Sadhguru answers a question on why Gurus have beards. He turns the question around and asks why people are shaving in the first place. He looks back at history and explains how Indian men always had mustaches and beards, and this has changed today because of the influence of the British.

Full Transcript:

Sadhguru: I thought you’re old enough to know this – a beard does not grow on just Gurus, it grows on all men, really.

Interviewer: Sure.

Sadhguru: Believe me, it is so (Laughs). But they are all doing all kinds of funny things with it – you must ask them why are they doing it. No body part has come without a purpose, isn’t it? For everything, including the spleen, there is a purpose. So nature did not give you anything without a purpose. If… if you ask them why are they removing it, they don’t know, because… There’s an Englishman in the hall, so I have to temper my language (Laughs). When the English came to India, every Indian man had a beard or at least a moustache. Today you go out on the Mumbai Street, everybody’s a muchmunda. Is that the correct word? Hmm? Because they are trying to imitate the people who came and ruled them - because those who rule you are a symbol of power.

Now, if you are in a certain level of sensitivity then you would know what is the effect and the aspect of, you know, everything in your body. You think this is fashion but you must understand the only reason why you are cutting your hair into various shapes and forms is because there is no pain in it. So if there was no pain in your nose – in the name of fashion you would have cut it into many shapes by now. Even though there is pain, people are poking it in ten different places today (Laughs). Suppose there was no pain in your whole body, you would have taken your intestines out and go like this (Gestures) on the streets, yes. Yes or no?

Right now, most human beings are not conscious enough, their intelligence is not conscious enough even to preserve themselves if there was no pain. It’s only pain which is keeping them in one piece; otherwise they would cut themselves into two pieces and carry one hand here and one hand there. They would do all kinds of crazy things. Only pain is saving them, not their intelligence. If your intelligence begins to function, if your sensitivity begins to function then your concern will be about how you are within yourself and what you experience and how you can perceive more. Your concern will be not about how you look. So the advantage about the looks is… For ten years if I don’t have a mirror, I still look the same (Laughter). People who are removing all this, one day without a mirror they’ll look different, isn’t it? And whatever your fashion of the day… Have you seen pictures of people fifty years ago, hundred years ago? Somebody cut their moustache like this (Gestures), somebody did this, today you look at it, it looks funny, okay? They look like caricatures. And today’s fashions also will look like that after a period of time.

But a full bearded man looks the same always – thousand years later he still looks the same, because that’s the way nature intended. Nature did not intend anything without a purpose. If you believe in geometry and design, so the design is like this. I don’t want to change the design of the Creator, I want to use it to the fullest benefit. There’re many benefits but you don’t try (Laughter).