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The Tao of Christ

263 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 days ago - ★★★★★ - 84 ratings

The Tao of Christ is a podcast which explores the mystical roots of Christianity, which Jesus called the Kingdom of God, which church historian Evelyn Underhill called the Unitive Life, which Richard Rohr calls the Universal Christ, and which I refer to as Christian nonduality, unitive awareness, or union with God. This is the Tao of Christ.

Spirituality Religion & Spirituality Christianity non-duality non-dualism advaita taoism tao te ching christian mysticism nonduality spirituality contemplative progressive christianity
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Episodes

Pain and Nonduality

March 24, 2024 14:00 - 16 minutes - 11.2 MB

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? 

The Holy Spirit of Nonduality

March 06, 2024 12:00 - 14 minutes - 9.76 MB

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

Nondual Guide to American Politics

February 17, 2024 12:00 - 16 minutes - 11.4 MB

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

Nondual Repentance

February 03, 2024 12:00 - 15 minutes - 10.4 MB

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 consciou...

Apocalypse Now

January 27, 2024 12:00 - 21 minutes - 15.1 MB

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

The Forgiveness of Nonduality

January 20, 2024 12:00 - 16 minutes - 11.5 MB

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.

Becoming Child Again

January 13, 2024 12:00 - 14 minutes - 9.7 MB

In Jesus’ teaching children represented the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Becoming like children is a metaphor that used for what in other spiritual traditions is called enlightenment, awakening, nirvana, liberation, self-realization or any number of other terms. Children know naturally what adults have forgotten.  He need to remember what we have forgotten.

From Self-Obsession to Self-Realization

January 01, 2024 12:00 - 14 minutes - 10.3 MB

In this episode I show how we can move from the Western cult of the self to Jesus’ teaching of Self-Realization.

Abiding in Nondual Awareness

December 23, 2023 12:00 - 17 minutes - 12.1 MB

Today I am going to get back to basics. I am going to describe how to abide in nondual awareness, as much as that can be described. If I were to use Christian language I would call this dwelling in the Kingdom of God or living in the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is the term Jesus used and is probably best translated “the Spiritual Realm.” This is also called “living in the Spirit” or “walking in the Spirit” or “abiding in Christ” or simply being “in Christ.” 

The Nondual Word of God

December 16, 2023 12:00 - 13 minutes - 9.04 MB

The phrase “Word of God” is used a lot by Christians. I hear it in church every Sunday. When Christians talk about the Word of God, they are usually referring to the Christian scriptures. In this episode today I am proposing another way of understanding the term – a more inclusive use of the term, which also happens to be the Biblical way of understanding the phrase.  Biblically speaking the Word of God is not limited to a book. We can say the Bible is the Word of God, but it does not exhau...

Have a Nondual Christmas

November 29, 2023 12:00 - 17 minutes - 12.4 MB

In this episode I interpret the biblical Christmas stories in a nondual manner.

The Stories We Tell

November 18, 2023 12:00 - 13 minutes - 9.62 MB

Humans are a story-telling species. You could say that story-telling is what distinguishes us from all other creatures on this planet. Families tell family stories to strengthen their family bonds. Nations and political parties tell stories that distinguish from others. Religions tell stories of their origin, nature and identity.  As individuals we tell stories about ourselves. In that way we develop a personal identity. At some point we may notice that many of the stories that we tell ours...

Brokenness and Wholeness

November 04, 2023 11:00 - 19 minutes - 13.4 MB

There is a common misunderstanding about nondual awareness, spiritual awakening, liberation, self-realization, enlightenment or whatever you want to call it.  The misunderstanding is that it is cure-all for everything that ails us. That the culmination of the spiritual search is a cessation of all psychological pain.  It is not. This episode explores the brokenness of the human condition, even after spiritual awakening, and how brokenness can lead to realization of our True Nature.

Nonduality and the News

October 28, 2023 11:00 - 14 minutes - 9.77 MB

For many people the news is stressful. I read a TIME magazine article the other day entitled “Where to Seek Help if the Israel-Hamas War is Impacting Your Mental Health.” There are regular senseless mass shootings.  A big issue is political discord in American politics.  Political opinions affect churches and divide churches. They divide families. It is only going to get worse in the coming year until the 2024 general election. Then we will see what happens between Election Day and inaugura...

Get Out of Your Head

October 14, 2023 11:00 - 13 minutes - 9.33 MB

In this episode I ponder the inability of me - or anyone for that matter - to communicate the nature and the experience of this unitive reality that Jesus called the Kingdom of God, and which most of us simply call God, the Divine, the One, or Reality.

The Antidote for Fear-based Religion

September 23, 2023 11:00 - 15 minutes - 10.8 MB

When I look at Christianity I see lots of fear. It seems to have become a religion based on fear. Preachers tell us to be afraid, be very afraid. Fear God and fear punishment for sin and fear Judgment Day and most of all fear going to hell. Fire and brimstone preachers have learned that fear keeps people in the pews and in their particular form of Christianity. At least it used to. People are wising up to the scare tactics. They do not work the way they used to. But still many preachers try ...

Nondual Interpretation of Scripture

September 09, 2023 11:00 - 17 minutes - 12.2 MB

I have been receiving quite a few questions recently asking me how I would interpret certain passages in the Christian scriptures. People quote verses that seem to contradict what I am saying, and they want me to explain them.  For example I recently said in an episode that heaven is not a place. It is the spiritual reality not in the hereafter but here and now. Someone asked me how I would explain Jesus saying, “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you t...

The Closing Vision of Siddhartha

September 02, 2023 11:00 - 16 minutes - 11.4 MB

I read Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha back in the 60’s when I was in college. It was a rite of passage back then. But I did not really know experientially what it was all about until I was in my sixties. Later in this episode I am going to take a look the closing vision in Hermann Hesse’s book Siddhartha and show how it informs Christian nonduality, and in particular how it informs the nondual understanding of what happens after the death of the body. 

Hitler in Heaven

August 26, 2023 11:00 - 19 minutes - 13.8 MB

During the summer when the weather is good, we attend an outdoor worship service held by a Congregational church in a neighboring town. In her sermon last Sunday the pastor talked about her ordination exam five years ago. In preparation for the ordination council she invited some clergy friends to send her the most challenging questions that might be asked during the oral examination. One asked, “Is Gandhi in heaven?” He followed up with the question, “Is Hitler in Heaven?” Finally he asked ...

Jesus Was Not a Christian

August 19, 2023 11:00 - 16 minutes - 11.3 MB

Recently I have been thinking about Jesus and his relationship to Christianity. I came across a quote that stated that Jesus was not a Christian. Here is the whole statement: “Buddha was not a Buddhist. Jesus was not a Christian. Muhammad was not a Muslim. They were teachers who taught love. Love was their religion.” Is that true? In this episode I explore that statement, focusing on the idea that Jesus was not a Christian, and why that matters today.  

Nondual Discernment

July 22, 2023 11:00 - 15 minutes - 10.4 MB

This episode explores the final section of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus ends his longest and most famous teaching by warning us to be careful of those who would misinterpret his teachings to promote their own agenda. In other words he advises us to use discernment when it comes to spiritual teachers.   

How to Enter the Kingdom of God

July 15, 2023 11:00 - 14 minutes - 9.99 MB

In the last part of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus focuses on how to enter the Kingdom of God. From a Buddhist perspective this question would be expressed as how to enter Nirvana or how to be enlightened. The Hindu might ask how to be liberated. Different spiritual traditions have different terms for this, but it is the same spiritual reality. 

Do Not Judge

July 08, 2023 11:00 - 18 minutes - 12.5 MB

The section of the Sermon on the Mount that I am looking at today has to be one of the best, as well as the most neglected and misused portions of the teachings of Jesus. It is about not judging. “Judge not, that you be not judged.” I will show how it has its roots in Jesus’ teaching of nonduality.   

Learning from Nature How to Live

July 01, 2023 11:00 - 13 minutes - 9.64 MB

I am continuing my journey through the Sermon on the Mount, interpreting it from a nondual perspective. Today I look at one of the most beautiful passages in the Bible in my opinion, sometimes known as the “lilies of the field” passage.  The topic of the section is worry or anxiety. I did an episode entitled “Beyond Anxiety and Fear” immediately before I started this series about the Sermon on the Mount. So I do not want to repeat myself. I will talk about worry, since that is the subject J...

How Christianity Lost Its Way

June 24, 2023 11:00 - 15 minutes - 10.7 MB

Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom of God, which is his term for the awareness of the Presence of the Divine. His message was the omnipresence of God, not as a doctrine to be believed but a reality to be experienced. That was the gospel of Jesus. But that is not the gospel that has been historically proclaimed by the Christian church. When one looks for evidence of this message throughout church history it is difficult to find. One only spots glimpses of it sticking up like flowers growing between...

Fasting from Self

June 17, 2023 11:00 - 14 minutes - 9.97 MB

Today I will finish the section of the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus dedicates to nondual spiritual practices. Here he deals with fasting and possessions. 

The Lord’s Prayer – Nondual Style

June 10, 2023 11:00 - 17 minutes - 11.8 MB

Last time I started the section of the Sermon on the Mount that deals with Spiritual Practices, but I only got as far as almsgiving and prayer. I did not even get all the way through what Jesus says about prayer. I wanted to devote a whole episode to the Lord’s Prayer, because it holds such an important place in Christian tradition. So today I am giving a nondual interpretation of the Lord’s Prayer.

Nondual Spiritual Practices

June 03, 2023 11:00 - 15 minutes - 10.9 MB

Today I continue the interpretation of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount from a nondual perspective. Last time it was the nondual ethics of Jesus. From there Jesus goes on to talk about spiritual practices. So I am calling this episode “the nondual spiritual practices of Jesus.”

The Nondual Ethics of Jesus

May 27, 2023 11:00 - 16 minutes - 11.3 MB

In this episode I will show how nonduality underlies Jesus’ ethics. His ethical teachings in the Sermon on the Mount have a pattern. First Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said…” and then he quotes a passage from the Torah. Then he adds, “but I say to you.” Then he give his teaching. In other words he says, “The Bible says this, but I say this.” He was not negating what the Bible said. He was building upon it and completing it. He was fulfilling it.  I am going to take each of these ...

A Nondual Approach to Scripture

May 20, 2023 11:00 - 14 minutes - 9.97 MB

In this episode I expound Jesus’ nondual approach to Scripture found in the Sermon on the Mount.

Did Jesus Really Teach Nonduality?

May 13, 2023 11:00 - 15 minutes - 10.7 MB

I finished the beatitudes of Jesus in the last episode. I may continue a nondual interpretation of the rest of the Sermon on the Mount in the future, but today I am going to take a break and address another issue, which is related. The issue is: Did Jesus really teach nonduality? I have been asked that on occasion. A few weeks ago I was on a Zoom call with a psychologist who is a listener. He asked about my nondual interpretation of Jesus’ apocalyptic teachings, and I started to expound the...

Persecuted for Nonduality

May 06, 2023 11:00 - 17 minutes - 8.51 MB

In this episode I am looking at the eighth and final beatitude in what I am calling the Eightfold Path of Jesus. It says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” It is immediately followed by what some consider a ninth beatitude, but is actually an expansion of the eighth because it deals with the same topic.  Jesus simply shifts it from the third person to the second person. He says, “Blessed are you when people insult you, pers...

Nondual Peacemaking

April 29, 2023 11:00 - 16 minutes - 8.36 MB

Today I look at the seventh of the nondual beatitudes of Jesus. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.” Nondual awareness – unitive awareness – is characterized by peace. Inner peace that promotes outer peace. This is the peace that passes human understanding. It is the peace of God, the peace of Christ, the prince of peace. 

Purehearted

April 22, 2023 11:00 - 14 minutes - 7.16 MB

Today I look at the sixth of the eight blessings of Jesus in which he describes nondual awareness. In this one he describes it as pureheartedness. He says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” It so happens that at the present time I am rereading the Ashtavakra Gita, which is one of the classics of Indian nondualism. He talks about “pure of heart” in chapter 17, which I was reading just before I shut off the light to go to sleep last night.  It says: “The liberated soul ...

Nondual Mercy

April 15, 2023 11:00 - 13 minutes - 6.87 MB

This episode explores the fifth of the eight nondual beatitudes of Jesus. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” 

Hungry for Rightness

April 08, 2023 11:00 - 14 minutes - 7.29 MB

Today I am looking at the fourth of Jesus’ nondual beatitudes. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.” This may be the most important of the eight beatitudes. At least it has been in my life. It is the one consistent characteristic in my search for truth, and it eventually resulted in the shift that is often called spiritual awakening. 

Nondual Awareness as Meekness

April 01, 2023 11:00 - 14 minutes - 7.42 MB

Today I am looking at the third beatitude in Jesus’ eightfold path of nondual awareness. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

My Lord, What a Mourning!

March 25, 2023 11:00 - 13 minutes - 9.03 MB

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.

Nondual Beatitudes

March 18, 2023 11:00 - 17 minutes - 11.8 MB

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 today - and for a few episodes at least, I will interpret the Sermon on the Mount as teachings o...

Beyond Anxiety and Fear

March 04, 2023 12:00 - 17 minutes - 11.7 MB

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, fear and anxiety.     

Consciousness and Love

February 25, 2023 12:00 - 16 minutes - 11.6 MB

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 the heart of Christianity. Nonduality tends to focus on consciousness. It is sometimes summed u...

Who Does Jesus Say You Are?

February 18, 2023 12:00 - 16 minutes - 11.2 MB

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 am what I am.”  These “I Am” statements got me wondering if there were also “You are” statemen...

Outgrowing Churchianity

February 12, 2023 12:00 - 17 minutes - 11.8 MB

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 of God. I explore several of those stories, especially the Parable of the Sower. 

Jesus and the Rock of Nonduality

February 04, 2023 12:00 - 16 minutes - 11.1 MB

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 church.” They both refer to Nonduality as the bedrock of reality.

You are Christ

January 21, 2023 12:00 - 16 minutes - 11.2 MB

In this episode I ponder our true identity in Christ. Then I explain how this can be experienced by means of meditation on scripture.  

Practice Dying

January 07, 2023 12:00 - 17 minutes - 12 MB

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 1896, and it was actually the event that precipitated his spiritual awakening. His account is me...

Spiritual Practices and Awakening

December 30, 2022 12:00 - 16 minutes - 11 MB

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 there is nothing they can do to wake up spiritually, but they are hoping there is something that m...

The Essence of Christmas

December 04, 2022 12:00 - 13 minutes - 9.28 MB

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. The holiday of Christmas expresses the oneness that is our true nature and the nature of the o...

Secondhand Religion and Spiritual Awakening

November 30, 2022 12:00 - 16 minutes - 11.4 MB

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. 

Nonduality and Church

November 20, 2022 16:00 - 15 minutes - 10.6 MB

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 Christianity.  Some people have had spiritual experiences – glimpses of nondual reality – and are no ...