The Tao of Christ

Sin is duality. Nonduality is salvation. Forgiveness is nondual awareness. That in ten words is what I talk about in this episode. The only sin is not looking at who we really are – and who God really is - and not believing what we see. It is being too blind to see, as Jesus told the Pharisees. That is the original sin. The only solution to this sin is to open our eyes. It is so easy. Even a child can see it. In fact only when we see like a little child can we do it. Jesus said that children were of the kingdom and we have to become like children to enter the Kingdom. Then we see reality, we experience complete forgiveness. Nonduality solves the problem of sin and forgiveness. Sin is failing to see the unconditional acceptance of all that is. And when we see this, the burden of sin and guilt falls away. All is forgiven because that is who God is and who we are. We can forgive as we are forgiven – as Jesus taught in the Lord’s Prayer - because forgiveness is what we are. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

Nonduality is Reality. That was the insight of Jesus and the earliest Christian message of the Kingdom of God. Nonduality is the truth at the core of all great spiritual traditions of the world. But if nonduality is reality, then where did duality come from? If all is One, how did two come about. How did we find ourselves in this seemingly dualistic world? Every religious tradition has its own origin myths to explain this. The Tao Te Ching says simply, “The Tao begot one. One begot two. Two begot three. And three begot the ten thousand things.” That fits into nondualism very well. But what about the Judeo-Christian scriptures? Is there anything in the Genesis creation stories which explains the origin of this dualistic world that we seem to find ourselves in?Yes, indeed! When we read the biblical creation accounts we find the origin of duality explained very well, for those with eyes to see. In this episode I explore the biblical stories of creation, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and the Tree of Life. I explain how they tell of story of the origin of duality. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

The oldest Christian message is Christ Consciousness. One of the oldest sayings in the New Testament is found in Paul’s letter to the Philippians, but Paul did not write it. It is much older. It is from an early Christian hymns which Paul was quoting in Philippians 2. It reads: Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.But emptied Himself, and took the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.Wherefore God also highly exalted him, and gave him the name which is above every name. In another of his letters Paul comes right out and says that we already have the mind of Christ. It is just a matter of recognizing it. He writes: “The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment. For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.”We have the mind of Christ, and Christian spiritual practice is recognizing this mind and allowing it to come to the forefront. Getting out of the way and allowing the Mind of Christ reign. To do this Jesus emptied himself of himself to be full of God, which was his true self. This awareness is what Jesus called the Kingdom of God. This is the heart of Jesus’ gospel and the earliest Christian message. It is Christ consciousness or God Consciousness. It could be called Kingdom Consciousness. It is unitive awareness or nondual awareness. It is abiding in the mind of Christ, which is the mind of God. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

The original gospel was the one that Jesus proclaimed, which was the Kingdom of God. Today it is alternatively called Christ Consciousness, Kingdom Consciousness, Unitive Awareness, or Nondual Awareness. Then there was the gospel about Jesus created by the apostle Paul and other Christians of the early decades and centuries after Christ. In this episode I explore how the Church came to abandon Jesus’ original message and the differences between the two gospels.  View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In this episode I explore the historical development, mythology and meaning of Satan from a nondual perspective. For traditional Christians the devil is real – a fallen angel. He is epitome of evil, who oversees a vast hoard of demons or evil spirits who are just waiting to possess the hapless person who is careless with his soul.When viewed from a nondual perspective the figure of Satan points to something much closer to home. He is the human ego. As Walt Kelly famously said in his Pogo comic strip: We have met the enemy and he is us. The devil is our self. So we say with Jesus, “Get thee behind me, Satan.” When the ego/self/devil is pushed to the background then what we truly are comes to the foreground. What comes to the foreground is a vast and limitless Eternal. This Spacious Presence is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and Christ in us, as the apostle Paul said. God is not out there somewhere. The Kingdom of Heaven is not up there. It is here. As Jesus said, The Kingdom of God is within you.View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In this episode I explore the symbol of the river as a description of nondual awareness as seen from a human perspective. Jesus used this metaphor to point to what he called the Kingdom of God or Eternal Life. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

About a month ago I got an email from a listener in British Columbia, Canada. He gave me permission to quote it, so I will and then address the issue he raises. He writes in part:I have a question about the nondual conception of God. I find this view compelling, but wonder if a nondual conception of God leaves us with this sort of ineffable God about which we can say nothing. Concepts like loving and caring are dualistic concepts, and yet it seems that even Christians in the mystical / contemplative / nondual traditions want to refer to God as loving, or as love itself. Are those compatible views, to see God as a kind of nondual Oneness, and to view God as loving? Or does a person who takes the nondual view need to jettison the idea of love being applicable to God?In this episode I will answer this question and address the topic of love seen from a nondual perspective. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In this episode I explore one of the most famous sayings of Jesus, and one of his clearest teachings on the self and nonduality. It is found in all four gospels, which is an extremely rare occurrence. Here it is in four slightly different forms: Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.Whoever finds his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will find it.Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life will keep it for eternal life.Here is the longest form of it:“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?In all of these sayings Jesus is talking about moving from identifying with one’s temporary human self and finding one’s identity in the eternal or true Self. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

The Kingdom of God, also called unitive awareness or nondual awareness, is like a treasure that is discovered. That is the way that Jesus described it in two stories, known as the parable of the Treasure in the Field and the parable of the Pearl of Great Price. Some people search for the treasure. For them life is a treasure hunt. Others simply stumble across it. Some spiritual teachers downplay or disparage searching. It is often said that there is nothing that one can do to be awakened or enlightened. In Christian circles it is likewise said that there is nothing you can do to be saved. That it is all a matter of grace. This is true. Yet people search. We can’t help it. And it seems that many of those who find went through a period of searching. Jesus encouraged spiritual seeking. He said, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Some people are spiritual seekers. The search consumes their lives. Either way – seeking or not – the truth is the same. In the end we see that the searching is not what did it. There is nothing we can do to become what we already are or to get what we already have. Searching is the process that many people go through to realize that searching is unnecessary.  View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

According to the earliest account of Jesus’ ministry, he engaged in two major activities. One was the preaching of the Kingdom of God. The other activity that dominates Jesus’ ministry in the Gospel of Mark is casting out evil spirits. That also is a communication of nondual awareness, although a much more dramatic communication of it than simple teaching. It is analogous to the physical and sometimes violent techniques used by Zen masters to shock a person into waking up to Reality. In this episode I explore what demons and evil spirits really represent in the gospel narratives. They are not little spiritual entities wandering the spiritual realm seeking for someone to possess. I show that many of the biblical stories of exorcism are actually examples of people waking up to the Kingdom of God, what I call unitive awareness, the Presence of God, or Christian nonduality.View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU