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
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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
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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
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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]