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Summary of Question:	Query About Covering Your Head In Gurdwara
Category:	Gurdwara
Date Posted:	Wednesday, 10/23/2002 4:01 PM MDT

Read your reply 'How covering your head showing respect to God?', and it got me thinking. What about Sikhs males who don't wear a turban, or Sikh females who don't tie a dastar? What is the point of them covering their heads as they won't be able to channelize their energy. And how is covering our heads an act of declaring humility or surrendering to God?

Also, why do we not take our socks of in the Darbar Sahib? The only fundamental difference between a shoe and a sock is the material that they are made from.
I hope I haven't upset anyone's feelings but these are some questions that I couldn't think of an answer to.
Manny (London)
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa,
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

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Sat Siri Akal.

The Guru talks about the nine gates of the body and finding the Tenth Gate where God abides. The Tength Gate is located at the top of the head and, in certain meditative states or in the presence of a powerful spiritual energy, sometimes that Gate will spontaneously "open" and you'll feel a tingling in your scalp. It can get hot, it can even feel like it's burning - and just having something over your head, even if it's not a turban, helps to protect the Gate and keep it open. Unless you've experienced this, I know it can sound a little odd. But there is a physical experience that occurs when the Tenth Gate opens and covering the head really does have an effect to protect and keep that center in a receptive and open state - even one layer of cloth helps.

As for socks - it is best to be totally barefoot in Gurdwara. The "sock" exception is more for people whose feet might get cold and the socks help them stay warm. But washing one's hands and washing one's feet before going into Gurdwara is part of the protocol, and it isn't possible to wash one's feet while wearing socks - so ideally, socks and shoes should be removed before entering the Gurdwara.

All love,

GPK