The Child Asks Her Mother

**Summary:** A little child continuously asks her mother about everything around, showing how humans always wonder and seek answers—the very origin of religion.

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In the temple courtyard, morning sunlight pierced through the banyan leaves, scattering shimmering patches of light along the brick path. A young mother walked hand in hand with her small daughter, about four or five years old. The child toddled along, her round eyes gazing everywhere, her mouth never ceasing to ask:

“Mummy, what is this?”

Her mother leaned down, following the child’s pointed finger toward a clump of wildflowers by the path, and answered gently. But before she could finish, the little girl turned in another direction, pointing at a sparrow hopping on the temple roof:

“Mummy, what is that?”

Her mother patiently explained again. The child nodded thoughtfully, then asked more. And so it went—from one thing to another, from one question to the next, without end. From a distance, a monk smiled as he watched. He thought, “This child is surely smarter than I was at her age. I seldom asked so many questions back then.”

But then he realized that all human beings are like this. When we are young, we ask out of curiosity. As we grow older, we still ask, but our questions become deeper: Why does it rain? Why is there thunder and lightning? Why are humans born, then age, then die? Why are some fortunate while others suffer? We long for an explanation for everything, so that our hearts may find peace.

People of the past were just the same. They were no less intelligent than we are today. The difference was that they did not have the accumulated knowledge of generations before them. When they saw rain falling from the sky, they did not know why. When they witnessed a flood sweeping away homes, they could not explain it. When they saw a loved one suddenly fall ill with fever and die, they had no answer. There was no other explanation available—only a simple, understandable, and comforting one: “The Heavens.”

When the Heavens weep, it rains. When the Heavens are angered, there is thunder and lightning. When the Heavens summon, people die. When the Heavens weave fate, husband and wife meet. All was attributed to a supreme deity. This explanation was accepted because, beyond it, people could not conceive of anything else. And human beings are prone to believing easily. Whether in ancient times or today, whether uneducated or highly learned, people believe with astonishing readiness. They believe without verification, believing because they need something to lean on, believing because there is no better explanation.

And so, from the innocent questions of children, from the ponderings of adults, from the fear of nature and death, humans created gods. They fashioned a deity to explain all things. Then, when they found that one god was “too busy,” they created many more: a god of rain, a god of wind, a god of fire, gods of life and death—each presiding over a domain. To communicate with these gods, they established rituals, offerings, and prayers. Once there was theory, ceremony, and followers, religion took shape.

The irony is that humans created gods, yet then knelt to worship their own creations. They bound themselves to hypotheses of their own making, and believed that the gods created humans, not the other way around.

But we should not blame the people of the past. If we lived in that era, we would have believed as they did, for there were no other answers. Today, when science has explained many things, we may smile at old beliefs. Yet let us understand them, and not look down with contempt. For that was humanity’s first step on the journey of seeking truth—a journey that continues even now.

**Meaning of the Story** Religion arose from the need to explain what humans did not yet know about life and the universe. This was natural and necessary at the dawn of humanity. We should not look back at the past with ill will or judgment, for in their circumstances, we would have believed likewise. The lesson is to show compassion for those of the past, while recognizing how easily humans believe and how deeply they long for answers—so that we may view religion with objectivity and clarity.

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*Based on a dharma talk by Venerable Thích Chân Quang.*