In this episode, we're celebrating the student-guru relationship, and the role it has in our evolution. Each year we celebrate this relationship, and the all the teachers and teachings in our life, with Guru Purnima. Vedic meditators are invited to join Guru Purnima celebrations with Thom and other Vedic Meditation Initiators around the world during the weekend of July 20-21, 2024. If you'd like to join these celebrations, please visit thomknoles.com/guru-purnima for details of events near you.  The word Guru is very much misunderstood outside of India. Parodies often show the Guru as being someone who makes demands of their followers, and the disciple as being one who blindly follows the instructions of the Guru. But the truth of the relationship is much deeper than that, and it goes both ways.  The wisdom of the teacher is brought forth by curiosity of the student, which in turn leads to a level of earned trust in the teacher from the student. Thus the student follows the instructions of the teacher with eyes wide open, not blindly, as most Western mischaracterizations of this relationship suggest. In this episode, Thom previews the Guru Gita, the song of the Guru, which eloquently and elegantly explains the teacher-student relationship. It gives us a benchmark to know when we’ve had the well-deserved great good fortune to invite a Guru into our life who is worthy enough to support our evolution. Episode Highlights: [01:33] The Process of Illumination [04:14] Grades of Manifestation [06:54] Elements of the Self [09:41] Expanded Awareness [11:17] Sensing the Cascades of Cause and Effect [13:42] Skanda Purana [16:10] The Song of the Guru [18:56] Sweet Surrender [21:58] Stop Trying to Control Everything with Thinking [23:42] Guru-Disciple Relationship [25:39] How to Make Use of the Guru Gita [28:06] Nama Rupa Sahitam Bhavati Eva [30:09] Well-deserved, Self-created Good Fortune Useful Links [email protected]  https://thomknoles.com/ https://www.instagram.com/thethomknoles https://www.facebook.com/thethomknoles https://www.youtube.com/c/thomknoles https://thomknoles.com/ask-thom-anything/