Every Buddhist "God" explained in minutes

(Greg Knows All) Every major Buddhist "God" explained in 38 minutes

• These are the "Gods" of faith-based Mahayana, Vajrayana, Jodo Shinshu, Nicheren, Shingon...rather than the much smaller (10%) back-to-basics Theravada Buddhist tradition, which recognizes countless brahmas and devas, particularly Great Brahma and Sakka (Sakra, Indra), King of the Devas, but neither worships them nor regards them as "Gods" in the Western sense.
• Pure Land (Sukhavati) of Amitabha Cosmic Buddha

ZEN: Bodhidharma's 'Wake Up Sermon'

Bodhidarma (Hakuin Ekaku)

 

(Echoes of Lost Knowledge) The sermon that has awakened more minds than any other teaching in Zen Buddhism | Bodhidharma

"Bodhidharma" was a semi-legendary Indian Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th or 6th century CE [1]. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Chan (Zen) Buddhism to China and is regarded as its first Chinese patriarch [a]. He is also popularly regarded as the founder of Shaolin kung fu [2, 3, 4, 5], an idea popularized in the 20th century [4, 5, 2] but based on the 17th century Yijin Jing and the Taoist association of daoyin gymnastics with him. More

Zen's Bodhidharma on the ONE method

The ONE practice that contains every spiritual method | Bodhidharma's breakthrough sermon

(ECHOES OF LOST KNOWLEDGE) April 17, 2026: What if one single practice contained every other spiritual method within it?

In this final chapter of the series, the First Zen Patriarch Bodhidharma [from India] reveals the most essential teaching of his entire lineage — and it begins with beholding the mind.

 

This video is a direct transmission of Buddhist Wisdom that cuts through centuries of misunderstanding about what spiritual practice truly means.

Discover why temples, rituals, chanting, and good deeds alone cannot free us — and what actually can.

In this sermon, Bodhidharma teaches

→ The single method that contains all other methods

→ The three hidden poisons (greed, anger, delusion) — and how they silently run our life

→ The six "thieves" operating through our own senses, robbing us of peace every day

→ Why "three asankhya kalpas [aeons of indeterminate length]" of hardship is not what most people think

→ The true meaning of the six perfections (paramitas), the three sets of precepts, and invoking the Buddha

→ How to behold our own mind and free ourselves from suffering — in this very lifetime.

This is not a lecture. This is Buddhist Wisdom spoken directly — clear, unfiltered, and as alive today as it was 1,500 years ago.

📌 THIS SERIES

• Chapter 1 — Blood Stream Sermon (watch first)
• Chapter 2 — Wake-Up Sermon
• Chapter 3 — Breakthrough Sermon (you are here)

🔍 TOPICS COVERED

• Bodhidharma teachings | Breakthrough Sermon | Beholding the mind | Three Poisons in Buddhism | Six Perfections (paramitas) explained | Buddha Nature | Zen Buddhism | Buddhist Wisdom for modern life | First Zen Patriarch | Liberation from suffering | Three sets of precepts | Six thieves of the mind | Enlightenment teachings
• Bodhidharma: between myth and reality (Penglai Martial Arts)

Every week, this channel brings rare Buddhist Wisdom drawn from the original [Mahayana] teachings of the great masters — Bodhidharma, Bankei, Linji Yixuan, and the earliest Zen patriarchs. If the ancient path to liberation is what one are looking for [that person might try Theravada, a back-to-basics Buddhist movement that holds the teachings of the historical Buddha in the highest esteem over subsequent Mahayana interpretations and apocryphal inclusions, distortions, and additions], subscribe and turn on notifications to never miss a teaching.

This video is best experienced in a quiet space, and with full attention. #BuddhistWisdom #Bodhidharma #ZenBuddhism. How this was made: auto-dubbed and audio tracks for some languages were automatically generated.

Alan Watts reveals 'The Secret'

Alan Watts: The More You Let Go, the More Life Gives You

(Buddhism Podcast) Stop SEARCHING for enlightenment. We are it? (The Buddha’s insight)

• Alan Watts, Buddhist Radio, Los Angeles (KPFK 90.7 FM)
• KFPK.org/archives (Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025, 8:00 am)

Mary Mother of Jesus: life details

Is the Vatican responsible for the Koran (Quran), the sacred texts of Islam? Did they create these texts or have them compiled, another psyop to control yet another group of people? It is odd that the only woman mentioned by name is Mary (Miriam, Maria), the mother of the prophet, St. Issa (Jesus).

Jesus Unmasked: The Final Revelation

The Final Revelation: Jesus Unmasked | The Christ series finale

(Spirit Science) April 23, 2025: In this climactic final episode, the journey reaches its most powerful moment. Through ancient texts, archeological clues, and historical investigation, Spirit Science peels back centuries of myth and theology to uncover the human man at the heart of it all — Jesus the Nazarene. Who was he really? Rebel, prophet, teacher, or something far more extraordinary? With cinematic visuals and gripping storytelling, this finale unites scholarship, faith, and mystery in a stunning revelation of the historical Jesus (Yeshua). Witness the moment where history and legend collide — and the truth rises. Prepare for answers. Prepare for the unexpected. This is the final chapter. 

• 00:00 - Intro
• 00:30 - What Jesus looked like
• 02:39 - Village of Nazareth or Essene vegetarians called Nazarenes?
• 03:49 - Did Jesus even exist?
• 04:52 - My personal experience with Yeshua
• 05:55 - What we can point to
• 07:32 - The force of evolution

Activate this lightbody. Heal, awaken, transform: spiritverse.academy/light...

• Spirit Science, April 23, 2025; Pat Macpherson, Sheldon S., Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Journey Into Buddhism w/ Sharon Stone

Journey Into Buddhism - Prajna Earth | full documentary

Dennis Schwartz Reviews

(PBS America) From PBS, PRAJNA EARTH explores the lost civilization of Angkor in Cambodia, the magnificent Angkor Wat temple, and Bali, Indonesia’s sacred landscapes.

Narrated by Sharon Stone, the trilogy's second film also shares trance dancers in the jungles of Java and the gigantic seven level mandala mountain of Borobudur (the largest excavated Buddhist temple in the world) and is described as “inducing an inner journey” by Asia Society, New York.

14th Dalai Lama endorsed film

Called “eye-opening and essential if you have an interest in Eastern spirituality” by the Boston Globe and an “illuminating meditation” by Variety, these visually stunning documentaries are cinematic pilgrimages to legendary places in Buddhist Southeast Asia and Tibet, including the spiritual wonders of Buddhist Laos, Thailand, Burma (Myanmar), Bali, Cambodia, Java, and Central Tibet (China).

Welcome to PBS America, a channel curated for an international audience from America's Public Broadcasting Service, PBS. This is a factual focused channel including award-winning American history, current affairs, and science.

Sign up to UK broadcast channel weekly highlights at pbsamerica.co.uk. Follow on X @PBSAmerica. Like on Facebook.com/pbsamerica. #buddhism #documentary #asia #religion

• Journey Into Buddhism - Prajna Earth (2006) documentary; Ashley Wells, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Funky Buddha's Oktoberfest? Alcohol

Hey, where your tutu is, Desi? - Hey, where's your llama, Dolly? - AH HA HA HA!

.

Budai brand beer?

Imagine a place so crass that it exploits the Buddha's image to promote beer and hard liquor, drunkenness and carelessness, negligence and unskillful karma. Let's call the place "Buddha Bar." No, that's taken. Let's call it Funky Buddha. Open it on the dangling participle of the country (Sandy Schlong Beach, Florida).

Let's invite the Dalai Lama, who says he's all about laughing it up, and tell him to bring his freaky friends like the ghost of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. We can hold a skimpy BBC (Buddha Bikini Contest) with a large purse and a slow reveal that begins with the wet tee-shirt phase.

Yo yo yo, how we feeling out there tonight!?

DJ Buddhahed can spin the turntables with EDM and hip-hop beats pleasing to all. Fight through protesters and picketers to get in there and, BAM, we've got ourselves a party. Well, no need for imagination because a company called Funky Buddha beat us to it: funkybuddha.com with BuddhaFest MarZen

Alan Watts, Zen monks stole swigs of saké on Cloud Mountain, while their whereabouts were unknown? No, that was Taoists. And it wasn't saki, the water of life, but ambrosia.

• Real Buddhist holidays, celebrations, and festivals around the world (buddhanet.net/festival)

SUTRA: To Sujata (Sigalovada)

Doesn't booze make the writer?

(DN 16) Thus I have heard. One time, the Buddha was staying on Vulture's Peak (Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa in Rājagṛha), Rajgir. He was accompanied by a large assembly of 1,250 monastics.

It was then that the Buddha (the Blessed One, the Bhagavān) put on his outer robe and took his bowl into the city for alms. At the time, there was a prominent man’s son named Sujata in Rajgir. Early in the morning, he went out of the city to go for a walk in the park. He bathed, wetting his entire body. He then bowed in all the directions: east, west, south, north, above, and below.

The Buddha saw Sujata getting wet [as a mark of respect] then bowing in the directions. Seeing this, the Buddha went over to Sujata and asked: “Why did you leave the city in the early morning to go to a park, wet your entire body, and bow in the directions?”

Sujata explained to the Buddha, “My father’s death is imminent, and he gave me this instruction: ‘When you go to bow, you should first bow to the east, south, west, north, above, and below.’ I dare not neglect to carry out my father’s instruction, so after I’ve bathed, I first saluted while facing east then bowed to the east. I do this for all the cardinal directions -- south, west, north, above, and below.”

The Buddha then told Sujata, “These 'directions' are only names. We, too, have this practice, but we do not bow to the directions to pay respect to them in this noble teaching [enlightening Dharma].”

Sujata then said to the Buddha, “Please, Blessed One, it would be good if one were to explain the way it is done in the noble Teaching!”

The Buddha said, “Listen closely, listen closely! Consider it well, for I will explain this.”

Sujata replied, “Very well. I am glad to hear it.”

DUI with loaded gun and salsa: Welcome to TX

The Buddha taught: “Suppose one knows of four unskillful actions, and the grounds for their being unskillful, so one avoids them and is able to know the six actions that squander wealth.

“That is to say, Sujata, one abandons four unskillful actions and pays homage to the six directions. It will be good for the present life, and one will obtain good results in later lives.

“It will be the source for this in the present life and later lives. In the present life, one is commended by the wise and gains this one worldly reward: When the body breaks up and life ends, one will be reborn in a good place.

“Sujata, you should know, those four bad actions are: 1. killing, 2. stealing, 3. sexual misconduct, and 4. false speech. These are the four bad actions.

“What are the four grounds for these bad actions? They are: 1. desire, 2. anger, 3. fear, and 4. delusion.

“If one does unskillful actions on these four grounds, then one will decline.”

After saying this, the Buddha restated it in verse:

“Desire, anger, fear, delusion:

Those who harbor these four

See their reputation dwindle away

As the waning moon does day by day.”

The Buddha further told Sujata, “If one avoids these unskillful actions on these four grounds, then one will improve.”

The Buddha then restated this in verse:

“One who avoids unskillful actions

Done out of desire, anger, fear, or delusion

Will see improvement day by day

As the waxing moon steady gains.”

What happened to all our money, Brian? - This.

“The Buddha further told Sujata, “The six actions that squander wealth are:

1. indulging in alcohol
2. gambling
3. self-indulgence
4. getting carried away at musical performances
5. associating with bad friends and
6. idleness.

“These are the six acts that squander wealth.

“Sujata, suppose one understands these four actions, avoids these unskillful actions done on these four grounds, and knows the six actions that squander wealth.

“Doing this, Sujata, one can abandon these four grounds and make offerings to the six directions. It will be good for the present life and good in later lives. It will be the source for this in the present life and in later lives. In the present, one will be praised by the wise and gain this one worldly reward: When one's body breaks up and life ends, one will be reborn in a good place.

Defects of drinking

Go on. I'm listening. I only imbibe to drink the pain away. You got a better way?

.

Wine, women, and song! Why stop now?

“Sujata, know that drinking alcohol has six defects: 1. loss of wealth, 2. becoming ill, 3. fighting, 4. circulation of a bad reputation, 5. sudden outbursts of anger, and 6. a daily loss in wisdom. Sujata, if they drink alcohol, their family and property with decrease day by day. ...

Then Sujata exclaimed: “...The Buddha is a Wayfarer (Tathāgata), Luminary (Arhat), and a Supremely Awakened One, so he is able to reveal to the world clear instructions. Now, I go for guidance to the Buddha, go for guidance to the Dharma, and go for guidance to the Saṅgha.

How will I ever be able to stop?

“Blessed One, please permit me to become a lay follower in the true Teaching! Starting today, I will avoid killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and drinking alcohol for the rest of my life.”

Having heard what the Buddha taught, Sujata rejoiced and approved of it.

• The Dalai Lama says he cured Mongolia of alcoholism with [traditional fermented] horse milk
• Mindfulness meditation really does relieve pain brain scans reveal
• 善生—Charles Patton (trans.), Sigalovada Sutra (DN 16) suttacentral.net; edited and abbreviated by Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Indian tree can save the world (again)

Trees are conscious. I just know it.

Long ago (26 centuries) a tree in a sense saved the world, not just this planet but this region of space and the many beings transiting through it, most of them devas ("shining ones") of different sorts.

Then Sujata saved the Bodhisattva with food.

That tree, let's call him Bo though who knows that it was male or female, both or neither, was born on the same day the Bodhisattva (future Buddha) came into the world from another world named Tusita. On that same day his future wife was born. Things were coming together for a miraculous realization. He must have been drawn to that fig-producing tree, now called the "sacred pipal" (Ficus religiosa). What shelter it offered him, what dryads (tree spirits) inhabited it, what terrestrial energies it brought up from Bhumi (Terra, Gaia, Earth) or down from the heavens (sagga), who can say?

Dryads are spirits in trees.

(Maybe the Buddha mentioned it, but we are not aware). It gave the Bodhisattva shelter, a center, energy (plenty of tiny figs with lots of calories free on the ground, a gift from the tree, to enjoy, which an Egyptian mummy in a pyramid in a dream told Edgar Cayce were "spiritual food" and which American researchers noted was chemically similar to LSD).

Though purists in the tradition say the Bodhisattva, living on his own in the forest by his own rules or those generally adhered to by independent wandering ascetics, was fasting all that time, and no one seems to know how long from the time the Bodhisattva left the lifesaving donor Sujata and her maid, who nursed him back to health from his previous extreme fasting.

• Plants are too incredible: There's a tree that walks?! It's known as the "Walking Palm" (Socratea exorrhiza and Socratea exorrhiza) of Central and South America. Where is it going as it moves 20 feet per year?

With Bodhi trees everywhere in the world now, most of them directly related to that very tree, Bo, the oldest documented tree in the world, now living on the Buddhist and Hindu island of Sri Lanka, most Buddhists never seem to think to eat the fruit. It falls to the ground and is squashed underfoot during sacred circumambulations or disregarded. Asking Theravada Buddhist monks about it, they laughed off the question. A little research revealed that in India the sacred fig is regarded as a famine food so is not usually eaten, probably due to its small size. But what an idea -- Buddhist Fig Newtons with gluten free crust. They're delicious and easy to collect, more easily with a net to catch them as they fall before the ants find them.

India is amazing for its trees. At least three should be sacred to Buddhists, more sacred than all tree already are. They are the sacred fig, the sal tree (which helped the Buddha a great deal, first sheltering him until Sujata found him and gave him her dana or charity and the twin sals the Buddha chose for his final nirvana), and sandalwood which provides incense around the world and is nearly being brought to extinction because of its healing scent.

Everywhere in India there is a healing tree, the "village pharmacy" known as the neem tree (as valuable a medicine as the moringa or drumstick tree is nutritious). But even more valuable might be the incredible coconut tree, a source of food, fiber, fuel, oil, sugar, pure water, so valuable that in ancient times to cut one down was considered tantamount to killing a person.

Pongamia in Oahu, Hawaii, USA

Now amid all of this tree wealth comes another tree with incredible potential to replace petroleum. This ancient tree from the pea family is known as the pongamia tree (Millettia pinnata).

• VIDEO: Ancient tree from India may replace petroleum, company hopes (MSN)
• VIDEO: The 7 states with the most trees in America
• Couple living in a Yurt as a simple and affordable tiny house alternative

This tree is incredible for its potential as a biofuel, being 30% oil (in the bean it produces), and nutrient dense due to its high protein content (65% to 70% high quality protein). It is a plant-based oil and a food, a plant that restores oxygen to the environment as well as providing sustenance to bees, the soil, microorganisms like the mycorrhizae (fungi, mycelia) in the ground, and all the other benefit trees provide this world.

• Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly; MSN.com

Boy Buddha found on Australian beach

EssaNews.com, Jan. 11, 2024; CC Liu, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Shark Bay’s natural wonders that turn one snap happy | So Perth

The baby boy Buddha (actually Bodhisattva) being ceremonially bathed on Vesak

Boy Buddha on Bimaran

What is a baby boy Buddha? It should not be confused with the Buddha Boy (Ram Bahadur Bomjon) now steeped in the quagmire of controversy. It is a figurine, usually ceramic and golden, of Prince Siddhartha Gautama just after he was born, raising his finger, speaking a declaration of his impending great enlightenment and final rebirth, and taking seven steps as the earth quakes, surrounded by devas and his mother's female attendants. It is used in a popular bathing ceremony usually performed during Mahayana Buddha Day and Theravada Vesak celebrations.

Buddha from the beach, two friends find $100K Ming Dynasty artifact in Australia

The statuette is worth a fortune. Images source: © YouTube ABA 10:47 AM EST, Jan. 11, 2024

.

Shark Bay’s Monkey Mia Reserve dolphins

[Buy a metal detector, and hit the beach. There's no telling what treasures abound.] In 2018, Leon Dechamps and Shayne Thomson visited Shark Bay's coast in Australia.

Equipped with a metal detector, they serendipitously discovered a small Buddha figure, oblivious to the fact that they had unearthed a genuine treasure.

Vesak (Buddha Jayanti) is Buddhist Xmas

• [WHAT IS IT? The figurine represents the baby Bodhisattva, Prince Siddhartha before he became the Buddha Gautama, celebrating his birth in Lumbini garden as his mother, Maya Devi (iconically represented as a salabhanjika), gave birth standing up holding the branch of a sal tree, and it was twin sal trees the Buddha chose to lie down between when he passed into final nirvana, a statue commonly used in bathing ceremonies, commemorating how when he was born, the sky devas rained down to rinse him off, a ritual that is performed every Vesak, the thrice blessed day of his birth, great awakening, and reclining into final nirvana. Although it might be tempting to think Theravada Buddhism is just trying to be efficient by lumping all three events into one celebration day, the ancient texts say these three occurrences took place on the same month (Vaisakha) under the full moon.]
• Mahayana Buddhism does not recognize Buddhism, instead dividing the three events of the Buddha's life into three events (birth, awakening, passing): Buddha Day, Bodhi Day, and Parinirvana Day.
• The Buddhist Society of Western Australia (BSWA) with British Thai Theravada Abbot Ajahn Brahm
• Monkey Mia dolphins (not only sharks) | Australia's Coral Coast (australiascoralcoast.com)

Beachside fortune

The red and white sand beaches of the coast Shark Bay, Western Australia | Roadtrippers

.

I wish I were on a beach all alone meditating.

Following five years and numerous expert analyses, it was determined that the Buddha figure hailing from the beach of the Indian Ocean has its origins in China from the Ming Dynasty period.

The petite Buddha statue made from bronze dates most likely back to the 15th century. A specialist in Asian art validated that the item could fetch a price of up to $100,000.

"I was astounded when I discovered it was from the Ming Dynasty. This makes it the oldest Chinese artifact in Australian history," Dechamps stated on the Antiques Roadshow program.

Baby Buddha (Bodhisattva) being bathed

• Around the Buddhist world (such as Maui, Hawaii, USA) the community celebrates Vesak Day. Vesak celebrates the birthday, enlightenment day, and final nirvana day of the Buddha (Shakyamuni), all three events having happened on the full moon of the ancient Indian month of Vaisakha. In addition to guided sitting meditation and Dharma talks, there is usually a bathing ceremony of the baby Buddha and a joyful vegetarian meal. In the Chinese Mahayana Buddhist tradition, April 8 of each year is "Buddha Day," which celebrates the birth of Gautama Buddha.

Western Australia Marine Park is full of sharks

Upon discovering the figure, the friends endeavored to uncover how it ended up on the beach. Various services and institutions were consulted, including the Maritime Museum of Western Australia, the ambassador in China, antique dealers, art historians, various Chinese associations, and independent archaeologists.

The statue likely arrived in Australia in the 15th century during Admiral Zheng He's global voyages, which included the Indian Ocean basin.

Another theory posits that it was brought to Australia by Chinese traders in the 19th century. Similar statues were fairly popular and were crafted to commemorate the Buddha's birthdays [Vesak].

Great white sharks of Australia love the Bay

According to Australian law, the statue belongs to the finders. The figure is flawed, missing several elements, which were possibly deliberately removed and replaced with a more prestigious material such as ivory.

No other Chinese or Ming Dynasty-related items were discovered on the beach. However, Dechamps and Thompson are hopeful that they will find the missing portions of the Buddha statue in the future [and will likely spend $100,001 or die doing so because something else must be on that beach after six centuries]. More

• Australian beaches littered with cocaine; concerned police call for vigilant residents [to keep the sharks away from this human treasure]

Jesus: Three Kings Day celebration, Mexico

Crystal Quintero, Pfc. Sandoval, CC Liu (eds.), Wiki edit

Operativos para proteger a las familias por festejos del "Día de Reyes" en CDMX

(adn40Mx) Jan 5, 2024: José Guadalupe Ruiz Méndez, Dir Operativo de la Zona Norte SSC CDMX realiza una llamada telefónica con de adn conmigo para platicar con Daniel Jacobo y Valentina Rodríguez sobre los operativos que se realizaran por día de reyes en CDMX. #adn40 #SiempreConmigo

Lin-Manuel Miranda explains the magic of Three Kings Day

(Washington Post) Dec. 15, 2017: Even while growing up in New York, composer, playwright, and actor (Frozen), Lin-Manuel Miranda experienced a quintessentially Puerto Rican holiday, Three Kings Day (Dia de los Reyes o Magos). Here's what makes it special.  #linmanuelmiranda #washingtonpost #threekingsday

US manger Nativity scene with true statement

Did Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist monks from Ladakh or Lhasa go in search of a tulku (incarnation of significant figures like the Dalai Lamas and Panchen Lamas)? In this case, it would have been baby Jesus of Palestine (Issa, Isa, Yshua, Christ), following a UFO or miraculous star or sign in the sky (astrological/zodiacal)? When a significant lama (monk) or rinpoche ("precious one" or "jewel") is to be reborn, he gives indications of where. And a search party is sent out to track him down, bring him back, verify it's him, and remind him of his mission to spread the Dharma (Timeless Truth) to save humanity. Tibetans think it is Avalokiteśvara (sex-changed and popularized as Chinese Kwan Yin, called Chenrezig in Tibet, the Goddess of Compassion) being reborn over and over again. This is the basis of the American movie Little Buddha.

• Unknown Years of Jesus in India (Hemis, Tibet)
• Jesus Live in India: Holger Kersten
• Seven Years in Tibet (based on a true Nazi story)
• Śakka, King of the Devas (Buddhism) aka Indra

Theophany (Ancient Greek ἡ θεοφάνεια, Romanized theophaneia, lit. "appearance of a deity" [1]) is an encounter with a deity (deva, god, goddess), in which it manifests in an observable and tangible form [2, 3, 4].

Where the deity does not take tangible form (an outward manifestation), the broader term used for inward manifestation is divine revelation or divine inspiration [5] as when devas ("shining ones") or gandharvas (heavenly messengers in Buddhism) visit earth.

Not kings, not just three, but tales were added.

Where the god or goddess indwells in a human person, the terms used are divine incarnation, a Hindu avatar or, poetically, the personification of that deity [6].

Theophanies, tangible appearances of a deity, are distinguished from epiphanies, which are powerful internal changes in outlook caused by a theophany or other divine revelation [7].

Traditionally the term "theophany" was used to refer to appearances of the gods in ancient Greek and in Near Eastern religions.

While Homer's Iliad is the earliest source for descriptions of theophanies in classical antiquity (which occur throughout Greek mythology), the earliest description appears in the much older Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh [8].

While the Baháʼí Faith of India does not refer to any particular events of Theophany, it holds that "God" is manifest in the prophets .

The "Manifestation of God" is a concept that refers to what are commonly called "prophets," including, among others,

• Gautama Buddha (Buddhism),
• Zoroaster (Zoroastrianism),
• Krishna (Hinduism),
• Abraham and Moses (Judaism),
• Jesus (Christianity),
• Muhammad (Islam),
• the Báb and Baháʼu'lláh [44].

The Manifestations of God are a series of personages [Maitreyas, Messiahs] who reflect the attributes of the divine into the human world for the progress and advancement of human morals and civilization [45].

The Manifestations of God are the only channel for humanity to know about God, and they act as perfect Mirrors reflecting the attributes of God into the physical world, says Bahai [46]....

Druze Faith

(See also Druze § Beliefs)

While the Druze do not refer to any particular events of theophany, they believe in incarnation and reincarnation, that is to say, in the transmigration (traveling) of the soul [51].

Hamza ibn Ali ibn Ahmad is considered the founder of the Druze and the primary author of the Druze manuscripts [52]. He proclaimed that God had become human and taken the form of man, al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah [53, 54, 51, 55, 56].

Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah is an important figure in the Druze faith whose eponymous founder ad-Darazi proclaimed him as the incarnation of God in 1018 [53, 54].

Divine appearances to animals

Human religious lore includes ancient literary recordings of deities appearing to animals, usually with the animals able to relate the experience to humans using human speech:

In numerous creation stories, a deity or deities speak with many kinds of animals, often prior to the formation of dry land on earth [57].

Human Hanuman and the great Monkey King

In the Hindu text the Ramayana, the monkey-headed human leader Hanuman is informed by deities, and usually consciously addressed by them [58].

In Chinese mythology, the Monkey King speaks with bodhisattvas, buddhas, and a host of heavenly characters [59]. More