The Hairdo
Toronto, Ontario
David Miller is a professor at the University of Toronto. He had invited some monks for kirtan, chanting and an explanation of Krishna consciousness to his class on the theme of Hindu Modernity. His class was an attentive group and I liked one question asked about the tuft of hair monks sport at the back of the head under the location of what is called brahma-randra. Both Dvija, our star renunciant at the Toronto ashram, and I took turns answering questions.
I took the liberty to explain about the sheeka (tuft of hair on male members). In the Buddhist tradition there is no scope for accepting god as a deity, rather everything is shunyavadi (void).”There is no god”. The totally shaven head of a Buddhist monk reflects this nihilistic concept. The Vaishnavas or devotees of Vishnu, on the other hand, have embraced the concept of the Absolute as a “person” or a being a deity or divinity that one can communicate with. The mark of hair reflects this identity of the supreme as a person. A Vaishnava depends on the will of the supreme and agrees to engage in the sweet surrendering process of Bhakti, devotion. He will not resist. The sheeka is a symbol of this surrender.
The students’ questions continued to come our way but I had to apologize to the group as I was to embark on a flight to South Africa via Dubai. You couldn’t ask for a better “send off” than speaking to a group of enthusiastic students before taking off on a long trip. What really was crazy was that the schedule was such that I just flew in from Miami in the early afternoon.
Oh well, all is well in His service. “His” refers to Rama as today is the birthday of Rama, an avatar in the category of “Leela Avatar”. “Avatar” means one who descends from a higher sphere, the spiritual realm. “Leela” refers to endearing pastimes.
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