“YOU can’t be strict with children in meditation because they are too young to fully understand the purpose and essence of meditation.

Moreover, we cannot impose restrictions on them,” said Venerable Ashin Chekinda, the head monk of Dhammadûta Jetavana Monastery in Hmawbi township.

The centre holds meditation courses for children twice a year – in summer and during the December vacation. The centre has conducted 14 such courses so far, with each course being attended by about 1200 children.

He said people usually think that sitting quietly and breathing in and out is meditation. “That’s wrong. You can’t force children to do this. Children usually do as they wish and they hate timetables. It’s in their nature and we must understand this. And they get bored easily.”

In his centre, he said, each course lasts only four days. “It’s for a short period and that’s why children want to come again.

“They are tired by learning school lessons the whole year. So we try to take use their mental and physical exhaustion to benefit them,” said Ashin Chekinda, who is also an associate professor at the International Theravâda Buddhist Missionary University in Yangon.

During the course, children are actively encouraged to get involved in various activities like story-telling, playing football, taking part in sports activities, holding debates in English and having bonfires.

He also teaches one of the eleven Paritta (the mantras meant to disperse evil) in each course. “We just teach one. Teaching a lot of things at one time is too much for their tender age. And we never force them to meditate. We read sermons through the loudspeaker and they stop playing and come immediately, keen to take part.”

While they are meditating, he teaches them about the triple gems or attributes of Buddha (teacher), Dhamma (the teachings) and the Sangha (taught).
The children also have to do chores such as making their bed and washing their plates.

He said that children are fond of coming to the monastery for meditation and the number of children joining the centre increases every year.

As he promotes the need for children to be polite and avoid committing sins, it has also affected parents who, surprisingly, gave up various addictions after some stern words from their offspring – "Dad, you are doing bad things."

“My motto is: Everybody was once a child. If they are good when they are children, they will be good when they grow up,” Ashin Chekinda said.
After all, kids will be kids, but some grow stronger than others.