How Should Our Parents Influence Our Lives?

Lakshmi Manchu: Namaskaram Sadhguru! Does the relationship that we have with our parents impact the course of our life? If yes, how best are we to nurture this?

Sadhguru: Namaskaram Lakshmi! In the yogic science, we look at human life as a full cycle if one lives up to eighty-four years of age. In this cycle of life, which involves a little over one-thousand-and-eight cycles of the moon, the first quarter is when the influence of the parents is upon us energetically. In terms of karmic influence, parentage can only influence us up to twenty-one years of age. After that, we are not supposed to be influenced by them. We can only live in gratitude for whatever they have done. First of all, they have brought us into this world, and they have done many other things out of their love and involvement.

 

One should not be influenced by the patterns of parentage after twenty-one because it is important that one’s life is a fresh life, not a repetition of what has happened in the previous generation. There is a karmic influence which definitely influences everybody up to twenty-one years, but beyond this age, there is no such thing. A whole lot of people may depend on parents psychologically, financially, or socially, but essentially this karmic bond breaks at the age of twenty-one. We should not look for parental nurture after twenty-one years. After that, it is a bond of relationship, of love, and of gratitude. Those things can stay forever. 

Editor's Note: Whether you're struggling with a controversial query, feeling puzzled about a taboo topic, or just burning with a question that no one else is willing to answer, now is your chance to ask! Ask Sadhguru your questions at UnplugWithSadhguru.org.