The Tao of Christ

In this episode I explore the second beatitude of the Sermon on the Mount from a nondual perspective: Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

Jesus was a teacher of Nonduality. He called it the Kingdom of God. The Sermon on the Mount is the best known and longest sermon by Jesus. So it makes sense that the Sermon on the Mount would be filled with teachings about nonduality. And it is! But this is missed by most Christians because preachers interpret it from the perspective of their dualistic theologies rather than nondual awareness. So...

In this episode I talk about anxiety and fear. According to recent articles there is an epidemic of anxiety not only in the United States, but in much of the Western world. Addressing fear and anxiety can help us be happier and healthier emotionally, as well as decrease violence in society. Awakening to our true nature and the true nature of reality can eliminate, or at least reduce dramatically,...

Christianity tends to focus on love. At least at its best it does. Historically Christianity has too often focused on secondary matters like doctrine, tradition, rituals, rules, or church structure – or at its worst money and power. But the New Testament says God is love, and Jesus said that the spiritual life can be summed up in the two commands to love God and love one’s neighbor. So love is at...

In Christianity there is a lot of talk about who Jesus is. The Gospel of John is famous for its seven “I am” statements in which Jesus identifies himself using symbols and metaphors. “I am the Bread of Life. I am the Light of the world. I am the Way, the Truth and the Life” and so forth. They are all based on the famous “I am” statement in the story of the burning bush in Exodus, where God says “I...

Many people have outgrown the religion that they used to be a part of. I explore how and why people outgrow religion, especially conservative forms of Christian religion. I also look at the idea of spiritual growth. Is growth real, or is it better seen as a sudden awakening to the Nondual Reality that is always present? Or are they both metaphors? Jesus talked a lot about the growth of the Kingdom...

The inspiration for this episode comes from an email I received from a spiritual friend in Melbourne, Australia. He sent me an interpretation of Jesus’ parable of the two foundations. Jesus used the illustration or two men who built a house on the sand and the rock. I tie this into Jesus’ response to Peter’s profession of faith that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus replied, “On this Rock I will build my...

In this episode I ponder our true identity in Christ. Then I explain how this can be experienced by means of meditation on scripture.   View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

A while ago I read about the early life of Ramana Maharshi - how when he was a teenager he was overwhelmed by a sudden, extreme fear of death. Then he lay down on his back and imagined he was dead. I think I read this in the preface to a book of his teachings, but I couldn’t find it. So I did an internet search and found the details of the account on his official website.  It happened in July of 1...

When people ask me about spiritual practices or disciplines, I generally do not recommend any. The reason I don’t recommend any is because people tend to view practices as a means to an end. They think that if they do certain things then they will result in a spiritual goal.  Yet even when I don’t recommend practices, people will press me on it. They say that they know it is all grace and that the...

We are deep within the Christmas season now, and holiday activities are in full swing. So it is a good time to contemplate the meaning of Christmas. Too often the choice seems to be between Santa Claus or the baby Jesus, secular or theistic, or perhaps opt for celebrating the winter solstice as an alternative. But it is possible to celebrate Christian holiday spiritually from a nondual perspective...

Having been a Christian for all of my adult life and a Baptist pastor for nearly all of that, I can say from firsthand knowledge that the essential difference between Christianity and spiritual awakening is that the first is secondhand religion and the other is direct realization.  View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

I receive a lot of emails from people who used to consider themselves Christians and were active in the church but no longer. They can no longer accept the literal interpretation of Scripture and the dogmatic nature of the Christian religion. They have dared to think outside the traditional Christian box, they are either been rejected by the church or feel alienated from the church and from Christ...

There is a theme in both the Old and New Testaments that points to the heart of nondual awareness. It is expressed most clearly in the Book of Exodus. Moses asks to see God’s glory and God responds, “You cannot see My face; for no one shall see Me and live.” The Bible repeatedly says that no one can see God and live. God is described as holy, and no mortal can be in the presence of the holy God ac...

The common understanding of our place in the universe is that we are tiny human creatures on a planet in a solar system in the Milky Way galaxy, which is one of billions of galaxies in a vast universe. Anyone who has laid on their back on a summer evening watching shooting stars has experienced this sense of wonder at how small and seemingly insignificant our place is in the universe. There is som...

Sometimes I wonder if there is anything more to say in these episodes. Then I get emails from listeners which remind me there is still more to say because the gospel of nonduality is so easily misunderstood. Nondual awareness is so simple it is missed. It is so close that people don’t see it. It is hiding in plain sight. Jesus said, “The Kingdom of the Father is spread out upon the earth and peopl...

Love is still alive and well in spirituality. It is the heart of what I call Christian nonduality. Love is the way of spiritual awakening. It is the Tao of Christ, the Way of Christ.  Love may seem to be a dualistic activity because it appears to be about relationships, and relationships imply two or more, hence dual. But in actuality love transcends duality. It is an expression of unity that tran...

It is election time in the United States. Elections always raise the issue of how nonduality is expressed in such a dualistic exercise as politics. There is no better example of duality than American politics, especially the polarized form of politics that has emerged in recent years in our country. Nonduality can be expressed in all dualistic activities, including politics. We do not have to go o...

The topic of this episode comes from a listener. He wrote in part: “Your videos are infused with insights that aid the nondualist in speaking with dualists. However, there is not (or at least I did not see) a single video that addresses these insights together. This request may seem counterintuitive: why should a nondualist need to defend themselves? Sadly, I come from a large family of Fundamenta...

There is one question I am asked often. In various ways people ask what they can do to help them wake up. In this episode I answer that question using the Book of Ecclesiastes as a source. I explore three ways of awakening: Self-inquiry, God-inquiry, and Life-inquiry.  View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In this episode I tell some stories about idol-smashing, beginning with the Midrash about Abraham destroying the idols of his father’s idol-making workshop. In telling these stories of idol-smashing I discern the spiritual meaning behind iconoclasm. I am talking about smashing spiritual and religious and intellectual and theological and philosophical idols. Idols of the heart. The spiritual search...

Many Christians talk about having a relationship with God. Evangelicals in particular speak of the importance of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They say this begins when one “receives Jesus into your heart” or “accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior.” This relationship is thought to continue after death in heaven, where one will have a relationship with God and Christ forever.  Evange...

This episode comes out of some responses I received to a recent episode entitled, “What does nondual awareness feel like?” I realized that some people confuse nondual awareness and consciousness. They mistake what Jesus called the Kingdom of God - and what others call spiritual awakening or enlightenment - for a state of consciousness. I want to address this subject in this episode. I am going to...

This episode is on the Tower of Babel. It is the last of a series that I have been doing on interpreting the Book of Genesis from a nondual perspective.  View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

I am returning to the Book of Genesis and interpreting it from the perspective of nonduality. Today I am going to look at the well-known story of Noah and the Flood.  View Marshall's books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU