Any problem, big or small, within a family, always seems to start with bad communication. Someone isn’t listening.
Fasting in the monastic community is considered an ascetic practice, a “dhutanga” practice. Dhutanga means “to shake up” or “invigoration”. The Buddha, as is well known, emphasized moderation, the Middle Way that avoids extremes, in all things. Fasting is an additional method that one can take up, with supervision, for a time.
It is a good practice to set apart at least one day in a year for the remembrance of one’s near and dear relatives, friends and learned people that are no more in keeping with our traditions; giving a new orientation to and infusing new life into practices that have become lifeless and meaningless to many.
What parents inculcate in the child is permanently there because childhood is the most impressionable time of life.
