The question what age children should be introduced to religion has produced some debate, especially among those who believe in having a serious approach to anything they do in life. I was born to a Buddhist family, studied the teachings of Lord Buddha as a subject for my Ordinary Level Examination and after a long association with the Dhamma, I still have the urge to be a rebel and explore what other religions have to offer.

My close associates say I am confused in terms of religion because I never gave a genuine shot at Buddhism. I agree and disagree on this because the few opportunities I had of meeting renowned monks, both local and foreign, I did squander. Then again, I had also spent ten full years or more learning the Dhamma which gradually prepared me to sit for the Buddhism paper in the O’L exam. For the record I ended getting a distinction. Given the fact that this is the first real opportunity where a child gets to study the Dhamma for an extensive period, the impact of religion on me, till then, wasn’t all that impressive.

Out of curiosity one of my friends and I visited the late Venerable Balangoda Anandamaitriya Thero’s temple in Thumbagoda, Balangoda, in 1994 and I was a little surprised to find that there were monks who didn’t quite seem that they were even 15 years of age. It has puzzled me over the years whether children can grasp the deep meanings of religion when they are so young? My thinking on religion on these lines is fuelled by the absence of a column to show religion in a newborn’s birth certificate. Doesn’t this suggest that a person has the right to choose his or her own religion, possibly when he or she is a little old and wise?

Walking past a leading church in Bambalapitiya to my weekly class in mass communication, I couldn’t help but notice little children play on swings in the garden while the adults were listening attentively to the Sunday sermon. I wanted to stop and ask someone with authority in the church whether this was a slow and steady method adopted to make kids attracted to religion, given their short span of concentration and the minds still not developed to observe the strong link between life and religion.

Most of the initial lessons on religion happen to be looked upon as ‘must do things’ because religion is made a compulsory subject in children’s education. This way the lessons are rushed through and students don’t get to absorb the contents and their deep meanings, because such progress is possible only when learning happens at one’s own pace.

It is been a practice in Sri Lanka for parents to hand their children to the temple and make them take to robes when the horoscope predicts dim prospects in life. This is the case with horoscope’s which are termed ‘hathara kendare palu’ (That is when the squares one, four, seven and ten in the horoscope are blank). Square one depicts determination in life, square four land and vehicles, square seven marriage and square 10 employment. It begs the question whether it is correct for parents to look at monk hood as a solution when predictions aren’t rosy regarding the future of their offspring? Learned Buddist scholars would vouch that Buddhism is for those who are intelligent and are willing to sacrifice material things in life for mental development.

In Thailand males have to spend short stints in the temple and serve the military as part of obligations set for them by the country’s government. Thailand’s highest world ranked tennis player Paradorn Srichaphen spent a week in a Bangkok temple as monk to honour a requirement stipulated by the traditions of the country. Even Srichaphen’s girlfriend at that time Odette Henriette Jacqmin was present for the religious ceremony. The Thai tennis star was 26 years of age at the time he donned robes. When Thai males enter monk hood, as adults, the chances are that they’ll be mentally better prepared at that age to understand the deep philosophies of the Dhamma and apply that knowledge in their lives.

There was a stir in the country during the times when the Mahayana Buddhist Version of the (Maha Pundarika Suthraya) was printed on cloth, housed in glass casings, and circulated, or sold. The scroll told much about how to lead a successful life. There was also all round condemnation by the priest when Venerable Hapetiyawe Suneetha of Ambalangoda won the trials for the SAF Games in Taekwondo and became the country’s best bet for the Games. Sadly the protests by members of the clergy put a stop to his participation at the Games. The educated public of this country have always frowned at monks who are seen wasting valuable meditating time and instead associating themselves in politics and welfare activities. Do all these happenings relate to shaky starts monks have had, possibly because they were ordained at a very young age. Monks need to first get a real taste of what material life is. It is then only that one can really appreciate monk hood.

There is no debate about taking small steps to condition the mind for the hard lessons in Buddhism. What’s debatable is whether kids and teenagers should be pushed to the study of Dhamma at a raw age.