It should be noted that despite what some in Christianity think, Jesus was a Non-Dualist, not a Dualist.
We are all our father’s children.
In Non Dualism we acknowledge that we are one with God, the universe including all of humanity.
In Dualism, there is a belief that God is separate from humanity. The classic idea and picture of someone being up in the sky watching our every move and judging/rewarding us.
Throughout Jesus’ ministries, he exemplified oneness with our father via the profound experience of enlightenment.
So when he says “I and the father are one” he is simply indicating he has fully realized this enlightenment, and he was seeking to teach as many others to have that same realization that they are one with our father. He knew this was not exclusive to him, but all his brothers and sisters in the world could realize it too.
Experiencing unity and oneness with our Father does not mean he was claiming he was a God himself, nor was he asking anyone to worship him. Unfortunately, the way he worded his proclamation made him an enemy of the state and the religious establishment at the time. The claim of being one with god can invite claims of blasphemy, but once enlightenment is reached, you experience and feel unity with our father, just as Jesus did. Achieving oneness with our Father does not make anyone a God, it just means transcendence was achieved.
For any skeptics reading, we all have access to experience this first hand. This is a testable and verifiably true claim as long as his teachings in life are earnestly followed, not just declaring that “he is lord”
The language Jesus used has inevitably sown confusion in the years following his death, as many have similarly misunderstood his claim of oneness with God as a declaration that he was God himself. For a spiritual community accustomed to duality or “separation from God” being the norm, it’s no surprise his claim of oneness with our father was misinterpreted as actually being a God himself.
In his teachings, he emphasized that we are all “children of the Father” a declaration that underscores our shared oneness, rather than the misconception within the modern faith that he was the only Son of God
Those who insist he is literally the ONLY Son of God need to consider the impossibility of that claim in consideration of his other statements indicating we are all children of our father, just in case you needed additional proof that he was a non dualist. These misinterpretations were an unfortunate side effect of Jesus’ use of poetic language and people’s tendency in the years since to interpret them incorrectly. Jesus spoke symbolically often or sometimes even in hyperbole to make his points.
Another unintended consequence of the misunderstanding that Jesus was the exclusive and sole son of god, is the formation of a religion/faith centered around him where as a result, practitioners of his faith inevitably develop feelings where they are the members of the “best religion” in the world, superior to all others that are false and of “the devil”. This all flies in the face of Jesus’ teachings that we are all one. As he taught that we should not see “other” people as anything except our neighbors and brothers/sisters. This line of thinking also lead to historical events such as the crusades where millions from other faiths are slaughtered by followers of Jesus. Reminder that the ones doing the slaughtering were part of a faith that explicitly instructed them to love others. Just one of the ways Christianity as an organized religion dropped the ball after the death of Jesus, by losing sight of his message completely.
We are all reflections of our source and father—and in this, you are no different from Jesus. This is the essence of His teachings; We are no different than him by also being Sons/Daughters of our father.
Jesus’ teachings of non-duality, is also a concept resonant in the teachings of eastern practices like Buddhism and Hinduism— resulting in a realization of unity with all things. This impacted his rhetoric during his teachings, his claims of being “one with our father” was no doubt simply his way of communicating oneness with the universe. For those wondering, Buddhism is a practice not a religion, and it’s one that is compatible with Jesus’ teachings. For those fearful of burning in a lake of fire for practicing Buddhist practices, you would only be incorporating practices that reinforce what Jesus taught. The notion and insistence that we must remain separate from other groups is purely ego, a desire we most collectively let go of as we have more in common than we think.
This misunderstanding has also inadvertently led many to focus on worshiping Jesus himself, rather than embracing and following his teachings to achieve the same oneness with our father that he had been teaching his followers. Far too often his teachings that emphasize the importance of benevolence, empathy, invoking the Holy Spirit, transcending our ego’s weaknesses, pursuing unity, etc.
His attainment of this enlightened consciousness that he also wanted others to achieve. Achieving the same consciousness of oneness with our father that Jesus achieved, does not suggest some narcissistic display of self-deification. Rather it is an acceptance of our unity with all other humans and our great father. It’s something he taught all his followers to realize, that they were also one with God. This is the very antithesis of ego-driven narcissism.
To be one with “our Father” is not to claim an exclusive divine relationship but to recognize ourselves as extensions and reflections of the greater whole. The path Jesus taught was one of unity—with fellow humans and the Universe itself. If His teachings are followed earnestly, they guide us toward this interconnectedness. It should also be noted that in his teachings, Jesus never stipulated that anyone to accept Him as their Savior to achieve truth/enlightenment. Such interpretations, often taught by your favorite local pastors, incorrectly impart this instruction, despite Jesus never teaching this as a prerequisite for enlightenment. These preachers miss the deeper wisdom He imparted—a teaching that calls us to embrace our oneness with all humanity and the greater universe via in addition to teachings of benevolence, altruism, selflessness and tapping into the holy spirit that binds all of us together and is available to all of us above our ego consciousness.
Imagine you had achieved enlightenment and profound oneness with all, only for others to misinterpret your realization and begin worshiping you as God. This, ironically, became the actual legacy of Jesus’ life after his death. He sought to guide others toward enlightenment, yet this inadvertently inspired a religion centered on his worship— in what is tragically human history’s biggest instance of irony.
For any Christians turned off by the use of the word “enlightenment” for being reminiscent of eastern faiths. It is one of many words used to describe the same thing Jesus was describing when he used the word heaven. Plenty of other terms have been used such as; spiritual awakening, nirvana, kundalini, Moksha, Satori, Self awareness, etc. Besides
Upon someone’s first hand realization that Jesus was actually teaching non duality and oneness, then enlightenment is does not come off as a distant a term to use in consideration how close it is to other faiths who have similarly achieved this reality and truth.
The desire to constantly distinguish ourselves from people in other groups is contrary to Jesus teachings of accepting our unity as humans. Truly practicing Jesus teaching would be seeing people of different races/practices/faiths as your neighbors and one with you and our greater father. Only our egos want us to be constantly separated from others.
Jesus associated the ecstasy of a spiritual awakening to the word heaven which was an understandable word to use in consideration that you are experiencing total unity with the universe above us, everything surrounding us, and with all fellow humans. That being said, this needs to be experienced when you’re alive, not after death which has been another instance of misinformation from Christianity as an organized religion since its formation.
It is very sad to imagine the look on people’s faces when after they die, realizing “heaven” was supposed to be activated and enjoyed during their life, not after their death. This is something that could be avoided if mainstream churches shifted their teachings to what Jesus actually taught instead of; worshiping him, demands that you accept him as your savior or that an acceptance that he died for your “sins”.
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