Thread: Buddhist head shaving.

This is a great topic. When my brother in-law entered the monk hood he had his head shaved by a local respected man using a shavet. I'll try to get some photos of this.

I also have a friend who is a monk in Bangkok. Next time I see him I will ask what he used and how often he shaves.

It would seem to me that using a straight would fit in well with buddhist priciples. Throwing away lots of useless plastic does a lot of harm to the environment. Where as the waste from straight razor shaving is just a little soap down the drain.

My sensei recently went through the official ordination process (shukke tokudo) to become a Zen priest. One of his mentors from the school in New Mexico where he got his start in the pursuit of Zen performed the ceremony. My sensei had mentioned to her that I use a straight razor, and she wanted more information since she still uses a straight to shave her teacher's head.

kevint -- if you're in OKC you might take a look at Windsong Dojo -- we have a zendo in the back part of the building called Windsong Innerspace. Several different zen groups meet during the week.

Originally Posted by ndw76

It would seem to me that using a straight would fit in well with buddhist priciples. Throwing away lots of useless plastic does a lot of harm to the environment. Where as the waste from straight razor shaving is just a little soap down the drain.

I totally agree. One thing I am not sure about, though, is what Buddhist monastics would use for a strop. In Chinese and Southeast Asian Buddhisms, they take the prohibition against using any animal products VERY seriously. Of course, this includes leather. Perhaps they just had the local barber's hone their razors?

-Erik

Here are some more visuals:

Actual picture of a Korean nun getting ordained, again, all I can say is what a blade!
http://ask.nate.com/qna/view.html?n=4068259
(This picture is from Search For Nirvana: Korean Monk's Life, 1985)

And here's a modern Korean monk shaving his hair with a disposable blade:우리세ìƒ� - ì‚*ë°œ

Finally, in looking for images of Japanese monks shaving, I found this ad for a blade that is used during ordination: ¡Ú³ÚÅ·»Ô¾ì¡Û¤ªÄæÅá¡Ê¤«¤ß¤½¤ê¡Ë¡Ê¹âµéÉÊ¡Ë¡Ú¹âµéÀµ¸¨ ˼ÉÕ¤*¡ÛÀìÍѤζâë¦À½ÂÞ¡§Ê©ÃÅ¡¡Ê©¶ñ¡¡¿ô¼î¡¡¶Ë³ÚƲ

-Erik

Originally Posted by ehammers

Here are some more visuals:

Actual picture of a Korean nun getting ordained, again, all I can say is what a blade!
http://ask.nate.com/qna/view.html?n=4068259
(This picture is from Search For Nirvana: Korean Monk's Life, 1985)

And here's a modern Korean monk shaving his hair with a disposable blade:우리세ìƒ� - ì‚*ë°œ

Finally, in looking for images of Japanese monks shaving, I found this ad for a blade that is used during ordination: ¡Ú³ÚÅ·»Ô¾ì¡Û¤ªÄæÅá¡Ê¤«¤ß¤½¤ê¡Ë¡Ê¹âµéÉÊ¡Ë¡Ú¹âµéÀµ¸¨ ˼ÉÕ¤*¡ÛÀìÍѤζâë¦À½ÂÞ¡§Ê©ÃÅ¡¡Ê©¶ñ¡¡¿ô¼î¡¡¶Ë³ÚƲ

-Erik

That last one is an interesting blade to say the least!

It's probably similar to a chisel to sharpen. Holding and using it would be a challenge to me.

-Rob

One characteristic of Buddhism is that it has drawn heavily from each country in which it has flourished. From India to China to Korea to Japan - and now to the West - Buddhism has adapted at each step of the way. I suspect that modern-day use of the meat-cleavers may be mostly a local/cultural thing. In my experience, the great tendency among ordained people from different traditions and temples here in the US is to use some kind of mach/turbo/fusion thing.

How you do it: not so important, I think. Whether you do it: also probably not so important.

It's about cutting off more than hair...

Cheers.

My Wife's uncle is a monk as well as a barber and he uses a disposable, but his father, who was a priest at his own temple, did use a Kamisori... which has been, unfortunately, lost.

In some of the histories I've read, they said that razors were introduced to Japan from Korea specifically for use as Buddhist tonsorial tools, and later expanded to use by the Samurai.

That blade you linked there, ¡Ú³ÚÅ·»Ô¾ì¡Û¤ªÄæÅá¡Ê¤«¤ß¤½¤ê¡Ë¡Ê¹âµéÉÊ¡Ë¡Ú¹âµéÀµ¸¨ ˼ÉÕ¤¡ÛÀìÍѤζâë¦À½ÂÞ¡§Ê©ÃÅ¡¡Ê©¶ñ¡¡¿ô¼î¡¡¶Ë³ÚƲ, is not a real razor. It's a decorative replica of one of those original tonsorial razors, but is not sharpenable.