing this but that does not mean that others will agree with my assessment. Someone else might have felt some spiritual benefit from doing that.
I also lived in a Sikh ashram which was run by Yogi Bhajan. There the hair and beard are left uncut and that is considered to be beneficial to spiritual life.
I would say that you have to try it out and see if it helps you. I did not find any improvement either way, either cutting the hair or not cutting it.
In kriya practice, the emphasis is the subtle body and the internal workings of the mind, so like that the external situation is of little importance. If however a kriya yogi has to interact in a certain cultural environment, it might be to his or her benefit, to just do what is accepted in that setting. At least that is the way to get along with others.
Nothing is gained by attracting disapproval.
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Inquiry: What about the idea that facial hair blocks sexual energy from coming in contact with the chin area.
MiBeloved's Response:
But there is also the idea that beards, trimmed or untrimmed are sexually attractive to the viewers. Therefore again one would have to try this out and see what the effects are. What do I do? I do not keep a beard. My reason is simple that in the Western society, if one carries a beard many people consider it to be offensive. One can easily slide by without people wondering why one does not shave the face. To avoid having to deal with that mental energy, I shave the face. But I am not attached to it either way.
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Inquiry: Do you recommend cooking with ghee?
MiBeloved's Response:
Cooking with ghee is okay if it is easy for you to get it. If you have to import it or go to great lengths to get it, just for yourself, then it does not make sense. Now if on the other hand you are doing pujas, deity ceremonies, then ghee is a requirement as a stipulated ingredient in the Vedic setting. In that case the use of ghee is for the deity and that is special.
What do I do?
I use whatever I can easily acquire for my personal needs. I am not attached to any particular oil ingredient.
One thing about ghee though is that if it is taken in excess, it does damage to sannyasis. Many sannyasis who took ghee-up food preps, even those offered to a Deity in the authorized way, had problems with excessive sexual energy. Then they fell down from celibacy vows. Therefore even though ghee is for the Deity, still if one indulged in too much of it, it will be to one undoing.
