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Hinduism for Beginners: The 330 Million Gods of Hinduism
Patrick Goodness
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Learn the basics of Hinduism. Discover the origins of the world's oldest extant religion. Learn about the main gods and the defining principles of Hindu religion and philosophy. Uncover the basic principles of karma, moksha and samsara. See the origins of the Hindu caste system and how this system is still in practice today.
In a past lecture, I offered the number of 33 Million Gods of Hinduism. I realized (with the guidance of many Hindu friends) that my math was wrong. I have corrected this lecture to correctly reflect 330 Million Gods. This number however, is not meant to reflect an accurate number of Hindu gods. Indeed, no such count of 330 Millions Gods has ever been made. This number of 330 Million is symbolic and is meant to reflect an abstract understanding that the followers of Hinduism see gods in all things. Gods and divinity are inextricably intertwined in every facet of life.
One of the great elements of Hinduism is the almost complete lack of dogma and doctrine. Believers of Hinduism may agree on one element of their faith and disagree on everything else. This lack of consistency of belief and variation in beliefs and principles makes Hinduism one of the most dynamic and interesting faith traditions in human history.
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Transcript
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[Music]
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[Music] thank you
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[Music]
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so let's get started talking about the 330 million gods of Hinduism
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number one it warms my heart thank you
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Hinduism is the world's oldest religion according to many scholars with roots and Customs dating back more than 4 000
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years and many accounts Hinduism is even older than the Greek myths the Roman myths and
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Judaism itself so what you're going to see when I tell some of these stories today are the
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comparisons to your faiths as well roughly 95 percent of the Hindus in the
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world live in India because Hinduism has no specific founder it's difficult to
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trace its Origins and its history Hinduism is unique in that it's not a
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single religion but a compilation of many traditions and philosophies
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so how did Hinduism begin Hinduism developed from the from the religion
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that the Aryans brought to India with them at about 1500 BCE so about 3 500
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years ago its beliefs and practices are based on The Vedas a collection of hymns that
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refer to actual historical events that Aryan Scholars completed by about 800
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BCE Hinduism encourages living a good life with the hope of being rewarded in this
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life and the next what I hope that you gather from today is a new understanding
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of karma that Karma isn't something that necessarily happens in the next life
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Karma happens immediately and it's quickly as your next breath
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Hinduism is the world's third largest religion after Christianity and Islam its followers known as Hindus number
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1.15 billion or about 15 to 16 percent of the total world population Hindus can
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be found all over the world most big populations are in India Nepal and Mauritius but you can find Hindus all
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over the world the actual term Hindu is a Persian term that comes to recognize people who lived
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beyond the river Indus Hinduism includes a diversity of ideas of spirituality and traditions and is
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fundamentally different from other world religions there is no ecclesiastical order there's
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no Pope there's no leader at the top there's no unquestionable religious
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authorities so there isn't any one person who can say that this is the truth or that this isn't the truth
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there's no governing body there's no prophets and there's no binding holy book
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so as we would call this in the religious terms this is the religious Wild Wild West
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basic Hindu Concepts Hinduism Embraces Many religious ideas
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but it's mostly and generally referred to as a way of life
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less a religion many forms of of Hinduism are henotheistic meaning that they believe
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in one God as supreme or they believe in one God above all other gods and this is
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important to recognize when we consider uh how Hinduism uh in its heenotheism
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impacted other world faiths Hindus believe in the diraq and the doctrines of samsara the Cycles The Continuous
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cycles of Life Death and reincarnation and Karma the universal law of cause and
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effect one of the key thoughts of Hinduism is Atman the belief in a soul a personal
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soul this philosophy holds that all living creatures have an Atman or a soul
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which is part of the Supreme Universal Soul brahmana
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so each one of us is an Atman and we belong to the Universal Soul of
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Brahman the goal is to achieve Moksha
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or salvation which ends the cycle of birth death and rebirth
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the fundament one of the fundamental principles of the religion is the idea that people's actions and
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thoughts directly impact their life now and their next life
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Hindus strive to achieve Dharma which is a code of living that emphasizes Good
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Conduct and morality Hindus Revere all living creatures and consider the cow a sacred animal
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all of us in the world should be thankful that Hindus do not eat beef
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imagine the condition of our uh of our climate today if even 1.15 billion more
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people were eating beef food is an important part of life for Hindus most don't eat beef or pork and
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many are vegetarians did you know that the swastika is actually a symbol of
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Hinduism and many other ancient faiths the swastika which comes from the base
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suasti means well-being or good it later became associated with evil which is
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what we remember today under the Nazi party but here are some samples of swastikas from around the world that
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came and originated with Hinduism
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if you remember nothing more about today's talk I hope that you will
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remember this and I'm going to read it because I don't want to make a mistake Hinduism is a way of life
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according to the Supreme Court of India unlike other religions in the world the Hindu religion does not claim any one
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Prophet it does not worship any one God it does not believe in any one philosophic concept it does not follow
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any one set of religious rights or performances in fact it does not satisfy
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the traditional features of a religion or Creed it is a way of life and nothing
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more from a western standpoint we see it as a religion in India the term Dharma or way
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of life is broader than the Western term of religion for us we think of religion somehow as
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something that we do and something that we believe in for Hindus this is the way that they
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live their belief impacts every moment from waking till sleeping
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in their way of life in fact so broad is the range of theists
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that belong to the Hindu faith that Hindus can be polytheistic belief in many gods pantheistic which is
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a belief that God is imminent in all things he no theistic the worship of one
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God while recognizing other gods monotheistic the belief in one and only God and monistic the belief that all
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things come from a source that is distinct from us Transcendent from us agnostic the belief that God is
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unknowable and the doubt in God atheistic disbelief in God you can be an atheist and be a Hindu you can be a
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non-theist not really caring about whether or not there is a God or not and then a
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humanist which is where many fall believe that the potential value and goodness of human beings should be our
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sole concern humanists emphasize common human needs and seek rational ways of solving human
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problems Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world and is often
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referred to as the sanatana Dharma the Eternal Wayne meaning that its faith is beyond history we'll see these claims
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reverberated through many religions that this truth is older than time itself
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Scholars regard Hinduism as a synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions with diverse roots and no
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founder this Hindu synthesis started to develop in modern day India and Pakistan
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around 500 BCE so 500 years before Christ
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the Hindu Faith was well developed although Hinduism contains a broad range
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of philosophies it is linked by shared Concepts rituals cosmology shared
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scriptures and sacred texts major scriptures include the upanishads the bhagavad-gita The Vedas and the
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agamas sources of authority and eternal truths play an important role but there's also
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a strong role of Hindu tradition and this tradition questions the
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authority of these tasks questions whether or not the people who are saying these things are right and it allows
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them to continue to develop truth as an ongoing part of their tradition
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it's an admirable part of this faith the doctrine of Atman Brahman is an
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interesting one most Hindus believe in Brahman in uncreated Eternal infinite Transcendent and
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all-embracing principle Brahman contains itself in itself both
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being and non-being and it is the sole reality the ultimate
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cause the foundation source and goal of all existence
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and we with our Atman are a part of that
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each one of us in Hindu belief has an Atman a piece of Brahman the Eternal Soul
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as the all Brahman either causes the universe and all beings to emanate from itself
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transforms itself into the universe or assumes the appearance of the universe
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you can't expect to understand this in this lecture this is a lifetime of
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learning Brahman is in all things and is the self the Atman of all living beings
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Brahman is the creator the preserver or Transformer and the reabsorber of everything it is the
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beginning the middle and the end it is all things
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karma is the universal law that drives Hindu principles by which good or bad
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actions determine the future modes of an individual's existence Indian theories
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of salvation believe that births future births and life situations will
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result from your actions in this life but make no mistake karma is not
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something that just happens in the next life it's something that happens now your actions accumulate and they impact
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you in this life and in the next the common goal for all Hindus is Moksha
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release from the cycle of birth and death and rebirth
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Karma thus serves two main functions within Indian moral philosophy number one it provides motivation to live a
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moral life and number two more importantly and so different from all of the other faiths
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it explains the existence of evil I'm going to chat briefly about that
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because I think it Bears discussion
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Judaism and Christianity and Islam the abrahamic faiths believe
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that original sin happened
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in the Garden of Eden that at that moment when eve took a bite
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that she revealed and that original sin this was the stain of humankind the stain of mankind we would look back to
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the Greek myths we see that again
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Pandora opened the box and released all of the evils on the world
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here there is a source of evil and you lead look no further than the
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mirror to find it the source of all evil is you it's me it's us
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we are the reason that bad things happen in the world there's no God that is causing these things and Judaism
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Christianity and Islam there's a God that punishes or rewards us for our actions however in the classical
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traditions of India Hinduism Buddhism and jaundism they believe that no Divine
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or external agent intervenes in the relationship of the Moral Moral act to an its inevitable result I love this
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graphic whatever you do comes right back to hit you again whether it's good or
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bad and this is the foundational principle of karma whatever you do comes
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back to you and it's not so much that comes back to you in the next life we carry it with us
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because we know intrinsically when we've done right or wrong we know and we carry
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it with us and there's a wonderful quote from uh from Buddhism which is you will
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not be punished by your anger you will not be part I'm sorry you will
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not be punished for your anger you will be punished by your anger and in the same way you will not be rewarded for
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your goodness and your kindness you will be rewarded by your goodness and your
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kindness the law of karma represents a non-theistic explanation of why there is
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evil in the world samsara is a wonderful concept to understand this is reincarnation
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transmigration in Hinduism samsada is a journey of the soul the body dies but
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not the soul which is the Eternal reality indestructible and blissful
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everything is connected cyclical and composed of two things the soul and
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matter the Eternal Soul called Atman your Eternal Soul called Atman never
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reincarnates it is the same from body to body from life to life it cannot change
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in contrast the body and the personality does change and it's constantly changing being born dying and being reborn again
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Karma impacts your future circumstances in this life as well as the future in your
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next life good intentions and actions lead to a good future bad intentions and
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bad actions lead to a bad future we tell our children the same thing
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right the range of samsara stretches from insects all the way to the god Brahma
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the range of rank birth in the hierarchy of life depends on
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one's actions so how you live in this life determines how you will live in the
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next life the aim of spiritual Pursuits is self-liberation Moksha from samsara
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there are four objectives to life artha prosperity Hindus believe that you
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should be prosperous and you should enjoy your prosperity this is a good thing you should have a
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purpose in life you should enjoy your life you should be successful and this material satisfaction allows us
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to pursue the other purusatha the other four goals arth is kept in check by Dharma which is
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a moral obligation of righteousness so if you have a lot of good things that's wonderful
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but keep it in check never have too much and make sure that you understand your obligation that with every Right comes a
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responsibility and with Good Fortune comes responsibility to manage that fortune
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since abundance and prosperity are qualities of the Divine seeking and possessing such qualities is in
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accordance with the design with this design however artha is a stepping stone
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it is not the Cornerstone it's meant to help you it's not meant to be the goal
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finding contentment in the necessities of life such as shelter food and knowledge allows one to pursue the other
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three purusatas however when you have too much it can cause an imbalance as
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imbalance can happen in all things comma not to be confused with Karma
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means desire or pleasure most of us are familiar with this although we'll say that we're not familiar with it in the
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Kama Sutra right the comma offers enjoyment and love for life this is again essential to being
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part of the Divine Kama contributes to a balanced life but
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should not become an obsession if calm is not fulfilled with mindfulness or is
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suppressed this stops us from becoming whole so we shouldn't obsess about it but we also
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shouldn't deny ourselves because when we deny we want it even more and so one must give and receive comma in
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accordance with Dharma and also create and appreciate comma to pursue maksha to
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find this balance to continue to live and to in to leave this cycle comma and balance
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and I say this for all of you here find this balance even while on board the cruise ship sometimes I see people who
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are having their dessertness oh I shouldn't have this dessert have the dessert
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don't have five of them but have a dessert and enjoy it be fully
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in the moment of appreciating that dessert but then when that dessert is gone
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recognize that you might have to walk a little bit too right there's this balance compassion find compassion find joy and
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a humble gesture find enjoyment through a massage or through
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the act of sex with your partner the aesthetic appreciate the beauty of all that surrounds us when we're looking out
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from this beautiful ship and seeing the ocean and the beautiful sights that we're seeing appreciate all of that recognize it for what it is that it's
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beautiful however to over indulge in these things gives us an unstable comma greed
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addiction sloth Hedonism any of these things that come at the cost of another
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puts us and puts our lives and our futures an imbalance
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there is a moral obligation this is one of the other purus Dharma Dharma refers
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not only to Social and moral ethics but to what is Right steadfast virtuous and true
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Dharma is the way of living properly it's involved Duty it involves moral
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actions and service to others and involves sacrifice following Dharma is different for each
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person each of us has called according to our gifts to express our Dharma and to reveal
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our life goals in very different ways living out once Dharma means to act in
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accordance with the law to come into one's Supreme self what does that mean
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it means that I can't judge Myself by your goals and by your life nor should
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you mine that were each responsible for our own lives were each responsible for
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recognizing our gifts first and foremost what is our gift we all have them some
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of us spend our lives denying them and what this tells us is that we need
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to accept our gifts and to recognize the responsibility that comes from that gift to have a gift and to not recognize
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one's responsibility is to not fully Embrace one's Supreme self
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and therein is the imbalance Dharma is the natural law that upholds the world and keeps the universe in
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balance it's important to recognize that accepting an event
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and feeling it fully is important when you lose someone in your life
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feel it fully allow yourself to grieve into loss when you have something good in your
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life allow yourself to feel it fully feel Fully Alive and accepted but recognize
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all of this is fleeting it's here now be grateful for it appreciate it and Let It Go
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because it's when we hold on to these things that we cause imbalance in our own lives
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holding tightly too tightly to one's vision of how things should be this is what my life is supposed to be
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we do this with ourselves and we also do it with our children we want our children to live certain
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ways and we want them to live ways that we think we don't know what their path is we
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don't know what their life is or their true gifts are only they can know that and only they can find their path we
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have to let go again coming back to this idea that's rooted also in Islam surrender to one's life but surrendering
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also to the recognition of your gifts and understanding that what we think is fixed and reality is neither fixed nor a
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reality Moksha again is the ultimate goal for believers this release from the cycle of
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death and birth this comes before Nirvana moksha's this point in time where you have achieved all that you
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possibly can achieve and then the next step is nirvana Moksha is a place of self-acceptance and
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Oneness with the universe to reveal the Supreme self it offers a place of freedom and release
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from the karmic cycle Life In Balance again attain wealth but don't let wealth corrupt or distract you
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indulge and enjoy life's Pleasures but don't become obsessed by them be moral and righteous but don't become fixed and
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rigid now we get to talk about the 330 million
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gods and goddesses of Hinduism according to the Epic Mahabharata there are 33
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333 Hindu deities other sources multiply this a thousand fold and this was my
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mistake the first time I only multiplied it a thousand times you have to multiply
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it a thousand by a thousand and that's what reaches 330 million Gods however
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the gods are actually referred to as the 33. so here's where the whole mix-up
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happened and I'll tell you what a whole world full of Hindus still don't understand this which makes it really
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difficult for the rest of us to understand it but when Hindus discuss the type of gods the phrase 33 quote ish
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is used in a spiritual religious context means 33 types of gods however in
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mathematics the word koti also means million so someone along the way got
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confused with the types and used the other meaning for the word million and said ah there must be 330 million this
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dual meaning has created a lot of problems over the years for Hindus creating even more uh misunderstanding
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and confusion and created the understanding of the 330 million Gods today to clarify 33 Cody is not 33
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million or 330 million but merely 33 types of Gods
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what are the 33 types of gods 11 rudras 12 adityas eight vasas and tuasvinis
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that means nothing to you but what I'm going to show you here is what that really means eight vastness
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these are the elements of material so we have Sky Earth Wind Fire Stars sounds like a 70s rock band
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and then you have the 12 aditias this list sometimes varies but here the the personified deities not the elements of
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nature and then the 11 rudras and these are really interesting these are the abstractions Bliss knowledge thought
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breath or life revealing Grace concealing Grace self these are the other gods and then the
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two Ash beanies these are known as the Divine doctor so this are the 33 different types of Gods
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this is a quote from a sarcastic Hindu friend and it's a favorite of mine there are approximately a 1.15 billion Hindus
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on the planet at any given time an average of about three of us may agree on a particular conception or
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understanding of God the idea that Hinduism has 330 million Gods isn't hard
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for me to believe at all I would actually think there would be more Hindus generally see God in everything
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and everything in God some Hindus are strict conformists to
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the sacred texts but some conceive of their gods with greater freedom and allow themselves to explore this
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beautiful faith without restrictions and to see their God as it makes sense to them in this faith Gods can be male and
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female animal anthropomorphic having qualities of a man or qualities of
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animals even an element of nature nothing is known all is Mystery
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so the question are there three 33
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33 million or 330 million gods
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I would say that the answers are relevant the inherent truth is that a belief in Gods no matter the
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number is an Act of Faith in an entity or being that's eminent in all things and yet
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transcends our understanding and this is in fact the definition of faith isn't it
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to believe in what we can't see or can't understand or know doesn't take any Act of Faith to believe
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in what you can see that's what science is for this is Faith it's something different altogether
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Hindus acknowledge that the most fundamental level God is one without a
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second here again we see this principle and we'll see it now of a triadic godhead but a Unity there is one God
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without a second the absolute formless and only reality known as the brahmana
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the Supreme and Universal Soul Brahman is the universe and everything in it
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whatever you can touch whatever you can see whatever you can feel is Brahman if you can imagine it it's
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brahmana all things are brahmana and brahmana is in all things Brahman has no form and no
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limits Brahman is reality Brahman is truth
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Hinduism is a pantheistic religion meaning that it equates God with the
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universe God is in all things God is imminent if you can see it it is a God
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but yet Hinduism is also polytheistic it gives expression so there's one God but
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many faces Brahma the Creator now we're going to
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talk about the Triune godhead this is one of the first trinities first expressions of a Triune godhead and this
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is Brahma the Creator he's the first member of the Hindu Trinity Vishnu the preserver is the second
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member of the trinity she also or vishna also is worshiped in many forms such as Rana and Krishna some
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somewhat mysterious God Vishnu is the Divine Essence that pervades the universe
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and then you have Shiva the destroyer and this is where it gets interesting so you have Brahma the Creator
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vision of the preserver and now Shiva the Destroyer but Sheba destroys for one
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purpose because in order to build and to bring new again what was old must first be destroyed
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and in this we see the first inklings of the concept of Resurrection
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the idea that what needs to be reborn again must first die
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and this happens through Sheba the Destroyer Ganesha is one of my favorite
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Gods I have a statue of Ganesha in my office and
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when you go to India please pay close attention to your taxi drivers they will
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have a statue of Ganesha often on their dashboard or hanging from their rearview mirror because they're praying that with
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Indian traffic in some of the major cities that this is going to remove the obstacles in front of them it's a
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wonderful religious bit of Comedy then if you see it you're part of the inside joke now
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Saraswati the goddess of learning for those of you ladies who came to one of our question and answer sessions and
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we're asking about goddesses and the power of women in faith here we see
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evidence of female goddesses and their power in this faithi the goddess of learning a
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really powerful goddess is the consort of Brahma the Creator so brahma's the
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Creator and who does he choose he chooses the goddess of learning she's
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worshiped as the goddess of learning wisdom speech and music and this is also before Athena the goddess of wisdom
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right so she gives Saraswati gives birth now to the concept to the Greeks of Athena
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Hindus offer prayer to swarasuti before beginning any intellectual Pursuit children will be saying praying to
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Saraswati so here early on we see a wonderful balanced
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prayer not only to the Creator God who has perceived as male but the goddess of learning who is female and children are
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raised with this concept Lakshmi the goddess also of Good Fortune
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wealth and love and well-being so if you want good things in your life
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you will pray and spend time thinking and giving homage to Lakshmi who provides All Good Things wealth and
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well-being Indra is the king of heaven and Lord of the Gods he wields a thunderbolt so again try to compare with
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other religions we have Thor we have Zeus right the Thunderbolt these are the
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origins of these gods that all come from Hinduism now my Greek friends will argue
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with me till they are blue in the faith about this blue in the face about this and that's okay but the simple truth is
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that Hinduism did predate the Greek mythologies but again we see this idea of people trying to explain the forces
30:58
of nature through God's and that's the story here that's the truth that these myths are not necessarily truth in and
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of themselves they point to a deeper truth Surya is the Sun and look at Surya
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as a Golden Warrior arriving on a chariot pulled by seven white horses how many of you've seen Helios or Apollos
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this is the same thing that we're talking about or even in the Egyptian model you have ra being pulled through
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the sky on kefri the dung beetle right and you have different different movements here but this is a same idea
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of the sun being pulled across the sky by horses Agni the fire god
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Hanuman The Monkey King and devoted servant he's featured in The Great epic ramayana and he earned a path to
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deification by performing Feats of Strength for those of you who know the story of Heracles who later became the
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Roman god Hercules this is the same story Hanuman is Heracles Heracles is
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Hercules it's all the same this is a story that Constantine believed in as well and he said I associate myself with
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this God Heracles because Heracles through his 12 acts Rises to become a
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god and the beauty of Hanuman is that through all of us that we can through
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our actions rise to the level of becoming a God that we are capable of
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great things if we allow ourselves to do the work and to make the sacrifices that
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we can become like a god there's dualism
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in all of these faiths but it's evident in Hinduism the distinction represented by the gods
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is not a distinction however between good and evil but rather a distinction between the two ways in which the Divine
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manifests itself in this world so it's not about Good and Evil this is about how God manifests himself or herself in
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this world both as benevolent yet fearful harmonious and disharmonious and both
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Transcendent and imminent in all things
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there are some wonderful key beliefs in Hinduism and it's more of a value system
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to learn a common threat is a belief in the Supreme Being and adherence to Concepts such as truth Dharma and Karma
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belief in the authority of The Vedas is an important element as well although people differ on their impressions of
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how what The Vedas mean Hindus pursue knowledge and understanding of the truth the very essence of the universe and the
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only reality of Brahman according to The Vedas truth is one
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but the wise express it in a variety of ways and in the same way they look at
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their God that God is one but it's manifestations and its expressions are many and hence
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we see this understanding of polytheism and pantheism Brahman is truth and reality formless
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Limitless all-inclusive and eternal it's not an abstract concept brahmana is all
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things and in all things The Vedas are the books that are the ultimate Authority Hindus believe that The Vedas
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are without beginning and Without End even when everything else in the universe is destroyed The Vedas will
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remain Christian hold the same thing to be true with
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Jesus Jesus is the word the logos he is the beginning and the end the Alpha and
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the Omega and that when all things are gone Jesus will remain and really what we're talking about here is truth
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isn't it that when all things are gone what will remain is the truth Dharma can be described as right conduct
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righteousness moral law and Duty and everyone should strive to achieve Dharma
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we should all make Dharma the doing the right thing Central to our lives individual souls are Immortal this is an
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important lesson a Hindu believes that the individual soul the Atman is neither created nor destroyed it has been is and
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will be world without and amen sound familiar
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actions of the Soul ryre residing in the body require that it reap the consequences of those actions in the
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next life the same soul in a different body
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the process of movement of the Atman from one body to another is known as
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transmigration so when you die your soul remains and then continues on
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to another body to continue its Journey the kind of body that the soul inhabits
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is determined by Karma actions accumulated in a previous life
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so if you don't like your body folks you just have to ask yourself what you
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did in the last life to deserve it Moksha is Liberation the Soul's release
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from the cycle of death and rebirth but several paths can lead to this
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realization here's the beauty there isn't Just One path for any of us
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the path of Duty is One path The Path of Knowledge is another and the path of
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devotion is yet another and here again we see this connection to Islam
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unconditional surrender to God submission to the will of Allah
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we'll talk we can't really talk about Hinduism without talking about the caste system and I want to spend a little bit
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of time thinking about this how does the caste system work the main cats were further divided into
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3 000 castes and then 25 000 subcasts so what they did with their gods they also
36:46
did with the caste system most societies have some sort of social class based on education culture and
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income levels however in Ancient India this was inspired by the Hindu scriptures and people assumed these
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vital roles based on their abilities at 3 000 years old India's caste system
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is among the oldest forms of surviving social stratification today
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while the caste system is seriously flawed its concept was based on this division
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there are three or four different elements the Brahman the Priestly intellectual class this is the top class
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their duties include serving as the gatekeeper of knowledge so again we see someone who has to receive the message from the gods provide intellectual
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advice to the governing bodies who's going to help the government understand the meanings of the scriptures offer Priestly services and religious
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leadership and grapple with fundamental questions of life so everything was being done with them so that they could
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think about the most important things modern moderate examples of this would be philosophers religious leaders and
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teachers then we have the chatriyas the warrior class these would be today the police officers government officials
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these are people who defend the country from internal from external aggression or internal strife and they specialize
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in arms and ammunition and tactics of warfare the visayas the trade and commerce class
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is also important these are the people who keep the wheels of the economy moving the visayas specialize in trade
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and commerce and they're primarily Traders and entrepreneurs this would be Artists Craftsmen
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Merchants entrepreneurs any business owner today and then you have the sudras the labor class these would be anyone involved in
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labor in the field anyone who is a woodworker or Carpenter this sort of cast is just above the lowest class but
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it's an important level because this is where the real work gets done Farm laborers construction workers this is
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the real meat and potatoes of the economy and then we have the lowest class The Untouchables the
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ashutalis Untouchables perform the most menial
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labor such as sweeping streets cleaning sewers and Tanning leather the creation of this group was a perversion
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that was set forth and misinterpreted in he in Hindu scripture this perversion was challenged by the
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modern Indian leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi and in many respects is still at play even today so how does
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the cast work for centuries cast dictated almost every aspect of Hindu religious and social life with each
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group occupying a place in their hierarchy rural communities were were arranged on the basis of castes the
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upper and lower caste lived in segregated colonies the water wells were not shared does this remind you of
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anything that happened in the United States in the 1960s right these same things happen over and
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over again and we have to question why does it happen and I'll discuss this towards the end
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brahman's would not accept food or drink from the shudras one could not could only marry with whom once cast
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and the system bestowed many privileges on the upper class while keeping the lowest classes
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doing without even the basics most times is the caste system legal in 1950 it was
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said that it was no longer legal and they needed to start hiring from the lowest economic classes in society
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however in 1989 they were still having problems and they still have problems today they even talked about other
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backwards classes obcs which fall between the traditional upper castes and the lowest so anything that's not the
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highest and the lowest called other backwards casts and they're still trying to help bring these people into greater
40:29
levels of economic prosperity and recent decades with the spread of secular education and growing urbanization
40:37
the caste system is somewhat declined but you will see it in full effect when you travel throughout India you can't
40:43
but see it despite the changes cast identities remain strong and you'll see it even in
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people's names so even though they have eliminated it people's names still reflect their cast
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the caste system continues to be justified by the concept of samsara and reincarnation here we see
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where religion itself contributes to the degradation of certain people at
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the lowest ends the consequences obviously with Karma have to do with your current life right
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so if you are at the bottom portion of society if you have nothing if you're being treated like a slave it's because
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you must have done something in past lives to deserve this you are exactly where you are supposed to be and of
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course those at the top continue to perpetuate this because it keeps them in power and allows the people at the
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lowest and to continue to receive nothing while the people at the top receive most everything
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there are some wonderful lessons from the bhagavad-gita which is one of the Hindu scriptures and I'll go over these
41:47
briefly but I hope that you will take some time to read from the bhagavad-gita
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set thy heart upon thy work but never on its reward do what you love
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and the reward will follow but don't do it for the reward do it because you love it and the reward will follow
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dream big we're kept from our goal not by obstacles but by a clear path to a
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lesser goal this is one of my favorites there's not obstacles that are stopping you it's just something easier that's
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right in front of it that you choose to do instead why didn't I do this well I chose to do
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something else he didn't choose to do nothing you chose to do something of lesser value that was easier to do we
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have to choose the hard thing my wife told me today she heard a quote that said if your dream doesn't scare you
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you're not dreaming big enough and that's the truth we should be dreaming big we should be setting our
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hearts on great things and then working towards those not letting us being held up by smaller dreams
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let go of attachment you came here empty-handed and you will leave empty-handed whatever you receive now
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hold on to it for a little bit whether it's heart break
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Joy sadness love hold on to it for a little bit
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and then let it go because it's not meant to be yours to keep
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this is a personal favorite of mine be careful when you follow the masses sometimes the m is silent
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and I have to share with you this isn't from the bhagavad-gita but I had to share it anyways everything happens for a reason whatever
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happened was good whatever is happening is good whatever
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will happen will also be good what has happens happened it's all in how you choose to see it
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there's nothing more to be done the future is a picture it's an illusion the future will never come because when the
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future arrives it's no longer the future it's the present and it's called the present because it's a gift
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it's ours to take into use and so you don't control the future you barely
43:53
control the present but we do control how we respond to it so live to the fullest We Are All One
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this is a wonderful lesson the man who sees in me everything and everything within me will not be lost to me nor
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will I ever be lost to him he was rooted in Oneness realizes that I am in every being wherever he goes he
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remains in me when he sees all being as equal and suffering or enjoy because they are like
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himself that man has grown perfect in yoga we are happiest and at our best when we
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see the inherent goodness in all things everyone wants to be treated nicely kindly so do unto others as you
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would do to yourself give without expecting something in return this is tough a gift is pure when
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it's given from the heart to the right person at the right time and at the right place and when we expect nothing in return
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because if we give expecting something in return it's not really a gift is it you are what you think you are we behold
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what we are and we are what we behold whatever you think of yourself you're
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right at any given moment whatever you believe about yourself is right
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and so it's up to us to think better of ourselves and about others closing thought today
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is what we believe determines how we Act if we believe that we are all equal
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we strive for equality don't we if we believe that we are better than others we subjugate others or we accept the
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status quo for our advantage this is a hard one to swallow but our
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world today accurately reflects what we believe For Better or For Worse
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be of good intention your words and your actions will follow
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and more importantly be the change that you want to see in the world and in this I close thank you very much
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thank you [Music]
