Vedic Worldview

Our beliefs play a fundamental role in how we engage in life. What we learn in our early years becomes our guide as to the actions that we choose to take or not take in our lives. For the most part these beliefs serve us well. They help us to live in harmony with our surroundings and our community, but are there points where we must set aside our beliefs for the higher good? Most of us find oursel...

Synchronicity has become a buzzword in the past 20 years.  The notion that things can go your way and everything becomes seemingly effortless is considered a sign of evolutionary progress. Some might even say it’s a form of spiritual favoritism. But is evolution necessarily easy? In particular, does charm always lead us down an easy path? Thom gives us a short discourse on the matter, inviting us...

The ease with which we can travel has blurred many cultural boundaries over the past couple of hundred years, and especially so in the past 50 years. On any given day you could start your day with a Vedic Meditation practice originating in India (of course), followed by Capoeira from Brazil in the park, have a croissant for breakfast, attend Spanish language lessons in the morning, enjoy Yum Cha f...

Why do we have dreams and what do they mean? Some schools of thought attempt to attribute specific meanings and interpretations of dreams, but the Vedic stance is somewhat different.  The Vedic worldview recognizes seven different states of consciousness, including dreaming, but as Thom explains in this episode, not all dreams are dreams, and none of them require interpretation… Episode Highlights...

Devotion is often heralded as a path to enlightenment, but what does that mean? To whom or to what should we be devoted to? Thom presents the Vedic position on devotion in this episode, teaching us that devotion is an effect rather than a cause, an outcome rather than an action. It’s a compelling case that gives us full control over our ability to experience devotion and the rich rewards that come...

Kirtan has become popular outside of India in recent decades. The heightened feelings that can arise from devotional chanting have made it a compelling activity for many wanting to experience Vedic wisdom at the level of feeling. But there’s a lot more to kirtan than meets the ear.  In this fascinating episode, Thom discusses the origins and the function of kirtan, and explains how it can be exper...

Few countries match India for its vast variety of people, cultures, languages, and of course, styles of cuisine. While most of us appreciate different aspects of this vast and colorful nation, few of us have a worthy appreciation of the role India has played in shaping civilizations outside of India.  Many languages have an ancestral relationship with Sanskrit, the original spoken language of Indi...

While most of us have mentors or figures that have a significant impact on our lives, few of us have the great good fortune to spend much time with a great leader such as Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.  In this episode, Thom reflects on both the origin story of his relationship with Maharishi, and the final chapter of the “in-person” interactions he had with him.  It’s a sweet tale that gives us a deeper...

Why do we choose our parents and why do our children choose us?  Working out the evolutionary function of parent-child relationships is tricky, and quite possibly a waste of time. While it might satisfy the intellect to come up with an answer, the contributing factors are likely to be more complex than the intellect can process. What we can do though, is to become exemplars in the relationship, wh...

There’s no shortage of self judgments we can make that don’t make us feel good, and self sabotage is up there with the best. It provides a talking point for countless therapy sessions, and gives us plenty of ammunition for those moments when we’re trying to rationalize our actions. So what is self sabotage and why do we do it? The good news is that, like all things, it has an evolutionary function...

War is a 24/7 business, and none of us have lived through a time when there isn’t war raging in some part of the world, whether it be a full-blown international conflict, or a localized civil war. So the idea of world peace might seem like a pipe dream, something over which we have no control.  In this episode, Thom reminds us of the magnitude of the problem, and educates us on the magnitude of th...

“Readings” of the Akashic record have become popular in recent years. In our quest to understand the mysteries behind who we are, how we got here, and why this, that or the other thing happened, the promise of the Akashic record is compelling. But what exactly is the Akashic record? Can you actually access it? And, if so, how?  Thom explains the true meaning of the Akashic record in this episode,...

A lot of weight is put on the notion of having “trust” in our choices. And while many of us do so, we might find ourselves analyzing the results of our choices and debating whether the trust was warranted or not.  The Vedic worldview has a different perspective on this, and finds trust to be an unreliable companion. In fact it’s the need for trust that leads to the need for it to be evaluated.  Th...

In a recent episode, Thom explored the subject of where suicidal thoughts come from . And while this might help us understand the origins of suicidal thoughts, it doesn’t explain the evolutionary role that suicide plays. Thom takes us deeper in this episode and delivers a comforting perspective, which doesn’t condone suicide as such but explains how it is at least evolutionary.  Importantly, he ex...

When we think of India, many people question the fairness of the so-called caste system, which, on the face of it, appears to divide the population into different classes, based on the family one is born into.  This perception appears to limit the opportunities people have in their lifetime, and some even think that being born into a “lower” caste can be a result of so-called “bad karma .” In this...

In the recent episode about punya and deserving power , Thom clarified that good fortune is a result of expanding our consciousness, rather than a reward for good behavior. This still leaves the question open though, about why “bad things” happen to “good people.” In this episode, Thom closes the loop on the question, and invites us to reconsider our definition of “bad things” and to see the role...

Good fortune is often seen as some kind of cosmic reward for good behavior. “If I do good things, then good things will happen to me.” This has actually evolved as a misunderstanding of the concept of karma . Rather than being a reward, the Vedic position on good fortune is that it is actually a result. More specifically, it’s a result of enhanced consciousness, brought about by the removal of str...

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi said on more than one occasion that free will was God’s greatest gift to mankind. And while that may well be, we have to ask ourselves whether we actually make the most of this gift.  In this episode, Thom takes us to a pivotal moment in The Mahabharata, when Yudhishthira, the offspring of Dharma, and Arjuna’s older brother, puts his wisdom to the test to restore the lives of...

Family relationships aren’t usually simple or straight forward. This is a matter of design, because our karmic blueprint brings us into family situations where we can play out the dramas necessary for our evolution. In this episode, Thom answers questions from listeners about the dynamics of family relationships during times of difficulty.  He discusses how to cope with family relationships that h...

By the time 2023 comes to a close, there’s a very good chance that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be a front runner for the Word of the Year. Since the release of ChatGPT late last year, the use and development of AI tools for day-to-day purposes has exploded. People are coming up with creative ways of using AI to take on some of their regular tasks, and often even to take on their creative wor...

Few things stir up fear quite like the economy does. Though few of us could even accurately define what “the economy” actually is, talk of a tough economy is enough to cause most people worry. Whether it be mortgage increases, rising inflation, falling stock prices, or looming recessions, as soon as the financial experts start talking down the economy, large parts of the population start seeing pr...

If we look at the origin of the word habit, it comes from Latin, meaning have , or consist of . Hence the once common saying, Habits maketh man . So if our habits essentially define, in a sense, who we are, then it makes sense for us to adopt habits that are more evolutionary in nature than others. This episode is a sneak preview of what to expect from Thom’s new course, Evolutionary Habits.  It g...

One of the most commonly misunderstood Sanskrit terms is the word Maya. It’s frequently referred to as “illusion” and is sometimes used to describe “reality” as being unimportant or insignificant.  Often when it’s used in spiritual circles, it’s an attempt to imply that one has a sense of detachment, “It’s just Maya, an illusion. Nothing to take too seriously…” But like many Sanskrit words, its me...

Thom gave us plenty of reading in his recent episode covering his favorite Vedic literature . In this episode, he closes the loop and shares some of his favorite non-Vedic literature.  Not surprisingly, most of it is non-fiction and explores the ways in which the Universe, and we humans work.  Thom also includes a fictional piece which is very much aligned with the Vedic worldview of consciousness...

The notion of karma raises a lot of questions, often because the concept is totally misunderstood. It’s most commonly seen as a cosmic form of reward and punishment, but nothing could be further from the truth. It is certainly a tool for course correction, but it doesn’t come with any of the judgment that is attributed to it.  In this episode, Thom addresses listener questions, tackling issues suc...