Question: When should a child start meditating?

Sri Chinmoy: A child should start meditating the day he can utter a syllable. The day the child can say a word, at that time the mother should teach the child the word “God”. Right from the beginning, the parents can instruct the child that it is not they who are responsible for his life, but God. The mother will not always be there, but there is someone who will always be there and that person is God. The mother has to direct the child to the right person, to the Source. She has to let him know that there is someone in him, for him and around him all the time, and this person is none other than the Supreme. Also the mother can pray to God on behalf of the child. The prayer will be most effective when the child is asleep, for at that time the child’s soul comes to the fore. When the child is awake he cries and makes noise; at that time he is not in his soul. When the parents have unruly children, disobedient children, they should meditate beside the children when the children are asleep. Most of the time, their children’s inner divinity comes to the fore during sleep.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Sri Chinmoy speaks, part 2, Agni Press, 1976
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/scs_2