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Summary of Question:Re: Makeup
Category:General Sikhism
Date Posted:Wednesday, 5/19/1999 1:30 AM MDT

It was pretty obvious that the person who responded to the question about whether its okay for a sikh female to wear makeup before/after marriage was biased in his/her point of view.


The response was:

Do you think God in you is so ugly you have to cover it up. You are the Akal Moorat, image of God. The entire light of the soul radiates through the face, and you want to cover it up.
Make up looks like nice colors, but actually it totally covers and blocks the skin, so just do one experiment. Take some all black face paint and cover your face with it. That's what your soul looks like to others when you wear makeup.
why not let your radiance shine through. If you only wash your face with cold water, it will always have a beauty and radiance.

My question is: Who says make up is a cover up? I wear eyeliner.. I don't wear it because I am trying to hide my eyes.. I do it to accentuate the eyes that God has given me. I also wear lipstick.. once again, not because I think there is something wrong with my face, but because I like how it looks on the face that God has given me. I do not in any way think I have a tainted soul, as this ridiculous response suggests, because I choose to wear makeup... I am still a good person who treats others with love and respect and I do my banis and paath regularly as well.

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Reply
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Your response sounds defensive. Why do you feel that way? It was Shakespeare who astutely observed, "She doth protest too much." No one is implying you are not a good person. But what value the ego attempts to add to real goodness is essentially worthless and unnecessary.

If you really need this makeup, that is a personal choice, by all means do anything you want. But the Guru's way is beyond social fashion and whim, and true beauty is deeper than the skin. Which part of us re-designs the eyebrows, or the hair, or the color of the skin? Would that be the soul at work, or would that be the stamp of something else?

Here, you may see, the words of Guru Arjun Dev are much more to the point:

This mind, body and wealth were given by God, who <naturally adorns> us.
He has blessed us with all our energy,
and infused His Infinite Light deep within us.
Forever and ever, meditate in remembrance on God;
keep Him enshrined in your heart. || 1 ||

O my mind, without the Lord, there is no other at all.
Remain in God's Sanctuary forever, and no suffering shall afflict you.
|| 1 || Pause ||

Jewels, treasures, pearls, gold and silver-all these are just dust.
Mother, father, children and relatives-all relations are false.
The self-willed manmukh is an insulting beast;
he does not acknowledge the One who created him. || 2 ||

The Lord is pervading within and beyond,
and yet people think that He is far away.
They are engrossed in clinging desires;
within their hearts there is ego and falsehood.
Without devotion to the Naam, crowds of people come and go. || 3 ||

Please preserve Your beings and creatures, God;
O Creator Lord, please be merciful!
Without God, there is no saving grace.
The Messenger of Death is cruel and unfeeling.
O Nanak, may I never forget the Naam!
Please bless me with Your Mercy, Lord! (SGGS, p. 47)

You may read the answer you are criticizing in a social, fashionable context, or you may read it with your inner soul and spiritual practice in mind. Perhaps the ideas that have offended you are not so ridiculous after all.

Sincerely,
Krishna Singh Khalsa



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