The Universal God: The Search for God in the Twenty-First Century

By R. William Davies

The full title of this book is: "The Universal God, The Search for God in the Twenty-First Century". This book is written as a 'spiritual' quest to find God. The emphasis within this search is on the 'spiritual' and not the 'traditional' vision of God. The objective of this book is to allow the reader to independently search, define and better understand God's 'potential' within their own individual lives. There probably are no two readers who will read this book and come away with the exact same set of conclusions at the book's end.

The search begins within the major modern religions: Hinduism, Confucianism/Taoism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Each of these religions, in their own ways reveal God to us; sometimes in visions that are 'shared in common' with each other; and sometimes, in very startling and different visions. Within the context of this book, the author will discuss both those shared visions as well as those visions that are different and unique from each other.

This book differs from most of the other comparative religion books that are on the market. The 'dogmas, religious practices and rituals within each of these religions are not discussed in any in-depth detail. The book instead focuses its search on those 'divine sparks' and 'spiritual inspirations' that originally brought each of these religions into existence. The comparisons within this book are focused on the lives, direct spiritual teachings and theologies of those individuals and sources that gave birth and sparked the founding of each of these religions. If we are to find God's 'Spirituality', it must come from going directly back in time to each religions' inspirational origins. The book is written to make direct comparisons between what Jesus said, to what the Buddha said, to what Mohammed said, to what Krishna said, to what Confucius said, to what Moses (and the other Jewish prophets) said, and to what Lao-tzu said. When the founding teachings (which are the direct spiritual source of each of these religions) are compared, they are found to have many teachings that are 'shared in common' with each other.

The book is divided into three major sections. The first section introduces the premise for the book; establishes definitions that will allow the reader to understand the differing terminologies that each of the religions use; and then, provide guidelines for understanding the remainder of the book. The second section introduces and discusses each of the religions within their own individual and self-contained chapters. The third section is titled 'Commentary'. This section discusses the many teachings and beliefs that these religions do have in common with each other, as well as give explanations for those beliefs that are unique and individual to only one of the religions.

This book can equally function as a book for individual study or be used as a textbook for comparative religions study.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jan 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098341091

Book preview

PREFACE

The eternal quest for mankind has been to find God. The difficulty of this search is in our limitation of being. We are of the physical world and cannot rise above it. God makes himself known to us in this physical world, but his true essence remains somewhere beyond. Thus, we must rely on faith to find him. This faith is the bridge that allows us to cross over from the physical into the beyond.

Faith is difficult for most human beings to sustain. Only the most dedicated ever remain unshaken in their quest. For the majority of human beings, their faith often becomes dissipated in doubt and disillusionment. Thus, humanity has established religions to channel their faith toward God. Each different religion was begun on certain founding truths that go beyond mere physical reality. These truths are sanctified and passed down through the generations.

Humanity and its religions are of the physical world. We try to seek God in the beyond but remain rooted to the physical. The essence of God is of the spirit and of the beyond. The founding truths of each religion provide mankind with a way to reach towards God and that beyond. These truths have allowed us to place a cloak around God. This cloak is our attempt to bring God into the physical. Although he remains hidden within the cloak, it does provide him with form and substance. The cloak allows human beings a way to understand God within physical reality.

There are several weaknesses, however, in seeking God in this manner. First, many people come to see God as the cloak. This he is not. By capturing him within the cloak, we often make him into something smaller or something quite different from what he really is. In addition, we often begin to worship the cloak rather than him. And our worst sin of all is that we often look upon our own cloak as the only one that has ever captured God.

The Role of Religion

The particular role that a religion plays within a given society cuts deep. It serves many different purposes. Most religions are ancient in origin and have established their place within a given society over a long period of time. As a cultural institution, it is often as old as the national origins of the society itself. It becomes difficult to separate the two. The cultural mores of the society are represented within the religion. The religious mores are represented within the culture. They have in many instances become one and the same. As an example, the Hindu religion is India, and so much of India is found within the Hindu religion. It is difficult to discuss one without also discussing the other.

On the other hand, Buddhism as practiced in Burma and Buddhism as practiced in Japan have become quite different. Have they become two separate religions, or are they still one religion that is reflected differently within their separate cultures? Have these differences occurred because of the dissimilar social mores that have impacted on this religion over a long period of time, or have they occurred because of exposure to unlike theological enlightenment over that same period of time?

Even within a given society, a religion can become quite different. Christianity, as practiced within the United States, has established many unique traditions, beliefs, and patterns of worship within the different denominations and churches that make up this religion. Are these differences the result of theological or cultural influences?

The answer to this question is that both factors influence these changes. We must realize that change does occur within all religions and that these changes are quite dynamic when measured over time. No religion is static. All religions are influenced by outside factors that reshape their beliefs and direction. There are probably no cultural institutions within a given society that have a deeper set of traditions, dogmas, and rituals than the society’s chosen religions. To the contemporary mind, the accepted practices of the participant’s own religion seem set in stone. They seem timeless in an unending pattern back to the enlightened individuals who founded the religion. Yet when the religion is closely scrutinized and evaluated through the years, dynamic changes are found to have occurred.

Religion serves many different purposes within a given society. If it served only one, it would become much easier to compare and understand. Each society differs as to the specific purposes that it has assigned to its religions and to the importance that should be placed on any one of them. To understand the role that a religion plays within a particular society, we must first understand these different purposes. Some of the more important are to:

1) provide answers to the metaphysical; impart knowledge to the society in regard to the ultimate source of being (God);

2) define and expound upon mankind’s role within the universe;

3) provide human beings with a meaning for their individual lives;

4) provide a systematic way to worship the deity (God) or deities that are recognized by the society;

5) establish customs, social mores, and traditions that will provide a framework and cultural pattern for the society to express its religious feelings and beliefs;

6) provide the society with a framework to practice morality; set forth and then give a basis for judging right and wrong;

7) create a sense of community within the society.

The particular way that each religion attempts to fulfill these purposes is one of the keys to understanding why they appear so different from each other. The truth that underlies and inspires all religions comes from the same source (God). The cultural mores of the society; the enlightened individuals who defined, inspired, and shaped the religion’s founding truths; the impact of history; and the interrelationship with other outside cultures all influence and determine the body of truths that become a part of a particular religion. These influences make each religion become different and unique from the other.

It is very difficult to look at any of the modern religions and draw any meaningful comparisons between them. Hinduism may agree with Buddhism on a certain point and disagree with it on another. The point that they disagree upon will find the Hindus in agreement with Christianity but not with Judaism, etc. Even within a particular religion, there is disagreement. One sect of Muslims may have a certain belief that is similar to Christian belief concerning that point. Another Muslim sect may have a different belief. These differences go on and on.

The puzzle in understanding the beliefs of one religion and how they interrelate with the beliefs of other religions is a modern-day Gordian Knot. The truths that a particular religion holds sacred seems unique and special to it alone. And yet these truths also seem to reflect deeper meanings that appear universal in origin.

How do we reach within these religions to draw out the one truth that seems to be constant within all? How do we reach past the superficial exterior and find the inner essence that is the source of each of the great modern religions? Our solution must be very similar to that of Alexander the Great when he confronted his Gordian Knot over twenty-four hundred years ago. He took his sword and, with a powerful stroke, slashed through it. For us to find the truth in our quest, we too must cut through the external tangle and strike at the truth which is hidden deep within the heart of all religions. That truth could best be described as God.

The purpose of this book is to search for God within each of the great modern religions. This search must begin with the founding truths that are the basis and foundation of each of these religions. These truths must be understood not only through their message but also within the context of their social and historical circumstances that had led to that message.

The intention of this book is not to provide the reader with a complete and absolute theology about God. This is impossible to achieve. His true essence remains beyond our ability to fully comprehend. There is that about him which we cannot know. Instead this book has been written to take that which we do know and shape it into a harmonious pattern. Everyone who reads this book, however, will not be in full agreement with everything that is stated within these pages. This is to be expected. It is hoped, however, that the ideas presented will make the reader think. It will allow each person to test his own present beliefs and, through this effort, hopefully come to a clearer and deeper understanding of God.

Every living person is in a relationship with God. This relationship is personal and unique to that individual. As a result, each human being has beliefs that are in some way different from those of all others. The different religions bring people together and offer them a way to focus their beliefs within certain specific parameters. Within each of these religions, however, there still exists a fairly divergent set of personal beliefs and ideas concerning God.

These differences occur because of human frailty and not because of God. He is omnipotent and perfect in all ways. He is unlimited in his capacities and attributes. These differences result from our own limitations. We cannot know all, experience all, and be all. We can only be what our potential allows us to be. Our perception of reality is limited by our own personal being. We cannot rise above that which we are. Every human being is unique and different in these capacities, and as a result, we each have different perceptions of God and reality. These perceptions have in turn shaped our beliefs.

God cannot be fully known or experienced within normal day-to-day living. We, as individuals living within human society, can only know or understand a part of his total being. As a result, we must be careful when we make absolute statements about him. In connection with this, we also must maintain a tolerance¹¹ toward others whose ideas and beliefs may be different from our own. Because we can only know and understand a part of God’s truth, we must not assume that we know it all. The road to God contains many different truths and follows many different paths.

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¹ When the author refers to the word tolerance, he is thinking of it in terms of the following definition: Tolerance is the willingness to recognize and respect the ideas, opinions, beliefs, and physical actions of other human beings that are different from his own.

INTRODUCTION: GOD DEFINED

Many human beings at some point during their lives will ask themselves such eternal questions as Why do I exist? What is life? Where do I go from here? How did the universe come to be?

It seems these questions come from deep within when we find ourselves at peace and harmony with our surroundings. On a quiet evening as we look out across the heavens and through the stars, we suddenly become conscious of the reality of infinity. As we hike deep within a primal forest, we find ourselves at one with our surroundings and nature. As we gaze at our child lying deep in sleep, we become aware of the depth and power of the love that is contained within us.

At those moments, we sometimes find ourselves confronted with a truth that exists both within us and around us. But these moments are so short and elusive that we don’t believe that they are real. They soon take on a dreamlike quality within our memories.

Many of us actually spend a great deal of our lives suppressing those feelings. We live. We make our way through life. We get caught up in the emotional trappings of day-to-day existence. We go through the motions. We work and play. We eat and sleep. We go to church on Sunday. All this is done in a mechanical manner. We live much of our lives out of focus with our true being. Do we know or understand our true self or is it something that is kept hidden deep within us?

We say that we believe in God, but we don’t know who he is. We have faith and then are filled with doubt. We search for God through the intellect. We turn to religion, philosophy, and science. We search the holy books, memorizing passages and coming away empty. The philosophers confuse us. They contradict one another. Science can send a man to the moon, reconstruct what life was like hundreds of millions of years ago, and conquer many modern illnesses, but it can’t find God. It can’t prove his existence.

We tell ourselves, If we could have been a disciple of Jesus or sat at the feet of the Buddha and listened to his discourses or rode with the Mohammed, then we would have known the truth. But would we? Millions of people lived when Jesus, Buddha, and Mohammed walked the face of the earth; but how many followed? How many who heard their words truly understood what they said?

It was not easy for people living back then to understand the word as presented by these messengers. It becomes immensely more difficult for us living today to understand those teachings. In many subtle ways, the words spoken by these men so very long ago have become subject to misinterpretation. The passage of time has eroded the clarity and nuances of their original ideas. This has occurred as the result of many different factors. First, the discourses, sermons, and teachings of each of these men were made to specific audiences and individuals. The full understanding of why they phrased their words and messages in a certain way cannot be specifically known by us living today because we cannot know the pure context surrounding those messages. Second, each of these great men taught to their immediate audiences. Their primary message was directed at their contemporaries. None of these individuals directly wrote their messages down to be preserved for posterity. Thus, much of their teachings have actually come to us through second-hand sources. Third, they also spoke in languages that have required several translations before they have reached us. The meanings of certain words have changed over this period of time. Fourth, we today take the printed word for granted. For the vast majority of human existence, however, it did not exist. Most holy books were initially handwritten. New copies were printed by hand. When errors were made they continued to be repeated as new copies were reproduced from the erred copy. Fifth, the religions that have followed have in some instances distorted the words of the founding sources. Theology has many times changed the emphasis and meaning of many statements to suit their own purposes. Sixth, God in his truest sense of being goes beyond human comprehension. Even though these teachers talked about God’s power, greatness, and omnipotence, they were unable to select the words that would make everyone understand. God is simply beyond the human intellect. Even when they spoke the appropriate words, we often failed to grasp and know their true meaning.

Premise to Begin Our Search

The search for God is in many ways a personal journey. It requires self-effort and commitment by the individual. Prior to beginning this quest, each of us as a seeker must develop certain premises and principles on which to build this search.

1) We must reach out from whatever our present beliefs may be to allow a broader truth to shape those beliefs. We have to admit to ourselves that it is beyond our ability to comprehend God. We must know that we truly cannot know him. When we reach the stage that we can finally admit this truth to ourselves, we can allow God to become what he really is. Too many people try to make God earthly. The earth is only a speck within his being.

2) There is only one God. The God of the Christian is Allah to the Muslims, Adonai (The Lord) to the Jews, Brahman to the Hindus, Ahura Masda to the Zoroastrians, and is found by the Buddhist in their concept of universal mind. Although each religion gives him a different name, he is one and the same. Each of the great religions does not have a separate god of their own. They may worship him differently and their theologies may state his being in a different manner. In his true reality, however, he is one and the same. The God of one is the God of all!

3) God has made his word available to all humanity. He has interrelated with us throughout our entire existence. He has sent different messengers at different cycles of time and at different places. The truths that these men have given us are all a part of the ultimate truth that is found within him. No one messenger has given us all this truth at one time. They have stated their truths as it related to humanity at the particular time and place in which they lived. Thus on the surface, their messages often appear to be different and contradictory to each other.

4) God loves every human being equally. We are all his children. As such, we are all brothers and sisters. It is God’s commandment that we love one another.

5) God is the ultimate goal of our search in life. The reason for man’s existence is to find him. We often lose sight of this fact as we become involved in the responsibilities of our day-to-day living.

6) The truth of God can be found within each of the great religions. This truth, however, is very elusive. The farther a religion has moved away from its own founding truths, the harder it is for that religion to sustain those truths. Religions, just like individual human beings, can become lost and turn in the wrong direction. Each religion, each church within that religion, each individual member of the church who is within that religion must continually renew itself. This primary renewal must come through reaching back to the founding source and the truth that brought the religion into being.

7) God cannot be found except through faith. The knowing of God is more intuitive than rational. It is difficult for us to know God in a physical or intellectual sense. He cannot be scientifically proven. We as living creatures stand separate from him. Faith is the bridge that allows us to bring God into our lives.

The Essence of An Apple

For most human beings, it is nearly impossible to conceptualize God through his full omnipotent being. We cannot abstract him in that manner. Instead, we think of him in terms of his attributes. We talk about God as father, creator, sustainer of life, law giver, etc. When we do this, we place limitations on his fundamental nature. We make him become smaller in some way or different from what he really is. We have altered his true essence to that of something else. To truly understand God, we must come to know him within his full and true essence.

This is very difficult for most human beings to achieve. As a matter of fact, it is very difficult in life for us to come to know the essence of anything. Many human beings do not even understand their own essence. The difficulty of truly knowing the essence of a particular object or thing that is outside the self is nearly impossible to attain. I was made aware of this fact through a game that I had played when in the eighth grade.

I had a social studies teacher who came to class one day and asked everyone to leave their seats, line up along the outside walls, and face the center of the room. After everyone was settled, he went to the center of the room and placed a very large juicy apple on one of the desks. He then walked to the blackboard in the front of the room and explained how we would play this game. What he wanted us to do was to describe the object in the center of the room so that we could convey to everyone else in the classroom the essence of this object. He would write on the blackboard our comments. In addition, he wanted us to describe this essence in such a manner that any outsider coming into the classroom would be able to know from our description what this object was.

The initial reaction from everyone in the class was to laugh, thinking that this was some kind of joke. The teacher assured us that he was very serious and wished us to proceed with the game. We began in a very frivolous manner, but it didn’t take long for us to realize the difficulty of the task before us. We used many adjectives to describe the fruit’s physical attributes, many others to describe its taste characteristics. We used the senses of sight, taste, smell, and touch to describe this apple. We began to speculate about the apple, claiming that it came from a tree. Our teacher cautioned us that we could not prove that this particular apple did in fact come from a tree. Using deductive logic, we finally convinced him that it did. This gave us a whole new area to explore, and we spent the remainder of our time developing a description of an apple tree.

At the end of the time period, he then asked us a series of questions: 1) Did everyone in the room come to a better understanding of what an apple is? Yes. 2) Did everyone in the room come to have the exact perception of what this apple was? No. 3) Was it even possible that any two people in this room would develop a similar perception of this apple? Probably not. 4) From our description, could an outsider who knew what an apple was come to our classroom and know from our description what the object was? Yes, probably. 5) From our description, could an outsider who had never previously known what an apple was come to know the object through the description that we had developed? No, probably not. 6) From our description, did anyone come to know the true essence of the apple? No, as long as we remain separate from the apple, we cannot know its essence.

The dilemma of coming to understand and know the essence of God is very similar to the problem that we as children had that day in trying to know the essence of that apple. God is beyond us. We perceive him as separate from us. Thus we create many adjectives to describe him. These become the attributes that we use for knowing God. As a result, we define all around him but we never reach his true essence. Even when we meet an individual who has discovered God’s essence through personal enlightenment, he cannot communicate this essence to us in such a manner that we can understand. This is the major frustration for human beings trying to know God. How do we reach him? How do we know him? How do we love him?

The only way that God can be truly known within human life is through the finding and experiencing of his essence. It cannot be found through intellectual efforts or ritualistic practices alone. Reading the appropriate holy books, following the rituals, and stating the creeds will not make it happen. Personal commitment and total self-action are required. The individual must completely dedicate himself and his life to this quest. The hope of this book is that it can help, in some small way, those who have dedicated themselves to that search.

Format of the Book

The format that will be followed within this book is to look at the different religions and those men touched by God who were the founding sources of their religions. This book will concentrate primarily on those parts of their teachings and theological doctrine that are directed toward God. Much of the social functions, dogmas, traditions, and sacramental beliefs that make each of these religions unique and different will not be discussed in any detail. There are many excellent comparative religion books available on the market which offer much greater and broader detail concerning these religions.²¹

This book has been structured in the following manner. The remainder of this chapter will present certain definitions that describe God’s different attributes. This will provide the reader with a common set of terminology. It will prove useful as the reader moves into the remaining chapters of this book. Each religion has developed different nomenclature for describing God’s characteristics. These definitions will allow the reader to compare their different ideas through a consistent set of definitions.

Chapters one through six represent the heart and soul of this book. These chapters present the basic theological ideas that each of the great modern religions believe in regard to God. They have been written to focus on certain key factors within each of these religions. These would be to: identify the divine sparks or inspiration that had initially established the religion, present the major beliefs of each religion in a perspective favorable to that religion, discuss each religion’s holy books to make the reader aware of these books as well as quote liberally from them, and allow the reader to make comparisons between the different religions in regard to three separate but central relationships: man’s relationship to God, man’s relationship within the universe, and man’s relationship to each other.

The third part of this book represents the author’s own ideas in regard to this subject. Differing from most religious theologies which maintain a separation between the different religions, the author believes that each of these religions represents a universal whole. The underlying premise of this third part is that God has not limited his being to one particular group or theology. Instead, he has been active throughout all human history. The sparks of his divine truth have been made available to all humanity and are represented within each of the great modern religions.

Each of these religions has been tested throughout many centuries by the best and the brightest that each of their respective societies could produce. Not only have these religions survived, but they continue even today to attract new adherents to their calling. Within each of those societies, the theological ideals represented within these religions express the best that each of those societies could ever hope to achieve.

Each of these religions, in their own way, maintains barriers that keep human beings separated from each other. Their theologies cannot be resolved on a point-by-point basis. They can only be resolved through their unified belief in the principle of one God. The relevancy of Christ as presented within the New Testament, Moses as presented in the Torah, Krishna as presented in the Bhagavad-Gita, Buddha as presented in the Tripitaka, Mohammed as presented in the Koran are just as pertinent to us living today as they were to people living thousands of years ago. What we as living human beings must also understand is that this relevancy also extends to everyone whose traditional cultural, social, and religious backgrounds preclude exposure to those teachings. The messages of these founding sources are equally relevant to all human beings, whether we choose to hear their messages and follow their truths or totally ignore them.

God’s Attributes

The search for God must begin through the development of certain terminology that can be applied to the specific attributes that are identified with God. As we discuss the different religions, we need to have specific definitions that can be used to compare both the similarities, as well as the differences, that each of these religions holds as a part of their beliefs. Each religion has developed a different set of attributes that they use when describing God. The reader needs a common set of definitions that can be used when confronting those differences.

The process of trying to know God through these attributes is very similar to how we had tried to identify the essence of the apple in our earlier example. We identified the apple by saying that it was red, shiny, sweet-tasting, etc. We use the same process to identify God. We describe him through the different aspects of his being that he has shown to us. We must understand, however, that the essence of God cannot be found through these definitions. They will only allow us to describe God and how he has related to us through his universe. They cannot by themselves help us to know God. These definitions only show us the external side of his being. His essence remains hidden. The search for that essence will require us to search deeper. God has been defined by the major religions through the following attributes:

God as Ultimate Reality: This is God unknowable. It is God as he exists beyond the physical universe. It is the state of God before the universe came to be and after the universe ceases to be. It is God at his source of being. He is omnipotent and absolute. In this state, God is beyond human comprehension. It is God in spirit, formless, infinite, and eternal. He is found as infinite knowledge, infinite bliss, infinite peace, and infinite being.

God as Creator: This is God as the moving force behind the physical universe. This aspect of God is shown to us through the creation of everything that exists. But he is more than just the creative force of the universe. He also sustains and preserves this creation. In the end, he also functions as destroyer. Everything that exists within the physical universe goes through a cycle of creation, sustenance, and death. The initial urge of creation brought the universe into existence. But God’s creation is more dynamic than just this initial urge. The process of creation, sustenance, and destruction is ongoing. There was not one initial creation where everything came into existence in its final form. At this moment of existence, God is in the process of creating, sustaining, and destroying his physical universe. We observe this process as evolution.

God as Lawgiver: God is the giver of the law. These laws are of two different types.

Natural Laws—These are the laws that came into being as part of the initial urge of creation. God established the physical laws to govern the physical universe. They operate with exact precision. They have brought order within this universe. Without them, the world would be chaos.

Man has come to know these physical laws primarily through philosophy and the sciences. We can observe our physical environment and come to understand this world. These laws have become the foundation from which our knowledge of this universe are built.

Moral Laws—Man is the highest being in the process of evolution. Science has traced our evolution from a physical and mental standpoint. The key to mankind’s evolution as the highest life form, however, comes from our spiritual evolution. Our soul has evolved to the highest state in this process. Man, of all living creatures, is the only one who has risen to total self-awareness and self-knowledge. In addition, God has granted every human being total free will in how this self-awareness and knowledge is used.

As a result, God has given humanity moral laws. These laws have been established to provide us with guidance in how to live our daily lives. Because we have become self-aware and have the capacity to choose our own lifestyle, God has given us the moral laws to help us make those choices. These laws have given us a concept of right and wrong. They make us become responsible for our own actions. These laws give us guidance in differentiating between good and evil.

These moral laws have been given to humanity through the different messengers who have come among us at different times and places within our history. There is a remarkable consistency to these laws. They are a part of the eternal truth whose source is found in God.

God as father: This is the concept of God maintaining a direct relationship with humanity. This is God as a personal manifestation. God is the father; we are the children. God is separate from us but relates directly to us. He oversees our activities and relates to them. We have the opportunity to communicate with him in this manifestation through prayer and meditation. This relationship is primarily developed through love. As we stand separate from each other, we have the opportunity and capacity to respond to each other through prayer, meditation and love.

God as soul: God is within us. Everything that exists within the universe exists within God. Man was created in God’s Image. This image is spiritual. The soul is the spirit of God.

The soul of man at its deepest essence is one with God, only most human beings don’t know this. It is veiled from us. We keep it hidden from ourselves because our individual ego dictates our being. Like a mirror that has become covered in a thick layer of dirt and dust, it hides its true image from us. In this same manner, the ego hides God’s image and essence from us.

God as messiah (avatar): Man is unique in the process of evolution. Our souls have developed in such a manner that they have allowed us to become self-aware in our separateness both from God and all other creatures. God has also allowed us the free will to choose how we will use our freedom. God’s hope for humanity is that we will choose the good over evil, that we will surrender our love to him and live in peace and harmony within his creation. God knows that we are weak and that there is much temptation that has been placed before us in our efforts to follow his path. As a result, God has given of himself to help us find our way.

The gift is God’s incarnation into the human body. He returns to us in human form to show