The Tao of Christ

Today we look at the thirteenth saying in the Gospel of Thomas.  “Jesus said to his disciples, "Compare me to someone and tell me whom I am like." Simon Peter said to him, "You are like a righteous angel." Matthew said to him, "You are like a wise philosopher." Thomas said to him, "Master, my mouth is wholly incapable of saying whom you are like." Jesus said...

Today I look at the twelfth saying in the Gospel of Thomas. This saying is different from all the previous ones in that it deals with leadership in the early church. But it also contains some spiritual truth, which we will see in a moment. It reads: “The disciples said to Jesus, ‘We know that you are going to leave us. Who will be our leader?’ Jesus said to them, ‘No matter where you are you are t...

This is the eleventh saying in the Gospel of Thomas. Listen to what Jesus said: "This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away. The dead are not alive, and the living will not die. In the days when you consumed what is dead, you made it what is alive. When you come to dwell in the light, what will you do? On the day when you were one you became two. But when you become two,...

This is the tenth saying in the Gospel of Thomas. Jesus said, "I have cast fire upon the world, and look, I'm guarding it until it blazes." Another translation puts it slightly different: “I have thrown fire upon the world, and look, I am watching till it blazes.” What does this saying in the Gospel of Thomas mean? Spiritual awakening is fire. The world as we know it is consumed as...

This is the ninth saying in the Gospel of Thomas. Jesus said, "Look, the sower went out, took a handful of seeds, and scattered them. Some fell on the road, and the birds came and gathered them. Others fell on rock, and they didn't take root in the soil and didn't produce heads of grain. Others fell on thorns, and they choked the seeds and worms ate them. And others fell on good soi...

The eighth saying in the Gospel of Thomas is a big fish story. Jesus said, "The man is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of little fish. Among them the wise fisherman discovered a fine large fish. He threw all the little fish back into the sea, and easily chose the large fish. Anyone here with two good ears had better listen!"  View Mars...

Today we look at the seventh saying in the Gospel of Thomas, which is the Parable of the Lion and the Man. Jesus said, “Blessed is a lion that a man eats, because that lion will become human. Cursed is a man that a lion eats, because that lion will become human.”  View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In this episode I look at the sixth saying in the Gospel of Thomas. It reads: “His disciples asked him and said to him, "Do you want us to fast? How should we pray? Should we give to charity? What diet should we observe?" Jesus said, "Don't lie, and don't do what you hate, because all things are disclosed before heaven. After all, there is nothing hidden that will not be r...

Today we look at the fifth saying in the Gospel of Thomas. Jesus said, "Recognize what is in your sight, and that which is hidden from you will become plain to you. For there is nothing hidden which will not become manifest." That is a translation of the Coptic text. The Greek version, which dated earlier, adds another line. Jesus said, “Know what is in front of your face and that which...

This episode looks at the fourth saying in the Gospel of Thomas. Jesus says, “A person old in days will not hesitate to ask a little child seven days old about the place of life, and the person will live. For many of the first will be last and become a single one.” Anyone who is familiar with the New Testament gospels will hear similarities to the biblical sayings of Jesus that center on children....

I have taken several trips to the Eastern Mediterranean countries to visit Biblical sites – Israel, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt. One year I took a trip to Greece that followed the journeys of the apostle Paul. One of my favorite sites was not a biblical one. It was Delphi on Mt. Parnassus. It was said that the maxim "Know thyself" was inscribed upon the Temple of Apollo there. Today it is call...

This is the third episode on the Gospel of Thomas, and I am looking at the second saying in the gospel. But as I mentioned in the last episode, this may actually be the first one spoken by Jesus. The previous saying may have been written by Thomas or the editor of the Gospel of Thomas.  If this is the first saying spoken by Jesus, then it has greater significance. It sets the stage for all the oth...

Today I look at the first saying in the Gospel of Thomas. It says, “And he said, ‘Whoever finds the correct interpretation of these sayings will never die.’” Another translation says, "Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death." Another puts it, “Whoever discovers what these sayings mean will not taste death.” The theme is Life. Eternal life. It is about...

In this episode I begin exploring the Gospel of Thomas, focusing on the prologue of the gospel, which reads: “These are the hidden sayings that the living Jesus spoke and that Didymos Judas Thomas wrote down.” I give a little background, and then explain what it means to say that the gospel is hidden, using biblical examples of hiddenness from the parables of Jesus and the epistles of apostle Paul...

Christmas is a very dualistic time in Christian churches. In stories and sermons God is pictured as a theistic deity up there in heaven who sends his Son down here into this world of sin in order to redeem the world and humankind. Those of us who see the universe in terms of nonduality wonder how to make sense of Christmas. The good news is that the heart of the Christmas message is nonduality. Th...

The Bible is filled with fantastic and miraculous tales surrounding the birth of Jesus. There are stories such as the Virgin Birth, the Roman census and the trip to Bethlehem, being turned away from the inn, necessitating Mary giving birth in a stable. There are the shepherds in the field keeping watch over their flocks by night, and the angels appearing to them and announcing the birth of the Sav...

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 w...

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. Th...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 sp...