Is shaving your head a requirement for becoming a Monk?

[Jessie Fong]

his whole thing goes back to the transformation of Buddha from Siddharta. Since long hair was kind of a symbol of royalty Siddharta a cut off all his hair in order to denounce all of his earthly possessions. More or less of a statement in regards to monks leaving behind material possessions and forfeiting other ‘pleasures’.

I have read that Prince Siddharta shaved off his hair as a sign of denouncing all his earthly possessions.  It is akin to monks forfeiting material pleasures/possessions.  Hair is supposed to your crowning glory, your pride.

But if you study statues of Buddha, He is never shown with a bald head.  Would someone like to clarify?

[bambi]

Interesting! I have read some where that it is not hair on Buddha's head but rather snails. Yes, snails.
When Buddha was meditating and it got very hot during the summer, the snails glided up His head and to shield Him from the glaring hot sun. The snails gave up their lives as a gratitude so Buddha is depicted with spiral snail like hair on His head. I also read that whenever the Buddha shave His head, the hair continued to grow.

But I too get confused with the 32 marks of the Buddha which says :

His hair has the colour of a dark shadow.
His hair is strongly scented.
His hair has the scent of a white lotus.
He has curled hair.
His hair does not turn grey.
He has fine hair.
His hair is untangled.
His hair has long curls.
He has a topknot as if crowned with a flower garland.

And also this quote by Buddha:

So at a later time, when I was still young, black-haired, endowed with the blessings of youth in the first stage of life, having shaved off my hair & beard -- though my parents wished otherwise and were grieving with tears on their faces -- I put on the ochre robe and went forth from the home life into homelessness.

Can anyone clarify which is which? Hair or snails? 

[ratanasutra]

Jessie,
Yes, in order to receive ordination, the candidate must first have his head shaved clean. This symbolizes his departure from the household life to homelessness.

According to the Vinaya, a higher ordination ceremony may take place only in a specific building or area called Uposatha (the main chapel) of the monastery, which must be duly marked in all directions by boundary stones or some other solid objects. At least five monks must be present, including one who will act as the preceptor. In regions where monks are easily available, such as big cities, at least ten monks are required. The common practice in Thailand is to invite twenty monks to take part in the ceremony.

Shaving the head
The shaving of the hair symbolizes renunciation and marks one's departure from the worldly life. This is clearly one of the most striking physical distinctions between a monk and a householder, indicating the monk's changed status. Since monastic life is meant to be simple and burden-free, shaving the head helps to realize that objective. Hair is an object of vanity and pride, qualities that are not supportive of spiritual practice. Thus monks are advised to shave and keep the hair short. In Thailand monks and novices all over the country keep to the tradition of shaving their heads on the same day of every lunar month, on the full moon eve. This tradition is not observed in other Theravada countries, although the practice of shaving and keeping the hair short is commonly followed by all monks -- Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana -- the world over.

[ratanasutra]

When i was young i learnt that the short curled hair of Buddha is a symbolic of our delusions mind which we need to overcome it to gain enlightenment.

Bambi, Here i found more information, it an open eyes for me.   
   
The Lakkhana Sutta and several other suttas are devoted to the concept of the 32 Signs of a Great Man (mahapurisalakkhana), a rather strange idea introduced into Buddhism at a later period. One of these signs pertain to the hair.
The relevant passage reads ‘Uddhaggani lomani jatani nilani anjanavannani kundalavattani padakkhinavattaka jatan’ (D.II,17). Word for word this means –uddhaggani = turns around or upwards,
lomani = hair,
nilanianjanavannani = black in color similar to collyrium,
kundalavattani = curled,
and padakkhinavatta = turning to the right.
by Shravasti Dhammika
So according to the sutta, the Great Man’s hair was black and curled upwards and to the right. It was probably thought to curl the right because the right has been, in nearly all cultures, considered more auspicious. Being the color of collyrium is interesting. The Pali and Sanskrit word nila means black, blue or dark. Now collyrium as it is used in India, is made from the ash of fleabane, ghee and a few other ingredients and is a black greasy substance. In Mahayana sutras the nila gradually came to be understood as being blue. In the Gandhavyuha Sutra’s discussion on the signs of a Great Man it glosses nila as ‘the color of thevairocana jewel’ which is blue in color. This is why Tibetan Buddha statues have blue hair.

Anyway, when the first sculptors made Buddha statues they tried to depict at least some of the 32 signs. It is thought that the first Buddha statues were made in Gandhara under Greek influence, and in Mathura, in around the 1st/2nd centuries CE. Greek or Greek-influenced sculptors in Gandhara, perhaps more rooted in reality, depicted the Buddha’s hair naturalistically as, not exactly curling to the right, but waving to the right. The first Mathura-manafactured Buddhas show him with a single bun spiraling to the right, something like a Mr. Whippy ice cream. The Gandhara style never penetrated into India proper and eventually died out. The spiraling Mathura style eventually evolved into many spiraled curls and the Buddha’s hair has been depicted in that manner ever since.

by  Shravasti Dhammika

[Midakpa]

A rule states that a bhikkhu should not allow his hair to grow beyond a certain length ot time, so he will shave usually at least once a fortnight or month, sometimes more frequently. To do this he uses his razor, which is also one of his requisites.

When Prince Siddharta who was to become the Buddha left his palace to seek a way beyond ageing, sickness and death, it is said that one of the first things that he did was to "shave off his hair and beard and put on the yellow cloth". Buddhist monks always completely shave their head and beard, showing their commitment to the holy life (Brahmacariya) of one gone into the homeless life. (In India some ascetics tear out their hair, while others never touch it so that it becomes a tangled mass.)

"Hair of the head" (kesa) is one of the five parts of the body mentioned in the ordination ceremony and is used to recollect the true nature of the body. The bhikkhu is also not allowed to dye or pluck out any grey hairs for they are useful reminders of old-age and impermanence. (The Bhikkhus' Rules)

[Tammy]

Dear Jessie,

Thought you might find this abstract interesting:
I extracted from http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhistworld/faqmonks.htm

When the prince who was to become the Buddha left his palace to seek a way beyond ageing, sickness and death, it is said that one of the first things that he did was to shave off his hair and beard and put on the yellow cloth . Buddhist monks always completely shave their head and beard, showing their commitment to the Holy Life (Brahmacariya) of one gone forth into the homeless life. (In India some ascetics tear out their hair, while others never touch it so that it becomes a tangled mass.) A rule states that a bhikkhu should not allow his hair to grow beyond a certain length or time, so he will shave usually at least once a fortnight or month, sometimes more frequently. To do this he uses his razor, which is also one of his requisites. 'Hair-of-the-head' (kesa) is one of the five parts of the body mentioned in the ordination ceremony and is used to recollect the true nature of the body. The bhikkhu is also not allowed to dye or pluck out any grey hairs, for they are useful reminders of old-age and impermanence. (Just consider how much time and money is wasted by people trying to make their hair remain beautiful and young-looking.)

Shaving is to show the monk's strong will of renonciation.

[RedLantern]

Buddhist monks completely shaved their head and beard showing their commitment to the holy life,of one gone forth into the homeless life.Rule states that a Bhikksu should not let his hair grow beyond a certain length of time,so he will have to shave at least once a fortnight or month,sometimes more frequently,To do this he uses his own razor.which is one of hie requisite,The hair on the head is one of the five parts of the body as mentioned in the ordination ceremony and is used to recollect the true nature of the body.The Bhikksu is not allowed to dye or pick out any grey hair,as a reminder of  age and impermanence.Just consider how much time and money wasted by people trying to make their hair beautiful and young looking

[Rihanna]

Buddha's purpose in founding an order of monks and nuns was to provide an environment in which spiritual development would be easier. The lay community provide monks and nuns with basic needs - food, clothing, shelter, and medicine so that they can devote their time to the study and practice of the Dharma.

Normally we are very concerned about our appearance, especially our hair. Women consider a good hairstyle as a main part of their grooming routine while men are concern about losing their hair and going bald. Keeping our hair looking good takes up a lot of time. In shaving their heads, monks and nuns give themselves more time for the things that really matter. It also symbolizes the concept of paying more attention to inward change rather than outward appearance.

Having said all that, does anyone know if this is a requirement or is it an option? If it is a requirement, which sutra states that?

[jessicajameson]

I can think of three reasons on the top of my head why monks would be asked to shave their head:

1. Convenience; easier to maintain a shaved head than a head full of hair.
2. Form of renunciation; that translates to personal commitment and devotion, showing that they have no attachment to their outer appearance.
3. Equality, standardization and discipline; just like entering the army, all the soldiers look the same and there isn't some wannabe Justin Beiber in the crowd!

It is a requirement to shave your head to becoming a monk. As compared to highly attained lamas such as Chogyam Trungpa, most of us do need to physically express our renunciation. But then again, I read in this post on Sherab Zangmo, and in the monastery she resided in Gebchak Gonpa the nuns there were NOT allowed to shave their heads until their retreat ended. http://www.dorjeshugden.com/forum/index.php?topic=2127.msg31748#msg31748 Odd. Does anyone know why this is so?

[buddhalovely]

This whole thing goes back to the transformation of Buddha from Siddharta. Since long hair was kind of a symbol of royalty Siddharta a cut off all his hair in order to denounce all of his earthly possessions. More or less of a statement in regards to monks leaving behind material possessions and forfeiting other ‘pleasures’.

Make A Statement The Opposite Way

Other monks, because hair is supposedly a sign of a vanity and pride, let their hair grow too extreme lengths but refuse to take care of it. You can imagine after a while how that would look. No pride or vanity there, no sir! In fact… ick. It’s my understanding that, present day anyways, it is not a strict stipulation that a monk keep his head clean shaven. But it does in fact cut down on the worry of lice but with so many guys running around with bald heads I’m not sure how much of a worry that truly is.

[Dondrup Shugden]

How interesting, I have always thought that shaving one's hair is a necessity in order to become a Monk or even a nun.

However, the are many scriptures that described Gautama Buddha's hair and also many pictures of monks of the Varjayana doctrine that have long hair.

To live the simple life of the monastic order, I believe that being bald will be more convenient for daily lives.  Let know what are your thoughts.

[tingtong]

I do agree with all saying that being bald are a sign of devotion and commitment and at the same time being we could keep the maintenance at ease and it result towards convenience..

[MoMo]

I once heard from my kind precious Guru once mentioned that the outer sign of one renouncing the mundane world and commit to living a spiritual live is have the head shaven and adorn the robe of a monk. It is for simplicity of living a daily life of an ordained person whose activities could be quite daunting in the eye of laities. He is holding up a prayers book which could easily be few hundred pages thick sighted that this is his daily prayer as example plus many other chores to perform. When one had such a tight daily schedule, who had the time to wonder what to wear or pickup from the closet and how one should style his hair to look young and dandy as daily routine?