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...
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 conquering death. This is the theme of the Gospel of Thomas. It is the Gospel of Life. The purpose of this gospel is knowing eternal life. In exploring this theme I look at the four ways of salvation in classic Indian thought: the devotional path called bhakti, the path of works called karma, and the path of knowledge called jnana, and the path of meditation called raja. I show how they are present in Christianity.
--------
13:41
The Hidden Gospel
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. It is not an esoteric gospel, but a gospel hidden in plain sight. It is an open secret, to use the phrase of nondual teacher Tony Parsons.
--------
14:09
Theosis: the Heart of Christmas
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.The theological heart of the Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus is the Incarnation. When interpreted correctly Incarnation is one of the most nondual teachings of the Church. It says that God became human. That is what sets Christianity apart from other monotheistic faiths. But the question is: Why did God become human? According to the early church father Athanasius, it was so that humans could become God. In the fifty-fourth chapter of his most well-known work, On the Incarnation, which he wrote when he was only as 23, he wrote this famous sentence, “God became man so that man might become God.” This teaching is known as theosis. It is the heart of the doctrine of the incarnation and therefore the heart of Christmas.
--------
13:26
The Truth behind Christmas Myths
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 Savior. Later the magi or wise men appear, following a star until it leads them to the Christ child, after a quick side trip to Jerusalem to get directions. Those who show up in church after Christmas Day hear the subsequent stories of the presentation of Jesus in the temple and meeting Simeon and Anna. Then there is the Slaughter of the Innocents by King Herod as he tries to murder the infant Jesus, followed by the holy family’s flight to Egypt to escape the murderous king, and their subsequent return to Nazareth. There are so many stories of Christmas. I call them the myths of Christmas.All the Christmas myths communicate spiritual truth. These truths often get lost when we get stuck on the issue of historicity. This is the problem with literalism. People’s minds are trained to be so closed that they cannot be open to the glory of the eternal Christ in us and through us and in and through all creation. The stories of Christmas are much more profound than literalists imagine. They contain truths for all people and all religions, not just a certain class of conservative Christian who holds the right creed.The key to enjoying the Christmas season in churches at Christmastime is to listen to the stories with an ear to the deeper meaning. As you listen to the stories, interpret them as being about spiritual Reality here and now. Not events that happened 2000 years ago. These wonderful Christmas myths communicate timeless Reality available always. That is the Truth behind the Christmas myths.
--------
15:08
The Annunciation as Awakening
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 with you.” Auden sheds a different light on Gabriel’s message. In his poem the first word out of Gabriel’s mouth is not “Hail” or “Greetings” but “Wake.” Wake up! Awake! In one sense Mary’s dream of a happy engagement and big wedding and living happily ever after will be disrupted by the announcement of the angel Gabriel that is going to change everything. As I read the poem I cannot help but think that there is another layer to this story. A spiritual layer. That when the messenger of God says, “Wake!” he is speaking of waking from the dream of life.
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.
Sverige