The following is an excerpt from The Sutra on the Mount by Toto Tay. It’s a featured Speakeasy selection, and there are still limited review copies available for qualified reviewers.
I chose the term sutra deliberately, as a play on words to show how the Sermon on the Mount can be explored from a different point of view. Traditionally, the word sutra is used in Buddhism and Hinduism to describe a concise precept or teaching. In Sanskrit, it means thread. I really like the term, as it also suggests that there’s an interconnectedness that should be taken into account.
When I look at what Jesus taught—especially his Sermon on the Mount and similar Sermon on the Plain—it seems to me that Jesus practiced a kind of midrash just as many teachers of the Tanakh Hebrew scriptures would have done… As a method, it allows one to dive deeply into the life and spirit of a text beyond the surface appearance of its words.
One of the lenses I view things through is that of nonduality. So, what’s nonduality? It literally means “not two.” The understanding here is that reality is not composed of independent and separate entities. Conceptually, it emphasizes oneness, interconnectedness, and unity in all things beyond objects and phenomena. It challenges the dualistic perception of the world as good and bad, subject or object, self and other, sacred and secular, inviting us into a deeper awareness, one in which all things are held together in the mystery of wholeness.
That’s not to say we’re all the same, or that all spiritual paths are equal. I also don’t believe this material world is all just an illusion either… Instead of there being separate parts and pieces, there is an experienced cohesion of the Divine being expressed and imbuing all of it, in and as all of it.
So, whether we call it Pure Awareness, Consciousness, Ultimate Reality, the True Self, Shiva, YHWH, God, Christ, or any of ninety-nine or a thousand names, words still fall absurdly flat… My invitation to you, dear reader, is this: when He said, “You have heard that it was said to those in ancient times…but I say to you,” it was a call to release what no longer serves, to let go of assumptions and projections.
…My encouragement to you is that any time you open the Bible or any other spiritual text, begin with asking yourself: What do I see in the text—not what I was taught or thought it said before—and why?
As I explained in the introduction, one method that Jesus himself seemed to exercise is this tradition that presented texts and teachings that could hold multiple meanings, a built-in flexibility that allowed YHWH to reveal new truths directly and personally.
…Like I said, I’m using the lens of nonduality simply because that’s what draws my attention within these stories. I’m hoping as you listen closely, with the ears of your own heart, different things will likely jump out for you, too. That’s how it’s supposed to work.
…Jesus places virtue above legalism. He’s shown us how easy it is to get caught up in distractions and empty habits. What we need is a bit of a course correction, but not toward more ritual for ritual’s sake, and certainly not by pretending to be something we’re not. Performance Christianity is just pride in disguise, and it’s disgusting. It not only gets in the way of seeing the Divine in others and elevating those in need, but it also flips the entire thing on its head. It becomes self-elevating, missing the point entirely.
…Hands that cling to what they have, often in overabundance, aren’t empty. Fists are made from clutching one’s grip. Yet empty hands are open and able to receive anything from the Divine.
…I believe the idea that Jesus was getting at is that in true equality, the left and right hands both extend from the same heart, flowing outward from the same Oneness. Don’t let the left hand know what your right hand is doing doesn’t imply secrecy out of suspicion or shame. It implies unity. Even when our hands aren’t engaged in the same task at the same time, each one still shines with the same vibrancy from the same Consciousness.
…Jesus isn’t rejecting prayer, fasting, or giving altogether. He’s pointing us back to the heart of the matter. He’s calling us to practice these things not for recognition, but from a place of inner integrity, a heart centered in compassion, equality, and awareness.
Sutra 3.4
Remember that spiritual practices can easily become performances. So when you engage in them, let it be with the understanding that they are meant to cultivate balance and equality, to deepen your recognition of Oneness.
Praise for The Sutra on the Mount
“I really enjoyed reading this book and am into my second consecutive reading. This is a book that those with right brains will love, though I think that left brains will appreciate the humor. More than a new way to see the Sermon on the Mount, it is a different way, a way beyond ordinary words, a way that takes us to the truly spiritual.”
—Amazon Review
“Ever the student, I enjoy reading about new perspectives the Bible. I love the way the author explores Jesus’s teachings.”
—Amazon Review
“Sutra on the Mount is a beautiful weaving of ‘threads’ into a truly inter-spiritual garment. One that can prod into motion our concretized ideas—with wisdom, with humor, with open-hearted sincerity. Reading this book is like having tea with an old friend, one that sees into the depth of things, and beckons us along with him.”
—Amazon Review
About the Author
Toto Tay is an independent researcher, a caregiver and special needs parent, an adoring spouse, a doodle-dad, a wisecracker, an artist, an ally, a friend, and a big, big fan of non-duality in all its forms… and formlessness.
The Sutra on the Mount on Bookshop
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