The topic for today was suggested by a seminary professor who emailed me. He wrote:

“Here’s a question I wonder if you tackle in your works or are interested in addressing: what does seeing through the illusion of the self entail for the concept of free will? In his book Everything is God: The Radical Path of Nondual Judaism, Jay Michaelson calls free will the last gasp of unenlightened thinking. The logic seems pretty clear: if there is no agent, how can there be agency? In the end, one might join with Julian of Norwich when she says of God, “There is no doer but He.” …. So I’d be curious to hear where your experiences and reflections have taken you on this question, if you are willing to share in a podcast or blog post at some point.”

In this episode I address the topic of free will within nonduality.

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In this episode today I reflect on Lent as an expression of Nonduality. I explore how the symbol of the Cross expresses the same reality as the Yin Yang symbol. 

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https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

A listener emailed me and said that he was reading my newest book The Gospel of Nonduality, and he had a question. He wrote: “The question that keeps popping up as I read is how does one die to self (or forget self or get out of the way, etc.)  How does one completely surrender?” I responded back to him saying that this is the most important question one could ask. It showed me that he was serious about this.

I get a lot of questions that miss the point. This man went directly to the main point. He wasn’t messing around. He wanted to know how. When Jesus encountered a man like this he responded, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” This is what it is all about. You have to keep your focus on the main thing and not get distracted by all the sidetracks in spirituality and religion.

I answered the man this way in part: “The answer is that there is no technique to die to self. It is something that happens rather than something we bring about. It is not a matter of which spiritual discipline works best. It is all a matter of intent, perseverance and courage.” 

I would like to expound on that answer in this episode. How do we die to self? How do we wake up? How do we break through this world of seeming duality into nondual awareness? To use terms from Eastern Traditions, how are we enlightened? How are we liberated? 

View Marshall's books here:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

This episode began as a suggestion from a listener in North Carolina. He asked me to explain the use of the term Christ. I look at various religious and theological uses of the title “Christ.” Then I distinguish between the dualistic use of the term Christ in theology and the experiential awareness of Christ, which is nondual unitive awareness.

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https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

The political climate in America is getting crazy. A survey released this week by LifeWay Research reported that half of all pastors report having heard people in their congregations repeat conspiracy theories.  I recently read an article in which a woman said that she believes that Trump won the 2020 election with the same certainty that she believes in God. I am sure she is said that to bolster the credibility of her conspiracy theory. But when people hear it, all it does is put faith in God on the same level as a conspiracy theory. No wonder so many people are skeptical of organized religion! 

Conspiracy theories have been around for quite a while, but they seem to have gotten worse in the last few years.  It is only in the last few years that I have started hearing phrases like fake news and alternative facts. A recent article in the evangelical magazine Christianity Today says that evangelicals disproportionately believe in conspiracy theories, especially QAnon. What does that say about evangelical Christianity?

One thing these last few years has taught me is how easily people are fooled … including us. Our brains are not a reliable as we think they are. How easy it is for the human mind to believe almost anything. When we enter into the world of religion and spirituality, there are no holds barred in this self-deception. In this episode we look at the presence of conspiracy theories in religion and spirituality, including nonduality, and what is means to awaken from all conspiracy theories.  

View Marshall's books here:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

Life is suffering. That is the first noble truth of the Buddha and the first sentence of psychiatrist Scott Peck’s classic book The Road Less Traveled. He phrased it as “Life is difficult.” Much of the suffering and difficulty in life comes from interpersonal relationships. They disturb our peace of mind and keep us awake at night. What hurts the most is when personal relationships with people we care about - friends and family - are damaged. At such times we look to spirituality for how to understand and address our feelings and thoughts. What does nonduality have to say to this? That is what I talk about in this episode.

View Marshall's books here:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In this episode I point to our true nature and the nature of Reality. This cannot be done directly so I will use a metaphor. One of the best is the traditional Zen koan about seeing our original face before we were born. I am going to do a variation on this by asking you to look at both what you were before birth and what you will be after death. 

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https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

In this episode we come to the final chapter of the Gospel of John, which I have been interpreting as a proclamation of the gospel of nonduality. In this chapter we explore how the gospel of nonduality had to struggle with dualistic gospel in the early centuries of the church. This involved a struggle for leadership in the church after the death of the apostle John. We look at the role of Mary Magdalene and women leaders in early nondual Christianity, as well as the nondual Gnostic texts of the Nag Hammadi library. 

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https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

Easter is a proclamation of Christian nonduality. This is seen in two of the most famous Easter stories, which are found in the 20th chapter of the Gospel of John. One is the familiar story of Mary Magdalene coming to the tomb of Jesus on Easter morning. The other is the equally famous story of Doubting Thomas. John’s presentation of the giving of the Holy Spirit – John’s Pentecost – is also examined as part of the Easter Sunday. It is placed on Easter to communicate the truth that the risen Christ shares his spirit, his essential nature with us. This empowerment is called Holy Spirit. It can also be called Self-Realization or Christ Consciousness. 

View Marshall's books here:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU

The symbol of the Christianity is the cross. It is also a powerful symbol of nonduality. 

View Marshall's books here:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marshall-Davis/author/B001K8Y0RU