Tell Your Parents, "Thank you for everything."

When you can thank them for being in your life, mistakes and all, you have matured.

If you are arguing about this or that that they did to you -- you are still immature.

C'mon. You can do it.

Just like in school. Sometimes you get a really crappy teacher. But you can still learn a lot in that crappy class. When you move on to the next year in school and get a different teacher, you're not going to spend the next year thinking about that crappy teacher. You'll just file that memory away and move on.

Same with your parents. Despite their worst mistakes they taught you something useful -- even if it is how not to be like them.

Now move on.

If I've gotten you this far, I'm very proud of you. You are already farther along in your spiritual life than most people ever get.

Just as your hatred and resentments would prohibit you from walking through the Gates of Heaven, your negative emotions will limit the many job opportunities and possibilities you will encounter every day.

Buddha Zhen
Patriarch, shaolinZEN.org