This episode was prompted by an email that I received from a listener He wrote:

My question is this: If there is no puppeteer, why do I see circumstances that line up in ways that there is no possibility that they are random? I see this on a regular basis and can give you instance after instance. I used to use this awareness to maintain my dualistic thinking. I believe flow happens in a different way now, but I wondered how you approached perceived providence.

He goes on in this and a follow-up email. He is talking about the sense that at times we sense the pattern that is at work being the scenes. If human history is a cosmic drama, then once in a while we glimpse the script. 

I deal with that a bit in the episode where I talk about the closing vision in Herman Hesse's book Siddhartha. We try to make sense of our visions at such times. We use words like Providence, synchronicity, déjà vu, predestination, kismet, divine coincidence, which the pastor at our church calls God-incidence. 

View Marshall's books here:

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

Recently I have been talking about how nonduality is integrated into and expressed in everyday life. In the past couple of episodes I have been addressing moral and political decisions, such as politics and war. Specifically I have talked about the Gaza war and dualistic American politics of right versus left, conservatives versus liberals, Republicans versus Democrats. 

The responses I have received indicate to me that I am not communicating very well that nonduality is not political position or a worldview or a philosophy or a religion or an idea or a principle or something like that.  That means that I need to get back to basics once again. So that is what I am doing today.

I have said before that I see two approaches to awakening to Ultimate Reality. Self-inquiry and God-inquiry. We look inward in search of a self and we look outward in search of a God. Both inquiries end up in the same place: the realization that there is no self and no God. 

What I mean by that is that there is no separate self and separate God as traditionally understood. When it is seen that there is no separate self and separate god, it is seen there is no problem. All problems, including the problem of suffering and the problem or evil drop away when Reality is seen.

View Marshall's books here:

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

We live in an age of outrage. Everyone is outraged about something or other. The most recent outrage is over the war in Gaza. Students on college campuses across our country and around the world are calling attention the unending killing going on in Gaza. That is causing outrage by counter protesters who support Israel and see the protesters as terrorist sympathizers and antisemites. 

Politics these days are no longer civil statesmanship. It is the politics of outrage with each side casting the other side as a danger to our nation and our rights. Culture warriors on the right and Social Justice warriors on the left, both outraged at the other.  We live in an age of outrage. If you are not outraged about something, then people think you do not care.

It is so easy to get caught up in this outrage. To be outraged by the threats to constitutional rights and freedoms. To be outraged at the destruction of our environment. To be outraged at callous disregard to human life and human suffering and human rights. I am not immune to these feelings and thoughts. No one is immune. It is part of our American culture and even our world culture.  Yet when one views all this from nondual awareness something shifts.

This episode explores how nondual awareness changes our perspective on what is happening in the world and in our society.

View Marshall's books here:

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

Christian Nonduality and the  Biblical God

Addressing Religious Compatibility and Violence
Marshall addressed concerns about the compatibility of non-duality with the Old Testament God's violent nature, specifically in light of the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Marshall clarified that true Judaism, Islam, and Christianity are religions of peace, and the violence perpetuated in the name of these religions does not represent their true teachings.

Divine Reality and Scripture Interpretation
He also claimed that every scripture, when taken literally, distorts this divine reality, but at its best, it serves as a window to this nondual reality that is the heart of all spiritual traditions.

Non-Dual Perspective on Gaza Conflict
Marshall discussed the ongoing conflict in Gaza from a non-dual perspective, emphasizing the importance of understanding the suffering and complexities on both sides. He urged compassion and love towards all parties involved, rather than aligning with one side or labeling them as 'good' or 'evil'. He spoke of the importance of non-dual awareness in achieving lasting peace and encouraged spiritual people of all faiths to embody peace and speak out for it.

AI-generated summary

View Marshall's books here:

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

I got an email from a man who is in constant chronic pain. He asked me to do an episode on the topic. I talked about the OT Book of Job and the Problem of Suffering a while back, but this man was talking about something less philosophical and more practical. How do we deal with pain, especially when that pain is intense and continuous? 

View Marshall's books here:

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

This episode is about the Holy Spirit and how this important Christian belief and experience fits into nondual Christianity. 

View Marshall's books here:

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

In this episode I talk about how to approach American politics - and especially the 2024 election - from a nondual perceptive as nondual awareness. 

View Marshall's books here:

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

I have talked about repentance before in a nondual context, but I have not dedicated an entire episode to it. So today I am. The call to repent is normally talked about in moral and ethical terms, but that is just the surface of it. When followed to its end repentance is a path to spiritual awakening. It is the door to what Jesus called the Kingdom of God. Jesus said, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” 

This episode has a discussion of the difference between awareness and consciousness, including a discussion of this topic by Nisargadatta Maharaj.

View Marshall's books here:

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

In this episode I explain how to interpret the apocalyptic passages of the New Testament from a nondual perspective.

View Marshall's books here:

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

In this episode I explain how the traditional Christian teaching on the forgiveness of sins is insufficient and how complete forgiveness is an expression of Christian nonduality.

View Marshall's books here:

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