I was reading something today that said most people start thinking about philosophical problems like the meaning of life, whether anything is really right or wrong, and questioning the basis of traditional morality and religious beliefs around the age of 14. Which sounds about right for me. I think I was probably 13/14 when I started to ask questions about why certain things were considered morally wrong or right, and so on. I think it was also when I started to question my religious beliefs, read more about other religions, explored agnosticism and atheism. I was wondering if other people here had similar experiences? And what sources did you turn to get answers?Or if you had markedly different experiences from mine, I'd love to hear about that too.
I grew up in a household with one parent is atheist and the other is religious/Hindu and who practiced some traditions but with lots of *leeway* for convenience (which made it more attractive for me - I loved choice.). So through my teens, twenties and now thirties, I have fluidly moved between the two. Dinner table conversation at home included debates about religion. Also two closest friends through middle school were Muslim. Visiting their homes, hearing their side of the pop-culture view of religion really helped have an open mind. Also studied in a Christian-friendly school. One grandparent + 1 aunt and 1 uncle were also Christian - so Christmas eve and many Sundays were at the church. And then best friend through grad school years was Buddhist. This meant I have heard their stories, visited all their temples and picked what I liked from these. In my mind, I have my own custom religion and enjoy the freedom to believe and follow any traditions from those I've learnt. I started questioning tradition in my teens but didn't try to find any answers until I was living on my own in my mid-twenties.
These thoughts occur not uniformly to all during a particular age , i.e physical or biological but according to mental maturity....questioning tradition and rebelling against customs etc occur exactly during the teens with a developing and analytical mind, the result of western systems of education. Thpractice in in ancient India was ....children both boys & girls, at the age of 12 were sent to gurukuls where they lived with their guru and the guru matha as family, learnt the sastras , life skills till the age of 24. Then they get back to their own families and decide about the future. The mind is fully matured and the ability to discriminate and take decisions.
