The Tao of Christ

The initial awakening to the Kingdom of God – also called Unitive Awareness or Nondual Reality - can happen suddenly, but it can take years to reveal all its dimensions. It feels like layers of a veil are being gradually taken away. It is like a flower bud gradually opening up to the sun. It is like eyes are slowly adjusting to the light, after coming out of a dark room. It is an ongoing process of waking up to the new reality and integrating it into human life. We wake up from more and more of the illusions that have occupied the mind. In recent months this change has happened in the area of politics.In this episode I explore how we can see the drama of human history as a dream, yet it is also be involved in a relative sense. We can engage with life on the social and political level while knowing it as ultimately unreal. We do not get lost in a political ideology or a political party. Nor do we partake of the suffering that comes from that. But we live in compassion and decide by spiritual sight.  View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

Recently I have received emails from people asking me about hell. So I thought I would speak about it in an episode. Hell is a problem for Christians. It scares Christians, and it scares other people away from Christianity. It gives former Christians nightmares long after they have left fundamentalism behind. There is a part of them that continues to think: what if they are right? What if I go hell because I no longer belong to that church or do what they say and believe what they believe? The fear of eternal damnation can haunt people for years after they have left hellfire-preaching behind.Hell is a problem for those of us who claim Jesus to be our spiritual teacher. When we read the gospels Jesus seems to teach hell. In fact Jesus talks about hell more than anyone else in the Bible. As a lifelong student of the Bible I have to honestly admit that the historical Jesus spoke about hell. Some people try to exonerate Jesus and say that all the references to hell were added later by editors, and that Jesus really didn’t say that. I don’t think so. There are too many references to hell to explain them all away as something later Christians put into Jesus’ mouth. So how do I reconcile Jesus’ words about hell with Jesus as a teacher of nonduality – that all is one with the Divine? How do I reconcile hell with the reality that everyone is one with God now and forever? View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

Last week I had three Zoom meetings during which I spoke about Christian nonduality. Two were with individuals and one with a church group. As I was speaking one insight kept appearing. It was that all of us on these Zoom meetings were one. It was seen clearly that the one speaking and the ones hearing are the same one. As I spoke the feeling that accompanied this insight was palpable. We were one. There is only one.In this episode I explore this nondual reality by looking at the Hebrew name for God Elohim, which is an expression of nonduality. It is both plural and singular, one and many. I explore the Creation stories of Genesis and see how these also are expressions of nondual awareness, which is our True Nature. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

This episode is a Zoom Talk that I had with a men's group at Asbury First United Methodist Church in Rochester, NY, on March 10, 2021. It was joined by some members of the church who had been studying Cynthia Bourgeault's book The Wisdom Jesus. I was asked to speak on the topic of Christian Nonduality followed by a time of discussion. I speak quite a bit about the events in my life that led up to nondual awareness. Permission was given by the men's group leader and participants to post this online. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

A few weeks ago I was conversing with someone on Zoom, and he asked me whether I felt like I had grown spiritually. I responded that things certainly change, but I hesitated to use the term growth. I have been thinking about that question ever since. I thought it would be good to explore it in an episode. In this episode I explore spiritual growth from within nonduality. Do we grow and mature spiritually? What exactly would be growing? Are we spiritually evolving as a species? View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

Today’s topic is a response to an email that I received from a listener in Indiana. He writes in part:“So here is the reason I am writing to you… I would like you to talk about what non-dualism IS, as opposed to what it is NOT. It seems, from my dualistic roots, that non-dualism blurs into nothing-ness. In reality, I know this to be wrong. God is Light, which is the presence of all colors, as opposed to darkness, which is the absence of any color. The lie still plaguing my soul is non-dualism is absence, instead of presence. I want a vision of the fullness of non-dualism, to replace the lie that non-dualism is absence. Hopefully, I have not gone too abstract with my words… language just doesn’t fit with the Spiritual!”I responded to him saying that what he asks is impossible. But Jesus said that if we have faith small as a mustard seed, then nothing will be impossible to us. So here goes.There are two ways to approach Reality. They are usually called the Via Positiva and the Via Negativa. If you want to sound really educated you can call them the Cataphatic Way and the Apophatic Way. The positive way and the negative way.  In this episode I explore these two ways, and in particular try to express nondual awareness in positive terms. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

The topic for today was suggested by a seminary professor who emailed me. He wrote:“Here’s a question I wonder if you tackle in your works or are interested in addressing: what does seeing through the illusion of the self entail for the concept of free will? In his book Everything is God: The Radical Path of Nondual Judaism, Jay Michaelson calls free will the last gasp of unenlightened thinking. The logic seems pretty clear: if there is no agent, how can there be agency? In the end, one might join with Julian of Norwich when she says of God, “There is no doer but He.” …. So I’d be curious to hear where your experiences and reflections have taken you on this question, if you are willing to share in a podcast or blog post at some point.”In this episode I address the topic of free will within nonduality.View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In this episode today I reflect on Lent as an expression of Nonduality. I explore how the symbol of the Cross expresses the same reality as the Yin Yang symbol. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

A listener emailed me and said that he was reading my newest book The Gospel of Nonduality, and he had a question. He wrote: “The question that keeps popping up as I read is how does one die to self (or forget self or get out of the way, etc.)  How does one completely surrender?” I responded back to him saying that this is the most important question one could ask. It showed me that he was serious about this.I get a lot of questions that miss the point. This man went directly to the main point. He wasn’t messing around. He wanted to know how. When Jesus encountered a man like this he responded, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” This is what it is all about. You have to keep your focus on the main thing and not get distracted by all the sidetracks in spirituality and religion.I answered the man this way in part: “The answer is that there is no technique to die to self. It is something that happens rather than something we bring about. It is not a matter of which spiritual discipline works best. It is all a matter of intent, perseverance and courage.” I would like to expound on that answer in this episode. How do we die to self? How do we wake up? How do we break through this world of seeming duality into nondual awareness? To use terms from Eastern Traditions, how are we enlightened? How are we liberated? View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

This episode began as a suggestion from a listener in North Carolina. He asked me to explain the use of the term Christ. I look at various religious and theological uses of the title “Christ.” Then I distinguish between the dualistic use of the term Christ in theology and the experiential awareness of Christ, which is nondual unitive awareness.View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU