She has a son, thirteen years old. And she has a lot of anguish, worries about him. And he also has a lot of worries, anguish. It is difficult for her and for her son at the same time. How should she practice?

Communication is the answer. If there is no communication between the cells in our body, we will suffer. If there is no communication between us and our children, we will suffer. So how to restore communication?

First of all, you have to recognize the other person as having his or her own body, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, consciousness. Although there is a strong connection, although that person is our continuation, although that person is a part of us, but we have to respect him or her, like we respect our hand, our feet.

If you don't understand our hand, our feet, we will make our hand, our feet suffer. So if we don't understand our son or daughter, we will make them suffer the same. So there must be good communication.

And maybe both of you have to be aware of the fact that both suffer, and not just one person suffers. And practice looking deeply in order to see where are the roots of that suffering.

Maybe the mother is a little bit overprotective, over-possessive, and things like that prevent communication. And therefore there is a misunderstanding between both. Your son may think that he is already big enough in order to take care of himself, and you may still think of him as a baby. And that is a tendency of mothers.

I have children, many children. Sometimes I feel like that also. They practice with me twenty years already, they have become a Dharma teacher, but sometimes I feel like they are still my babies.

But I have the practice. I tell myself, they are not babies. You have to listen to them, you have to see their talents, their way of doing that are different from yours, and you can learn from them. And I'm happy with that kind of practice, and I would like you to do the same.

Then if you change yourself, if you reduce your fear concerning his safety, concerning his future and so on, and offer him more space, inside and outside, he will find you pleasant, and he will come to you more. But this is a practice. It takes a few days, or a week. Bonne chance. Good luck.