Seven wonders of the buddhist world BBC FULL Documentary 2015

01:14:03
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0wq1LKICZQ

Résumé

TLDRBuddhism is an ancient belief system that blends religion and philosophy, emphasizing individual empowerment and personal understanding to escape suffering. Practiced by over 350 million people worldwide, Buddhism traces back to Northeastern India, where Prince Siddhartha Gautama attained Enlightenment and became the Buddha. This exploration visits seven wonders of the Buddhist world, including Bodh Gaya, the Mahabodhi Temple, and various other monumental sites which provide insight into Buddhism's long history and key concepts. Central to Buddhist belief are the 'three jewels': the Buddha, the community (Sangha), and the teachings (Dharma). These elements emphasize that enlightenment is achieved through personal effort, without reliance on divine beings, which was radically different from prevailing religious traditions in ancient India. Buddhist teachings have expanded globally, thanks in part to patrons like Emperor Ashoka who spread the message across India and beyond. The philosophy has adapted to various cultures, evolving into branches like Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism. Key Buddhist concepts such as karma (the moral law of cause and effect) and samsara (the cycle of rebirth) stress the importance of ethical life and attaining Nirvana—the ultimate escape from suffering and rebirth. Cultural shifts and historic figures have influenced the architectural and philosophical growth of Buddhism, reflected in the diverse landscapes from stupa reliquaries to grand temples. Buddhism continues to evolve, maintaining its significant impact on both ancient and modern societies worldwide.

A retenir

  • 📜 Buddhism began around 500 years BC in Northeastern India.
  • 🌳 Bodh Gaya is the site where Buddha attained Enlightenment under a Bodhi tree.
  • 🪔 The 'three jewels' of Buddhism are Buddha, the Sangha (community), and Dharma (teachings).
  • 🔄 Samsara refers to the cycle of birth and rebirth in Buddhism.
  • 🕉️ Karma in Buddhism emphasizes moral cause and effect affecting future lives.
  • 🚶‍♂️ Buddhism spread throughout Asia, significantly supported by Emperor Ashoka.
  • 🧘 Enlightenment, or Nirvana, is the ultimate goal, liberating one from samsara.
  • 🏯 Bodh Gaya and other sites illustrate Buddhism's historical and cultural influences.
  • ✨ Buddhist philosophy and its adaptability have fostered diverse regional practices.
  • 🌏 Buddhism has influenced cultures globally and continues to evolve with modernity.

Chronologie

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    Buddhism is both an ancient religion and philosophy practiced by 350 million people. It focuses on personal understanding to overcome suffering. The journey explores the 'Seven Wonders of the Buddhist World' to understand key Buddhist concepts and its enduring attraction.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    Bodhgaya in India marks the origin of Buddhism where Prince Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment and became the Buddha. The site's history symbolizes Buddhism's journey from ancient to modern times.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    The Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya signifies the Buddha's enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. It draws global pilgrims, highlighting Buddhism's emphasis on personal morality and self-reliance over divine intervention.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    The Bodhnath Stupa in Nepal embodies the 'Three Jewels of Buddhism': the Buddha, the Sangha (community), and the Dharma (teachings). It emphasizes personal responsibility and spiritual practice.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:25:00

    Buddhism's Sangha offers a refuge for spiritual development free from societal obligations. The acceptance of women as nuns highlights its progressive stance. The Dharma focuses on reducing suffering for all beings.

  • 00:25:00 - 00:30:00

    Buddha's teachings on karma stress the significance of intentional actions in shaping future experiences. In Sri Lanka's Temple of the Tooth, sacred relics link physical presence to spiritual legacy.

  • 00:30:00 - 00:35:00

    Sri Lanka's Temple of the Tooth exemplifies karma, illustrating the Buddhist belief in cyclical lives and influences of past actions on future rebirths. The temple highlights symbiosis between Buddhist relics and royal authority.

  • 00:35:00 - 00:40:00

    Wat Pho in Thailand illustrates how Buddhism intertwines with state power. The Reclining Buddha symbolizes enlightenment and the escape from samsara, emphasizing moderation to improve future rebirths.

  • 00:40:00 - 00:45:00

    Buddhism in Cambodia thrived on royal patronage at Angkor Wat, reflecting a shift from Hindu to Buddhist influence. Meditation is pivotal, focusing on mental clarity and liberation from worldly distractions.

  • 00:45:00 - 00:50:00

    In Cambodia, despite historical oppression, Buddhism is resurging. Meditation is central to achieving Nirvana, representing mental liberation despite past violence, highlighted by the blending of Hindu and Buddhist influences.

  • 00:50:00 - 00:55:00

    Hong Kong's Giant Buddha reflects Buddhism's legacy within modern contexts. Zen Buddhism, originating in China, thrives, emphasizing intuition and simplicity. The statue signifies meditation and spiritual awakening.

  • 00:55:00 - 01:00:00

    Zen Buddhism, part of the Mahayana tradition, seeks enlightenment through meditation and mindfulness, rejecting rational thought. The Giant Buddha represents interconnectedness of mind and practice.

  • 01:00:00 - 01:05:00

    Zen emphasizes living in the moment with simplicity, attracting those seeking relief from modern pressures. The Giant Buddha embodies Buddhist teachings of compassion and universal wisdom, appealing across cultures.

  • 01:05:00 - 01:14:03

    In the USA, Buddhism flourishes, offering spirituality without authoritarianism. Temples like Hsi Lai provide a serene refuge and promote meditation and mindfulness in the pursuit of Nirvana as a state of enlightened peace.

Afficher plus

Carte mentale

Mind Map

Questions fréquemment posées

  • Where did Buddhism begin?

    Buddhism began in Northeastern India around 500 years before Christ.

  • What are the three jewels of Buddhism?

    The three jewels are the Buddha, the Sangha (community), and the Dharma (teachings).

  • Who was the first patron of Buddhism?

    Emperor Ashoka was one of the first patrons, promoting Buddhist ideals across India 200 years after Buddha's death.

  • What is the significance of Bodh Gaya?

    Bodh Gaya is where the Buddha attained Enlightenment under a Bodhi tree.

  • What is karma in Buddhism?

    Karma refers to the belief that intentional actions bring about consequences that affect our future lives.

  • What is samsara?

    Samsara is the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth that Buddhists aim to transcend through Enlightenment.

  • What is the ultimate goal of Buddhism?

    The ultimate goal is to achieve Enlightenment, or Nirvana, escaping the cycle of samsara.

  • How did Buddhism spread globally?

    Buddhism spread through grassroots support, royal patronage, and adaptation to various cultures as it traveled across Asia.

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  • 00:00:13
    Buddhism is one of the most ancient
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    belief systems in the
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    world Buddhism is both a religion and a
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    philosophy only your own understanding
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    saves you from suffering it is practiced
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    by over 350 million people people today
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    there are many people who feel attracted
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    to a religion which empowers the human
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    individual I'm going to travel to seven
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    wonders of the Buddhist World Seven
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    Wonders that give an insight to the long
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    and Rich history of Buddhism at each
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    location I'll meet Buddhists who will
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    help me to understand a different
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    concept that forms the core of Buddhist
  • 00:00:56
    belief I'm going to explore how it
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    started
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    Ed where it traveled and some of the
  • 00:01:03
    most spectacular monuments built by
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    Buddhists right across the
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    globe and to try to get to the bottom of
  • 00:01:16
    the attraction of this philosophy for
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    mankind for close on
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    2,500
  • 00:01:24
    years buddhism's numbers grow year on
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    year and I'll be uncovering why as I
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    experience seven modern and ancient
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    wonders of the Buddhist
  • 00:01:52
    world this is Northeastern India where
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    Buddhism began around 500 years before
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    Christ
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    millions of pilgrims come to this
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    country and to the Sacred City of
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    bodgaya to visit the place where a young
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    Indian Prince underwent a life-changing
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    personal
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    transformation and came to be known as
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    the Buddha I've studied the period in
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    history when the Buddha lived for over
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    20 years and I just love it because this
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    was such a radical age this was a time
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    when men like the Buddha and Socrates in
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    ancient Greece turned the world of
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    belief upside down instead of focusing
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    on tradition and Convention and
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    ritual they dealt with ethics and the
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    possibilities of the human
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    mind and I'm particularly fascinated to
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    F in the trail of Buddhism because as
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    the philosophy has traveled through 25
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    centuries it marked out a path that
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    leads directly from ancient Society to
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    the modern
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    world this is mahab Bodi the Great
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    Awakening temple in bodgaya in
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    northeastern
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    India our first wonder of the Buddhist
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    world the reason bodar is here at all is
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    because 2 and a half Mill I ago one man
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    had an internal personal revelation
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    while he sat underneath a people tree
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    it's a very quiet simple beginning to
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    end up with all of
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    this that man was called sedata gouta
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    and we're told he renounced his
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    Privileges and family to embark on a
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    rigorous Quest a journey to understand
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    the inherent challenges of The Human
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    Condition sparked by the suffering
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    sorrow and deprivation that he saw all
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    around
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    him it was a long and difficult Journey
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    sadata renounced the Comforts of the
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    material world he meditated for weeks on
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    end he broke with the status quo in a
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    region that had been dominated by the
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    old gods for the previous Thousand
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    Years finally he achieved Nar
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    what we Loosely translate as
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    Enlightenment and became known as the
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    Buddha or the enlightened
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    one the Buddha according to Buddhist
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    scriptures made his way to this spot and
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    determined not to move until he found an
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    answer to the world's
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    suffering so it was here on one warm
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    spring evening
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    2,500 years ago that the Buddha came to
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    sit it we're told that all night he was
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    tormented by
  • 00:05:04
    demons but then as the sun began to rise
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    in the east he found
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    Enlightenment the bodgaya temple is the
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    mecca of Buddhism it is where the Buddha
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    attained Enlightenment according to
  • 00:05:23
    their belief and the bod tree or a great
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    grandson of the bod tree still grows
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    there and so Buddhist go there to
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    remember the great breakthrough that was
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    the Buddha's discovery of the true
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    nature of the universe and inspired by
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    the Buddha example you'll find visitors
  • 00:05:39
    here from every corner of the globe from
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    the 90 or so countries where Buddhism
  • 00:05:44
    still flourishes
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    today bodgaya is one of the key sites
  • 00:05:49
    for um all Buddhists worldwide it serves
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    as a magnet as a center point for
  • 00:05:54
    Buddhists from around the world you
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    could say it's the place exactly where
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    Buddhism
  • 00:06:02
    started I'm not a Buddhist but if you
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    ask anyone who's involved in Buddhism
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    they'll tell you that it's a very
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    difficult philosophy to teach or to
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    explain and that the very best way to
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    understand it is to experience
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    it and so by experiencing Buddhism I'm
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    going to try to get to the heart of a
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    philosophy that can sometimes seem
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    complicated Out Of Reach and I'll start
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    with the three key principles of
  • 00:06:30
    Buddhism but are known as its three
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    jewels the first is the life and example
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    of Buddha
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    himself all Buddhists are encouraged to
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    model their approach to life on
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    his the most important single point in
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    the Buddha's teaching and one which
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    distinguishes it very sharply from other
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    Rel religions is that the Buddha taught
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    that each of us is entirely and solely
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    responsible for our own lives and our
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    own salvation no one else can be
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    responsible the Buddha didn't claim any
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    Divine status nor did he profess to be a
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    personal savior he called himself a
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    guide and a teacher his message appealed
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    to people of all social classes in
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    Ancient India to Merchants to Farmers
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    and to the Untouchable cast the Buddha
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    in the course of his spiritual awakening
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    rejected a good number of aspects of
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    Hinduism he rejected some philosophical
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    components of Hindu beliefs um he was
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    very critical of the position of the
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    brahans or priests in society at that
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    time which was a very elitist position
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    he was similarly critical of the cast
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    system he positioned himself as a result
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    outside the cast
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    system the Buddha spent his remaining
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    years traveling through deep forests
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    across mango Groves from Village to
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    Village the Curious would bring food and
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    clothing for the philosopher and his
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    band of followers and in turn he
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    encouraged them to reconsider the
  • 00:08:19
    purpose and point of life to recalibrate
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    their moral
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    compass although the Buddha didn't
  • 00:08:28
    establish a church or Temple system as
  • 00:08:30
    such over time the significant locations
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    in his life were gradually turned into
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    shrines originally bodgaya was just a
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    pastoral Sanctuary marked out with a
  • 00:08:44
    stone ballustrade 200 years or so after
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    his death but by the 6th Century ad a
  • 00:08:50
    full-blown Temple the mahabodhi temple
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    marked the
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    spot about 400 years after the first
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    temple that was built here for the
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    worshipping of the Bodhi Tree was
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    replaced by this kind of a temple built
  • 00:09:06
    to enshrine the iconic image of Buddha
  • 00:09:09
    which had gained currency by that time
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    the temple particularly the mahabodhi
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    temple is representative of how
  • 00:09:17
    important Buddhist temples were and how
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    you know this idea of building a temple
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    to enshrine statues started from
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    here
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    as buddhism's travel through the
  • 00:09:33
    centuries perhaps inevitably it's taken
  • 00:09:36
    on more the aspect of a religion with
  • 00:09:39
    temples and pilgrims and a religious
  • 00:09:45
    hierarchy you could be forgiven for
  • 00:09:47
    mistaking Buddhism as one of the great
  • 00:09:49
    God driven faiths of the world but there
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    is a key Difference by putting such an
  • 00:09:56
    emphasis on a system of personal
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    morality and breaking with the
  • 00:10:00
    conventions and traditions and rituals
  • 00:10:03
    of the past in many ways the Buddha was
  • 00:10:06
    one of those men who gave us the modern
  • 00:10:09
    world and although he never denied that
  • 00:10:11
    there were Gods he simply said you don't
  • 00:10:15
    have to rely on the gods to make
  • 00:10:17
    everything
  • 00:10:20
    okay according to Buddhist sources
  • 00:10:23
    having seeded a radical New World View
  • 00:10:26
    the Buddha died at the age of 84
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    his body was chromated but his bones
  • 00:10:32
    remained
  • 00:10:34
    unburned they were distributed amongst
  • 00:10:36
    the various tribes rulers and kingdoms
  • 00:10:39
    who are now starting to follow the
  • 00:10:40
    Buddhist way and who honored its founder
  • 00:10:43
    by building monuments or sters over his
  • 00:10:48
    remains in Katmandu the capital city of
  • 00:10:51
    Napal stands the bodart stoer our second
  • 00:10:55
    wonder of the Buddhist
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    world
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    it was first built in the fifth or early
  • 00:11:01
    6th centuries ad then rebuilt and
  • 00:11:04
    restored a number of times finally as
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    this giant enclosed tomb in the 14th
  • 00:11:11
    century it is the largest in the Indian
  • 00:11:14
    subcontinent a sacred place for
  • 00:11:17
    thousands of Buddhists throughout the
  • 00:11:21
    world here at Boden art I'm going to
  • 00:11:23
    find out more about the three jewels of
  • 00:11:27
    Buddhism Buddhism assists as far as
  • 00:11:30
    Buddhists are concerned in three things
  • 00:11:32
    which they call the three jewels and
  • 00:11:34
    those three things are closely connected
  • 00:11:36
    the first is the Buddha the founder of
  • 00:11:39
    their religion the second is called the
  • 00:11:42
    S and that is the community of monks and
  • 00:11:45
    nuns the third is called the Dharma the
  • 00:11:49
    Dharma refers to the preaching the
  • 00:11:52
    teaching of the Buddha in other words
  • 00:11:55
    it's what the Buddha discovered and it's
  • 00:11:57
    also the truth
  • 00:11:59
    as you walk around the budhut here uh
  • 00:12:01
    you always have this sense that you're
  • 00:12:02
    being watched and that's because the
  • 00:12:04
    Buddha's allseeing eyes are always
  • 00:12:08
    staring down at you that squiggle in the
  • 00:12:10
    middle of his face incidentally is not
  • 00:12:12
    his nose it's actually the Sanskrit
  • 00:12:14
    character for the number one to
  • 00:12:16
    represent a kind of unity in the
  • 00:12:18
    Buddhist Faith something you won't find
  • 00:12:21
    represented up there are the Buddha's
  • 00:12:23
    ears and there is a particular reason
  • 00:12:25
    for that we're told that the Buddhist
  • 00:12:28
    said never wanted to hear that he was
  • 00:12:31
    being
  • 00:12:33
    worshiped and of course that is what is
  • 00:12:36
    so unique about Buddhism this is a
  • 00:12:39
    religion without a central authority
  • 00:12:41
    figure instead there's just this Credo
  • 00:12:44
    that man is his own Lord and Master that
  • 00:12:47
    mankind itself can control Humanity's
  • 00:12:55
    Destiny it's not atheistic because they
  • 00:12:58
    do believe in the ex existence of sort
  • 00:12:59
    of gods and angels and so on but they
  • 00:13:02
    simply don't believe that those beings
  • 00:13:04
    have the universe under control and
  • 00:13:06
    therefore they cannot save us from
  • 00:13:07
    suffering they themselves need saving
  • 00:13:10
    from suffering from a future time when
  • 00:13:12
    they cease being gods and they become uh
  • 00:13:14
    beings vulnerable to pain and
  • 00:13:20
    suffering at the binart stuper one of
  • 00:13:23
    the many people who come to
  • 00:13:24
    circumambulate and to pay their respects
  • 00:13:26
    to the Buddha is Annie choing a Buddhist
  • 00:13:29
    nun famous throughout Nepal for her
  • 00:13:32
    sweet singing
  • 00:13:34
    voice she is in fact known as The
  • 00:13:37
    Singing Nun this is a very highly
  • 00:13:40
    spiritual place we consider it's a holy
  • 00:13:43
    place and we believe that all the great
  • 00:13:45
    relics of the Buddhas are in the stupa
  • 00:13:48
    and then it holds a very special
  • 00:13:51
    religious spot and every PE every people
  • 00:13:54
    who comes around here are always
  • 00:13:56
    reciting mantras and really focused fing
  • 00:13:59
    on meditation they do the circum
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    imulation frustration to keep the
  • 00:14:03
    physical health healthy and the mind to
  • 00:14:07
    be energy clean chanting mantras as well
  • 00:14:12
    as doing prayers so trying to put
  • 00:14:14
    yourself in a very good positive
  • 00:14:17
    discipline this is a very very highly
  • 00:14:19
    blessed
  • 00:14:22
    place Annie is originally from Tibet
  • 00:14:25
    thousands of Tibetan Buddhists now live
  • 00:14:27
    in nepo as refugees
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    the brand of Buddhism here is as much
  • 00:14:31
    Tibetan as it is
  • 00:14:33
    nepes flexibility and diversity has
  • 00:14:35
    always been one of buddhism's strengths
  • 00:14:38
    the Buddha himself said there should be
  • 00:14:40
    no one official Buddhist language
  • 00:14:44
    instead Buddhists are encouraged to
  • 00:14:46
    focus on the universal relevance of the
  • 00:14:48
    Buddha's
  • 00:14:51
    wisdom there are some people here who
  • 00:14:53
    will tell you that buried deep in that
  • 00:14:55
    stuper there's a fragment of the
  • 00:14:57
    Buddha's bone
  • 00:15:00
    not certain we're ever actually going to
  • 00:15:01
    be able to prove that um but what is
  • 00:15:03
    sure is that this is the biggest stoer
  • 00:15:06
    in the whole of the nepo and one of the
  • 00:15:09
    largest in the world and it is immensely
  • 00:15:13
    impressive but do you know what's
  • 00:15:15
    significant about it actually it's not
  • 00:15:17
    how it looks but what it means because
  • 00:15:20
    this was built to represent something
  • 00:15:22
    very special for the men who created
  • 00:15:25
    this this was nothing less than an
  • 00:15:27
    incarnation
  • 00:15:29
    the budha
  • 00:15:36
    mind the symbolism of stupa is very
  • 00:15:38
    interesting because it takes the
  • 00:15:40
    elements of earth water fire wind and
  • 00:15:43
    space know different shapes that
  • 00:15:45
    represent those and they put them in a
  • 00:15:47
    kind of Ideal aesthetic form and so the
  • 00:15:50
    idea is that the Buddha's mind is the
  • 00:15:53
    awareness that the universe is the ideal
  • 00:15:56
    environment for a human being to a
  • 00:15:58
    achieve freedom from
  • 00:16:01
    suffering around the Buddha gathered men
  • 00:16:03
    who shared with him a common vision and
  • 00:16:06
    goal gradually this group came to be a
  • 00:16:08
    formalized community a body that took
  • 00:16:11
    its name from the old aristocratic
  • 00:16:13
    councils of the day the
  • 00:16:15
    sang the Buddhist sang became a monastic
  • 00:16:18
    tradition comprising ordained monks and
  • 00:16:21
    nuns and it's one of the three jewels of
  • 00:16:27
    Buddhism
  • 00:16:32
    my first experience of the sang came up
  • 00:16:35
    what felt like an ungodly
  • 00:16:38
    hour at Boden art every morning just
  • 00:16:40
    after Dawn monks of all ages gather to
  • 00:16:44
    perform the first of many rituals of the
  • 00:16:46
    day the sang is one of the oldest
  • 00:16:49
    continuously active spiritual
  • 00:16:52
    organizations in the
  • 00:16:57
    world
  • 00:17:02
    what's being recited here is a Tara Puja
  • 00:17:05
    um it's a chant that aims to ensure a
  • 00:17:07
    kind of Liberation from suffering um and
  • 00:17:10
    it's really interesting because Tara is
  • 00:17:12
    thought to be a female manifestation of
  • 00:17:15
    Buddha's wisdom something which is
  • 00:17:17
    incredibly potent I me this isn't just
  • 00:17:19
    an abstract idea of wisdom this is
  • 00:17:21
    thought to be able to be healing to
  • 00:17:23
    actually be stronger than medicine
  • 00:17:27
    itself
  • 00:17:32
    the sang includes women and was set up
  • 00:17:35
    to allow those who wish to practice
  • 00:17:37
    Buddha's teachings a disciplined
  • 00:17:39
    environment and maximum time to focus on
  • 00:17:42
    the Philosopher's ideas free from the
  • 00:17:45
    responsibilities and distractions of a
  • 00:17:47
    domestic or conventional
  • 00:17:52
    lifestyle a few miles outside catmandu
  • 00:17:55
    Annie The Singing Nun runs her own nunar
  • 00:18:01
    it's a refuge for girls many as young as
  • 00:18:04
    10 the age both sexes can embark on the
  • 00:18:07
    life of a Buddhist
  • 00:18:17
    novice I have here mostly girls from
  • 00:18:20
    families who are facing some
  • 00:18:23
    difficulties obviously poverty and then
  • 00:18:26
    other thing is the others are a little
  • 00:18:29
    bit very ignorantly carried away with
  • 00:18:31
    the alcoholic Behavior as well very
  • 00:18:34
    abusive behaviors and who doesn't think
  • 00:18:36
    that it's good to send their girls to
  • 00:18:38
    school so I try to collect them here and
  • 00:18:42
    give them as much as I what I can give
  • 00:18:44
    them controversial for its time was the
  • 00:18:47
    inclusion of women among the ranks of
  • 00:18:48
    the sang the Buddha allowed women to
  • 00:18:51
    become nuns to lead a life devoted to
  • 00:18:54
    Spiritual
  • 00:18:55
    Development like Buddhist monks nuns are
  • 00:18:58
    expected to remain celibate pure since
  • 00:19:01
    they are one of the three jewels of
  • 00:19:03
    Buddhism not just Buddha's foot soldiers
  • 00:19:06
    but an incarnation of the belief system
  • 00:19:11
    itself so I've learned about two of the
  • 00:19:14
    three jewels of Buddhism the S and the
  • 00:19:17
    life of the Buddha but what about the
  • 00:19:20
    third Jewel the Dharma or teachings you
  • 00:19:24
    can perhaps help me out a bit how do you
  • 00:19:27
    Des describe Dharma what what does
  • 00:19:30
    Dharma mean to you according to my
  • 00:19:34
    understanding what Dharma is to do
  • 00:19:37
    whatever you
  • 00:19:39
    do very practically
  • 00:19:43
    skillfully for benefit of the all
  • 00:19:46
    beings without causing any harm and for
  • 00:19:50
    their well-being including oneself and
  • 00:19:53
    all is
  • 00:19:57
    Dharma
  • 00:20:17
    Dharma means the purity of
  • 00:20:19
    heart Dharma means peace and Dharma
  • 00:20:23
    means well-being of all human
  • 00:20:27
    society special ways that you can
  • 00:20:29
    achieve Dharma are there rules and
  • 00:20:31
    regulations that show you what to do we
  • 00:20:34
    are taught what causes
  • 00:20:37
    suffering and what can cause suffering
  • 00:20:40
    and how to avoid causing suffering in
  • 00:20:44
    life one's own life and when you
  • 00:20:47
    implement those
  • 00:20:49
    teachings I think that is what really
  • 00:20:52
    contributes towards one's own well-being
  • 00:20:54
    and others well-being and I think that
  • 00:20:57
    is considered
  • 00:21:00
    Dharma in a Buddhist context the word
  • 00:21:03
    Dharma refers above all to the teachings
  • 00:21:06
    of the Buddha as he rediscovered them uh
  • 00:21:10
    in the process of his progress towards
  • 00:21:14
    Enlightenment the reality of the Dharma
  • 00:21:18
    uh which holds you free from suffering
  • 00:21:20
    is what uh they take the root of the
  • 00:21:22
    word Dharma which means to hold and the
  • 00:21:25
    Buddha said Dharma holds a being free
  • 00:21:27
    from suffering
  • 00:21:35
    coming here to Nepal it has been
  • 00:21:37
    relatively straightforward to identify
  • 00:21:39
    two of the jewels of the triple jewels
  • 00:21:42
    of Buddhism the Buddha himself both
  • 00:21:45
    ideas about him and his image are
  • 00:21:46
    absolutely everywhere as is the sang um
  • 00:21:50
    here in katman do there are monks and
  • 00:21:52
    nuns at every street
  • 00:21:54
    corner but what has been harder to pin
  • 00:21:57
    down is is the Dharma itself um the
  • 00:22:01
    belief system the philosophy the
  • 00:22:02
    religion whatever you want to call it of
  • 00:22:05
    Buddhism maybe it's unrealistic of me to
  • 00:22:07
    expect there to be one single definition
  • 00:22:10
    for such a broad concept um the Buddha
  • 00:22:13
    himself said the Dharma was like the
  • 00:22:15
    salt of the oceans of the world a
  • 00:22:18
    universal taste so the Buddha implied
  • 00:22:21
    the Dharma could be tasted anywhere by
  • 00:22:25
    anyone but the question for me as a
  • 00:22:27
    historian
  • 00:22:28
    is how that taste of the Buddhist Dharma
  • 00:22:31
    could become Universal practically how
  • 00:22:35
    Buddhism established itself as a global
  • 00:22:38
    belief system Buddha's teachings were
  • 00:22:41
    charismatic and radical for their time
  • 00:22:43
    but as with all big new ideas they
  • 00:22:46
    needed a ground swell of popular support
  • 00:22:48
    or a patron or both to gain a firm
  • 00:22:51
    foothold and to really
  • 00:22:53
    fly while there was Grassroots interest
  • 00:22:55
    in what he had to say it was about 200
  • 00:22:58
    years after the Buddha's death that
  • 00:22:59
    Buddhism got a major
  • 00:23:01
    boost in 250 BC the ruthless all
  • 00:23:06
    powerful Emperor Asoka who controlled
  • 00:23:09
    most of ancient India proved buddhism's
  • 00:23:12
    greatest
  • 00:23:14
    Ally Hoka was haunted by the memory of
  • 00:23:18
    the blood that he' acquired on his hands
  • 00:23:21
    as a result of the cut and thrust of his
  • 00:23:23
    rise to power and he decided to turn to
  • 00:23:27
    the good
  • 00:23:28
    and in order to realize that ambition he
  • 00:23:31
    vigorously promoted Buddhist ideals
  • 00:23:34
    right across the Indian
  • 00:23:37
    subcontinent according to Buddhist
  • 00:23:39
    tradition in the centuries following
  • 00:23:41
    ashoka's sponsorship of Buddha's ideas
  • 00:23:43
    the philosophy involved into at least 18
  • 00:23:45
    different
  • 00:23:46
    schools one of these the thraa still
  • 00:23:49
    survives today and is mainly associated
  • 00:23:52
    with South and Southeast Asia another
  • 00:23:55
    came to be called the Mahayana the great
  • 00:23:58
    vehicle or way now most often found in
  • 00:24:00
    North and East
  • 00:24:03
    Asia aoka by embracing Buddhism put a
  • 00:24:07
    particular emphasis on the consequences
  • 00:24:09
    of his actions on what he thought and
  • 00:24:12
    how he lived in the world on his
  • 00:24:15
    karma karma is a word well known in the
  • 00:24:18
    west today it has its roots in early
  • 00:24:21
    Indian belief systems but the value of
  • 00:24:24
    karma became a fundamentally important
  • 00:24:27
    Buddhist concept and one that I'm going
  • 00:24:30
    to explore at the Temple of the tooth in
  • 00:24:33
    Candi Sri Lanka our next wonder of the
  • 00:24:36
    Buddhist
  • 00:24:52
    World Sri Lankan Buddhists believe that
  • 00:24:55
    the tooth Relic was brought to their
  • 00:24:57
    country around 300
  • 00:25:00
    BC safeguarding The Relic became the
  • 00:25:02
    responsibility of kings and over the
  • 00:25:05
    years the custodianship of the Relic
  • 00:25:08
    came to symbolize the right to
  • 00:25:14
    rule the Buddha is said to have given
  • 00:25:16
    two legacies to Future Generations the
  • 00:25:19
    body of his teachings the Dharma and
  • 00:25:23
    also relics of his physical body itself
  • 00:25:26
    which are now scatter said in shrines
  • 00:25:28
    right across the globe and one of the
  • 00:25:31
    most precious is kept in here in the
  • 00:25:35
    temple of the
  • 00:25:38
    tooth that Relic makes the presence of
  • 00:25:41
    the Buddha more graphic to people so it
  • 00:25:44
    gives them a power actually many
  • 00:25:45
    Buddhist temples around the Buddhist
  • 00:25:47
    world have little relics piece of bone
  • 00:25:50
    or something just like in Europe you
  • 00:25:52
    have relics of the Saints so it's a way
  • 00:25:54
    of making the person's presence feel
  • 00:25:56
    more immediate that gives the temple
  • 00:25:58
    more power as a magnet to draw the
  • 00:26:02
    worshipper the shrine stands right at
  • 00:26:05
    the center of a paved Courtyard the
  • 00:26:08
    ceiling is decorated with moonstones and
  • 00:26:10
    floral
  • 00:26:15
    designs there are ivory reliefs on the
  • 00:26:20
    doorways the inner chamber contains the
  • 00:26:23
    tooth Relic and other sacred
  • 00:26:25
    objects and all around there is a
  • 00:26:28
    brightly painted
  • 00:26:49
    Corridor monks conduct daily Worship in
  • 00:26:52
    the inner chamber of the
  • 00:26:54
    temple rituals are performed at dawn at
  • 00:26:58
    noon and in the
  • 00:27:00
    evening the tooth is in this upper
  • 00:27:02
    chamber in a casket of gold and is only
  • 00:27:05
    revealed to a Chosen
  • 00:27:09
    Few the sacred Relic is symbolically
  • 00:27:12
    bathed with a herbal preparation made
  • 00:27:14
    from scented water and fragrant
  • 00:27:19
    flowers this holy water is believed to
  • 00:27:21
    contain healing properties and is
  • 00:27:23
    distributed among those
  • 00:27:26
    present
  • 00:27:30
    once a week mothers gather at the temple
  • 00:27:33
    with their
  • 00:27:34
    babies all these little babies are
  • 00:27:36
    waiting to be taken in to be blessed by
  • 00:27:39
    the priest so that they have Buddha's
  • 00:27:41
    power with them for the rest of their
  • 00:27:43
    lives they're given a little white piece
  • 00:27:45
    of string to wrap around their wrist
  • 00:27:47
    which shows that the Buddha is with them
  • 00:27:49
    from now until they die and it's sort
  • 00:27:51
    incredibly important they get the
  • 00:27:53
    Buddha's blessing right at this early
  • 00:27:55
    stage because everything that they do
  • 00:27:57
    from from now on all their intentional
  • 00:27:59
    actions what they think what they say
  • 00:28:02
    and what they do their karma will affect
  • 00:28:05
    how they are then reborn in the next
  • 00:28:08
    life karma is one of the main concepts
  • 00:28:11
    of Buddhism it's a belief that any of
  • 00:28:14
    our intentional actions both thought and
  • 00:28:17
    deed will be mirrored by something
  • 00:28:19
    similar happening to us in the future so
  • 00:28:21
    if you harm someone someone will harm
  • 00:28:25
    you this principle of cause and effect
  • 00:28:27
    can bring consequences that are either
  • 00:28:29
    good or bad depending on what it is that
  • 00:28:31
    you've done because Buddhists believe we
  • 00:28:34
    have many lives this good and bad karma
  • 00:28:37
    can generate consequences both
  • 00:28:39
    throughout this life and long into the
  • 00:28:44
    next karma is what you do the word
  • 00:28:48
    literally means deed or
  • 00:28:50
    action but the Buddha said that all
  • 00:28:53
    Karma that matters is what is morally
  • 00:28:56
    good or morally bad and you decide what
  • 00:29:01
    to
  • 00:29:02
    do now we must remember that for
  • 00:29:06
    Buddhists your life goes on beyond what
  • 00:29:08
    we normally think of as this life in
  • 00:29:11
    fact you are reborn an infinite number
  • 00:29:15
    of times until you manage to bring that
  • 00:29:18
    to an
  • 00:29:22
    end Buddhists use a metaphor to help
  • 00:29:25
    explain what karma is they say that if
  • 00:29:28
    you seow thistle seed then you can't
  • 00:29:30
    expect apple trees to grow and that is
  • 00:29:34
    very clear it's the basic principle of
  • 00:29:36
    cause and effect and as a historian I
  • 00:29:39
    know that that principle has real
  • 00:29:42
    validity we are all affected by our past
  • 00:29:45
    and our past and our present together
  • 00:29:48
    informs our future so when the Buddha
  • 00:29:51
    said that we should be mindful of our
  • 00:29:53
    intentional actions of our Karma and
  • 00:29:56
    that our highest Authority is our
  • 00:29:58
    conscience then he was making real sense
  • 00:30:02
    and he was also clarifying something
  • 00:30:04
    about what it is to be
  • 00:30:12
    human of course the issue is that Karma
  • 00:30:15
    can be both good and bad and in Sri
  • 00:30:18
    Lanka The Fallout of action and reaction
  • 00:30:21
    of cause and effect has been brutally
  • 00:30:23
    tested in recent years for nearly three
  • 00:30:27
    decades the country has been locked in a
  • 00:30:29
    violent Civil War in which close on
  • 00:30:33
    100,000 people have been
  • 00:30:35
    killed Sri Lanka is only now emerging
  • 00:30:38
    from this debilitating conflict between
  • 00:30:40
    the Hindu Tamil minority and a Buddhist
  • 00:30:43
    singes
  • 00:30:45
    majority the Temple of the tooth was
  • 00:30:47
    badly hit and partially destroyed during
  • 00:30:49
    the war it's now been fully
  • 00:30:52
    restored Buddhists believe this cycle of
  • 00:30:55
    death and destruction
  • 00:30:57
    can be
  • 00:30:58
    broken they assert that by following a
  • 00:31:01
    certain path it's possible to break out
  • 00:31:04
    of a continuous round of life and death
  • 00:31:07
    and rebirth which in Buddhism has a name
  • 00:31:11
    samsara and samsara is the concept I'm
  • 00:31:13
    going to investigate now as I move to
  • 00:31:17
    the next wonder of the Buddhist
  • 00:31:26
    world once Buddhist ideas had flourished
  • 00:31:28
    in Sri Lanka Sri Lankan monarchs sent
  • 00:31:31
    emissaries to adjoining Kingdoms in
  • 00:31:33
    Southeast Asia to carry the Buddhist
  • 00:31:36
    message by the 11th century thraen
  • 00:31:39
    Buddhism was well established in
  • 00:31:41
    Thailand and here in Bangkok close on
  • 00:31:43
    90% of TI are now
  • 00:31:47
    Buddhist the reason that Buddhism has
  • 00:31:49
    thrived so vigorously and tenaciously
  • 00:31:52
    here is because right from its very
  • 00:31:54
    outset it's had the support of High
  • 00:31:57
    Kings um a king here can aspire to be a
  • 00:32:00
    Buddha himself and there was one king
  • 00:32:03
    who was actually a monk for 25 years
  • 00:32:05
    before he came to the throne every time
  • 00:32:08
    the royal family builds a new Palace for
  • 00:32:10
    itself it will also construct next door
  • 00:32:12
    a monry and a temple complex as a kind
  • 00:32:15
    of outward sign of its righteousness and
  • 00:32:17
    commitment to the Buddhist cause and
  • 00:32:20
    here in bangco the temple complex is
  • 00:32:23
    certainly Fit For A
  • 00:32:26
    King
  • 00:32:29
    this is wat Poe our next wonder of the
  • 00:32:32
    Buddhist world it's the largest and
  • 00:32:35
    oldest Temple complex in Bangkok it's
  • 00:32:39
    home to more than 1,000 Buddha images
  • 00:32:42
    the complex includes a temple a working
  • 00:32:45
    Monastery and a large Courtyard with a
  • 00:32:47
    forest of sters thick with exquisite
  • 00:32:50
    handmade Lotus
  • 00:32:54
    motifs and hidden within its own own
  • 00:32:57
    palacial
  • 00:32:58
    Hall the golden reclining
  • 00:33:08
    Buddha the gold Buddha is 141 ft long
  • 00:33:13
    and 49 ft High started in 1788 it took
  • 00:33:18
    over 5 years to
  • 00:33:25
    build
  • 00:33:35
    this is one of the most stunning Gob
  • 00:33:38
    smacking works of monumental art I've
  • 00:33:40
    ever seen I have to say I love its
  • 00:33:43
    audacity I love the fact that it says
  • 00:33:45
    look at me look at what mankind can do
  • 00:33:48
    when he manipulates raw materials to
  • 00:33:50
    create a thing of beauty uh because here
  • 00:33:53
    there are thousands of fragments of
  • 00:33:55
    mother of pearl used and
  • 00:33:57
    153 plates of
  • 00:34:00
    gold but what it doesn't seem to me to
  • 00:34:03
    say is that this is an incarnation of
  • 00:34:05
    the middle path um that essential
  • 00:34:08
    Buddhist notion that extremes and
  • 00:34:11
    excesses should be avoided at all costs
  • 00:34:14
    because there's no doubt that this is a
  • 00:34:16
    thing of opulence it's enormous it's
  • 00:34:19
    gorgeous and it's very
  • 00:34:24
    sensuous in history of time Island there
  • 00:34:28
    are a lot of large scale uh reclining
  • 00:34:31
    Buddhas built uh all over uh central
  • 00:34:35
    part of Thailand uh because to build uh
  • 00:34:39
    reclining Buddha it's not a very easy
  • 00:34:42
    process because most of the reclining
  • 00:34:46
    Buddha is not made from casting it's
  • 00:34:49
    made from bricks plaster or
  • 00:34:54
    cement is considered very uh
  • 00:34:57
    respectful image so it must be decorated
  • 00:35:01
    with uh a very valuable materials and of
  • 00:35:05
    course the most valuable materials for
  • 00:35:08
    decorating the image of the Lord Buddha
  • 00:35:11
    should be
  • 00:35:13
    gold gold in Buddhism symbolizes the Sun
  • 00:35:17
    or fire the most valuable of metals it's
  • 00:35:20
    accorded a sacred status through its
  • 00:35:23
    association with suria the sun god of
  • 00:35:26
    the Hindu Ian for Buddhists in Thailand
  • 00:35:29
    and other South Asian countries gold is
  • 00:35:31
    an element that signifies homage a gift
  • 00:35:35
    of gold is the ultimate demonstration of
  • 00:35:38
    one's
  • 00:35:39
    piety the meritorious act of putting
  • 00:35:42
    gold leaf on the surface of the Buddha's
  • 00:35:45
    skin is to commemorate the living Buddha
  • 00:35:48
    who had a kind of golden like Aura and
  • 00:35:50
    or Radiance they
  • 00:35:52
    believe but gold and its association
  • 00:35:55
    with wealth and might is also the way
  • 00:35:57
    the time monarchs have used a showy form
  • 00:36:00
    of piety to forge a strong relationship
  • 00:36:03
    between budd's ideas and the power of
  • 00:36:06
    the
  • 00:36:07
    state it was King Rama iiii who had the
  • 00:36:10
    statue of the reclining Buddha opulently
  • 00:36:12
    restored at the height of his reign in
  • 00:36:15
    the mid 19th
  • 00:36:16
    century it's called The Lion pose says
  • 00:36:20
    he lay there in the lion pose as he was
  • 00:36:23
    preparing to die it's described that he
  • 00:36:26
    lay down on his right side and he rested
  • 00:36:29
    his head on his right
  • 00:36:32
    hand there's a reason that this Buddha
  • 00:36:35
    has got such a Serene smile it's because
  • 00:36:38
    he's achieved Enlightenment Nirvana it
  • 00:36:41
    means that he's escaped what Buddhists
  • 00:36:43
    call
  • 00:36:44
    samsara an endless cycle of Life of
  • 00:36:48
    birth and death of passion and desire
  • 00:36:51
    and delusion that can only lead to pain
  • 00:36:55
    and suffering
  • 00:37:00
    samsara effectively constitutes a cycle
  • 00:37:03
    of birth and rebirth and as long as we
  • 00:37:06
    are in samsara we are reborn innumerable
  • 00:37:09
    times moving from one existence to the
  • 00:37:12
    next we can be reborn as a human being
  • 00:37:14
    as a Divinity or you can be reborn as an
  • 00:37:16
    animal
  • 00:37:21
    Etc tell me what you think samsara is
  • 00:37:25
    for me uh it's not just the physical
  • 00:37:29
    picture of you know the circle of being
  • 00:37:31
    born and aging and dying for me it's it
  • 00:37:35
    has something to do with the state of
  • 00:37:37
    mind as well that you have to deal with
  • 00:37:40
    your bad emotions you feel you have
  • 00:37:44
    problems you feel suffering you have
  • 00:37:46
    feel frustrated you don't know how to
  • 00:37:48
    deal with it but this is just a small
  • 00:37:50
    samples of bad things that happen to you
  • 00:37:52
    you just keep go on and on and on you
  • 00:37:54
    know you can find a real peie or
  • 00:37:59
    happiness The Wheel of Life is a common
  • 00:38:01
    visual depiction in Buddhism at the time
  • 00:38:04
    Buddha started to teach many understood
  • 00:38:06
    Life as a Relentless cycle where all
  • 00:38:08
    were born grew old died and were reborn
  • 00:38:11
    in another life it was an eternal morass
  • 00:38:15
    from which there was no
  • 00:38:17
    release but Buddha felt that an escape
  • 00:38:20
    was possible he taught that through
  • 00:38:23
    one's actions Karma and through a way of
  • 00:38:26
    life that was characterized by wisdom
  • 00:38:28
    morality and compassion via meditation
  • 00:38:31
    and the Triumph of the Mind Over craving
  • 00:38:33
    desire and excess it was possible to
  • 00:38:36
    achieve enlightenment
  • 00:38:40
    Nirvana he believed that this
  • 00:38:42
    Enlightenment would Empower Ordinary
  • 00:38:44
    People to break free from
  • 00:38:48
    samsara this idea gives Buddhist
  • 00:38:51
    funerals a distinctive
  • 00:38:52
    character those present mourn their loss
  • 00:38:56
    but also hope that thanks to their
  • 00:38:58
    beloved's Good Karma the dead are at
  • 00:39:00
    least one step closer to Enlightenment
  • 00:39:03
    that they have the chance of a rebirth
  • 00:39:06
    as a better being who one day can escape
  • 00:39:13
    samsara what goes around comes around
  • 00:39:16
    that's what I believe this body is just
  • 00:39:18
    like a house that we ran for a while
  • 00:39:21
    after we die we have to find a new place
  • 00:39:23
    to live it's impermanent it's just
  • 00:39:26
    temporary so good Buddhists believe that
  • 00:39:29
    we should do our best in this life to
  • 00:39:32
    guarantee the better place after we
  • 00:39:53
    die Buddhists say that there is only one
  • 00:39:56
    uncertain way to break free from samsara
  • 00:39:59
    to eliminate the desires and the
  • 00:40:02
    passions and the distractions of
  • 00:40:04
    everyday life now of course that is very
  • 00:40:07
    easy to say and it's very hard to do so
  • 00:40:11
    over the centuries Buddhists have
  • 00:40:12
    employed specific rigorous methods to
  • 00:40:16
    break free from all of this from the
  • 00:40:18
    troubles and The Temptations of the real
  • 00:40:20
    world and to set themselves on the path
  • 00:40:23
    to Enlightenment to
  • 00:40:24
    Nana and that is the truly radical thing
  • 00:40:28
    about the Buddha's example his belief
  • 00:40:31
    that each and every one of us has the
  • 00:40:34
    capacity to achieve Liberation to
  • 00:40:37
    achieve our own
  • 00:40:42
    Enlightenment it took the Buddha years
  • 00:40:44
    to arrive at this radical belief ideas
  • 00:40:47
    he developed through his own personal
  • 00:40:49
    experience in particular an intense form
  • 00:40:52
    of
  • 00:40:53
    meditation and it is Buddhist Meditation
  • 00:40:56
    that I'm now going to experience in our
  • 00:40:59
    next wonder of the Buddhist
  • 00:41:02
    World Buddhism continued to spread
  • 00:41:05
    throughout the medieval period come the
  • 00:41:07
    13th century and Buddhism was
  • 00:41:09
    flourishing in the KEH Kingdom modern
  • 00:41:12
    day
  • 00:41:14
    Cambodia the temple complexes here at
  • 00:41:16
    Anor are our fifth
  • 00:41:20
    Wonder anle W began life as the sacred
  • 00:41:23
    Palace complex of a Chim Emperor who in
  • 00:41:26
    fact favored Hinduism over Buddhist
  • 00:41:30
    ideas these aren't just buildings but
  • 00:41:33
    have a grand
  • 00:41:35
    ambition the whole complex is said to be
  • 00:41:38
    a symbolic representation of Hindu
  • 00:41:47
    cosmology the original Temple honored
  • 00:41:49
    the Hindu god Vishnu and incarnates the
  • 00:41:52
    center of the physical and spiritual
  • 00:41:55
    universe a mythical
  • 00:41:59
    Mountain a series of five rectangular
  • 00:42:02
    walls represent other mountains and the
  • 00:42:05
    moats here evoke the cosmic
  • 00:42:19
    ocean this place reeks of a combination
  • 00:42:23
    of Earthly and divine power and of the
  • 00:42:27
    close-knit relationship between gods and
  • 00:42:30
    Kings and of course it was a belief in
  • 00:42:33
    that relationship that inspired the
  • 00:42:34
    creation of this complex in the first
  • 00:42:36
    place but for some people it was just
  • 00:42:40
    too exclusive too strictly
  • 00:42:43
    hierarchical and Buddhism offered a
  • 00:42:47
    solution it was the CH Emperor Garman I
  • 00:42:50
    7th who converted to Buddhism and his
  • 00:42:53
    regime marked a clear dividing line with
  • 00:42:55
    the old old Hindu past before 1200 art
  • 00:43:00
    and the temples mostly portrayed scenes
  • 00:43:02
    from the Hindu Pantheon after his
  • 00:43:04
    conversion Buddhist scenes begin to
  • 00:43:06
    appear as standard
  • 00:43:08
    motifs during his Reign there was a
  • 00:43:10
    focus on building libraries monastic
  • 00:43:13
    dwellings Public Works and more Earthly
  • 00:43:16
    projects accessible to the common
  • 00:43:19
    people so history in Cambodia takes a
  • 00:43:22
    humanist turn um as Buddhism rises in
  • 00:43:25
    popular ity you find images of the
  • 00:43:28
    Buddha and his followers emerging
  • 00:43:30
    everywhere in the architecture in Gates
  • 00:43:33
    in walls and in temples so now Anor is
  • 00:43:37
    showing the world a more human
  • 00:43:41
    face the Anor complex is a prime example
  • 00:43:45
    of the classical style of K
  • 00:43:47
    architecture by the 12th century CH
  • 00:43:50
    Architects had become skilled and
  • 00:43:52
    confident in masonry Facing The
  • 00:43:54
    Monuments with intricate sand stone
  • 00:43:57
    blocks ankle wat is famous for the
  • 00:44:00
    harmony of its worldclass
  • 00:44:02
    design architecturally Towers shaped
  • 00:44:06
    like Lotus buds are
  • 00:44:08
    characteristic half galleries broaden
  • 00:44:11
    the passageways other galleries connect
  • 00:44:14
    enclosures and Terraces appear along the
  • 00:44:16
    main Pathways of the
  • 00:44:18
    temple the walls are decorated with bass
  • 00:44:21
    reliefs showing Hindu mythological
  • 00:44:23
    figures and detailed narrative scenes
  • 00:44:28
    this one depicts the churning of the
  • 00:44:33
    oceans other elements of the design have
  • 00:44:36
    been destroyed by looting and the
  • 00:44:38
    passage of time they included gilded
  • 00:44:41
    stucco gold on some figures and
  • 00:44:44
    elaborate carved ceiling panels and
  • 00:44:47
    doors this was the largest sacred
  • 00:44:50
    building in the
  • 00:44:52
    world although there is an eerie
  • 00:44:55
    crumbling Beauty to this place now you
  • 00:44:58
    have to try to imagine it in its Heyday
  • 00:45:01
    all this stonework would have been
  • 00:45:03
    brightly painted and in this Corridor
  • 00:45:06
    there had been many hundreds of statues
  • 00:45:08
    of the bdha wrought out of precious gold
  • 00:45:12
    uh the light from the statues would have
  • 00:45:13
    been reflected back from the walls which
  • 00:45:15
    would have been studded with emeralds
  • 00:45:17
    and sapphires and
  • 00:45:19
    rubies and outside there would have been
  • 00:45:22
    crowds of monks their eyes closed in
  • 00:45:26
    meditation their faces lit by the glow
  • 00:45:29
    of torches made out of jungle
  • 00:45:33
    resin since Buddhism is primarily an
  • 00:45:36
    educational
  • 00:45:37
    system meditation is a key component of
  • 00:45:40
    that educational system meditation is
  • 00:45:43
    the way you become viscerally and
  • 00:45:45
    directly aware of all these deep
  • 00:45:47
    connections and connectedness is to the
  • 00:45:49
    universe and you have to become directly
  • 00:45:51
    aware of it to become free of being
  • 00:45:53
    controlled by unconscious processes
  • 00:45:56
    and that freedom is Liberation that
  • 00:45:58
    freedom is
  • 00:46:00
    nirvana I've been invited by a group of
  • 00:46:03
    traine Buist monks to experience
  • 00:46:05
    meditation for
  • 00:46:08
    myself members of the S can spend hours
  • 00:46:11
    each day
  • 00:46:13
    meditating the way they sit the position
  • 00:46:17
    of their hands is copied from the
  • 00:46:18
    practice of the Buddha
  • 00:46:21
    himself they are still and concentrate
  • 00:46:24
    on their breathing not doing anything to
  • 00:46:27
    alter the way they breathe not worrying
  • 00:46:29
    about whether they're doing it right or
  • 00:46:32
    wrong clearing their minds of thoughts
  • 00:46:35
    of feelings of fear and anger of the
  • 00:46:38
    distractions of the outside
  • 00:46:40
    world just following the breathing and
  • 00:46:44
    becoming one with each
  • 00:46:50
    breath I can't say I've managed to
  • 00:46:53
    completely block out the sound of the
  • 00:46:55
    world going going on and it feels hard
  • 00:46:58
    to stay this still for so long but if
  • 00:47:02
    someone were to ask me if I had any
  • 00:47:04
    anger in my head or my heart right now I
  • 00:47:08
    would have to say there is
  • 00:47:18
    none the parley Cannon advises that
  • 00:47:21
    there are particularly good places to
  • 00:47:24
    meditate a Mountain a hillside a Rock
  • 00:47:28
    cave a cemetery an open field open
  • 00:47:32
    Forest the root of a tree deep in the
  • 00:47:36
    jungle and this place certainly fits
  • 00:47:38
    some of those criteria but I have to say
  • 00:47:41
    I think I'm probably going to carry on
  • 00:47:43
    meditating in my own sweet way for a
  • 00:47:45
    while um I'm not quite ready yet to do
  • 00:47:47
    the deep breathing and the Lotus
  • 00:47:49
    position but still I have huge respect
  • 00:47:52
    for the practice of meditation not least
  • 00:47:56
    because it is a firm vote of confidence
  • 00:47:58
    in the power of the human mind it
  • 00:48:01
    suggests that in order to transcend the
  • 00:48:03
    difficulties of this world we don't just
  • 00:48:06
    need to appeal to a higher Divine
  • 00:48:09
    Authority but can look to our own
  • 00:48:14
    Consciousness well certainly the people
  • 00:48:16
    of Cambodia have had more cause than
  • 00:48:18
    most to find internal resources to deal
  • 00:48:21
    with the troubles that the world has
  • 00:48:22
    thrown at
  • 00:48:24
    them Cambodia has suffered some of the
  • 00:48:26
    worst violence and genocide of the last
  • 00:48:30
    century between 1968 and
  • 00:48:33
    1976 over 3 million cambodians were
  • 00:48:36
    killed in the war that engulfed Vietnam
  • 00:48:38
    and other countries of Southeast
  • 00:48:41
    Asia This Was Then followed by the
  • 00:48:43
    terror and genocide Unleashed by the CH
  • 00:48:46
    Rouge a communist movement that ruled
  • 00:48:48
    Cambodia for four
  • 00:48:53
    years the K Rouge dealt particularly
  • 00:48:56
    viciously with
  • 00:48:58
    Buddhism thousands of monks were
  • 00:49:00
    slaughtered and monasteries were
  • 00:49:02
    destroyed and if people try to hold on
  • 00:49:04
    to their beliefs they were often
  • 00:49:06
    tortured and killed but gradually as the
  • 00:49:10
    nightmare is beginning to fade Buddhism
  • 00:49:12
    is finding its feet here again and when
  • 00:49:15
    you come to Anor you'll find little
  • 00:49:18
    active shrines like this tucked away
  • 00:49:20
    into
  • 00:49:22
    Corners in Cambodia Buddhism is slowly
  • 00:49:26
    reasserting
  • 00:49:27
    itself this country which had
  • 00:49:29
    experienced such Horrors is now peaceful
  • 00:49:33
    an anchor which had been brutalized by
  • 00:49:35
    the Kam Rouge regime is now a world
  • 00:49:38
    tourist site once
  • 00:49:40
    again it's been very moving coming here
  • 00:49:42
    to Cambodia because this place has been
  • 00:49:45
    the home to the most dramatic twists and
  • 00:49:48
    turns in the fortunes of Buddhism for
  • 00:49:51
    centuries Buddhism was the philosophy of
  • 00:49:54
    choice for both both the Kings and the
  • 00:49:56
    people and then thanks to the horrors of
  • 00:49:59
    the Chim Rouge there was a chance that
  • 00:50:01
    it was going to be eradicated virtually
  • 00:50:05
    overnight but gradually gently it is now
  • 00:50:09
    making a comeback and there's even a
  • 00:50:12
    possibility that this place which is
  • 00:50:14
    once the biggest and most active
  • 00:50:17
    Buddhist complex in the world could be
  • 00:50:20
    that again sometime in the
  • 00:50:24
    future
  • 00:50:27
    while in Cambodia Buddhism is emerging
  • 00:50:29
    out of the darkness of the CH Rouge
  • 00:50:32
    regime Buddhism in mainland China and
  • 00:50:35
    here in Hong Kong is also reasserting
  • 00:50:38
    itself an ancient tradition reappearing
  • 00:50:41
    in modern
  • 00:50:43
    society Buddhism is on the rise once
  • 00:50:46
    again partly perhaps because its
  • 00:50:49
    positive attitude feels well suited to
  • 00:50:51
    an emerging
  • 00:50:53
    superpower particularly popular is is
  • 00:50:55
    the Zen form of Buddhism little surprise
  • 00:50:58
    given that Zen although now typically
  • 00:51:01
    associated with Japan started off life
  • 00:51:04
    in China and I'm going to explore Zen in
  • 00:51:08
    one of the places in the world where it
  • 00:51:10
    is most
  • 00:51:11
    vigorous Hong
  • 00:51:14
    Kong our sixth wonder is the Giant
  • 00:51:17
    Buddha that overlooks this great Asian
  • 00:51:22
    City this Mammoth bronze statue was
  • 00:51:24
    completed in
  • 00:51:26
    1993 it symbolizes the relationship
  • 00:51:29
    between man and nature people and
  • 00:51:32
    religion well the building of the Giant
  • 00:51:34
    Buddha in Hong Kong was a reassertion of
  • 00:51:36
    an old Buddhist tradition of
  • 00:51:39
    constructing massive uh Buddhist images
  • 00:51:42
    and the monks who uh initiated the
  • 00:51:45
    project in Hong Kong had visited Japan
  • 00:51:47
    and they' visited various sites in
  • 00:51:49
    mainland China and seen medieval massive
  • 00:51:52
    images of Buddhas and this was something
  • 00:51:54
    they were trying to recre create in
  • 00:51:57
    lant it's the only statue of Buddha to
  • 00:52:00
    face north towards Beijing and is named
  • 00:52:04
    jantan after the Temple of Heaven in
  • 00:52:06
    that
  • 00:52:10
    City when Buddhism first starts out it
  • 00:52:13
    seems that people actively choose not to
  • 00:52:16
    represent the Buddha
  • 00:52:18
    figuratively but then as the philosophy
  • 00:52:21
    passes through regions like Afghanistan
  • 00:52:23
    which had a really strong Greek fluence
  • 00:52:26
    thanks to the invasion of Alexander the
  • 00:52:27
    Great it becomes the done thing to
  • 00:52:31
    represent the Buddha in human form now
  • 00:52:35
    once the belief system enters China a
  • 00:52:37
    new tradition gains popularity but not
  • 00:52:40
    just to represent the Buddha in human
  • 00:52:42
    form but to do so on a Monumental scale
  • 00:52:48
    and that's an art form that's now being
  • 00:52:50
    revived here in Hong
  • 00:52:54
    Kong
  • 00:52:59
    everything about this statue means
  • 00:53:02
    something the Buddha is sitting in a
  • 00:53:04
    Lotus position which shows that he was
  • 00:53:06
    like the beauty of a Lotus Flower
  • 00:53:09
    emerging From the Muddy Waters of a pond
  • 00:53:13
    his face is that beautiful round shape
  • 00:53:15
    which is supposed to be a reflection of
  • 00:53:17
    the Perfection of the Moon and his head
  • 00:53:20
    is domed which tells us just how wise he
  • 00:53:23
    is and his hands are interesting because
  • 00:53:26
    the right hand is raised in a gesture of
  • 00:53:28
    blessing this is the Buddha's vow that
  • 00:53:31
    he will release the entire world from
  • 00:53:33
    its suffering and on his chest he's got
  • 00:53:36
    that so-called swastika symbol now of
  • 00:53:39
    course the swastika was unfortunately
  • 00:53:41
    appropriated by the Nazis even though
  • 00:53:43
    they got it the wrong way around but
  • 00:53:45
    what it actually means is the power of
  • 00:53:48
    the universe so this tells us that the
  • 00:53:51
    Buddha's compassion and wisdom is
  • 00:53:53
    available to all
  • 00:54:00
    the Buddha statue sits on a Lotus Throne
  • 00:54:03
    on top of an
  • 00:54:05
    altar it's surrounded by six smaller
  • 00:54:07
    Bronze Statues they're shown offering
  • 00:54:10
    gifts like fruit and incense gifts that
  • 00:54:13
    symbolize different aspects of Buddhist
  • 00:54:15
    philosophy all virtues which are
  • 00:54:18
    necessary to achieve
  • 00:54:24
    enlightenment
  • 00:54:30
    the Giant Buddha is part of the poin
  • 00:54:32
    monry and Temple complex set up nearly
  • 00:54:35
    100 Years Ago by three Zen
  • 00:54:39
    Masters Zen has developed as a part of
  • 00:54:42
    Mahayana Buddhism the school of Buddhism
  • 00:54:45
    practiced in China and other Northern
  • 00:54:47
    Asian
  • 00:54:48
    countries Zen Buddhists believe that all
  • 00:54:50
    people have the qualities that the
  • 00:54:52
    Buddha had and emphasize that these can
  • 00:54:54
    be divers veloped and were not unique to
  • 00:54:57
    the Buddha
  • 00:55:09
    only the aim of Zen is to discover this
  • 00:55:13
    quality within each person through
  • 00:55:15
    meditation and practice of the Buddha's
  • 00:55:20
    teachings the ultimate goal is to become
  • 00:55:23
    a completely enl en lightened
  • 00:55:28
    Buddha meditation has always been
  • 00:55:31
    Central to Buddhism but here in China a
  • 00:55:34
    new brand of meditation was born and it
  • 00:55:37
    took its name from a Sanskrit word Diana
  • 00:55:40
    which is actually very hard to translate
  • 00:55:42
    but means a kind of alert productive
  • 00:55:45
    State of Mind in China it was called
  • 00:55:48
    Chan and when it travels to Japan it
  • 00:55:52
    becomes
  • 00:55:54
    senen
  • 00:55:55
    it's a school of Buddhism which lays
  • 00:55:59
    enormous emphasis on certain kinds of
  • 00:56:02
    meditative practice what you try to do
  • 00:56:04
    is purely to empty your mind it has a
  • 00:56:08
    sort of ideology that rational thought
  • 00:56:11
    is not going to get you to Enlightenment
  • 00:56:13
    or
  • 00:56:17
    NADA it's practiced here in a small
  • 00:56:20
    secluded Monastery minutes away from the
  • 00:56:22
    Giant
  • 00:56:23
    Buddha
  • 00:56:26
    formal silent meditation is Central to
  • 00:56:29
    Zen and is practiced by both the Ley and
  • 00:56:32
    the ordained
  • 00:56:37
    together some people find the concept of
  • 00:56:40
    Zen quite difficult to grasp so how
  • 00:56:42
    would you define it so s means we never
  • 00:56:45
    separate our life and our practice Zen
  • 00:56:49
    is uh like 24 hours when you are
  • 00:56:52
    standing sitting walking lying down so
  • 00:56:58
    never separate you know our everyday
  • 00:57:00
    life and our practice cannot separate is
  • 00:57:03
    not two thing s also means inside inside
  • 00:57:07
    you know our mind and outside the object
  • 00:57:09
    inside outside boom become one that's
  • 00:57:19
    Z so if you're not making that
  • 00:57:21
    separation uh between Zen practice and
  • 00:57:24
    everyday life does that mean that when
  • 00:57:26
    you do everything when you sweep the
  • 00:57:28
    floor or prepare food that or clean
  • 00:57:31
    something that that actually is an act
  • 00:57:34
    of Zen itself Zen means what are you
  • 00:57:37
    doing now you know so somebody might get
  • 00:57:40
    Enlightenment while they eating
  • 00:57:42
    meal washing
  • 00:57:44
    bat all these we designed to help people
  • 00:57:48
    to be in the moment and maybe at that
  • 00:57:51
    moment your mind become clear and your
  • 00:57:53
    life become clear
  • 00:58:23
    for
  • 00:58:35
    this is called water balll meditation
  • 00:58:37
    and the purpose is to carry the water
  • 00:58:39
    without spilling a single drop now the
  • 00:58:42
    idea is that you can do this through the
  • 00:58:44
    application of Zen because if you think
  • 00:58:47
    you're carrying a bowl of water then
  • 00:58:48
    you're bound to shake and lose some but
  • 00:58:51
    if you clear your mind completely you
  • 00:58:53
    will complete the task
  • 00:59:01
    successfully in the west a lot of people
  • 00:59:03
    have heard of Zen it is something that's
  • 00:59:05
    quite popular do you think that's partly
  • 00:59:07
    because people's lives are so demanding
  • 00:59:10
    and Zen offers a kind of a way out from
  • 00:59:13
    that I think not only the West are very
  • 00:59:16
    busy now Asia is more busy it's true
  • 00:59:19
    it's very like uh money orientated
  • 00:59:22
    everybody worry about the living so it's
  • 00:59:25
    very important now mind know how to
  • 00:59:28
    relax and to be living at this moment
  • 00:59:31
    and to keep clear so if you can live in
  • 00:59:34
    this present even there's a some problem
  • 00:59:37
    up here it's okay you know you have this
  • 00:59:39
    clear mind and you are not agitated I
  • 00:59:42
    think these are very important practice
  • 00:59:45
    for for for
  • 00:59:53
    everybody
  • 00:59:55
    Zen practitioners today don't like to
  • 00:59:57
    use specific words to limit what Zen is
  • 01:00:01
    but if you want to find a definition for
  • 01:00:03
    the practice probably as close as you'll
  • 01:00:05
    get is that this is something that
  • 01:00:08
    really believes in the power of
  • 01:00:10
    intuition and in a kind of productive
  • 01:00:13
    Simplicity and I can see that cherishing
  • 01:00:16
    intuition Living For The Moment living
  • 01:00:19
    day by day with a clear mind is a very
  • 01:00:22
    productive way to spend your time
  • 01:00:25
    perhaps it explains why of all brands of
  • 01:00:27
    Buddhism Zen has become particularly
  • 01:00:30
    attractive to those who live in our
  • 01:00:32
    demanding 21st
  • 01:00:44
    century Zen and its ancestor Chan is a
  • 01:00:48
    very practical form of Buddhist wisdom
  • 01:00:51
    it encourages a process of rediscovery
  • 01:00:53
    by living
  • 01:00:57
    simply the Zen tradition emphasizes that
  • 01:00:59
    Enlightenment is possible Here and
  • 01:01:03
    Now is it then very different from other
  • 01:01:06
    forms of
  • 01:01:08
    Buddhism Zen means pting directly to our
  • 01:01:12
    mind means right now wake up you know
  • 01:01:16
    and be clear what are you doing now
  • 01:01:19
    actually our mind is not complicated is
  • 01:01:21
    our thinking our life very complicated
  • 01:01:24
    so Zen is a tool to help us to bring
  • 01:01:28
    back our mind to our everyday life and
  • 01:01:31
    be
  • 01:01:34
    simple Zen like all Buddhist practice
  • 01:01:37
    turns philosophy into a tool to help in
  • 01:01:39
    day-to-day life meditation is used to
  • 01:01:42
    bring about a tangible outcome either in
  • 01:01:44
    the understanding of the world or in our
  • 01:01:47
    ability to deal with it and with the
  • 01:01:49
    suffering we see all around and feel
  • 01:01:51
    within us one thing that struck me is is
  • 01:01:54
    that whatever the regional variations of
  • 01:01:56
    Buddhism issues of suffering are right
  • 01:02:00
    at the core of the philosophy now that
  • 01:02:03
    is really interesting because in general
  • 01:02:05
    over the last 2 and a half thousand
  • 01:02:06
    years cultures of the East have actually
  • 01:02:09
    been very unabashed about suffering but
  • 01:02:11
    they don't mind putting it Center Stage
  • 01:02:14
    whereas in the west these are issues
  • 01:02:16
    that we can sometimes try to brush under
  • 01:02:17
    the carpets um in the modern age for
  • 01:02:20
    instance we've been accused of trying to
  • 01:02:22
    cheat death itself but just look at that
  • 01:02:26
    statue there's the Buddha promising to
  • 01:02:28
    deal with all the suffering in the world
  • 01:02:31
    so it does make you wonder what future
  • 01:02:34
    Buddhism has as a global belief system
  • 01:02:37
    what's going to happen when ideas of the
  • 01:02:39
    East which put suffering to the Fall
  • 01:02:42
    start to take root in the
  • 01:02:53
    west but goodest ideas and philosophy
  • 01:02:56
    have become increasingly popular in the
  • 01:02:58
    fast-paced and highly competitive world
  • 01:03:01
    of
  • 01:03:02
    California New Age Concepts mixed with
  • 01:03:04
    the counterculture of the hippies in the
  • 01:03:06
    1970s have made words like Karma and
  • 01:03:10
    Nirvana Common Place Buddhism offered a
  • 01:03:13
    spiritual life and an emphasis on
  • 01:03:15
    morality without being too
  • 01:03:18
    authoritarian budism initially spread
  • 01:03:21
    into the west and especially the west
  • 01:03:22
    coast of the United States is in the
  • 01:03:24
    19th century thanks to Japanese and
  • 01:03:26
    Chinese laborers brought in to work on
  • 01:03:28
    the railways in Los Angeles the first
  • 01:03:31
    Buddhist temples were set up at the turn
  • 01:03:33
    of the
  • 01:03:35
    century today the city is home to one of
  • 01:03:38
    the largest Buddhist temples in the West
  • 01:03:41
    shayai Temple at Hender Heights our
  • 01:03:44
    seventh wonder of the Buddhist
  • 01:03:50
    World here I'm going to try to
  • 01:03:53
    understand what has to be the most
  • 01:03:55
    important Buddhist concept the ultimate
  • 01:03:58
    goal for Buddhists
  • 01:04:07
    Nana the planning and construction of
  • 01:04:09
    the temple in the 1980s was met with
  • 01:04:11
    suspicion and resistance from local
  • 01:04:14
    communities the building of the temple
  • 01:04:16
    at its current location survived six
  • 01:04:18
    public hearings and 165 explanatory
  • 01:04:22
    sessions finally in 1985 the temple was
  • 01:04:25
    granted a building permit and it was
  • 01:04:28
    completed in
  • 01:04:33
    1988 I tell you what there is definitely
  • 01:04:35
    a wealth of here and that is Buddhas
  • 01:04:38
    I've never seen so many they must be
  • 01:04:41
    what 10,000 or something at least 10,000
  • 01:04:44
    Buddhas right here big and small and if
  • 01:04:47
    you look at all the Buddhas uh you may
  • 01:04:49
    find some names there it's it's a
  • 01:04:51
    Chinese practice that the people make an
  • 01:04:53
    offering and then to have the name of
  • 01:04:55
    the family there is their Buddha okay
  • 01:04:58
    and it's also a form of supporting the
  • 01:05:00
    temple and they they come in and they
  • 01:05:03
    say I have a Buddha in there it's it's
  • 01:05:04
    like the connection between the Buddha
  • 01:05:07
    outside and the Buddha
  • 01:05:09
    inside one of the American Buddhists who
  • 01:05:12
    come to the temple is Mario C he became
  • 01:05:15
    a Buddhist 6 years
  • 01:05:20
    ago there are some who'd say that the
  • 01:05:22
    attraction of Buddhism for many
  • 01:05:23
    Americans
  • 01:05:24
    is that it's pleasingly mystical it
  • 01:05:26
    comes from the East but at the same time
  • 01:05:28
    it ties in with a kind of anything goes
  • 01:05:31
    materialist lifestyle how do you speak
  • 01:05:35
    to I don't mean any disrespect by this
  • 01:05:37
    but I have some friends who use Buddhism
  • 01:05:39
    and Eastern religion Eastern philosophy
  • 01:05:41
    and they sort of mix it up with new age
  • 01:05:43
    and that's okay if it works for them
  • 01:05:45
    that's fine but my concern is that it is
  • 01:05:48
    that sort of anything goes you know it's
  • 01:05:50
    a free market in spirituality so
  • 01:05:53
    whatever I'm saying or thinking today is
  • 01:05:55
    fine because we have these core
  • 01:05:57
    teachings in Buddhism it keeps us in
  • 01:05:59
    check so we don't sort of go into
  • 01:06:02
    anything that if it feels good it's okay
  • 01:06:03
    we're really trying to avoid that this
  • 01:06:06
    Buddhism gave me a discipline without
  • 01:06:08
    the necessity of a God to reward me or
  • 01:06:12
    punish
  • 01:06:13
    me there has been a tenfold increase in
  • 01:06:16
    the number of Buddhists in Europe and
  • 01:06:17
    America over the last 40 years most
  • 01:06:20
    observers put the figure at between 2 to
  • 01:06:22
    3 million practic ing Buddhists in
  • 01:06:24
    America with a number of Buddhist
  • 01:06:27
    sympathizers estimated at over 10
  • 01:06:31
    million the shayai temple is one example
  • 01:06:34
    of the modern expansionism of
  • 01:06:43
    Buddhism many Buddhists come to the
  • 01:06:45
    shayi temple for
  • 01:06:47
    worship others come to practice
  • 01:06:53
    meditation
  • 01:06:55
    in the west there's recently been great
  • 01:06:57
    interest in yoga simply as a way to keep
  • 01:07:00
    fit and as a form of
  • 01:07:02
    meditation yoga has its roots in Indian
  • 01:07:05
    traditions that predate both Hinduism
  • 01:07:07
    and Buddhism and it's sometimes used by
  • 01:07:09
    Hindus to assert mind over matter for
  • 01:07:13
    Buddhists yoga's key purpose is to
  • 01:07:16
    Achieve Personal
  • 01:07:20
    Enlightenment it is a very ancient
  • 01:07:23
    philosophy Buddhism but in some ways do
  • 01:07:25
    you think it's very suited to American
  • 01:07:28
    life because it does have this this kind
  • 01:07:30
    of C do attitude it's it's very suited
  • 01:07:33
    to America uh one reason is that we've
  • 01:07:37
    been materialistic we're we're known for
  • 01:07:41
    it and I found in my experience it
  • 01:07:43
    doesn't get you to where you want to be
  • 01:07:46
    and I can't believe that I'm alone in
  • 01:07:48
    that I can't believe
  • 01:07:51
    that it offers uh reasons why that is
  • 01:07:56
    I'm sure other people like me who can't
  • 01:08:00
    understand why all this stuff didn't
  • 01:08:03
    make them
  • 01:08:04
    happy would be looking for something
  • 01:08:06
    else so I'm not surprised that it is um
  • 01:08:12
    popular um it's not against any other
  • 01:08:16
    religion and it's not against science
  • 01:08:18
    it's very in line with
  • 01:08:21
    everything the temple then offers a
  • 01:08:23
    American Buddhists lots of reasons to
  • 01:08:27
    visit but if you're a devotee of
  • 01:08:29
    Buddhism then one of your main
  • 01:08:31
    motivations for coming here is to seek
  • 01:08:33
    Enlightenment
  • 01:08:35
    Nana now I'd love to be able to tell you
  • 01:08:37
    that I've got a textbook definition for
  • 01:08:39
    what Nan actually is but considering the
  • 01:08:43
    Buddha himself said that it was beyond
  • 01:08:45
    words Beyond logic I suspect this is
  • 01:08:48
    going to be quite a tricky concept to
  • 01:08:50
    pin
  • 01:08:51
    down Nana certainly is a state of mind
  • 01:08:55
    and it's a state of mind in which you
  • 01:08:57
    have
  • 01:08:58
    abolished strong emotions of very much
  • 01:09:02
    wanting things or very much hating
  • 01:09:05
    things or being confused it's a state of
  • 01:09:08
    mind which you attain and at that moment
  • 01:09:12
    and
  • 01:09:13
    thereafter you enjoy a kind of blissful
  • 01:09:19
    calm and that path is the end of that
  • 01:09:23
    path n is that your goal yes Nirvana
  • 01:09:27
    Enlightenment full understanding
  • 01:09:29
    Awakening those are all terms that are
  • 01:09:31
    very similar and to me it's
  • 01:09:34
    understanding the truth understanding
  • 01:09:36
    what this is what it really
  • 01:09:39
    is how confident are you that Nana is a
  • 01:09:42
    goal you're going to attain I am
  • 01:09:44
    cautiously optimistic how about
  • 01:09:48
    that uh there are people that say that
  • 01:09:50
    it's very possible and these are people
  • 01:09:53
    that are very smart people and uh I'm
  • 01:09:56
    following uh their
  • 01:09:58
    advice and
  • 01:10:01
    uh I think it can be done I think it can
  • 01:10:04
    be
  • 01:10:05
    done like so much in Buddhism Nana
  • 01:10:08
    clearly has to be experienced not
  • 01:10:12
    explained but for Buddhists the journey
  • 01:10:14
    to get there the path you take seems to
  • 01:10:18
    be as important as the
  • 01:10:21
    arriving Buddhists will tell you that
  • 01:10:23
    Nana has no fixed point in time or space
  • 01:10:28
    and that's actually a little ironic
  • 01:10:30
    because one of the few accepted fixtures
  • 01:10:32
    of the Buddhist story is where the
  • 01:10:34
    Buddha himself found Enlightenment we're
  • 01:10:37
    told that that took place in Northern
  • 01:10:39
    India under the spreading branches of a
  • 01:10:43
    people
  • 01:10:46
    tree which is where my quest had started
  • 01:10:50
    at
  • 01:10:51
    bulaya at this spot where it it said
  • 01:10:54
    Buddhist philosophy really began 2,500
  • 01:10:57
    years ago in this journey I've explored
  • 01:11:00
    key facets of Buddhist belief and got a
  • 01:11:02
    little closer to understanding something
  • 01:11:04
    vital about the core of Buddhist
  • 01:11:06
    philosophy the Dharma the Dharma is
  • 01:11:10
    simply the way the world is and we can
  • 01:11:13
    all best live our lives if we follow a
  • 01:11:15
    path that allows us to deal with the
  • 01:11:17
    world as passionately as compassionately
  • 01:11:21
    as positively and as wisely as
  • 01:11:25
    possible now whatever the permutations
  • 01:11:28
    and interpretations of Buddhism that
  • 01:11:31
    seems to me to be pretty
  • 01:11:33
    simple and pretty
  • 01:11:35
    enlightened I've learned about Karma how
  • 01:11:38
    mindful actions impact on our lives
  • 01:11:41
    about samsara the cycle of Life birth
  • 01:11:44
    and death about meditation about
  • 01:11:48
    Zen and the final goal for all Buddhists
  • 01:11:52
    Nana I've seen some of the most
  • 01:11:54
    beautiful architecture inspired by
  • 01:11:56
    Buddhist ideas and how after 25
  • 01:11:59
    centuries Buddhism still attracts
  • 01:12:01
    Millions across the globe a philosophy
  • 01:12:04
    that is rooted in its ancient past and
  • 01:12:07
    yet gives character to the modern world
  • 01:12:10
    how Buddhism places the responsibility
  • 01:12:12
    to realize the truth on all of
  • 01:12:16
    us as Buddhism traveled it transformed
  • 01:12:20
    the cultures it came into contact with
  • 01:12:22
    just as it too was
  • 01:12:24
    transformed you wonder if the Buddha
  • 01:12:27
    could ever possibly have imagined the
  • 01:12:29
    impact that his ideas would have on
  • 01:12:31
    human history particularly given the one
  • 01:12:34
    thing he was certain about was that
  • 01:12:36
    impermanence and change were the only
  • 01:12:39
    things that were definite in this world
  • 01:12:42
    um just listen to this it's one of his
  • 01:12:44
    most poetic
  • 01:12:46
    epithets so shall you think of all this
  • 01:12:48
    fleeting World a star at dawn a bubble
  • 01:12:53
    in a stream a flash of lightning in a
  • 01:12:55
    summer Cloud a flickering lamp a phantom
  • 01:13:00
    and a
  • 01:13:02
    Dream well the Buddha's dreams of 2,500
  • 01:13:06
    years ago are still with us and they've
  • 01:13:09
    been made incarnates in one of the most
  • 01:13:11
    tenacious belief systems of all time and
  • 01:13:15
    in some of the most iconic and beautiful
  • 01:13:18
    monuments in the
  • 01:13:22
    world
  • 01:13:38
    tomorrow night on bbc2 a tumultuous true
  • 01:13:40
    story retold Kiera nightly and ra fine
  • 01:13:43
    star in The Duchess at
  • 01:13:52
    9:
  • 01:14:01
    morning
Tags
  • Buddhism
  • Enlightenment
  • Bodh Gaya
  • Karma
  • Samsara
  • Theravada
  • Mahayana
  • Three Jewels
  • Nirvana
  • Ashoka