The Buddha was Bald … but is Everywhere Depicted with a Full Head of Hair

[Seeking]

One of the most obvious fallacies of modern Theravada Buddhism is the depiction of the Buddha with a full head of hair. Living in Southeast Asia, asking the average Buddhist about this results in a range of answers, from a shrug and smile (admitting that it is incorrect but supposing that it is not worth worrying about) over to the opposite extreme of taking offense and demanding to know how anyone could dare to raise the question. Some might ask how we could know what the Buddha looked like after so many centuries, if we didn’t blindly trust in a succession of statues and amulets. It is needless to say that the Pali canon does not contain photographic evidence, but it does contain evidence of another kind, and this article tries to answer the question (that almost nobody dares to ask) in as few words as possible, by working from the primary sources.

 

Rest of the article:

 

https://www.newmandala.org/the-buddha-was-bald/

 

Wondering what you lot make of this? It ties into what I've said previously about lies, distortions and half truths that amusingly permeate a way that is supposed to be all about truly perceiving reality.

 

Maybe thats all part of the test and those who buy into the party line failed, eh? I'm thinking it might be some kind of prank like that as things like this are so obvious. The article is very well written and raises a lot of good points about primary sources and I'd like to hear your thoughts.

[Mark Foote]

I always understood that the curliques on his head in the statuary represented snails that crawled up there to cool his head during his meditation.  I see lots of references to a story about 108 snails, but no source.

There are statues where Gautama has hair, and I found this:

"The earliest Buddha statues discovered by historians are the Gandhara Buddhist statues built by the Bactrian Greeks 300 years after Buddha's death. It's unlikely that the sculptors knew what Buddha looked like."

So, Greek sculptors, and besides having hair, the faces are Hellenic.

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-real-story-behind-108-snails-covering-Buddhas-head

[Cleansox]

32 and 80 signs of perfection. 

(edit: There are lists on what they symbolize as well) 

Edited January 24, 2022 by Cleansox
Added stuff

[Nintendao]

somebody once told me the hairdo of buddha statues is not meant to be pure portraiture, but rather an indication of the petals of an active crown chakra. Same with the long earlobes. They have something to do with grounding, not with having actual dangly ears.

[silent thunder]

Art is the realm of symbols and allegory to convey deep and multiple meanings and is often meant to be interpreted metaphorically, not literally.

Edited January 20, 2022 by silent thunder

[doc benway]

Also likely that Shakyamuni had a headful of luxurious hair at some point in his life…

[refugeindharma]

The hair depicted in statues was not seen on the physical realm, those who had opened their 5 eyes could see the pineal/cone like structure surrounding his head on an energetic level

[Eduardo]

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Edited February 7 by Eduardo
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[awaken]

我不認為佛陀光頭，因為他住在森林當中，如果他要保持光頭，他必須有一隻刀子，每天刮頭髮，但是他只有一身衣服和一個缽，他並沒有刀子，如何刮除頭髮呢？

 

甚至我認為他連鬍子都是沒有刮的

 

 

I don't think Buddha is bald, because he lives in the forest, if he wants to keep his head bald, he must have a knife and shave his hair every day, but he only has a suit and a bowl, he doesn't have a knife, how can he shave his hair?

I don't even think he even shaved his beard

[Eduardo]

10 minutes ago, awaken said:

我不認為佛陀光頭，因為他住在森林當中，如果他要保持光頭，他必須有一隻刀子，每天刮頭髮，但是他只有一身衣服和一個缽，他並沒有刀子，如何刮除頭髮呢？

 

甚至我認為他連鬍子都是沒有刮的

 

 

I don't think Buddha is bald, because he lives in the forest, if he wants to keep his head bald, he must have a knife and shave his hair every day, but he only has a suit and a bowl, he doesn't have a knife, how can he shave his hair?

I don't even think he even shaved his beard

 

Monks and nuns according to the ancient rules of the Vinaya Pitaka can only have a minimum of possessions (ideally, three robes, a bowl for food, a belt, needle and thread, a blade to shave the head and eyebrows and a filter of Water)

 

At the time of Shakyamuni those who left the world taking the path of renunciation shaved or pulled out their hair and beard, Mahavira is said to have pulled out his hair and beard, and entered a wandering life, both the Buddha and other mendicants and ascetics shaved their heads, notwithstanding that in the stages of Tapas and yogic meditation it was normal for them to let their hair and beards grow like the old Rishis.

 

 

 

[awaken]

https://agama.buddhason.org/SA/SA1184.htm

 

好吧，我查了雜阿含經，佛陀確實有剃頭

 

Well, I checked the Zaaghan Sutra and the Buddha did shave his head

[silent thunder]

I shaved my head for some twenty years.

Now it's long again.

 

Hair grows even after death.

 

I wonder at the potential relevance of hair length to content of message connection...

[thelerner]

I'm just impressed he was human being.

I dislike when wise men are made into gods.  The tendency to need miracles to prop up holy men. 

[Straybird]

There are things and hidden meanings behind Buddha Statues and heads. These statues don’t mean to represent Buddha in his physical form but to represent his knowledge and awareness he acquired after attaining enlightenment. These depictions vary from style to style and on the basis of the region to origin. Buddha hair and the third eye of Buddha remains same regardless of region.

But historically speaking, before the Buddha left the riches and palace as a crown prince, he had a long, curly hair. Upon giving up the happiness of the palace, he cut his hair with knife. There are also different versions of the history on whether he actually shaved the hair completely or lost the longer portions of his hair. The statues and paintings portray the Buddha having short and tight ringlet curls.