Later at lunch with others, I gingerly ask if we can ask why we cannot ask those questions.    Apparently there are social reasons why they have this rule.  A monk may have been practicing for 50 years or for a year or two and both of them may be the same age.  Where you are born can be a social class issue that is more emphasized in certain cultures than in others.  Why you became a monk is also detailed with social reasons.  A baby may have been dropped off by parents and raised in a monastery or they may have chosen the way for other reasons.  Because of people's judgments involving social class issues, these questions are not to be asked.  I suspect the Parabola question is too close to these "not to ask" questions.