The Tao of Christ

Every Advent I read W. H Auden’s For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio. Every year different parts of the lengthy poem catch my attention. Today I want to start by talking about the part of the poem that describes the Annunciation, which is the appearance of the angel Gabriel to Mary.  In the Gospel of Luke the opening words of Gabriel are “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Auden sheds a different light on Gabriel’s message. In his poem the first word out of Gabriel’s mouth is not “Hail” or “Greetings” but “Wake.” Wake up! Awake! In one sense Mary’s dream of a happy engagement and big wedding and living happily ever after will be disrupted by the announcement of the angel Gabriel that is going to change everything. As I read the poem I cannot help but think that there is another layer to this story. A spiritual layer. That when the messenger of God says, “Wake!” he is speaking of waking from the dream of life. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

I have been meaning to speak on this topic for a while now. An email I got from a listener a few weeks ago raised the issue, and I have not been able to forget it. I addressed the subject in a blog about a year ago, but I have not addressed it in a podcast in relation to nonduality. This is the question of justice. Those who are exploring nonduality wonder how it addresses questions of justice. This subject is raised in a couple of contexts.One is that if there is no personal afterlife of the individual because the ego is an illusion, then what about all those people who did terrible things in life. People like Adolph Hitler or Pol Pot or war criminals or serial killers. If there is no Divine Judgment or hell, then does that mean these evil characters get off Scott-Free? It seems so wrong! So unjust! The other context in which this topic arises is that of working for justice in society today. I am talking about social action. Does nonduality mean that everything is fine just the way it is, and there is no need to try to make this a better and more just world? Does nonduality mean abandoning any sense of social justice or even personal morality? If Nondual Reality is beyond the duality of good and evil, does that mean that there is no moral arc to the universe? Does that mean that the arc of history does not bend toward justice?View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

I have exploring Biblical stories of spiritual awakening for a couple of months now. I am going to finish this series today by talking about spiritual experiences that fall short of full awakening but have some of the same qualities as awakening. I am not sure what to call these glimpses of Nondual Reality. You could call them partial awakenings, mini-awakenings, temporary awakenings, preludes to awakening or glimpses of spiritual awakening. You probably know what I am talking about. You may have experienced what I am talking about. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

I continue my series exploring biblical stories of spiritual awakening. There are so many wonderful ones! Today I examine another of my favorites, the story of the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah is considered one of the greatest prophets of the Hebrew scriptures. In the sixth chapter of his book he describes his opening to spiritual reality firsthand in detail. Often this passage is called the call of the prophet, but it is also the spiritual awakening of the prophet. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

Today I am exploring another famous story in the Bible that describes spiritual awakening. It is commonly known as the story of the prophet Elijah being taken off to heaven in a fiery chariot. But it is as much about Elisha as it is Elijah. It is also story of the enlightenment of the prophet Elisha.View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

I am continuing to tell these biblical stories of Awakening. I do this because I think it is helpful to show how, when, where and to whom spiritual awakening happens. This is important because there are so many misconceptions about spiritual awakening. There is no better story that illustrates the circumstances surrounding awakening than the story of the prophet Elijah. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

I am continuing the Biblical Stories of Spiritual Awakening. Today I am going to talk about one of my favorite characters and books in the Bible: Job. I resonate with Job because his path was like mine in some ways. He struggled with the same philosophical problems that I struggled with and that many Christians struggle with: the problems of evil and suffering. And in my life it led to a spiritual awakening, just like with Job. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

I am continuing to look at stories of spiritual awakening in the Bible. This episode explores one of the most famous accounts - the story of Moses and the Burning Bush. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

Today I continue to explore biblical stories of spiritual awakening. We have looked at Adam, Enoch, Abraham and Jacob. One would expect to find more stories of awakening in the rest of Genesis. But we look in vain for any hint that Joseph or any of his brothers or sister experienced spiritual awakening. That tells us something about spiritual awakening. There can be long periods of time without spiritual awakening. This episode explores how that was true in biblical times, throughout history and in modern times.View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In the last episode I looked at the figure of Jacob in the Book of Genesis. I said that I would be taking two episodes to explore Jacob’s spiritual awakening because there are two stories of awakening associated with him. Jacob’s first experience was a vision/dream known as Jacob’s ladder, which we looked at last time. That happened when he was running from his brother Esau, who wanted to kill him for tricking him out of his birthright and blessing. Today I am looking at when Jacob is returning to Canaan and he wrestles with an angel. At that time his name was changed to Israel.View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU