We hear a lot about the problems of governance, whether it be government at the highest level, or the administrators of smaller bodies in society, schools, businesses, etc.

In this episode, Thom explains that the crisis of governance is not with ‘the government’ or whatever other body is ‘in charge’, but rather with our view that ‘they’ are the problem, and that there is little or nothing ‘we’ can do about it.

The Vedic worldview is that everything is structured in consciousness, including governments, and the only way to effect change is to effect consciousness.

Thom shares that governments reflect the consciousness of the people, even in a dictatorship, and so our own role is to take responsibility for our own consciousness, and to be an example, an exemplar, for others to do the same. This is the only way in which governance can improve and the crisis can be resolved.

Of course, Vedic Meditation, being the most efficient means to bring about a change in consciousness, has a role to play in this process. 

Here are some highlights from the episode, which you can listen to via the player, or read via the transcript, below.

Episode Highlights: 

[01:58] A Reflection of the Average State of Consciousness 

[04:00] The Crisis of Identity - Self and ‘Other’

[07:57] Self Sufficiency Is the Seed of Revolution

[15:11] Dependence of the Individual Leads to Dependence On Government

[17:38] Spreading Self Sufficiency By Example

[21:01] The Ideal Individual Is the Basis of Ideal Government

[21:41] Vedic Meditation Produces Ideal Individuals

[27:06] The Spreader Effect - 1% of the Population Leading the Way Through Vedic Meditation

[29:59] Individual Peace is the Basis of World Peace

[33:14] Social Change is Not Going to Come From the Top Down

[36:14] The First Science - The Science of Self Discovery

[40.32] Challenge Your Assumptions About What is Possible

[43:28] Self Realization + Action = Self Actualization 

[48:29] All Suffering is Based on Inaccurate Expectations

Jai Guru Deva.

Useful Links: 
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https://www.youtube.com/c/thomknoles

Registration is now open for Thom’s only rounding retreat for 2026, in Sedona from May 21-25.

This is your one and only opportunity this year for deep rest, stress release and consciousness expansion through industrial-strength meditation, along with twice-daily knowledge sessions with Thom.

You’ll enjoy delicious retreat-friendly meals and the beauty and healing powers of the Red Rocks of Sedona. 

Register before February 28th and you’ll save $500 on your retreat fee. 

You can find out more at thomknoles.com/sedona.

Thom Knoles discusses Truth as that which does not change, how it can be detected in all fields of life, and how, by allowing change to form our sense of identity, we succumb to suggestibility. Vedic Meditation takes our awareness from the field of ever-change into an experience of that which is beyond change, and reveals to us the truth of our own identity, as an implicit statement of pure knowingness.

Episode Highlights: 

[00:56] Truth is That Which Never Changes

[02:36] Non-Change is Not Possible in the Relative World

[05:28] Who is the ‘I’?

[07:39] Evolution is a Truth

[10:52] Catastrophe is Relative

[13:10] Expanding Our Repertoire

[15:32] Knowledge is Always for Action

[17:24] Are We Alone?

[20:47] Between the Changing and Never Changing

[22:53] Vedic Meditation as a Path to Being

[24:28] The Splitting of Truths

[28:42] Sat-chit-ananda - Absolute, Consciousness, Bliss

[28:58] Change is Exhausting

[37:12] Transcending The Relative Provides Relief

[41:41] Accessing the Self Through Vedic Meditation

[43:39] There is No ‘Other’

Useful Links: 

[email protected]

thomknoles.com/podcast/

Thom on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thethomknoles/

Thom on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thethomknoles/

Thom on LinkedIn -  https://www.linkedin.com/in/thom-knoles-a3a90a1a3/ 

Registration is now open for Thom’s only rounding retreat for 2026, in Sedona from May 21-25.

This is your one and only opportunity this year for deep rest, stress release and consciousness expansion through industrial-strength meditation, along with twice-daily knowledge sessions with Thom.

You’ll enjoy delicious retreat-friendly meals and the beauty and healing powers of the Red Rocks of Sedona. 

Register before February 28th and you’ll save $500 on your retreat fee. 

You can find out more at thomknoles.com/sedona.

Thom Knoles discusses the state of fearlessness, how all fear is based on something unreal and how to learn to transcend fear and yet be fully participating in life. Living a life in fear is worse than death. Fearlessness is the pinnacle of the development of human consciousness. Through the regular practice of Vedic Meditation, we achieve it spontaneously.

Episode Highlights: 

[00:39] The One Standard of a Life of Significance

[02:38] Fear Isn’t Based on Reality

[04:59] On Death and Dying

[13:48] Immortality Removes Fear

[16:29] The Long Dream

[24:54] Expanding Consciousness

[28:49] The Death Cascade

[31:39] Transcending the Story Through Vedic Meditation

[37:06] Beginning an End to a Sense of Fear

[41:13] (Don’t) Go Jump Off a Cliff!

[42:58] Wisdom Hair

[44:42] The Changing Face of Fear

[47:50] Consciousness is the Source of the Body
 

Useful Links: 

[email protected]

thomknoles.com/podcast/

Thom on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thethomknoles/

Thom on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thethomknoles/

Thom on LinkedIn -  https://www.linkedin.com/in/thom-knoles-a3a90a1a3/

Registration is now open for Thom’s only rounding retreat for 2026, in Sedona from May 21-25.

This is your one and only opportunity this year for deep rest, stress release and consciousness expansion through industrial-strength meditation, along with twice-daily knowledge sessions with Thom.

You’ll enjoy delicious retreat-friendly meals and the beauty and healing powers of the Red Rocks of Sedona. 

Register before February 28th and you’ll save $500 on your retreat fee. 

You can find out more at thomknoles.com/sedona.

Thom Knoles discusses the mechanics of Self-reliance, how it is embedded inside ourselves, how true Self-sufficiency is not about isolation but about being one of the few who lead the many, and how to take responsibility for our own experience instead of waiting for others to behave better. To live fully, we take possession of what we actually are – and what we are is the Universe living inside a human body.

Episode Highlights: 

[00:48] The Few Lead the Many

[02:21] Self-sufficiency Is...

[08:56] You Deserve the Best

[12:42] Love is an Experience of Self-Sufficiency

[16:06] There is No ‘Other’

[18:38] The Hallmark of Greater Sophistication

[21:44] Enlightenment - Coexisting With the Unbounded

[26:11] The Fundamental Truth

[28:54] Totality is Not Capable of Suffering

[25:49] Enlightenment Denial

[33:30] Choo Choo Gone

[36:11] Sophistication - Simple, Elegant Complexity

[40:25] The New Contagion

Useful Links: 

[email protected]

thomknoles.com/podcast/

Thom on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thethomknoles/

Thom on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thethomknoles/

Thom on LinkedIn -  https://www.linkedin.com/in/thom-knoles-a3a90a1a3/

Registration is now open for Thom’s only rounding retreat for 2026, in Sedona from May 21-25.

This is your one and only opportunity this year for deep rest, stress release and consciousness expansion through industrial-strength meditation, along with twice-daily knowledge sessions with Thom.

You’ll enjoy delicious retreat-friendly meals and the beauty and healing powers of the Red Rocks of Sedona. 

Register before February 28th and you’ll save $500 on your retreat fee. 

You can find out more at thomknoles.com/sedona.

Thom Knoles and Eddie Stern discuss what yoga is really, why and how it has maintained relevance over several thousands of years and the importance of having a teacher to guide you through the experience. In their exploration, Thom and Eddie expound on the commonality of the variations of Vedic knowledge as expressed through the points of view of Ashtanga Yoga and the basic principles of Vedic Meditation.

Produced by Eric Cahan

Registration is now open for Thom’s only rounding retreat for 2026, in Sedona from May 21-25.

This is your one and only opportunity this year for deep rest, stress release and consciousness expansion through industrial-strength meditation, along with twice-daily knowledge sessions with Thom.

You’ll enjoy delicious retreat-friendly meals and the beauty and healing powers of the Red Rocks of Sedona. 

Register before February 28th and you’ll save $500 on your retreat fee. 

You can find out more at thomknoles.com/sedona.

Thom Knoles discusses the social relevance of expanded awareness, how consciousness alone dictates behavior, and the mechanics of the spreader effect: how having merely 1% of the population practising Vedic Meditation is demonstrated to stimulate spontaneous right action in the broader, non-meditating community.

Episode Highlights: 
 

[00:42] Behaviour and Consciousness 

[03:52] Our Inability to Control Others

[07:15] What Are People Going to Think?

[09:28] Fear-Based Administration

[11:07] Backlash is Counterproductive

[14:15] Further Proof

[17:57] A Social Failure

[19:10] All-Inclusive Awareness - Cosmic Consciousness

[25:22] Meeting the Greatest Need of the Time

[27:41] Violating the Laws of Nature

[31:03] Greater Productivity Through Vedic Meditation

[34:48] Being the Inspiration for Change

[36:16] A Solution to People Problems

[39:05] The Maharishi Effect - A 1% Tipping Point

[42:50] Nature Requires Adaptive Behaviours

[46:54] Transition From an Age of Ignorance to an Age of Enlightenment

Useful Links: 

[email protected]

thomknoles.com/podcast/

Thom on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thethomknoles/

Thom on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thethomknoles/

Thom on LinkedIn -  https://www.linkedin.com/in/thom-knoles-a3a90a1a3/

Registration is now open for Thom’s only rounding retreat for 2026, in Sedona from May 21-25.

This is your one and only opportunity this year for deep rest, stress release and consciousness expansion through industrial-strength meditation, along with twice-daily knowledge sessions with Thom.

You’ll enjoy delicious retreat-friendly meals and the beauty and healing powers of the Red Rocks of Sedona. 

Register before February 28th and you’ll save $500 on your retreat fee. 

You can find out more at thomknoles.com/sedona.

Thom Knoles discusses the mechanics of what causes grief, how Vedic Meditation is pivotal to the success of learning how to let go and how, in the ultimate analysis, death is unreal.

Produced by Eric Cahan

Registration is now open for Thom’s only rounding retreat for 2026, in Sedona from May 21-25.

This is your one and only opportunity this year for deep rest, stress release and consciousness expansion through industrial-strength meditation, along with twice-daily knowledge sessions with Thom.

You’ll enjoy delicious retreat-friendly meals and the beauty and healing powers of the Red Rocks of Sedona. 

Register before February 28th and you’ll save $500 on your retreat fee. 

You can find out more at thomknoles.com/sedona.

Thom Knoles discusses the mechanics and implications of Vedic Meditation, the relationship between quantum mechanics and consciousness, the true nature of silence, and how to maintain your wits as a meditator in a non-meditating world.

Produced by Eric Cahan

Registration is now open for Thom’s only rounding retreat for 2026, in Sedona from May 21-25.

This is your one and only opportunity this year for deep rest, stress release and consciousness expansion through industrial-strength meditation, along with twice-daily knowledge sessions with Thom.

You’ll enjoy delicious retreat-friendly meals and the beauty and healing powers of the Red Rocks of Sedona. 

Register before February 28th and you’ll save $500 on your retreat fee. 

You can find out more at thomknoles.com/sedona.

Thom Knoles discusses the Vedic perspective on seven states of consciousness, the mechanics through which each can be achieved, the indicators of their arrival and the benefits available once attained.

Produced by Eric Cahan

Registration is now open for Thom’s only rounding retreat for 2026, in Sedona from May 21-25.

This is your one and only opportunity this year for deep rest, stress release and consciousness expansion through industrial-strength meditation, along with twice-daily knowledge sessions with Thom.

You’ll enjoy delicious retreat-friendly meals and the beauty and healing powers of the Red Rocks of Sedona. 

Register before February 28th and you’ll save $500 on your retreat fee. 

You can find out more at thomknoles.com/sedona.

A Conversation with Eddie Stern

Thom Knoles speaks with yogi, author and co-founder of Ashtanga Yoga New York and the Brooklyn Yoga Club Eddie Stern on the importance and benefit of incorporating yoga as a holistic practice for body, nervous system and mind, as a means for promoting self-regulation, and as a method for healing and balancing the physiology. The key is developing an approach which embraces yoga as a sustainable, lifelong practice.

Produced by Eric Cahan

Registration is now open for Thom’s only rounding retreat for 2026, in Sedona from May 21-25.

This is your one and only opportunity this year for deep rest, stress release and consciousness expansion through industrial-strength meditation, along with twice-daily knowledge sessions with Thom.

You’ll enjoy delicious retreat-friendly meals and the beauty and healing powers of the Red Rocks of Sedona. 

Register before February 28th and you’ll save $500 on your retreat fee. 

You can find out more at thomknoles.com/sedona.