Acharya Prashant addresses the concern of having parents who do not understand, advising that the first step is to stop thinking of oneself primarily and fundamentally as a son or a daughter. He clarifies that while being a son or daughter is a fact of the body and should be acknowledged with gratitude, it is not one's primary identity. Discretion must be applied; these facts of the body are not to be ignored, but they are also not the ultimate truth of who you are. The speaker explains that the more one identifies with the born body, the more one must comply with the bondages of the bodily world. He illustrates that everything in the world is a collection of bodiesāa stone, a river, a tree. If you see yourself as a body, you will belong to the world of bodies and will only find other bodies. However, the things one truly seeks, such as freedom, love, compassion, and truth, are not bodily. Freedom has no body and will never be available to a body. The question itself is a cry for these non-bodily realities. He further elaborates that if you identify as a daughter, you are identifying as bodily, and a body cannot truly love. The love that is born, like the body, will also die. This is why love based on the body is insecure. To truly love your mother, you must forget you are a daughter. This act of freeing yourself from the identity of a daughter also frees her from the identity of a mother, allowing for genuine compassion. The speaker concludes by stating that you are not your name or your body; you simply are. This is freedomāfreedom from being anybody or any body. When you realize you are not merely the body, you will know how to look at all bodies, including your parents', with true understanding.
