Work-life balance has become a buzz phrase in recent years, especially since the intrusion of smartphones began edging their way into so-called “free time.” 

In this episode, Thom explains why free time and work aren’t necessarily exclusive of each other, potentially making work-life balance unnecessary.

Episode Highlights

[00:45] Routine Work has Been Around Forever

[03:18] What Do I Do?

[05:28] Vedic Meditation - A Major Dose of Unboundedness

[08:26] A Neuroplastic Brain

[12:26] Work Becomes an Expression of Happiness

[14:58] A New Style of Functioning

[19:14] Q - How Do You Work Surrounded by Stressed People?

[19:42] A - Find Somewhere Else

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"Never a dull moment," could easily be a tagline for the tourism industry in India. It’s a land of contrast, color, and constant surprises. But if you want to experience the real flavor of India, you’d be hard pressed to find a better travelling companion than Thom Knoles. 

With more than 50 years of travelling to India, building deep and lasting relationships, not to mention his status as a Mahamandaleshwar, Thom has a vast collection of stories to tell. In this episode, Thom shares a tiny sample from this vast collection, featuring swamis, snakes, Diet Coke, and more.

There are even more stories to come. If you’d like to be there and be a part of future adventures, Thom invites you to join him on his upcoming annual India retreat. 

You can find out more at https://thomknoles.com/india-retreat/.

Episode Highlights

[00:45] A Visit from Swami Premananda

[05:40] Passing the Lunch Exam with the Shankaracharya and Some Swamis

[08:40] Eructations and Diet Coke

[10:27] The Shankaracharya’s Birthday Party

[12:37] Of Course He Has a Snake in His Hair!

[15:11] A Full Spectrum of Experiences Await in Rishikesh

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What if the thing holding back our evolution wasn’t the Unviverse, but our alignment with it?

In this Q&A episode, Thom explores the subtle early signal of misalignment, why formulaic living dulls creativity, and how the unknown became the forge of the human brain. 

Thom also challenges us to make our behaviors more evolutionary, offers a cautionary message about our modern archives, and shares a bold, simple law you won’t forget.

Episode Highlights

[00:45] Q - How do we make evolution exponential as opposed to gradual?

[00:55] A - The Sweet Spot Is…

[05:03] Looking for Frictionless Flow

[07:18] The Dangers of Formulaic Thinking

[10:40] An Allergy to Embracing the Unknown

[12:33] The Unknown is the Frontier that Built the Human Brain

[15:30] An Invitation to Do Something Different

[17:54] Q - What exactly are we to harvest? Knowledge or resources?

[19:11] A - Breaking the Shackles of Our Brain

[21:35] The Greatest Wasted Resource on Earth

[24:01] Use It Or Lose It

[26:43] Brain-Power Problems

[30:39] The Great Good Fortune of Being a Vedic Meditator

[32:31] An Outlet for Social Relevance

[36:14] Q - Are our current evolutionary theories still relevant?

[36:54] A - Big Crunch is Making a Comeback

[39:34] Individuality is Cosmic

[42:12] Thank Goodness for the Asteroid Strike

[46:03] Unreliable Archives of the Human Experience

[52:14] Q - Should we harvest more interactions with each other?

[52:35] A - Meditators Have the Capacity to be Interactors

[56:06] The Joy of Person-to-Person Human Connectivity

[58:28] Commonality is a Great Uniting Force

[01:00:41] Q - Does the Veda state that evolution is Cosmic Law?

[01:00:59] Evolve. Full Stop.

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One of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s most well-known insights was, “Problems are a state of consciousness.”

In this episode, Thom shares a vivid example of how Maharishi embodied this truth, using a single, signature word to transform everyday challenges into masterclasses in perception, presence, and trust.

Episode Highlights

[00:45] Beautiful

[03:04] An Excursion in Switzerland

[05:50] Lost in Basel

[07:53] Found in Basel

[10:13] Waiting Consciousness State is Good

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This episode is a Questions Arising episode, where Thom answers questions from the previous episode on the relationship between Buddhism and the Vedic Worldview. 

Thom explores how Buddhism and Vedanta view the Self, compassion, desire, and evolution differently, and why direct experience of transcendence changes everything.

You can view Part One of this episode here. 

Episode Highlights

[00:45] Q - How Does the Worldview of a Buddhist Affect How They Engage in the World vs a Vedantist?

[01:44] A - Proximity Effects Quieting the Ocean of Consciousness

[03:58] Compassion Viewed Differently

[06:30] A Desire to Be Free of Desires

[08:12] An Almost Impossible Brief

[10:01] Trustworthy Desires and Spontaneous Right Action

[12:07] Q - Is There a Worldview of Evolution Within Buddhism?

[12:46] A - Everything’s in Decline

[16:16] Q - Would an Experience of Transcendence Change the Worldview of a Buddhist?

[16:46] A - Experience Makes the Difference

[20:03] Direct Evidence of the Unified Field

[24:19] Q - Why Was the Technique of Transcendence Lost in Buddhism?

[24:35] A - Luck of the Draw

[27:58] Expert Memorizers

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Though Buddhism has spread far and wide and has taken on many different ‘flavors,’ its origins are from the heartland of the North Indian subcontinent, ensuring an inescapable link to the Vedic worldview.

In this episode, Thom explores the birth story of Buddhism, and the similarities and differences between the Buddhist and Vedic worldviews. 

It’s a fascinating insight, including an explanation of how the two worldviews have diverged, with the interpretation of a single sentence from Buddha’s teachings having a profound impact on Buddhist philosophy today. 

Episode Highlights

[00:45] An Umbrella Body of Knowledge

[05:00] Spending Time With the Dalai Lama

[07:27] Buddha - The Shakya Muni

[10:07] Searching for the Truth

[12:43] The Middle Way

[14:26] Searching for a Guru

[18:01] Buddhism is Not One Thing

[20:50] The No-thingness

[23:29] Sap in Expressed Form

[25:15] The Unmanifest Field of Pure Potentiality

[27:02] The Origin of Tibetan Buddhism

[29:10] The Many Faces of Buddhism

[30:31] Buddha Didn’t Teach That

[32:36] The Source of All Suffering

[35:03] Everything is One

[37:12] What Buddha Was Actually Teaching

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Do pillows have feelings? And how do we know when we’re helping versus interfering in the evolution of another?

This Questions Arising episode follows on from the most recent episode on Refreshing One’s Dharma, in which Thom explored how we can position ourselves to be performing spontaneous right action in any given moment. 

As always, Thom’s answers give clarity and the opportunity to understand the answers experientially for ourselves.

Episode Highlights

[00:45] Q - How do I find the balance between judgement and "helping" and unconditional love and acceptance of others?

[02:37] The Actions Arising from Unconditional Love

[04:56] Moving Towards Unity Consciousness

[07:32] Spontaneous Action vs Well-Thought-Out Action

[10:21] Trial and Error

[12:58] Awakening the Being Inside of Us

[15:24] Q - Can we have Unity with Inanimate Objects?

[16:14] A - Hello Lamppost

[17:59] Waves of an Underlying Continuum

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Is your purpose something fixed, or does it evolve with every passing moment?

In this episode, Part One of a two-part series, Thom explores the Vedic understanding of dharma, not as a grand life mission, but as spontaneous right action in real time. 

Discover how our deepest sense of purpose emerges not through planning, but through presence, as well as the tool we can use to ensure we’re responsive to the changing need of the time.

The distinction may change the way you think about your entire path forward.

Episode Highlights

[00:45] Spontaneous Right Action

[03:19] It’s Very Simple

[06:14] There’s Only One Thing

[09:02] What is All of This?

[12:03] What is the Relevance of Consciousness?

[13:25] The Agenda of the Universe

[15:56] Vedic Meditation – Awakening the Relationship Between Individuality and Universality

[17:50] Neuroplasticity

[20:46] A Cocktail of Bliss Chemicals

[23:42] Established in Being, Perform Action

[26:44] Complete Freedom

[29:20] Nishkam Kaṛma Yoga – Activity Hardly Done

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Vedic texts, apart from being full of wise insights and deep learning, are also highly entertaining tales. One of the most famous stories is that of The Ramayana, an epic that’s been told and retold for thousands of years.

In this episode, Thom recounts his favorite scene from The Ramayana, sharing both the grand scale of the scene, and the significance to the storyline of the devotion and integrity on display.

Timestamps:

[00:45] The Abdication of Rama

[04:40] A Mass Exodus

[09:20] City People are Better Off in the City

[11:23] The Magnanimous Consciousness of Rama

[14:03] An Epic Tale Was About to Begin

[16:10] The Origin of Mythos, Matrix and Motherhood

[19:15] Relatability with Villains and Heroes

[22:23] The Enduring Art of Storytelling

[25:26] A Worthy Read

One of the many signs of self-realization, or spiritual progress, is a natural decline in attachment to having our desires fulfilled. Thom explored this in depth in an earlier episode on vairagya, or non-attachment.

Ironically, another hallmark of self-realization is that our desires actually become more likely to be fulfilled. In this episode, Thom explores why that is, through the lens of punya, a concept from the Vedic tradition.

As with most Vedic principles, punya isn’t something we need to believe in, it’s something we can verify directly through our own personal experience.

Episode Highlights

[00:45] Support of Nature for Your Desires

[03:14] Degrees of Cosmic Intelligence

[07:21] Only Evolution is Happening

[09:16] How Big is Your Consciousness?

[12:11] Who is the I?

[15:26] Something Happened on the Way to Disneyland

[18:43] Spoiler Alert

[21:05] Leishavidya – The Faint Remains of Ignorance

[24:41] Nothing is Going Wrong

Useful Links

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