Did Jesus really teach nonduality?

Published 2023-05-13
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 them the way I normally do. He interrupted and said, “I understand that this is how you interpret it, but is that what Jesus really meant?” That was an important question, and it began a very interesting conversation about the historical Jesus.

This was not the first time I have been asked something like that. I was interviewed on a podcast, and the interviewer asked me, “Do you REALLY think Jesus taught nonduality?” I could hear the incredulity in his voice. People have a difficult time believing that Jesus really taught nonduality. And it is right to be skeptical. So I want to address this today.

All Comments (21)
  • @Pastor_Tom
    One can't be much more nondual than to understand; "The Father and I are one."
  • @mattskionet
    I think this is brilliant and correctly nuanced. It isn't easy to overcome centuries of misinterpretation, to let go of doctrines impressed upon us in childhood. And the non-dual teaching is itself extremely subtle and paradoxical--very difficult for the rational mind to grasp. But the highest truth is the same whether approached from the East or the West.
  • @Danster82
    Absolutely. Jesus statements are always non dual. Or he takes common psychological conditioning which is dualistic and pulls them together into non dual. So one example  “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[a] and hate your enemy.’ (duality)44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (non dual) And you can basically see this pattern throughout Jesus teachings.
  • I agree with you 100 percent, Marshal Davis. Thank you for your teachings.
  • @markjohnson543
    Really great teaching. It is my first time to hear Marshall teach, and his views are very similar to wat i have concluded via my own studies and contemplations over some decades. I am very happy to hear this version of the Good News being spread.
  • @chubbatheBOSS
    Ramana Maharishi also taught at different levels. He would start at advaita and if people didn’t understand he would adjust the teaching to become more dualistic. People will understand the Bible and Jesus’s teachings based on their own spiritual development. People can use it to reinforce their ego or for liberation. For example someone whose mind is still stuck in the ego power structures and hierarchies of the world will say the Bible is full of rules and you should follow them and if you don’t, you will burn in 🔥!! Those are the loudest ones and ruin it for everybody. These are the kind of people who killed Jesus because they don’t understand what he taught. But those mystics who have had spiritual experiences and who are into deep silent contemplation and have a connection with God themselves will understand his teachings very differently- in the nondual way. The mystics and nondual folks need not pay attention to the religious fundamentalists because they are just a distraction that we don’t need. One can only understand nonduality in deep silence- we need to sit with it and the mystery will reveal itself. His nondual message is more clearly seen in works like A Course in miracles and Christian Science texts. Also Jesus is not separated from us by space (thousands of miles away, different culture) or time (2000 years ago)- that is all a lie based on the illusion of this word. He is not a person from the past. Jesus’ presence is always right here and right now in the present moment- that is nondual understanding. Jesus can be thought of as synonymous with the present moment. That’s why the book “The Power of Now” is actually about Jesus- written by Jesus
  • @acehilm.
    Thank you for the video! How I see it is that the apocalyptic scenes written in Revelation are more of a lifting of the veil, so to speak. That all wordly things cease to be as they were at the moment of "awakening". I also see that the repentance of sin was more of a reclaiming of ones true nature, seeing that sin means missing the mark.. missing the point. Adam and Eve were seeminly fooled into believing they were apart from God. Thus, jesus saying to turn from sin and repent was to in fact reclaim ones self, and with this, to ask for forgiveness for believing we were ever apart from Him and also truly allow that unconditional forgivness of oneself.
  • 8 Things Jesus said: "The world hates me because I testify about it that it's works are evil" "Don't be surprised when the world hates you, it hated me first" "If any man looks at a woman with lust he has already committed adultery in his heart with her." "Unless you eat my body and drink my blood you have no life in you" "Those that believe the Son have eternal life, those that do not obey the Son will not see life but the wrath of God abides on them" "Unless you believe in me you will die in your sins" "Unless you repent you will likewise perish" Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (a yoke is a collar worn by cattle, it is the point where the ropes are attached allowing them to pull a plow or a cart.) Read your Bible or you will be misinformed.
  • The Gospel of Thomas is the most heavily non-dual of the gospels, and it's no wonder it got edited out of the Bible. It would really only make sense to one coming from a non-dual perspective.
  • Marshall Couleur you talk a little bit about the Gospel of Thomas? I think its probably the most non-dualistic Gospel we have, yet as far as I see you don’t have any video about it. Blessings ❤
  • God said to Jeremiah the prophet in the first chapter of the book of Jeremiah that he knew Jeremiah (consciousness) before he was in his mother's belly (body). God said to Jeremiah (consciousness) "Before I formed you in the womb I set you apart." (set him apart from the one, from the whole) and God said, "You must go to everyone I send you to, and you will speak whatever I command you." God is telling Jeremiah that Jeremiah (consciousness) will go to "whom he is sent (body) and he will speak the words God commands him to (shared consciousness). God told Jeremiah that the words that come from Jeremiah's mouth belong to God (shared consciousness), Jeremiah said. "And the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth."
  • Have you read A Course In Miracles... not of this world for Jesus overcame the world, it is a fallen construct He says it is a vain imagination and does not exist
  • @ChrisMusante
    Isaiah 45:7 - 'creates' vs. 'makes and forms'. There is a duality - but they work in a non-complimentary/very complimentary fashion.
  • @ranger-uw3gw
    Is nondual to say the everything is God without opposition? Is God both good and evil to you?
  • @barrydupont9744
    Thank you so much for your work. Please allow me to express a solution that matches both Nonduality and Bible exposition. The N.T. is very misunderstood after the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. In short it got "re-interpreted". Matthew through Revelation is about the ending of the old covenant world not the greco-roman world. Jesus was saving the old covenant people from the ending of the old covenant's "independent human identity construct in the their law". This was for the "law-keepers" and the "Scattered" that had become Gentiles. This as the gospel was preached to "all creation (covenant) under heaven". Then the end. Their covenant heavens and earth vanished away. It's all about redemption from the law for both groups. This Covenant world end would also manifest that God is all in all. This can be proven theologically through the whole New Testament. If God has all the glory then there is no other glory. There is God. For them their types and figures and their revelation of independent factor ended. Their old covenant cosmos. The full ending of the old was the fullness of their new. God, all in all.
  • @shadowbody
    Virus of the new age world: You are God.
  • @edanan99
    The hypostatic union is as nondual as it gets