Vedic Worldview – Details, episodes & analysis

Ceremonial fires have been used in most cultures for millenia. Often these fires just have a symbolic purpose, but the Vedic worldview has a particular use of fire, in combination with sounds and offerings, which has a specific impact on consciousness itself.

In this episode, Thom gives an entry-level view of yagyas, a fascinating and specialized process that can be used to awaken impulses of creative intelligence and allow us to reveal more of what Nature intends for us. A yagya is a bridge between desire and manifestation, so to speak, giving us a helping hand to make our potential a reality.

Episode Highlights:

[00:45] Sanskrit - The Unambiguous Language

[03:41] Awakening the Impulses of Creative Intelligence

[05:59] Name and Form are Infinitely Correlated Indeed

[07:50] Serving the Intention of the Knower

[10:38] Stirring the Depths of Consciousness

[12:27] Agni - The Sound Nature Makes When Intending Fire

[15:29] Bring Forth All the Gifts

[18:22] Favorable Conditions in the Consciousness of the Knower

[20:06] Increasing Capability

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Sanskrit terminology has been slowly creeping into common usage outside of India, quite often incorrectly. Yoga, for example, has a widely understood meaning outside of India, which doesn’t reflect the actual meaning of the word. 

In this episode, Thom explains the meaning behind many of the titles applied to or bestowed upon various positions within the Vedic realm. You’ll learn the definitions for titles such as swami, yogi, yogini, and guru and understand the true meaning of these terms.

Episode Highlights:

[00:45] Umbrella Terms

[02:22] Acharya

[04:04] The Figurative Meaning

[05:59] The Connotative Meaning

[06:32] Grihasta and Grihasti

[09:15] Vanaprasta and Vanaprasti

[12:04] Sannyasz

[15:58] Yogi

[16:57] Guru

[17:44] Mahamandaleshwar, Swami and Akhara

[20:51] Maharaj

[23:37] Pandit or Pundit

[24:50] Maharishi, Maharishika

[26:50] Satguru or Sadguru

[28:43] Sadhu, Saddhaka, Saddhaki

[30:03] Shishya or Shishyi

[30:03] Swami

[32:01] Yogi, Yogini and Yoga

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Vedic meditators are blessed with a life-changing technique that can make a profound difference in their lives. 

Many meditators, though, seek to progress even further, and tap into the vast well of Vedic wisdom that is available to us all. 

One avenue for further progress is knowledge of and initiation into practicing the “Siddhis.” These advanced practices allow us to tap into extraordinary human capabilities and realize more of our human potential.

In this episode, Thom gives us a brief overview of Mastering the Siddhis, his popular course which covers a vast array of the Siddhis practices, and is available only through approved Vedic Meditation Initiators.

Episode Highlights:

[00:45] Maharishi Patanjali

[04:02] Yoga is a State

[06:47] Sutra - A Short Aphorism

[09:22] Closing the Gap Between Individuality and Universality

[11:36] Siddhi - Extraordinary Human Capability

[13:07] A Foundation for Greater Capabilities

[15:23] The Ability to Master and Capture Cause and Effect

[18:12] MTS - A Course of Six Instalments

[20:51] Enjoy Life to the Fullest More Easily

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Word of mouth is an unreliable means of communicating even at the best of times. And while the written word should theoretically be more accurate and more trustworthy than the spoken word, history has shown that that’s not the case. 

Words can be so easily misunderstood and misinterpreted that they can’t be relied upon to convey wisdom accurately over time.

So what’s the most reliable way to preserve ancient truths and keep them relevant to the times?

In this episode Thom explores the limitations of the intellect and the role of consciousness in creating a ‘direct line’ when it comes to accessing the wisdom needed for evolutionary progress to be made.

He also explains the role of a Guru in ensuring that they develop successors with the consciousness and capability to adapt teachings to meet the need of the time, and from generation to generation, without diluting the purity of the original teaching.

In short, it’s an explanation that it’s not what you know that’s important, it’s ‘how’ you know.

Jai Guru Deva.

Episode Highlights

[00:55] The Role of Tradition in Vedic Worldview

[03:37] Irrelevant Reaction

[06:04] Our Brain is Not Being Used to Its Full Potential

[08:19] The Brain as a Machine

[10:33] What is Our Brain Capable Of?

[12:08] Brain Development

[13:50] This is Veda

[16:26] Eureka!

[18:49] Maintaining the Purity

[20:51] The Vedic Worldview is Inexhaustible

[22:48] Limitations of Newton's Theory

[24:31] Quantum Mechanics Can Explain Things

[26:38] Maharishi Gifted Me...

[28:12] How Do You Get That?

[30:00] Why Do We Exist?

[31:28] The Dishwasher

[33:13] The Gardener

[34:44] The Colorless Sap

[36:13] Refining My Capability

[37:26] My Great Joy

[39:01] The Meaning of Jai Guru Deva

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The impact that Maharishi Mahesh Yogi had on the world is inestimable. With millions of people practicing the meditation technique that he popularized around the world, and many thousands more learning each year, the ripple effect of his work will last for centuries to come.

And not just here on earth. It’s fitting that Maharishi’s three favorite words, Jai Guru Deva, inspired lyrics within the famous Beatles song, Across the Universe, which, in 2008, became the first song beamed by NASA into deep space.

But what was it like being up close with Maharishi? In this episode Thom shares some of his observations from his 25 plus years of direct contact with Maharishi in India and throughout the world, often around the clock and for weeks and months on end.

He describes Maharishi’s most endearing characteristics and the impact they had on him personally, declaring that Maharishi shaped him to become the man he is today.

And for bonus value, he also shares the origins of another song from The Beatles that can be attributed to being influenced by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Episode Highlights

[00:55] What Maharishi Was Like

[03:14] An Inspiration to The Beatles

[04:58] A Great Grace

[07:17] Glory to Guru Deva

[09:23] An Artful Walk

[10:06] An Armful of Flowers

[11:09] A Car Seat in Sydney

[12:39] A Coffee Table and a Deerskin

[14:26] Questions From the Floor

[16:14] Response to Worthy Inquiry

[17:13] Dear Prudence

[18:56] Contagious Laughter

[20:18] Hari the Cook

[21:52] Feeling the Food

[23:14] An Incessant Phenomenon

[24:28] A Great Buzz of Activity

[25:58] The Colorless Sap

[28:06] What Happened?

[29:57] Is It Understood?

[31:57] From This Angle, From That Angle

[33:24] Creating Me

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What’s the Vedic worldview on sexuality?

Gender expression and sexual identity have been hot topics in recent years as more and more people choose to abandon gender and sexual stereotypes.

And while Vedic civilization was way ahead of its time in terms of accepting gender diversity, it turns out that sexuality may not be as important as it's made out to be.

In this bonus episode, Thom proposes a viewpoint whereby we can all look at sexuality from a different perspective and focus on a more reliable source of identity.

And if you’d like to dive a little deeper into the subject, Thom has a new course on Omnisexuality, available for people who have learned Vedic Meditation from a qualified and endorsed (by Thom) Vedic Meditation Teacher.

https://thomknoles.com/omnisexuality

PS - This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at a public event so please forgive the slightly less-the-perfect audio quality.

Episode Highlights

[00:45] Q - What’s the Vedic World View on Sexuality?

[01:23] Why Stop at Five?

[03:03] Doing is Not Identity

[04:51] Sexuality is a Thing That You Do

[06:43] Three Minutes...

[07:49] Be Open to Change

[08:37] Thom's Course on Omnisexuality

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More listener questions on the podcast this episode, with the focus on the metaphysical.

Thom puts a surprising twist in his answer to a question on time travel and gives us clues as to how we can sense the future in the making.

He has an emphatic response to a question about the Law of Attraction, one that will help you make your mind up if you’re in doubt about whether it’s real or not.

And he gives us some advice as to how we can use external influences to our benefit when it comes to our health and wellbeing (Spoiler alert: It’s an inside job!).

Episode Highlights

[00:45] Q - Is Time Travel Possible?

[00:49] A - What Does Now Mean?

[02:20] Deva

[04:53] Capturing Past and Future

[06:35] You Sense the Future in the Making

[08:33] Constructing the Future

[10:28] That's Time Travel

[12:03] Q - Is the Law of Attraction a Myth?

[12:07] A - "Don't Be a Defeatist."

[13:46] Individuality is on a Mission

[15:32] The Universe is Not Your Sugar Daddy

[17:26] Attraction Has Nothing to Do With Anything

[19:40] Q - Is the Body Influenced by EMR or Plant Essences?

[20:32] A - Let There Be Light

[21:57] Let's Make Ourselves Resilient

[23:54] Will We Dodge Bullets or Become Bulletproof?

[25:46] Stabilize and Purify

[27:18] Self Realization for All Purposes

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Vedic mythos, or storytelling, is often laced with humor to get a point across. 

In this episode of the podcast, Thom recounts a tale from the Katha Upanishad, of a Sergeant and a General. It’s a scenario that wouldn’t look out of place in an episode of “The Office” or any other workplace sitcom. 

Having a character take credit for someone else’s idea and then retelling it back to them is a pretty common gag, but in the Upanishad, it’s much more than just a tool for a cheap laugh. 

It’s a profound lesson which, once learned, can be a source of empowerment and a tool for living a more deliberate life.

Episode Highlights

[00:56] Katha Upanishad

[03:19] A Friend in the Sky

[05:27] The Breaking of Unity

[07:31] "You see that hill there?"

[09:57] An Amazing Idea

[11:44] A Source of Thoughts Deep Inside of Us

[14:11] A Wave is Nothing but Ocean

[16:44] Desire

[19:12] I Am Totality

[21:28] A Parody on Praying to God

[22:39] An Unnecessary Step

[23:52] We Just Say Yes

[26:53] Permitted to Act

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Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was ahead of his time in 1975, when he predicted an end to The Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall, among many other changes that he foresaw as arising from the dawning of the ‘Age of Enlightenment.’

With The Cold War showing no signs of thawing at the time, most people saw it as a fanciful notion at best. Yet Maharishi, the great seer, saw it as an inevitable outcome of the shift in consciousness that was growing in pace at the time. 

Following on from our recent episode, The Yugas and the Importance of Understanding Them Correctly, in this episode Thom discusses Kali Yuga, the age of ignorance, in more detail. 

He explains the role of consciousness and how enlightenment and ignorance can coexist, just as the moon can bring light to the night. Most importantly, he explains that the age of ignorance doesn’t place limits on our experience, individually or collectively.

Episode Highlights

[00:55] Kali Yuga—The Age of Ignorance

[02:48] The Dawning of the Age of Enlightenment

[04:44] Seven Days of Silence

[06:44] The Cold War at its Peak

[08:21] The Mutually-Assured Destruction Philosophy

[09:53] Things Will Get Better

[10:51] Enjoying the Good News

[12:00] Incremental Improvements

[13:42] Dawning Cannot But Happen in Darkness

[15:55] Part of the Solution

[17:31] The Meditator's Advantage

[19:19] There is a Lot of Work to be Done

[20:30] Underutilized Potential

[21:46] Impatient Behavior

[23:42] Demands Become Pivot Points

[25:38] Liberating Our Full Potential

[27:11] Resisting the Progress

[29:43] I Am Also the Big Self

[31:30] We Become Lighthouses

[32:52] This is What Light Does

[34:59] Who Knew?

[36:44] Become Masters of the Transcendental Smile

[37:50] We Feel Very Secure

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As Eastern philosophies have spread in popularity throughout the world in the past thirty years or so, ‘detachment’ has become somewhat of a buzzword. 

It has become a spiritual scorecard of sorts, the theory being that the more detached one is, the more enlightened one is. Or not…

In this episode Thom sets the record straight, explaining the distinction between detachment, which implies attachment in the first place, and non attachment, which negates any attachment at all.

It’s a subtle distinction but it’s much more than just a semantic argument. 

While one can fake detachment, thus creating another form of attachment, one can’t fake non attachment. As usual, Thom also shows us how to become non attached, without the strain of having to fake it till we make it. 

Episode Highlights

[00:54] Maharishi Patanjali and Yoga Sutra

[03:19] That's Not What Yoga Is

[05:21] Asana, Pranayama, Dhyan

[07:38] Yoga Sutra

[10:24] Not Just Any Old Meditation

[12:46] Vairagya is Not Detachment

[14:56] Detachment Isn't Possible

[16:47] Non-attachment May Occur

[18:57] Neti - Not This

[20:32] Detachment is Not a Practice

[22:12] Detach from Detachment

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