Hair, part 4

I think I just saw a connection between two themes I've written about at different times.

One of them is hair. You know I have written that I don't like the shaving of body hair, for either men or women. It's not that I insist the hair has to be heavy -- for some people, it just isn't. It's shaving it off that bothers me. I've discussed this here, here, here, here, and here, for starters.

The other is monasticism, which I discuss in my posts "Contra monachismum," "Pro monachismo," and "De monachismo." (I list these three by title, because I'm likely to search on one of those titles when looking for related posts in the future and I want to find this one too.)

And the linkage? That comes from a couple of discussions between John Michael Greer and the commentariat who contribute to his blogs: briefly here, and at greater length here. The gist of these discussions is summarized in one remark as follows: "Religions that grow the hair and cover the head don't tend to favor celibacy and are comfortable with emotional and intuitive experiences, while religions that shave the top of the head tend to expect serious practitioners to be celibate and to focus on clarity and self-control."

Really? Who are these traditions?

Some of the traditions that shave or tonsure the head include:

• Christian monasticism
• Buddhist monasticism
• Jain monasticism
• ISKCON (Krishna Consciousness) monasticism

Do you see a pattern in that list?

By contrast, some groups that grow the hair include:

• Orthodox Jews
• Sikhs
• Hindu sadhus
• Rastafarians
• Ancient Greeks
• Cherokees and some other indigenous American peoples 

These groups don't have a lot in common. But one thing they do have in common is that none of them are monks, and all of them somehow accept the world rather than rejecting it. Even the sadhus, who -- yes -- are indeed renunciates, reach that point only at the fourth stage of life, after having led a full life as a student, and then a householder, and then a retired elder. They are not fleeing from life in the world, so much as consummating it.

And ultimately this is where I find myself too. In my "De monachismo" post I quote George Orwell on the irreconcilable difference between those who choose this world and those who choose the next. And one way or another, I choose this one. I see a lot that's beautiful in certain kinds of Christian life, and in certain kinds of Buddhist life -- just as I see a lot that's attractive in the secluded life of scholarship. But I still choose this world over the next. Who knew that this choice was connected to my opinions on shaving?