Tonsure
The term originates from the Latin word tonsura (meaning "clipping" or "shearing"[1]) and referred to a specific practice in medieval Catholicism, abandoned by papal order in 1972.
[citation needed][2] Tonsure can also refer to the secular practice of shaving all or part of the scalp to show support or sympathy, or to designate mourning.
Current usage more generally refers to cutting or shaving for monks, devotees, or mystics of any religion as a symbol of their renunciation of worldly fashion and esteem.
It is also commonly used in the Eastern Orthodox Church for newly baptised members and is frequently used for Buddhist novices, monks, and nuns.
The first is called chudakarana (IAST: Cūḍākaraṇa, Sanskrit: चूडाकरण; literally, "rite of tonsure"), also known as chaula, chudakarma, mundana, or mundan, marks the child's first haircut, typically the shaving of the head.
[7] Until a few decades ago, many Hindu communities, especially the upper castes, forced widows to undergo the ritual of tonsure and shun good clothes and ornaments, in order to make them unattractive to men.
[9] However, Pandey and others trace the practice to Sanskrit texts dated to have been composed before the birth of Buddha, which mention tonsure as a rite of passage.
In England and America, for example, the bare spot was dispensed with, likely because of the persecutions that could arise from being a part of the Catholic clergy, but the ceremonious cutting of the hair in the first clerical tonsure was always required.
In accordance with Pope Paul VI's motu proprio Ministeria quaedam of 15 August 1972, "first tonsure is no longer conferred".
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).
Some priests who held special titles (certain ranks of monsignori and some canons, for instance) formerly wore black zucchettos with red or purple piping, but this too has fallen out of use except in a few, extremely rare cases.
According to the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya commentary (四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔, T. 1804) by Daoxuan, newly-ordained monks should leave one, three, or five small knots of hair (cūḍā) that are ceremonially shaved by their teacher when receiving precepts.
[23] Chinese Buddhism includes a practice called jieba (戒疤), wherein the monk or nun receives small burns to the scalp to symbolize their adherence to the bodhisattva path.
The Verse of Tonsure (Teihatsu no ge 剃髮偈) is recited by Soto Zen practitioners:[24] Tibetan Buddhist tradition assigns auspicious days depending on when both laypeople and monastics cut their hair.
[25] The Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya also regulates the wearing of a special cloth when shaving the head called keśapratigrahaṇa (剃髮衣).
[27] In an effort to distinguish themselves from ancient practices of tonsure associated with idolatry, by doing the inverse, Orthodox Jewish males do not shave the corners of their beards or scalps with straight blades, as described in Leviticus 19:27.
