This April 16, 2024 recording with Zen Commuter podcast host Thom Walters gets into how Thom was introduced to mediation by his Mother at age 18, communication with guides (including his Mom), non-separation, challenges and rewards of teaching meditation in corporate environments, perspectives on various meditative experiences, attitudes to/about meditation, teaching meditation to prisoners, stillness, suffering, beauty, etc
About Thom Walters
For years, I wondered what i was meant to do with my life. How was I supposed to help the world (a desire that was always present in my life). The majority of my earlier years I worked counseling emotionally challenged adolescents. During these times I saw the abject pain that all of the residents experienced. My meditation practice kept me from adopting that pain; allowed me to simply be an observer. Even though I had my meditation practice, I didn’t feel called to use it to help. Instead I used the compassion and heart that I learned from my practice to be of the most benefits to the residents. In every position I held after that, my empathy allowed me to see the pain that many people were experiencing, regardless of where I went, or what job I held. And then, about ten years ago, I was on the highway in heavy traffic on my way to a new job. The traffic was heavy and even rocked my typically calm demeanor. It was then and there that I decided to start the Zen Commuter podcast, to help everyday people experience calm. The show focused on the positive aspects of living. And then, about five years in, during a meditation, coincidentally enough, I realized the benefit that meditation has had in my life. At that point I decided to focus solely on meditation for Zen Commuter. And it wasn’t long after that I decided to leave the corporate world to focus on teaching meditation; to helping the many people I knew were suffering with minds that kept them worrying and in fear. I have taught meditation to hundreds of students, even incarcerated men who are serving extended time. I now teach mindfulness and meditation to those suffering from anxiety and depression. I help listeners finally free themselves from the crippling thoughts that keep them troubled and feeling alone.
Biography
Thom Walters is a meditation instructor who offers relief to those who suffer from anxiety. As a meditator with over 40 years of experience, and the host of the widely popular Zen Commuter and Calmer in 5 podcasts, he is deeply skilled at helping his students get free of the pain that accompanies anxiety and depression. Through meditation, which is firmly believes is available to everyone, he helps the world become calmer, wiser and happier.
https://calendly.com/thom_walters/30min
The link invites listeners to schedule a free 30 minute call with me to discuss how meditation can help them break free from anxiety and depression once and for all. In this call, listeners can learn the variety of programs I offer that will help them become calmer and freer
Find Thom and his work:
- https://www.zencommuter.com
- https://www.facebook.com/zencommuter
- https://www.instagram.com/thom_walters
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/thom-walters-5636391b
Audio: Zen Commuting With Thom Walters
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The raw unedited YouTube transcription of this podcast:
homeless welcome this is Josh tippled and today I have Tom Walters with me Tom
what’s going on today uh it is just a beautifully sunny day here in Nashville New Hampshire already got my uh
meditation out of the way shouldn’t say out of the way I enjoyed my meditation out on the uh bleachers at
the University where I usually go I take a walk through the woods end up at the University and meditate then walk on
back home and start uh preaching meditation to the world
well cool Tom now i’ I’ve talked with Tom as a GU on his podcast which is a really cool one he actually has two but
on Zen commuter and he’s also got another one cmer and five and um he’s
been doing you’ve been doing this for quite some time right so tell tell folks a little bit about you know who you are
and what you do with this with with your podcast but also just in general you
know well my podcasts and my life focus on meditation uh Zen commuter is the one
uh that you were on and I’m so thankful that you’re able to join me there and that’ll be coming out next week so I’m excited for that and comr and 5 just
another way of helping people relax become a little bit more introspective and see kind of weeks that they can do
to their thinking and their the things that they do to just live a calmer calmer life so that’s the very nature of
my life now and much like everybody it wasn’t always the case I mean I’ve been meditating for over 40 years but uh as I
was talking about on my show show uh this morning as I was recording I’m like 18-year-old Tom meditating and
60-year-old Tom meditating are two very different things so um but meditation has been a uh something I’ve used
utilized um benefited from my entire life and it’s what brings me such peace
such calm such wisdom uh some people would say maybe not so much wisdom maybe more calm but I’ll take what I can get
but yeah so I’ve been uh I teach meditation uh to companies in the area
uh to people online and just as a way of helping them become more empowered and
understand uh their place in the world their connection to all things and just live a as I say on Zen commuter a calmer
wiser happier life oh cool man it’s um so 18 you know I talked to a guy the
other day who he read the bagita and then he wanted to her Dane as a as a a
Hindu monk you know western guy lives in Southern California and but they wouldn’t let him until he turned 18 I’m
just like I’m so surprised how did you find meditation that young especially uh
you know this this age group I mean it’s not unheard of uh I wouldn’t say it’s common but it’s definitely not unheard
of especially today it’s actually really quite common to meditate but you know I
don’t want to guess at your age or nothing but uh still 18 you know how did you find how did you find it and how did
you start well the good news is my mom was incredibly Progressive so this was
1982 actually was 1981 when she was uh uh starting she and two other instructors taught meditation to people
in our community and when I was 17 I was uh I mean the first time that they were getting together at the house I I was
talking to my mom like what are you doing she’s like oh we’re just going to be uh talking about meditation and I’m like uh what’s that she’s like we’ll
talk about it later and she was getting ready so she didn’t give me the brush off but she was getting ready she’s like we’ll talk about it later sweetheart I’m
like can I join you she’s like uh maybe not quite yet so uh obviously I was is
like wildly curious I’m like she is a little sketchy what is she what’s going on in there so I had my ear to the uh to
the door literally I’m like what are they talking about in there and it was fascinating uh and for like weeks I I’d
asked my mom and uh until I eventually gave up iiz how about this week she’s like I don’t know if the time’s right
and I don’t know to be honest with her I could probably talk to her and find out when or why but uh she just wasn’t She’s
Like H just like maybe some other time and uh it I think it was like a year later and I was still wildly curious uh
and then just I didn’t even ask cuz I for I’d forgotten I’m like n she’s doing her thing like whatever I’ll go read
comic books or whatever and uh then she’s I was getting ready and she’s like
would you like to join us sweetheart I’m like uh yeah uh and I didn’t even ask her why now but long story short so that
was uh so yeah sat in with the group uh learned how to meditate and uh met with the group for another year uh every
Tuesday uh for the next year until I went off to college and it was just amazing we talked about a variety of
things that it’s wild to think about that well it’s not that wild my mom like I said was incredibly Progressive um so
we talked about things now that uh or then that people talk about now like it
was nothing I’m like wow and that was obviously you know some some years ago but one of the things I am always little
reticent about talking about is that for the first year I was meditating on
Tuesday when the group met and I do it on Saturday when I didn’t have a lot going on so like after work or whatever
and then so those were the only two times I’d meditate and then I got to a point in I went way to college and it
was like a Wednesday and I was like I don’t know if it was finals or if I was having some like homesickness or drama
I’m like oh man I just can’t wait until Saturday when I can meditate and then this light bulb went off my head to be
like dude you don’t have to wait till Saturday you can do it now I’m like my God I love me but that’s a I can’t
believe that I was so Den so so I made my way to the chapel uh sat
I sat in a in a Pew and just uh meditated and uh from that day on my meditation practice has been pretty uh
consistent which is uh amazing uh you know obviously the times don’t always I
back then was probably like uh you know probably like 15 minutes once a day now
I’m 20 minutes twice a day but uh obviously if there’s something going on I’m like okay I don’t know if I can
swing it today but I got to get some time in whether it be five minutes 10 minutes so it’s a it’s a non-negotiable
so that’s my meditation story in a in a Reader’s Digest version
quasi yeah cool um I’ve listened to uh
before I came on as a guest I’ve listened to some time period around there on um Zim commuter I’ve also
listened to some some recent episodes on there too and you mentioned one about
how your mom um comes to you sometimes in meditations if I’m getting that right now Tom and I I I feel that we can
connect with folks from all walks of life from and even Tom’s latest series about uh meditation for beginners and
meditation for more advanced students so I mean we’ve talked about I’ve talked about everything on this podcast from
like aliens and stuff you know so there’s it it gets real it can get really far out um but the the core of it
that I really like is meditation but I I’m just interested here because I’ll just share real briefly I might have
mentioned this before after my grandmother passed I mean she came to me in a dream and she looked exactly like she
did probably the first memory I have of her around that age you know and she told me to get back in touch with a um
college friend of mine that I had kind of lost touch with and I did and it was it was great and um we’ve uh I’ve hung
out with him and his family he’s he’s he’s storing some of my stuff actually
you know uh my wife I’m over overseas here I know right yeah you better hang
on to that one I mean his his wife cut my hair during the the lockdowns and stuff so it was a really I’m really glad
um that I got back in touch so but this uh you’re my guest here it’s not my story time right so so tell me about and
then you also have I think another guide um yeah and talk about this because I I’m
actually reading this book right now called journey of souls uh by a guy who does a past life hypnosis and we’ll um
put U past life regressions and we’ll and we’ll have them see if they can recall some of their past lives and
whatnot and one of the parts is about working with guides and you know early on in my practice I I um I I explored
some of this stuff and I I haven’t recently but I’m fascinated about this because it seems like um these are
really helpful not only in your practice or out but in your daily life and the
things that the kind of uh messages uh insights the questions that that you get
uh so yeah if you want to talk a little bit about that I know it’s just kind of a kind of a weird offshoot right here at the beginning but let’s do it nope it’s
actually one of my favorite things to talk about because uh you are correct uh Bartholomew is a guy that I’ve had since
uh since 18 uh our 18 uh I’m my 18 um
but uh it goes by Bart for short um and my mom uh came to me in a meditation about
a year and a half after she passed away and uh I don’t know why I didn’t think it was possible uh but for a year and a
half I was grieving obviously and um I had my meditations and almost invariably
they’d end up with me uh sobbing or crying or you know missing my mom or you know thinking about my mom and then
about a year and a half later I uh was meditating and I heard her voice and I don’t even know exactly what we were
talking about uh but my immediate thought was I’m like oh man I just I must be missing her more than more than
usual today because I hear her voice and she and she basically said she’s like you’re hearing my voice because I’m here
and uh so I said how is that possible she’s like do you really want to know I’m like I have a feeling I’m not going
to understand it but give it a shot she’s like well you know that time is
not linear that past present and future uh are all happening at the same time so
you are connecting with a portion of me that has transcended humanness but you’re also talking to a portion of me
that is still here uh still alive in a human form but in another time and I’m
like wow you are absolutely right I don’t understand that at all
but I said uh so I’m not going crazy she’s like what do you think I said I
feel you I hear you and it’s I don’t doubt my sanity at all she’s like if
that works then that works I said it definitely works she’s like it is accurate and we’ve gone on to talk about
many things in the in the years after I mean she was she passed away about seven years ago so in the time after that year
and a half we’ve talked about things and she brings up questions and we talk about stuff I’m like you know whether it
be questions about my life or just questions in general about the nature of the universe and the nature of life and
sometimes she’ll say stuff that I don’t even understand and that kind of forments uh you know into my belief that
I’m like yeah I’m here I mean it’s not even a thing anymore I’m like yeah I’m talking to her but it’s not a not a
doubt in my mind but if I had to think about I’m like yeah she’s giving me things to think about that I can’t even
understand I’m like if that was I’m like if my brain can comprehend things I can’t comprehend then I’m tapping into
something much deeper so so that’s Mom and Bartholomew has been with me since I
was 18 and it’s interesting because if I think about P you know getting you
mentioned past life regression and every now and then I think about that and I definitely know that I’ve lived many
lives um but I don’t really think about it because one of the things I’ve talked
about or that I’ve come to understand in a meditation is that there is and there
isn’t past lives because if we are all truly connected if we are one one energy
then how could we experience another energy so it’s not like there’s another separate entity that I was because I am
all people in all times so the only the thing that makes a past life a past life
is an understanding of the consciousness of that portion of all life in that time
does that make sense I don’t know if it does but uh to my point it’s just uh I’m
part of everything so it’s uh it’s another in Incarnation and and with Bart
I mean Bart’s not a separate en he’s like he’s like I’m an aspect of your higher self but you’re remembering when
you were me back in the day like again you’re tripping me out guys I’m just going to go with what
work you know there’s these um there’s so many different perceptions of self
and there’s even the Buddhist is not self so and you know since we are you
know from what I can understand we are all interconnected and interdependent you know and then where does our self
really start and when where does it end you know and how do we perceive it and
how is that how much variation of perception is there so you know I’m open
to all this stuff I don’t really have uh I don’t have conviction on any of this stuff right now I’m just uh really uh
exploring it from all kinds of different teachings and aspects so yes I can I can totally see um what you’re saying and
then you know Consciousness is is from what I understand it’s there’s not really much separation it can go um
faster than light in in a way you know there’s um PE you talk about people
connecting um in various ways very kind of unexplainable ways as far as science
and you know the these guide things um while they might seem wooooo to some
people that some people um that are more advanced in as far as it comes to
metaphysics that stuff they did you know 20 30 years ago or something like that
so we all we’re all at where we’re at on our path you know some of us seem to be
a little bit more advanced according to certain criteria than others so you know I think it’s it’s it’s important for me
we we meet everybody uh including ourselves where we’re at and uh yeah sometimes we’re teaching and sometimes
we’re learning and sometimes we’re learning while we’re teaching and you know vice versa um so it’s a is that
wild to think so this is a really cool thing I I’m still um curious uh how did Bart present
himself uh that’s you you talked about a little bit like that but did he have like um did he a human form uh in inner
Vision or was it just a voice or you know and uh do you do you go to him or
does he does he appear to you um how you know is there anything else to say about it before we uh move on to the next
thing here yeah uh great question because when I first uh met Eric WS met
uh barthol Bart uh it was in a meditation uh it was uh a guided
meditation um and
appeared first as light well so uh that’s kind of
tough to to talk to he’s like uh if it would be easier um the form that I had
when I was human uh I’m like yeah let’s let’s do that and uh yeah uh that that
light morphed into a human form he’s about five 55 stockier guy uh like a
kind of not really built but not really chunky but a smile that is just like
would you know just light up an entire planet it was just uh and just eyes his
eyes don’t open like all the way they’re kind of uh just kind of like slivers of
uh of eyes and I don’t him that much uh I can uh but I hear him more than I see
him uh and if I want to go uh if I want to experience his physical form I certainly could but for right now uh in
the beginning it was I’d see him I’d do guided meditations and i’ uh we’d convene and I’d see him and we’d hang
out sometimes he’d morph into light sometimes he wouldn’t uh sometimes we’d morph together and but now I just hear
him all the time uh and I say that respectfully because the wisdom I have
attained from uh Bartholomew Bart for short is just amazing and he’s just one
of many uh there are times that uh I’ll hear uh voices uh and it’s not I it’s
not Bart and I’m like who is this and to be honest with you I don’t even ask who it is anymore because I know that
anybody that’s giving me wisdom or light or guidance is uh doing so in my best interest so it’s just like I know some
people say well you know I have to call my guides in to give them permission to talk I’m like it’s an Open Door policy
with my guys I’m like you guys are looking out for me so whoever wants to chime in chime in and like I said
sometimes I’ll be walking down the street sometimes it’ll be at work sometimes we be the grocery store like huh that’s cool yeah I think about that
so uh so yeah uh those are the the the best way that I hear is just Bart
talking in my head and in my mind um and again I always know the voice well
you’re kind of a public figure too so I make sense with the open door policy right
yeah exactly exactly all right well let’s let’s um I guess go back to basics
here for a second and um talk about maybe you know clients and people you
work with and maybe some of the the most common questions you get I’m sure you
you’ve already talked about this on some of your podcasts but I mean like um what’s your kind of approach to to
teaching meditation I guess would um it’s kind of an overview and then maybe we can get more
specifics yeah yeah thank you uh well one of the things that I love most is
teaching uh corporations or groups of people you know and it’s I always feel
uh a little sketchy because when I think about meditation
when I uh my goal for meditation is to help people understand their power their connection their uh their
Divinity and but I know not not everybody’s at that
starting so but I know they’ll get there if they have that silence and that Stillness in their lives so corporations
will be like you know what we want our employees to be happier we want to be sick less we want them to be more attentive more creative more able to work together and be emotionally uh you
know regulated I’m like cool I can do all that with meditation that’s a great thing and uh so I go I feel like I’m
going into there and fall false pretenses because yeah those are things that meditation can help with but um the
things that I get most excited about is when I’m teaching a group of people and
uh people that have never experienced a quiet mind that have never experienced Stillness and once they have once
they’ve got meditation down or on their way to getting it down experiencing more things you know invariably I’ll I’ll
have a class and then your class will be over and and somebody will kind of you know I’ll be getting ready and somebody come over to me like hey can I just
share something with you I’m like yeah absolutely like I was meditating the other day and I saw a face of somebody
that I’ve never seen before or I had this feeling or I think I was in a different time or I felt connected and
all these different things I’m like that’s great like is that wrong I’m like first of all there is no
wrong second of all that’s great and I tell them the exact same thing I’m like these are the reasons I teach meditation
so people can understand what is resonant for them their connection to all life their connection to their
Divinity I’m like you’re going to you quite possibly experience these moments more as you meditate like well what do I
do I said you don’t do anything like so I shouldn’t try and have these moments
more often or I said believe it or not no um meditation isn’t about a goal
isn’t about an expectation uh meditation is just simply being aware of what is
happening and being okay with whatever happens whether that be uh a meditation where you uh feel connected all life or
a meditation where you are feeling the sadness or suffering of the entire planet I’m like whatever comes up you
sit with it and you don’t judge it you don’t try and push it away or you don’t try and um embellish it or make it
bigger you just acknowledge and there’s such growth in that and there’s so much joy in that at least I find and uh
invariably they’ll come up to me again and just say hey I found this or this happened and so yeah that that whole
kind of trajectory just makes me so happy but it starts off with like okay yeah your HR Director says that half the
people here don’t want to be here so let’s get them happier so I’m like yeah okay we’ll start there we’ll start there
so yeah those are the things I truly enjoy uh the more spiritual aspects of meditation the more empowering aspects
of meditation and I say that of the words that most resonate with me with
meditation are um connection Divinity and compassion uh and those are
kind of basis for meditation so those are the things I get excited about when I’m teaching well right on yes I I’ve
yet to do kind of the more standard uh formal corporate uh thing and you know
on a way I’m I’m I a little bit wonder about it because you
know some of the employers I I think and I’m just guessing I don’t know they’re
using it for not the best total purposes like they want to get more productivity
and some of the mind-numbing jobs they don’t want it you know they want to get
more productivity out of something that’s kind of mind-numbing but on the other hand you know uh as far as I know
meditation can help everybody and at least give them kind of a more of an
opportunity to kind of see this for themselves and maybe maybe they’re not a right fit or maybe they they realize I’m
the best fit in the world world for this or in fact I know what now I can do to to to make my work life better maybe get
a promotion things like this so you know I can see it both ways and uh yeah so this it’s
fascinating to me that whole thing and now the other thing is Veterans I don’t know if you’ve worked with veterans but
that’s a whole yeah I have that’s a whole huge thing of programming so I I I
mean I think they have kind of a lot of special training with veterans and whatnot um but yeah this is this is
fascinating so do do you ever have people come and um out of that setting and then uh get in touch with you to to
work more personally then and then have found even other life changes uh and I I
I do want to Echo the fact of what you said of how meditation can just be a relief because it’s a time when we’re
not expected to have expectations you know there’s no at Le especially
starting off that there you can’t fail at you can’t do it wrong and a lot of people just don’t have a reference point
for that and uh I know some people uh when they find out maybe how chaotic
their mind can be they get scared and they run away and they they don’t want to do it again for a while but other people just like a light bulb goes off
and it’s it can be really life-changing right away and then kind of everything in between so and I love I love all
those iterations of meditation you’re 100% correct because sometimes I’ll tell people that I’m a meditation instructor
and uh some people will be like oh that’s really cool I meditated a couple times I probably should do it more blah
blah blah and uh then we end up talking about Star Trek or food
or like okay I tell people I’m like you know what and many times people like
they feel like I’m the uh like the meditation police I used to do it but I should do I’m gonna do it again I’m like
I’m like I’m gonna say this respectfully I’m like you will or you won’t I’m like yeah
I don’t it has mult of benefits for me but if you’re not feeling it it’s not resonating with you then hey no worries
uh and so to your point many times people after those you know those corporate things work with me oneon-one
to deepen their practice to uh to either start or enhance a spiritual practice to
deepen their practice and there are many people that are like meditation oh yeah
no I do not want to be alone with this head I I will continue to scroll Netflix
uh binge drink smoke sex I’m like I will do whatever to get away from my head I’m
like oh well leis Hest yeah yeah that I’m totally yeah I’m I’m I’m like hey
you know what whatever works for you I’m like my life works for me your life works for you if you ever want to change anything or if you ever want to ask
about anything I’m here no worries one of the things I’m most excited about is that I’m going to be uh teaching
meditation to uh prisoners in State uh prison in conquered uh New Hampshire so
that’s I’ve done it a couple times up in broke New Hampshire but it is just wow it is just one of my favorite things to
do um especially it’s I would say challenging in fact the time that uh I
uh was in Berlin I the first time I was like scared you know what lless because I’m like like one gate opens another
closes another gate opens I’m like oh my God I’m like I am going deep into a prison I’m like I’m like I am safe I
know I’m always going to be safe but I’m scared esess
and then the second I get in there all the guys were just so kind and warm I’m
like and my mind didn’t even like skip around to like what are they in here for I’m like I didn’t care they were just
people and they were there and I was there and it was just it was probably one of the most beautiful days of my
life uh those days uh teaching and hearing stories and what meditation
means to people who have a a life that is different than mine so that’s I’m
looking really looking forward to doing that in conquer which is a little closer Berlin is like 3 hours away from where I
live now conquer is about a half an hour so I’ll take that for sure so that’s exciting well right on the I’ve heard of
these programs you know the San Francisco Zen Center has a one I think it um where is it not Alcatraz but oh
I’m I’m I’m forgetting on the famous prison on the west coast maybe you know it yeah and but uh maybe I’ll think of
it here but I have a friend Denny km uh that that was involved in the San
Francisco Zen Center and there’s a whole Buddhist chaplaincy thing you know and that of course there’s there’s all kinds
of faiths and sexs and independent people that go and do this and I yeah I
feel it’s um because anybody that’s in prison wanting to meditate you know it’s
not like they’re being forced to do it you know as far as I know it’s voluntary so you know the people that are
interested in meditation in prison are going to be there for their own kind of
sanity and well-being with a very rough way of going sometimes perhaps you know
so yeah very cool well um Tom I think
we’re gonna start winding this down um before we do why why don’t you um
tell people about uh how they can get in touch with you you know um kind of what
projects you have coming up if you have courses uh
material um how they find your podcast anything in the works down the line and
then um what kind of message would you like to leave listeners with today um
about it could you know anything it’s probably maybe a little meditation related too cool well I appreciate the
opportunity people the best place to find me obviously is enom.com uh which
is obviously the name of my podast podcast so there’s Zen commuter and commin 5 those are my two podcasts and
uh but all the things zen.com is kind of like a hub for all the things I do
whether that be one toone coaching group coaching uh all the things there uh a couple meditations out there as well um
as for parting words I think the one thing that resonates most with me is the
fact that whether you have meditational practice or not we are all connected uh
and when we have a moment of silence when we have Stillness we understand what resonates for us we understand that
we are all connected and I think that’s one of the reasons I Med that I teach meditation so much is so that people
don’t un so that people don’t feel alone um uh that suffering is something that
is inherent in human life but there are ways to mitigate it with meditation with understanding that we are connected to
our higher self and that we all matter and that we all are empowered and we’re all connected and with a meditation
practice we can feel that and as one person becomes uh enlightened or more aware
then the world starts to change in a beautiful beautiful way it’s already a beautiful beautiful world but it becomes even more beautiful when we understand
our power and our connection to all life and each other it’s so amazing you say that Tom
because um came to me earlier today of what a precious gift awareness is it’s
almost like our superpower that we can be aware that we have this knowing and
noticing ability usually we’re paying attention to the object but the actual
um ability to to know and be aware of whatever we’re aware of that in and of
itself is such an amazing uh opportunity and gift and almost like a superpower that will help
us uh towards Awakening in and realization of Awakening Enlightenment
and so with that may all beings everywhere realize Awakening and be free thanks again Tom for joining I look
forward to that it’s I as well bye now
Integrating Presence 
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