Vedic Worldview

Latest Episodes:

Parental Stress - From the Womb to the Grave Aug 07, 2022

Show notes

Few would doubt that being a parent can be stressful, but being the child of a parent has its own set of demands and challenges.

The common thread through this, another ‘Ask Me Anything’ episode of The Vedic Worldview, is the theme of parental stress, both from the parent’s perspective and also from the child’s.

Thom explores the impact the stress of a mother has on a child in the womb, and shows us how to keep inherited stresses in perspective.

He helps us navigate the age-old question of how to cope with rebellious teenagers, reminding us that rebellion isn’t always as bad as it may seem, and that inspiration is the greatest tool a parent has available to them.

And he shares some comforting wisdom on how to cope with the most difficult stress a parent could ever face, the death of a child.

Episode Highlights:

[00:45] Q- Is Fear Passed on to the Child While in the Womb?

[01:06] A - Awareness of Progressive Change

[03:45] Babies Have Qualities of the Biochemistry of Their Mother

[06:19] Mother Divine - Qualities Passed by Every Mother to Every Baby

[07:51] Elephants Walk; Dogs Bark

[09:15] Inherited Ability

[10:40] Rediscover the Elephantine Grace

[12:26] Mother is at Home

[14:05] Nothing Can Overshadow Mother Divine

[15:59] Q- When a child is rebellious, how can we best support them?

[16:13] The Trap of Being Loving Controllers

[17:44] Be the Best Example for Your Children

[19:25] Clean Up Your Own Backyard First

[20:37] A Great Cruelty

[21:35] I Have to Be an Adult

[23:26] Empathizing With the Youth

[24:30] "I don't trust the way I raised you."

[26:37] From Violent Guerrilla to Inspiring Head of State

[28:45] Let Go of the Loving Controller

[29:39] Be an Inspiration to Your Children

[31:03] Q- How Do We Deal With the Death of a Child?

[31:09] Life and Death is Not the Polarity

[33:17] For How Long is it Relevant for Us to Reside in a Body?

[35:29] This is Not Our First Life

[37:06] What Are the Gifts That Child Brought to Us?

[38:02] All Suffering is Obedient to One Principle

[39:10] Become Masters of Being Adaptive

[40:27] To Cope With Loss, Become a Philosopher

[42:19] Life is Not How Long a Human Body Lasts

[44:08] For Whom Are We Grieving?

[45:54] Bring an End to Your Suffering

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My Maharishi in Nepal Jul 31, 2022

Show notes

Who do you call when you’re the King of Nepal and you want to teach 100,000 subjects how to meditate? Who else but Maharishi Mahesh Yogi?

The year was 1974 and Thom Knoles was there. In this episode Thom shares details of the adventure, a demonstration of Maharishi’s can-do attitude to his mission in life, and his matter-of-fact approach to getting the job done.

Episode Highlights:

[00:45] What Did Maharishi Do?

[03:16] Nepal — The Last Vedic Kingdom

[04:26] Maharishi in Switzerland

[05:45] A Summons From The King

[07:31] The Raj Guru to The King of Nepal

[09:31] Zurich to New Delhi to Kathmandu

[11:35] An Audience of One Hundred Thousand

[13:58] "Where was I?"

[16:04] Equanimity

[18:10] Nitya Samadhi

[20:15] Readiness to Meet Any Demand

[22:31] The Vedic University in Nepal

How to Not Be Offended Jul 24, 2022

Show notes

“None taken.”

We all know we have an element of choice when it comes to ‘taking offense,’ yet often that's not the choice we make. In this episode, Thom explains why that is, and what it takes to become impossible to offend.

Episode Highlights:

[00:45] Q - How Can We Not Be Easily Offended By Others?

[00:52] A - “I’ll be the offended one.”

[02:33] Doubts About Our Own True Nature

[04:23] Your Universal Status

[06:34] "You are a bush."

[08:04] Insecure Attachment

[09:12] Impossible to be Offended

Life Beyond Earth Jul 17, 2022

Show notes

Is there anybody out there? Humankind has been asking this question for millenia, and with the ability to conceive of space travel only being a recent phenomenon, the likelihood of finding an answer to the question has seemed unlikely up till now.

But does space travel actually increase the likelihood of finding an answer even remotely? Between the laws of physics and the vast size of the universe, the likelihood of an objective answer goes from zero to zero.

So in reality, all space travel has done is given us another way to fantasize about how we might come into contact with life beyond Earth.

In this episode, Thom explains the limitations of an objective approach in depth, but he doesn’t leave us without hope. Relying on the principle that ‘knowledge is structured in consciousness,’ he suggests that the answer might be closer than we think.

Episode Highlights:

[00:45] SEETI - The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

[02:51] Our Fascination With People from Outer Space

[04:56] Is Our Universe Bio-friendly?

[06:18] There is Only One Thing

[07:17] Unified Field and Quantum Mechanics

[09:25] Consciousness is a Property of the One Thing

[11:38] This Makes the Mind Boggle

[13:12] The Laws of Physics

[14:59] Speed of Light

[16:40] Infinite Mass in a Speck of Dust

[18:28] Ancient Light Visible in the Present

[20:22] Challenging the Assumption of Modern Science

[21:47] Why Can We See It All?

[23:22] The Objective Means of Gaining Knowledge

[24:53] How Do I Find Out if I'm Living in a Bio-friendly Universe?

[25:54] Inner Space - The Subjective Means of Gaining Knowledge

[27:50] The One Caveat - Gaining Knowledge has to be Relevant

[29:11] Pure Knowingness on the Level of Being

[30:54] Just Like Einstein

[32:40] The Product of a Bio-Friendly Trend in the Universe

Parental Readiness, Compliance with Nature, and Cosmic Consciousness Jul 10, 2022

Show notes

It’s Q&A time once again.

In answer to a young man questioning the timing of parenthood, Thom explains the role the child has in its own incarnation, and reminds us to be led by charm rather than the intellect in our decisions.

He also explains how our intellect interferes with our innate connection with the laws of Nature.

And he tackles two questions on Cosmic Consciousness. One from a listener seeking clarity on his own experiences of Cosmic Consciousness, and one from another listener about the relationship between stress and Cosmic Consciousness.

Something for everyone and, as always, something to inspire us to maintain our practice of Vedic Meditation.

Episode Highlights:

[00:45] How Do You Know When You're Ready to Be a Parent?

[01:30] A Jiva Who Wants to Be Born

[03:35] Karma - Unfinished Business

[05:02] The Shankaracharya Tradition

[07:13] The Only Safe Move

[08:28] Great Liberties

[09:39] Q- Why Do We Need to Learn or Re-learn the Laws of Nature?

[10:00] Hride — The Layer of Us in Connection With Nature

[12:12] The Innocent Experience of Charm

[14:06] Awakening Our Inborn Talent

[15:19] Culturing the Fine Level of Feeling

[17:08] Snowed Under By Intellectualism

[18:34] Q- Can Practicing Vedic Meditation Twice a Day Bring More Clarity to My Experience?

[19:16] The Fortunate Experience of Cosmic Consciousness

[20:52] Culturing Your Experience

[21:56] Attaining Higher States of Consciousness

[23:26] Q- How Does Cosmic Consciousness Become Permanent?

[24:08] Cosmic Consciousness is a Natural Condition

[25:06] Understanding Stress Properly

[27:03] Two Aspects of Stress

[30:43] Inability to Accumulate Stress

[32:26] A Line in the Sand

[33:48] The Experiencer

[35:32] I Am Totality Having a Human Experience

Why We Have Cravings Jul 03, 2022

Show notes

We’re all familiar with cravings but why do we have them and why are they so powerful?

What is it about them that makes us go weak at the knees and cave so easily?

While most of us rely on willpower to beat cravings we know that it’s not a power we can rely on.

In this episode Thom reminds us that the most powerful method to overcome cravings is to make them unnecessary, to create such a strong sense of inner fulfillment that the promise the cravings offer seem petty by comparison.

Episode Highlights:

[00:45] Superficial Enjoyment

[02:55] What Fulfillment Looks Like

[04:57] The Solution to Cravings

[06:25] Awakening Baseline Bliss

[07:53] The Binding Effect of Unfulfilled Desires

[10:02] If Only...

[11:25] Petty Cravings No Longer Have Power

My Maharishi - David Frost Jun 26, 2022

Show notes

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was a popular interview subject for media icons throughout the world for many decades, often appearing more than once as a guest on high-profile shows.

In this episode, Thom gives a first-hand, behind-the-scenes account of an interview Maharishi did with David Frost on the BBC in the 1970s.

He describes the warm relationship Maharishi had with Frost, and his delightful response to a potentially difficult question Frost put to him. As Maharishi often did, he brought a more correct perspective to the situation, one that revealed his true character and his true mission in life.

Episode Highlights:

[00:54] A Great Seer

[02:38] The Status of a Maharishi

[03:39] Maharishi in Great Britain

[05:48] The Green Room

[07:09] Maharishi at His Best

[08:45] A Cuban Cigar and a Deer Skin

[10:48] Maaharishi

[12:28] Acerbic Questions

[13:51] Marker

[14:08] "Come Out of this Weakness"

[15:05] Who am I Trying to Protect?

[15:48] "Only a Million Pounds?"

[17:43] Unoffendable

Knowledge is Structured in Consciousness Jun 19, 2022

Show notes

IYKYK. If you know, you know. Or do you? Is knowledge as reliable as we think it to be?

“Knowledge is structured in consciousness,” is one of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's most profound and most frequently shared quotes. Ironically, one’s understanding of the quote is also dependent on one’s consciousness.

Thom’s explanation of Maharishi’s quote gives us an opportunity to reflect on that which we ‘know,’ and even our own process of knowing and how this evolves along with our states of consciousness.

It’s a reminder that things are not always as they seem, and to remain flexible in how we view the world and our place in it.

Episode Highlights:
[00:51] Two Methods of Gaining Knowledge

[01:38] The Objective Means of Gaining Knowledge

[03:20] The Subjective Means of Gaining Knowledge

[05:10] Knowledge Has Infinite Organizing Power

[06:42] Awakening Knowledge of How Things Work

[07:52] The Criticisms of Albert Einstein

[09:29] The Universe Can Only Behave in Ways that I Can Understand

[10:50] You Are One With the Cosmos

[11:58] Knowledge is Different in Different States of Consciousness

[12:47] Consciousness Dictates Our Behavior

[14:03] The State of Consciousness of the Reporter

What Makes The Sacred Powerful? Jun 12, 2022

Show notes

Many of us invoke the common phrase “Is nothing sacred?!” when we feel that something of value to us isn’t experienced the same way by others. What if we told you that everything could be sacred, to the extent that we make it so?

All of us hold certain things sacred in our lives, whether it be a memento, an icon, a place, a ritual, maybe some kind of religious artifact or even a cuddly toy from our childhood. But how often do we give thought to what it is that makes these things sacred for us?

This episode is a reminder from Thom that we can get more depth, more richness out of life, firstly by appreciating how we make things sacred, and secondly by choosing to make more things sacred in our life.

Thom invites us to go beyond the symbolic nature of that which we hold sacred and to actually have a conscious relationship with it.

He also shares how nothing is off the table when it comes to holding something sacred, leaving us open to the possibility of living a life where nothing is taken for granted and everything is available for appreciation.

Episode Highlights:

[00:45] What Makes Things Sacred?

[02:47] Prana Pratishtha — Becoming the Sentient

[04:40] Everyone has Experienced Love

[06:23] Bringing Sentience Together in an Alliance

[07:49] The Process of Navajo Weaving...

[09:13] Prana Pratistha in Action

[10:47] The World Reflects Back to Us

[13:00] The Man Who Enjoyed Himself in Prison

[15:06] The World is for Us as We Can Be for it

[17:04] Shoes-Off Rooms

[18:39] A Special Room

[19:41] Nobody's Watching

[21:13] Prana Pratishtha Creates a State of Consciousness

[22:37] The Unified Field Starts to Undulate

[24:43] Everything is Natural

[25:42] The Capacity to Awaken Consciousness

[27:26] Many Layers of Sophistication

[28:29] Two Dreamers Don't Dream the Same Dream

[29:57] Infinite Potential

[31:18] Turiya—The Fourth Consciousness State

[33:07] Cosmic Consciousness—The Fifth State

[35:09] God Consciousness and Unity Consciousness

[36:48] Consciousness Manifests Itself in One's Surroundings

[38:11] Same World, Different Experience

[39:55] What Effect Are We Having on the World?

[41:18] Inviting the World Into Our Consciousness State

[42:36] Nothing is Inanimate.

[44:45] The Gold and the Diamond Qualities

[45:54] Disgusting

[46:58] Make the World We Want to Make

[48:31] Culturing Our Environment

Duality and Non-Duality Jun 05, 2022

Show notes

The terms duality and non-duality are becoming more commonly used and can have different meanings in different contexts.

In ‘spiritual circles’ duality is often seen as a cause of suffering, or even the cause of suffering, but, in and of itself, duality is actually benign.

In this episode, Thom answers questions from listeners about duality and non-duality from different perspectives.

He explains that duality and non-duality cannot be considered from an either/or point of view and that Totality is a more complete approach, taking both sides of the equation.

Thom also looks at how our fixations on one point of view over another might appear to cause suffering, but really are just highlighting the absence of baseline happiness.

Episode Highlights:

[00:47] Q- Can you Make Comments on Non-duality, Advaita, and Vedanta?

[02:06] The Truth of the Word Vedanta

[04:16] The Tradition of Vedanta

[05:49] Brahman - Totality Consciousness

[07:11] The Problem With the Word Advaita

[09:22] Q- Does Duality Brings About Suffering?

[09:54] The Cause of Everyone's Suffering

[11:49] Behaviors That Amplify the Misery

[13:58] Everyone Wants Freedom. Freedom to Do What?

[16:02] A Fulfilled Person

[18:00] Becoming a Very Ideal Citizen