In June 2023, Thom was the guest of honor at a talk in Nowra, South of Sydney in Australia, on the subject, The Simple Science of Happiness.
The host of the talk was Barron Hanson, a Nowra local and a Vedic Meditation Initiator (teacher) who has created Be Here Nowra, a community happiness project committed to increasing the number of meditators in the town and researching the benefits arising.
This episode is a recording from that event, including a discussion between Thom and Barron, and Q&A with the audience.
To find out more about Be Here Nowra you can visit their website at https://www.beherenowra.com/ or on Instagram @beherenowra.
Episode Highlights:
[06:02] Be Here Nowra: The Birth of a Transformational Idea
[08:11] From Sydney to Goulburn: Freedom Behind Bars
[09:38] Journey to Nowra: Nature, Art, and Indigenous Wisdom
[11:31] Q- What is Happiness?
[11:41] The Harmony of Inner Potential and External Demands
[12:44] Q-How Does Happiness Affect the Body on a Neurophysiological Level?
[12:53] The Ever-Changing Human Body
[14:28] Thoughts and Body Chemistry
[16:10] Q-How Does Collective Consciousness Relate to Individual Health?
[16:30] The Science of Collective Consciousness
[18:33] Impact of Meditation on the Collective Consciousness
[20:46] Q-What Changes Can We Expect If 1% of a Population Start Meditating?
[21:14] Measuring the Impact: Crime Rates and Meditation
[22:51] More People Meditating, How Bad Can That Be?
[24:21] Q-What Role Family and Community Play in Happiness?
[25:23] The Tribal Roots of Human Social Behavior
[26:50] Shared Experience: How We Define Our Sense of Self and Others
[28:22] Q-How Can Parents Be Happy When Their Children Are Sad?
[28:42] An Ideal Parent
[30:10] Meditation in Parenthood
[31:53] What Truly Makes a Family
[33:20] Q- What Role Does Sadness Play in Happiness?
[33:39] Contrast
[35:45] Q- What Are the Two Types of Happiness?
[36:00] Object Referral Happiness: When Events Define Emotions
[37:23] Baseline Happiness: Finding Inner Certainty
[39:05] Embrace Baseline Inner Contentedness: The Foundation for Happiness
[39:56] Q-How Does Meditation Give Us Baseline Happiness?
[40:01] Meditation and the Exploration of Mind's Bubbles
[41:47] Awakening Baseline Happiness through Meditation
[43:57] Q- Why Doesn't Everyone Choose Happiness If It's So Simple?
[44:04] The Discoveries From Tooth Brushing to Meditation
[45:26] Meditation as Hygiene: Cleansing the Stress of Everyday Life
[47:15] Maharishi's Wisdom: It's Not About Happiness, It's About Normalcy
[47:57] Q-Are Modern City Dwellers More Stressed Than People from 200 Years Ago?
[48:12] Stress in the Modern World: Is It Really on the Rise?
[50:14] Q-What Role Social Media Is Playing in the Current Global Happiness?
[50:23] The Reality of Social Media
[52:30] Q-What Role Does Love Play in Our Happiness?
[53:03] Stress and Missed Opportunities for Love
[54:26] The Link Between Love and Happiness
[56:09] Q-How to Build a Meditation-Focused Community?
[56:33] Community Meditation: A Worthwhile Experiment
[57:51] Q - Why Vedic Meditation Over Other Techniques or Apps?
[58:04] It's Effortless
[01:01:16] Q - Does the Number of Thoughts Decrease with Baseline Happiness?
[01:03:59] Q - Can Growth Overshadow the Objective?
[01:05:07] Knowing When Enough is Enough
[01:08:39] Q - How Can Vedic Meditation Help Us Discern Truth?
[01:09:19] Reducing Suggestibility
[01:12:12] Q - How Can Vedic Meditation Shift Repetitive Thought Patterns?
[01:12:32] Removing the Stress
[01:17:17] Q - Can Happiness and High Consciousness Coexist?
[01:17:26] Everything's Dying
[01:20:37] Q - How Can We Support Young People?
[01:21:12] What's Your True Identity?
[01:24:40] Jai Guru Deva
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