The Tao of Christ

This episode explores our spiritual connection to the earth as described in the creation stories of Genesis. I look at the creation stories of Genesis 1 and 2 and how they speak of the spiritual dimension of our existence. We are the earth conscious of itself. We are the universe conscious of itself. This is what it means to be formed of the earth and made in the image of God.   View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

The Tao of Christ is a podcast which explores the mystical, intuitive, and contemplative side of Christianity. In particular it explores what has been historically called the unitive life and union with God. I call it Christian nonduality, nondualism, and unitive awareness. As a Christian, one issue that is continually raised in conversation is the relationship between Christian doctrine and mysticism. How does nonduality relate to Christian theology? Does traditional Christian doctrine contradict or rule out the type of spirituality that Christian nonduality speaks of? Conservative Christians consider the contemplative or mystical approach to the spiritual life to be heresy. That is because they mistake the mystics’ use of religious language to be theology. It is not theology; it is a description of one’s awareness of God. In this episode I show how traditional Christian theology can be used to express nondual awareness. As an example I discuss the Christian doctrine of the Virgin Birth and show how it communicates the reality of union with God. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In this episode we look at another passage in the Christian scriptures that speaks of unitive awareness. One of the most powerful and controversial passages in the Bible is found in the tenth chapter of the Gospel of John. It is John 10:34-38: Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came — and Scripture cannot be broken — do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

This podcast explores the mystical, intuitive, and contemplative side of Christianity. In particular it explores unitive awareness, also called Christian nonduality or nondualism, the unitive life and union with God. In this episode I lead the listener into an experience of unitive awareness. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In this episode I explore what Jesus meant by the phrase "born again." It is not what Evangelical Christianity assumes it means. The phrase has nothing to do with religion, believing doctrines, or a conversion experience. I examine the famous scripture passage in the third chapter of the Gospel of John where Jesus has a discussion with the Jewish religious teacher, Nicodemus, about what it means to be born again, born anew, born from above or born of the Spirit. I show that Jesus was talking about a spiritual awakening that I call unitive awareness. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In this episode I continue my teaching on Christian nonduality. This time I am looking at the apocalyptic passages of scripture, in particular the “Little Apocalypse” of Jesus, also known as the Olivet Discourse, found in the gospels. What Jesus was describing in this dramatic eschatological passage is not a cataclysmic end of history or the physical dissolution of the cosmos. Jesus is describing a spiritual awakening to the true nature of the universe. Jesus was not an apocalyptic prophet so much as a visionary and mystic who could see what others do not see. And he invites us to share his vision.View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In this episode I explore how Christian non-dualism is rooted in the teachings of the Christian scriptures, and in particular how it is taught in the most important verse in the New Testament – Galatians 2:20. “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” The “I” the old self, the false self, the illusory self, the ego or persona, is dead. It is not real. Instead Christ – the eternal, immortal Christ is our real Self. The experience of this no-self and union with the inner Christ is rooted in the Cross of Christ. It is incarnated and lived out in our lives in the qualities of faith and love. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In this episode I define and explore the meaning of nonduality or non-dualism as perceived from a Christian perspective. Referencing Christian contemplatives like Richard Rohr and Evelyn Underhill, I make the case that non-duality is the core of the Christian faith, going back to the very beginnings of Christianity. It is not theology. It is not philosophy. It is an experiential and intuitive awareness of union with God, Christ, and all there is. I then explore how it is related to Christian theology and my own Christian experience. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

The New Pilgrim’s Progress is a modern retelling of John Bunyan’s 17th century classic “Pilgrim’s Progress.” In this conclusion to the story Pilgrim and Truthful travel through Beulah Land and arrive at the River of Life, which has the Tree of Life growing on either side of the river. The pilgrims decide to spend the night on the riverbank before crossing the river in the morning. During the night Pilgrim has a dream/vision/revelation.When they awake they begin the crossing the river to the Celestial City. The crossing is difficult and the Destination is not what they thought. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

The New Pilgrim’s Progress is a modern retelling of John Bunyan’s 17th century classic “Pilgrim’s Progress.” After descending the Mystic Mountains, Pilgrim and Truthful continue on the Way. They meet the Rich Young Ruler from the Bible, who has found a way to keep his riches and follow the Lord. They stop at the home of Family Woman, who with her husband and seven children is an advocate of Family Values. After being serenaded by their children with a rendition of “So Long, Farewell” from the Sound of Music, the two pilgrims continue on their Way.Soon they meet a faun named Gida, who reminds them of Tumnus from the Chronicles of Narnia. As it turns out he was C.S. Lewis’ inspiration for Tumnus. Gida is one of the goats from Jesus’s parable of the Sheep and the Goats. The two also meet the Centurion, who was praised for his faith by Jesus. He tells them of his meeting with Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. Finally they meet Evangelical, a friend of Pilgrim’s from the Shadowlands.   View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU