The Tao of Christ

In this episode podcaster Corey Farr interviews Marshall Davis on his podcast “A Christian Reads the Tao Te Ching.” Corey interviews me about my book The Tao of Christ: A Christian Version of the Tao Te Ching. He also asks questions about nonduality and specifically my podcast episode on Nondual Meditation. So we get into nonduality quite a bit.  So here it is. I hope you enjoy it. You can find the original recording at Corey’s website at CoreyFarr.comhttps://www.coreyfarr.com/View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In this episode I explore an alternative to the typical self-inquiry that is standard fare in nondualism. Meditation upon Nature - the natural envoronment and our connection to it - can be a more direct path to spiritual awakening.View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

When it comes to Christian nonduality, one of the issues that is often raised by both inquirers and critics is its approach to the Bible. The nondual attitude toward Scripture is different than the traditional reverence that Christians have for the Bible. In traditional Christianity, Scripture serves as the foundation for everything that a Christian believes and does. When Christians want to know what is true and what is not, they look to the Bible. Christians use words like authoritative and inspired to describe the Bible. Evangelicals and fundamentalists prefer stronger words like inerrant and infallible.Nonduality is not about scripture. It is not about submitting to any religious authority – be it a book or clergy or a church or a creed. It is not about doctrine or ecclesiastical structure, and that is a problem for many Christians. Nonduality is about direct awareness. Nothing is taken on faith. Truth is discovered by direct investigation. Nondual Reality is not mediated through a book or words or ideas. It is apprehended directly. In this episode I explore the differences between the two approaches. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

It would be tempting to answer this question using concepts, but of course nonduality is not about concepts or ideas. It is about direct experience. So I will refer the question back to you my listeners and ask you to see for yourself.One of the standard tecniques in nonduality is direct inquiry into who or what we are. We look for a separate personal self with a name and a history, and discover to our surprise that such a being does not exist. The self or ego is just an idea tacked onto experience. It does not exist outside of our imagination. We discover that we are not the personal self that we thought we were. There is no experiencer, only experiencing. In this episode I use the same type of inquiry to look at who or what God is. We examine the traditional places that God is said to dwell. Then we look at the relationship between the personal self and the Personal God. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In this episode I explore how we can engage in political and social activism as an expression of nonduality.View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In this episode I explore the awareness of our unity – in fact our identity – with all life and all existence. This is manifested in most people as an affinity or love for Nature. Many people feel more in touch with God in Nature than they do in church. This is because we intuitively sense our primal connection to the creation. This consciousness is attested to in the Christian Scriptures and more importantly in our direct experience. This is cosmic consciousness. We are one with the cosmos, which is one with the God of the cosmos, which the Bible says is “over all and through all and in all.” This is what we are. We cannot die. That is eternal life.View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In this episode I explore the teaching of Jesus and the psalms, also found in the Upanishads, that the spiritual essence of humans is identical to the spiritual essence of the Universe. There is one essence of everything in the universe and that is divine.View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

There are examples of nondual spiritual awakening throughout the Bible. It is just that they are not usually identified as such or taught as such. One such example is the story commonly referred to as Jacob’s Ladder. Today I will look at that story in combination with another story from Jacob’s life that happens a number of years later - the story of Jacob wrestling with God. We might call that Part 2 of his awakening. Together they tell how Jacob woke up to the nondual nature of reality, who God really is and who he really was.View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In ths episode I explore the difference between traditional meditation, Christian meditation, and nondual meditation.View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In this episode I explain how the nondual message of Jesus became the institutional religion that we know today as Christianity, and how the original message of Jesus can be recovered in our lives.  I also explain why I describe myself as as a nondual Christian or a Christian nondualist.  View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU