Why do monks have no hair?

In modern times, tonsure refers to cutting or shaving hair by monks or religious devotees. Ridding of your hair serves as a symbol of renunciation of worldly ego and fashion. In Buddhism, shaving your head (and face) is part of Pabbajja.
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Why can't monks have hair?

Orthodox monks traditionally never cut their hair or beards after receiving the monastic tonsure as a sign of the consecration of their lives to God (reminiscent of the Vow of the Nazirite).
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Are monks always bald?

Most Buddhist nuns and monks today follow the Vinaya rules about hair. Practices do vary somewhat from one school to another, but the monastic ordination ceremonies of all schools of Buddhism include head shaving.
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Can a monk keep hair?

No. Buddhist monks and nuns almost always cut off all their hair. I have met an exception who was a nun working in society, but exceptions are rare. Monks and nuns in some traditions may grow up to 1″ of hair.
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Do monks shower?

According to the Regularis Concordia, on the Saturday after Good Friday, 'if they can, the helpers [ministri] or boys [pueri] shall shave and bathe themselves. ' If there wasn't enough time for all the monks to wash on Saturday, some could bathe after Vespers on Good Friday.
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Why do Buddhist monastics have no hair? | Thich Nhat Hanh answers questions



How often do monks bathe?

Wealthy monasteries often could pipe in water and have baths as well. Some monastic rules suggest that monks did not take regular baths. The monks of Westminster Abbey, for example, were required to have a bath four times a year: at Christmas, Easter, the end of June, and the end of September.
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Why are monks so strong?

The monks use Qi Gong and a special method of breathing with the lower abdomen to transform their bodies into armor. This allows them to withstand powerful blows, including those from dangerous—and sometimes sharp—objects.
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What do you call a female monk?

The word nun is typically used for female monastics. Although the term monachos is of Christian origin, in the English language monk tends to be used loosely also for both male and female ascetics from other religious or philosophical backgrounds.
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Why do female monks shave their heads?

In modern times, tonsure refers to cutting or shaving hair by monks or religious devotees. Ridding of your hair serves as a symbol of renunciation of worldly ego and fashion. In Buddhism, shaving your head (and face) is part of Pabbajja.
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Can monks have kids?

Monks, for example, are not allowed to get married nor have children. They leave their family forever and get a new family in the monastery.
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Can monks get married?

'Do not engage in sexual misconduct', instructs Buddhists to be content within marriage and not to commit adultery as this will cause suffering. Buddhists monks choose not to marry and remain celibate while living in the monastic community. This is so that they can focus on achieving enlightenment .
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Can a woman be a monk?

Women can be ordained as the equivalent of monks in China, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam, mostly dominated by the Mahayana school of Buddhism. Female ordination is not available in the Tibetan tradition nor in Cambodia, Laos or Myanmar.
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Why are monks silent?

In the Buddhist tradition, a monk's vow of silence is a way to practice proper speech. Monks feel that they would avoid saying something negative by avoiding revealing anything that comes to mind. For them, speaking with silence is a way to practice nonviolence.
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Why do monks wear orange?

It is a sacred color in many Eastern religions. Hindu and Buddhist monks wear orange robes, and in Hinduism, orange represents fire and therefore purity; impurities are burned in fire.
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Why do monks shave their eyebrows?

In Buddhism, shaving the head and eyebrows signifies a renunciation of worldly desire. While Buddhist monks keep their head and sometimes their eyebrows shaved for life as a symbol of their priestly status, head shaving also takes place during Buddhist funerals.
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Do monks get paid?

The salaries of Buddhist Monks in the US range from $18,280 to $65,150 , with a median salary of $28,750 . The middle 50% of Buddhist Monks makes $28,750, with the top 75% making $65,150.
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What do monks do all day?

What do monks do all day? They do the things that make them communal — Mass, prayer, reflection, service. They also do the things that make them unique — exercise, collecting, composing, cooking. At Saint Meinrad, there's time to be by yourself, just you and God.
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What do monks eat?

The diet of Tibetan monks is based on Tsampa (made of Tibetan barley), Yak butter tea, and some other dairy products, which can provide them with the necessary energy to survive in the high altitude environment. Also, Tibetan monks eat beans, noodle soups, and stir-fried or steamed vegetable dishes.
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How do monks train their balls?

Some monks even tie ropes around their testicles, pulling great stone weights across fields to master this skill.
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Can monks levitate?

Everyone knows that the Tibetan masters can levitate and fly. Marco Polo, the first Westerner to formally record an encounter with the Tibetan lamas, reported witnessing the phenomenon over seven hundred years ago (and Italians never lie).
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How monks control their mind?

Meditation can focus the mind in a measurable way, according to a study of Buddhist monks. In a visual test designed to confuse the brain, the monks were able to stave off confusion more easily than those not trained in the contemplative arts.
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What time do monks go to bed?

Bedtime – the monks went to bed at 8pm in the winter and 9pm in the summer. They had to sleep in dormitories of 10 or 20.
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Do monks live longer?

New research shows that ministers, priests, vicars, nuns and monks live much longer, and healthier, than their flocks. Benedictine monks, the least likely to prematurely succumb to earthly disease, have a mortality rate almost half that of mere civilians.
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How often do monks eat?

The monks are also forbidden from eating anything after 12 p.m., having only one or two meals a day between the hours of 6 a.m. and noon. This means it's hard for monks to change their diet.
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Can monks drink alcohol?

Whilst the forest monastery monks were allowed to drink alcohol, monks from other Buddhist sects were not allowed to drink alcohol.
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