Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism

WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

00:00:00.065 --> 00:00:02.373
- [Instructor] What I'd
like to do in this video

00:00:02.373 --> 00:00:05.563
is talk about the major
schools of Buddhism

00:00:05.563 --> 00:00:07.542
as it is practiced today.

00:00:07.542 --> 00:00:09.026
And it can be broadly divided

00:00:09.026 --> 00:00:11.630
into Theravada Buddhism,

00:00:11.630 --> 00:00:14.797
which means school of the elder monks,

00:00:15.879 --> 00:00:18.793
and Mahayana Buddhism,
which means great vehicle.

00:00:18.793 --> 00:00:20.043
Maha for great.

00:00:21.638 --> 00:00:23.223
So first on the commonalities.

00:00:23.223 --> 00:00:27.591
Now both of these schools
of Buddhist thought

00:00:27.591 --> 00:00:28.649
or Buddhist tradition

00:00:28.649 --> 00:00:32.180
believe in this notion of the
cycle of birth and rebirth

00:00:32.180 --> 00:00:35.367
from one life or one reality to the next,

00:00:35.367 --> 00:00:38.403
that we call samsara which is also shared

00:00:38.403 --> 00:00:41.015
with the core of Hindu philosophy.

00:00:41.015 --> 00:00:45.310
And this idea that your
goal should be to realize

00:00:45.310 --> 00:00:46.977
that all is thought,

00:00:47.876 --> 00:00:52.043
to escape from the dukkha and
eventually obtain nirvana.

00:00:54.685 --> 00:00:57.532
Now the difference between
the two schools of thought,

00:00:57.532 --> 00:01:00.865
in Theravada buddhism, it is much closer

00:01:01.793 --> 00:01:04.672
to some of the original
practices or teachings

00:01:04.672 --> 00:01:08.084
that we see with
Siddhartha Gautama Buddha.

00:01:08.084 --> 00:01:09.954
It is a very personal journey

00:01:09.954 --> 00:01:13.194
that is all about the
individual though meditation,

00:01:13.194 --> 00:01:16.710
perhaps with some help from some teacher

00:01:16.710 --> 00:01:19.533
recognizing the non-self,

00:01:19.533 --> 00:01:22.249
recognizing that we are all one,

00:01:22.249 --> 00:01:23.445
and eventually,

00:01:23.445 --> 00:01:25.787
either in this life or in future lives,

00:01:25.787 --> 00:01:27.287
achieving nirvana.

00:01:28.391 --> 00:01:31.698
Now Mahayana Buddhism actually encompasses

00:01:31.698 --> 00:01:34.781
a very large set of various practices

00:01:35.793 --> 00:01:39.524
but the general idea is
that you might have help

00:01:39.524 --> 00:01:42.497
as you try to achieve nirvana.

00:01:42.497 --> 00:01:47.420
Someone who achieves nirvana
is known as an arhat,

00:01:47.420 --> 00:01:49.749
so you could Therevada Buddhism as,

00:01:49.749 --> 00:01:54.339
hey try to go on this personal
journey to become an arhat,

00:01:54.339 --> 00:01:56.499
to achieve nirvana.

00:01:56.499 --> 00:01:58.249
But in Mahayana Buddhism,

00:01:58.249 --> 00:02:01.125
the pursuit is not
necessarily to get to nirvana

00:02:01.125 --> 00:02:03.325
as quickly as possible.

00:02:03.325 --> 00:02:05.960
It's to get close to nirvana
but then to help others

00:02:05.960 --> 00:02:08.460
try to achieve that same state

00:02:09.734 --> 00:02:13.901
So the real goal is to be
a bodhisattva, bodhisattva.

00:02:16.812 --> 00:02:19.718
Now the word bodhisattva
is used in both traditions.

00:02:19.718 --> 00:02:22.099
In Theravada Buddhism,
it refers to someone

00:02:22.099 --> 00:02:24.756
who is trying to become an arhat.

00:02:24.756 --> 00:02:26.947
Someone who is on the
path to achieving nirvana.

00:02:26.947 --> 00:02:29.107
In Mahayana Buddhism,

00:02:29.107 --> 00:02:31.863
it is someone who has
almost achieved nirvana

00:02:31.863 --> 00:02:34.974
but holds that off in order to help

00:02:34.974 --> 00:02:36.774
the rest of the sentient reality.

00:02:36.774 --> 00:02:40.532
The rest of sentient beings
eventually achieve nirvana

00:02:40.532 --> 00:02:42.161
and if you aren't one of the bodhisattvas,

00:02:42.161 --> 00:02:44.931
you have that help not
only from bodhisattvas

00:02:44.931 --> 00:02:47.848
but there's a fairly large grouping

00:02:49.753 --> 00:02:51.817
of celestial beings

00:02:51.817 --> 00:02:53.162
that are there to help.

00:02:53.162 --> 00:02:54.664
That are there to help
focus your meditation

00:02:54.664 --> 00:02:55.997
and your energy.

00:02:56.926 --> 00:03:00.400
And what you see here is a
depiction that's not atypical

00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:02.521
from a Mahayana Buddhist shrine.

00:03:02.521 --> 00:03:06.019
In the middle here, you
have Amitabha Buddha

00:03:06.019 --> 00:03:10.186
and a significant chunk of
Mahayana Buddhists believe

00:03:12.218 --> 00:03:15.635
in Amitabha Buddha and you could view him

00:03:16.777 --> 00:03:21.205
as someone who's revered or
is almost a deity-like figure.

00:03:21.205 --> 00:03:24.787
And this idea that by visualizing,
by focusing, by invoking

00:03:24.787 --> 00:03:28.954
Amitabha Buddha, that you can
get to his pure land of bliss

00:03:30.259 --> 00:03:31.842
known as Sukhavati.

00:03:35.461 --> 00:03:38.214
And so it's this idea of
almost a kind of salvation.

00:03:38.214 --> 00:03:40.387
That by focusing on Amitabha,

00:03:40.387 --> 00:03:42.596
you get to this pure land of bliss

00:03:42.596 --> 00:03:45.326
which is a place where it
is easier to achieve nirvana

00:03:45.326 --> 00:03:49.028
from and you can almost view
it as something of a heaven.

00:03:49.028 --> 00:03:52.594
Now what's interesting is
Amitabha Buddha isn't exactly

00:03:52.594 --> 00:03:56.495
the same figure as
Siddhartha Gautama Buddha.

00:03:56.495 --> 00:03:58.051
in some traditions,

00:03:58.051 --> 00:04:01.406
Siddhartha Gautama Buddha
is a projection of Amitabha

00:04:01.406 --> 00:04:02.939
into our reality.

00:04:02.939 --> 00:04:05.214
And in some Mahayana belief systems

00:04:05.214 --> 00:04:07.699
there are multiple realities,
each with their own Buddha

00:04:07.699 --> 00:04:09.485
and you can be born and reborn

00:04:09.485 --> 00:04:11.286
into these different
realities and the pure land,

00:04:11.286 --> 00:04:13.203
the pure land of bliss,

00:04:14.374 --> 00:04:16.949
the Sukhavati is where
you might want to go

00:04:16.949 --> 00:04:18.542
if you are following,

00:04:18.542 --> 00:04:22.838
if you are practicing this
belief in Amitabha Buddha.

00:04:22.838 --> 00:04:24.254
So at a very high level,

00:04:24.254 --> 00:04:27.013
Theravada buddhism is all
about this personal journey.

00:04:27.013 --> 00:04:31.180
Trying to follow the practice
of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha

00:04:32.927 --> 00:04:35.377
through meditation, through recognizing

00:04:35.377 --> 00:04:38.100
the four noble truths, by
following the middle way,

00:04:38.100 --> 00:04:40.724
getting eventually in this life

00:04:40.724 --> 00:04:42.644
and in future lives to nirvana,

00:04:42.644 --> 00:04:44.381
becoming an arhat.

00:04:44.381 --> 00:04:48.658
Mahayana buddhism has
a more complex pantheon

00:04:48.658 --> 00:04:51.453
of celestial beings and deities

00:04:51.453 --> 00:04:54.381
and can be diverse form one
part of the world to another.

00:04:54.381 --> 00:04:56.425
Eventually the goal is
for all sentient beings

00:04:56.425 --> 00:04:57.792
to achieve nirvana.

00:04:57.792 --> 00:05:00.206
But your individual goal
can be better described

00:05:00.206 --> 00:05:02.996
as delaying nirvana, become a bodhisattva,

00:05:02.996 --> 00:05:05.167
and assisting all other sentient beings

00:05:05.167 --> 00:05:07.325
in achieving that nirvana.

00:05:07.325 --> 00:05:09.231
These are actually the
attendant bodhisattvas

00:05:09.231 --> 00:05:12.412
on the left and the
right of Amitabha Buddha.

00:05:12.412 --> 00:05:14.664
But you don't have just the
help of the bodhisattvas,

00:05:14.664 --> 00:05:16.603
there's also celestial beings,

00:05:16.603 --> 00:05:18.447
things that you can focus on,

00:05:18.447 --> 00:05:19.770
things that you can invoke

00:05:19.770 --> 00:05:24.206
to eventually help you
get you to that nirvana.

00:05:24.206 --> 00:05:26.088
Now in order to see where it is practiced,

00:05:26.088 --> 00:05:28.643
we have this map right over here.

00:05:28.643 --> 00:05:31.357
First of all, most of
buddhism is practiced

00:05:31.357 --> 00:05:33.437
in the far east of asia or southeast asia.

00:05:33.437 --> 00:05:37.104
And you see the various
schools of buddhism.

00:05:38.105 --> 00:05:41.077
So in red here, you have the Therevada,

00:05:41.077 --> 00:05:43.120
the school of the elder monks.

00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:47.028
In yellow here, you have
Mahayana, the great vehicle.

00:05:47.028 --> 00:05:49.854
And in orange, you have Vajrayana.

00:05:49.854 --> 00:05:51.642
A significant chunk of Vajrayana Buddhists

00:05:51.642 --> 00:05:53.987
are often referred to as Tibetan Buddhists

00:05:53.987 --> 00:05:56.551
and they're sometimes
grouped with the Mahayana,

00:05:56.551 --> 00:05:58.083
it's closer to Mahayana.

00:05:58.083 --> 00:05:59.672
There's this notion of boddhisatvas.

00:05:59.672 --> 00:06:01.287
There are celestial beings.

00:06:01.287 --> 00:06:03.223
There are more rituals.

00:06:03.223 --> 00:06:05.237
Now in terms of population,

00:06:05.237 --> 00:06:08.825
the country with the largest
Buddhist population is China,

00:06:08.825 --> 00:06:12.714
roughly 250 million Buddhists
of the 500 million Buddhists

00:06:12.714 --> 00:06:14.328
that there are in the world.

00:06:14.328 --> 00:06:16.406
But despite the fact that
there are so many Buddhists

00:06:16.406 --> 00:06:18.679
in China, it is still only 18%

00:06:18.679 --> 00:06:20.793
of the entire Chinese population.

00:06:20.793 --> 00:06:24.312
In places like Burma and Thailand,

00:06:24.312 --> 00:06:26.889
you have a much higher
percentage of the population

00:06:26.889 --> 00:06:28.585
that is actually Buddhist

00:06:28.585 --> 00:06:30.291
and these regions of southeast asia,

00:06:30.291 --> 00:06:33.040
most of the population is Buddhist.

00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:36.904
Now one other really
interesting thing about this map

00:06:36.904 --> 00:06:41.071
is we talk about buddhism
starting in northeast India,

00:06:42.476 --> 00:06:43.711
in southern Nepal.

00:06:43.711 --> 00:06:46.856
That's where Siddhartha
Gautama Buddha lived.

00:06:46.856 --> 00:06:48.658
That's where he spread his teachings.

00:06:48.658 --> 00:06:50.189
And not only is that where it originated,

00:06:50.189 --> 00:06:54.754
you have Ashoka who really
catalyzed the spread of buddhism

00:06:54.754 --> 00:06:57.013
and once again that was out of India.

00:06:57.013 --> 00:07:00.116
But when you look at this demographic map

00:07:00.116 --> 00:07:02.173
of where you have significant
Buddhist groupings,

00:07:02.173 --> 00:07:03.716
you don't see a lot in India.

00:07:03.716 --> 00:07:05.198
You see a lot in Sri Lanka.

00:07:05.198 --> 00:07:06.887
And that's actually where
the Theravada tradition

00:07:06.887 --> 00:07:08.348
comes primarily from.

00:07:08.348 --> 00:07:10.102
And there's a couple of
interesting explanations

00:07:10.102 --> 00:07:11.912
as to why you don't see it in India.

00:07:11.912 --> 00:07:14.062
One possible explanation is

00:07:14.062 --> 00:07:17.297
that it was so close to many
versions on Hindu practices

00:07:17.297 --> 00:07:19.669
and we talk about Hinduism
being this very diverse

00:07:19.669 --> 00:07:20.679
and open religion.

00:07:20.679 --> 00:07:24.183
And it really just got
reabsorbed, reassimilated

00:07:24.183 --> 00:07:26.612
as part of the diverse Hindu tradition.

00:07:26.612 --> 00:07:29.027
In fact, many Hindus view Buddha

00:07:29.027 --> 00:07:31.777
as another incarnation of Vishnu.


Core spiritual ideas of Buddhism

WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

00:00:00.037 --> 00:00:01.642
- [Instructor] What I'd
like to do in this video

00:00:01.642 --> 00:00:05.456
is explore the core
spiritual ideas of Buddhism.

00:00:05.456 --> 00:00:06.912
And we're going to do it relative to

00:00:06.912 --> 00:00:09.200
the core spiritual ideas of Hinduism

00:00:09.200 --> 00:00:11.080
as described in the Upanishads.

00:00:11.080 --> 00:00:13.370
One, because there are
significant parallels

00:00:13.370 --> 00:00:15.990
and also because Buddha and Buddhism

00:00:15.990 --> 00:00:18.490
grew out of a Hindu tradition.

00:00:19.685 --> 00:00:23.485
So in both belief systems,
there's this notion

00:00:23.485 --> 00:00:27.652
that the reality that we
are in is a quasi illusion.

00:00:29.502 --> 00:00:33.633
In the Upanishads it's described as Maya.

00:00:33.633 --> 00:00:35.819
That there's a true self.

00:00:35.819 --> 00:00:39.952
That there's this atman,
which is of the same substance

00:00:39.952 --> 00:00:43.109
as the true nature of reality, of Brahman.

00:00:43.109 --> 00:00:45.910
That all things are actually connected.

00:00:45.910 --> 00:00:49.212
This notion of the individual
is just an illusion

00:00:49.212 --> 00:00:52.054
and it's illusion given
to us by this Maya.

00:00:52.054 --> 00:00:54.644
And the Maya isn't just
our sensory perception,

00:00:54.644 --> 00:00:57.358
it's even our notions of ego

00:00:57.358 --> 00:01:01.056
and possibly even
time-space and causality.

00:01:01.056 --> 00:01:03.419
In Buddhism, there is a parallel notion.

00:01:03.419 --> 00:01:06.479
That all of what we consider to be reality

00:01:06.479 --> 00:01:08.749
is just happening in our mind.

00:01:08.749 --> 00:01:12.074
There isn't anything more real than that.

00:01:12.074 --> 00:01:13.799
And we are subject to this reality

00:01:13.799 --> 00:01:15.772
because of our constant craving

00:01:15.772 --> 00:01:18.066
for that which is impermanent.

00:01:18.066 --> 00:01:20.674
This craving is called Trishna,
which is the Sanskrit word,

00:01:20.674 --> 00:01:24.295
or Tanha, which is the Pali
word, the language of Buddha.

00:01:24.295 --> 00:01:26.011
Now because of this craving,

00:01:26.011 --> 00:01:27.969
it leads to this constant suffering,

00:01:27.969 --> 00:01:31.126
this Dhukka, which is really this reality

00:01:31.126 --> 00:01:34.285
that we are subjecting ourselves to.

00:01:34.285 --> 00:01:37.262
Now in either case, we take action

00:01:37.262 --> 00:01:40.374
and that action leads to consequences.

00:01:40.374 --> 00:01:44.541
And so in both traditions,
we have this notion of Karma.

00:01:46.315 --> 00:01:49.205
And that the Karma, the
actions with consequences,

00:01:49.205 --> 00:01:52.548
lead to further actions and consequences,

00:01:52.548 --> 00:01:56.728
not just in this life,
but in future realities,

00:01:56.728 --> 00:02:00.333
in whatever next Maya or reality

00:02:00.333 --> 00:02:03.926
or life that we take on.

00:02:03.926 --> 00:02:06.931
And this constant cycle
of birth and rebirth

00:02:06.931 --> 00:02:11.189
is referred to as Samsara
in both of the traditions.

00:02:11.189 --> 00:02:14.290
So you see this commonality.

00:02:14.290 --> 00:02:17.086
Now, in Hinduism there's this idea

00:02:17.086 --> 00:02:20.899
of trying to escape from
Samsara through meditation,

00:02:20.899 --> 00:02:23.618
by being able to see through the Maya

00:02:23.618 --> 00:02:28.486
and merge your atman with
Brahman, seeing that all are one.

00:02:28.486 --> 00:02:31.155
In Buddhism, there is a similar idea.

00:02:31.155 --> 00:02:35.574
Through meditation, through
following the eightfold path,

00:02:35.574 --> 00:02:38.732
by recognizing the Four Noble Truths

00:02:38.732 --> 00:02:42.901
you should escape from this
craving of impermanent things.

00:02:42.901 --> 00:02:44.960
And in either tradition as you do that,

00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:48.079
you escape from the Samsara.

00:02:48.079 --> 00:02:51.079
And when you escape from the Samsara

00:02:52.858 --> 00:02:56.858
and this cycle of Karma
leading to more and more

00:02:58.520 --> 00:03:02.037
and the Maya and the Dhukka disappear,

00:03:02.037 --> 00:03:05.314
in Hinduism the term is Moksha,

00:03:05.314 --> 00:03:08.849
you have freed yourself from this cycle.

00:03:08.849 --> 00:03:12.240
In Buddhism, the Sanskrit
word is actually Nirvana,

00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:14.461
which literally means blown out,

00:03:14.461 --> 00:03:17.341
but it's merging with the emptiness.

00:03:17.341 --> 00:03:21.091
So even though officially,
a Hindu might say,

00:03:21.942 --> 00:03:25.064
through the Moksha your atman is merging

00:03:25.064 --> 00:03:27.548
with the ultimate reality of Brahman,

00:03:27.548 --> 00:03:30.872
while in Buddhism, when
you achieve Nirvana,

00:03:30.872 --> 00:03:32.969
you have recognized your nonself

00:03:32.969 --> 00:03:35.711
and it has merged with the emptiness,

00:03:35.711 --> 00:03:38.027
with the non-being.

00:03:38.027 --> 00:03:39.147
Now there is debate.

00:03:39.147 --> 00:03:41.708
Is Buddhism saying that
you should try to achieve

00:03:41.708 --> 00:03:43.649
a state of non-existence?

00:03:43.649 --> 00:03:44.898
Many people would disagree.

00:03:44.898 --> 00:03:47.235
They would say Nirvana is
actually the ultimate bliss,

00:03:47.235 --> 00:03:49.402
to recognize your nonself.

00:03:50.401 --> 00:03:52.051
Some would say, hey this is just a matter

00:03:52.051 --> 00:03:53.380
of what words you use.

00:03:53.380 --> 00:03:55.916
In either case, you are recognizing

00:03:55.916 --> 00:03:57.806
that there isn't the individual,

00:03:57.806 --> 00:04:01.494
that you are merging
with the true reality.

00:04:01.494 --> 00:04:04.073
That you are merging with the universe,

00:04:04.073 --> 00:04:05.802
whether you consider the
universe to be Brahman

00:04:05.802 --> 00:04:10.093
or whether you consider the
universe to be emptiness.

00:04:10.093 --> 00:04:11.645
But in either tradition,

00:04:11.645 --> 00:04:13.853
this is viewed as a state of release,

00:04:13.853 --> 00:04:16.281
as a state of ultimate bliss

00:04:16.281 --> 00:04:19.352
and something that you should try

00:04:19.352 --> 00:04:21.602
to get to through practice.


Common fractions and decimals

WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

00:00:00.079 --> 00:00:01.338
- [Instructor] What we're
going to do in this video

00:00:01.338 --> 00:00:02.873
is give ourselves practice

00:00:02.873 --> 00:00:05.727
representing fractions that
you're gonna see a lot in life

00:00:05.727 --> 00:00:07.247
in different ways.

00:00:07.247 --> 00:00:10.562
So the first fraction we're
going to explore is 1/5

00:00:10.562 --> 00:00:13.793
then we're going to explore 1/4

00:00:13.793 --> 00:00:18.231
then we are going to explore 1/2.

00:00:18.231 --> 00:00:20.111
So let's start with 1/5.

00:00:20.111 --> 00:00:22.076
So I encourage you to
pause the video and say

00:00:22.076 --> 00:00:26.243
and think about how would you
represent 1/5 as a decimal.

00:00:27.592 --> 00:00:30.250
Well, there's a bunch of ways
that you could think about it.

00:00:30.250 --> 00:00:33.028
You could divide five into one.

00:00:33.028 --> 00:00:37.195
You could say that this is
equal to one divided by five

00:00:37.195 --> 00:00:39.525
and if you did that, you actually
would get the right answer

00:00:39.525 --> 00:00:41.324
but there's a simpler way
of thinking about this

00:00:41.324 --> 00:00:42.836
even in your head.

00:00:42.836 --> 00:00:44.630
You could say, well, let me
see if I can represent this

00:00:44.630 --> 00:00:46.837
as a certain number of tenths

00:00:46.837 --> 00:00:48.145
'cause if you know how many tenths,

00:00:48.145 --> 00:00:50.429
we know how to represent
that as a decimal.

00:00:50.429 --> 00:00:53.008
Well, to go from fifths to tenths,

00:00:53.008 --> 00:00:56.036
you have to multiply
the denominator by two.

00:00:56.036 --> 00:00:59.409
So let's multiply the
numerator by two as well.

00:00:59.409 --> 00:01:04.031
So 1/5, one times two is
the same thing as 2/10

00:01:04.031 --> 00:01:06.210
and we know how to represent
that in decimal notation.

00:01:06.210 --> 00:01:08.296
That's going to be 0.2.

00:01:08.296 --> 00:01:09.646
This is the tenths place.

00:01:09.646 --> 00:01:13.388
So we have exactly 2/10.

00:01:13.388 --> 00:01:14.613
Now, let's do 1/4.

00:01:14.613 --> 00:01:15.800
Same idea.

00:01:15.800 --> 00:01:19.189
How could I represent this as a decimal?

00:01:19.189 --> 00:01:20.180
Well, at first, you might say,

00:01:20.180 --> 00:01:23.765
well, can I represent this
as a certain number of tenths

00:01:23.765 --> 00:01:25.908
and you could do it this way

00:01:25.908 --> 00:01:28.693
but 10 isn't a multiple of four

00:01:28.693 --> 00:01:30.821
so let's see if we can do
it in terms of hundredths

00:01:30.821 --> 00:01:33.455
'cause 100 is a multiple of four.

00:01:33.455 --> 00:01:37.459
Well, to go from four to 100,
you have to multiply by 25.

00:01:37.459 --> 00:01:39.714
So let's multiply the numerator by 25

00:01:39.714 --> 00:01:41.596
to get an equivalent fraction.

00:01:41.596 --> 00:01:43.429
So one times 25 is 25.

00:01:44.631 --> 00:01:47.375
So 1/4 is equal to 25/100

00:01:47.375 --> 00:01:49.877
and we can represent
that in decimal notation

00:01:49.877 --> 00:01:53.876
as 25/100 which we could also consider

00:01:53.876 --> 00:01:57.080
2/10 and 5/100.

00:01:57.080 --> 00:01:58.302
Now, let's do 1/2.

00:01:58.302 --> 00:01:59.635
Same exact idea.

00:02:00.781 --> 00:02:02.633
Well, 10 is a multiple of two

00:02:02.633 --> 00:02:05.451
so we can think about
this in terms of tenths.

00:02:05.451 --> 00:02:09.416
So to go from two to
10, we multiply by five.

00:02:09.416 --> 00:02:12.152
So let's multiply the
numerator by five as well.

00:02:12.152 --> 00:02:15.459
So 1/2 is equal to 5/10

00:02:15.459 --> 00:02:19.626
which if you wanna represent
as a decimal is 0.5, 5/10.

00:02:21.553 --> 00:02:23.274
Now, why is this useful?

00:02:23.274 --> 00:02:25.358
Well, one, you're gonna
see these fractions

00:02:25.358 --> 00:02:27.441
show up a lot in life and
you're gonna go both ways.

00:02:27.441 --> 00:02:30.054
If you see 2/10 or 20/100

00:02:30.054 --> 00:02:32.222
to be able to immediately
recognize, hey, that's 1/5

00:02:32.222 --> 00:02:36.367
or 25/100, hey, that's
1/4 or 1/4, that's 25/100.

00:02:36.367 --> 00:02:40.200
1/2 is 0.5 or 0.5 is 1/2

00:02:41.223 --> 00:02:45.178
and it's not just useful
for these three fractions.

00:02:45.178 --> 00:02:46.817
It's useful for things that are multiple

00:02:46.817 --> 00:02:48.450
of these three fractions.

00:02:48.450 --> 00:02:51.450
For example, if someone said, quick,

00:02:52.483 --> 00:02:56.251
what is 3/5 represented as a decimal?

00:02:56.251 --> 00:02:57.316
Well, in your brain, you could say,

00:02:57.316 --> 00:03:00.878
well, 3/5, that's just
going to be three times 1/5

00:03:00.878 --> 00:03:03.576
and I know that 1/5 is 2/10

00:03:03.576 --> 00:03:07.145
so that's gonna be three times 2/10

00:03:07.145 --> 00:03:10.047
which is, well, three times two is six

00:03:10.047 --> 00:03:12.827
so three times 2/10 is 6/10.

00:03:12.827 --> 00:03:14.369
So really quick, you're able to say,

00:03:14.369 --> 00:03:16.127
hey, that's 3/5 is 6/10

00:03:16.127 --> 00:03:17.761
and you could have gone
the other way around.

00:03:17.761 --> 00:03:21.928
You could have said 6/10
is equal to two times,

00:03:23.728 --> 00:03:26.978
is equal to three times 2/10

00:03:28.751 --> 00:03:30.752
and 2/10 is 1/5.

00:03:30.752 --> 00:03:33.941
So this is gonna be
equal to three times 1/5

00:03:33.941 --> 00:03:35.280
and once again, these are just things

00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:36.676
that you'll get comfortable with

00:03:36.676 --> 00:03:39.020
the more that you get practice.

00:03:39.020 --> 00:03:41.064
Let's do another one.

00:03:41.064 --> 00:03:43.271
Let's say you wanted to represent,

00:03:43.271 --> 00:03:45.027
let's say you wanted to represent,

00:03:45.027 --> 00:03:46.266
let me do it another way.

00:03:46.266 --> 00:03:47.849
0.75 as a fraction.

00:03:49.744 --> 00:03:52.646
Pause the video, try to do it yourself.

00:03:52.646 --> 00:03:55.424
Well, you might immediately
recognize that 75

00:03:55.424 --> 00:03:58.740
is three times 25 so 75/100

00:03:58.740 --> 00:04:02.827
is equal to three times 25/100

00:04:02.827 --> 00:04:05.982
and 25/100 we already know is 1/4

00:04:05.982 --> 00:04:09.005
so this is equal to three times 1/4

00:04:09.005 --> 00:04:12.357
which is equal to 3/4 and over time,

00:04:12.357 --> 00:04:13.825
you won't have to do all
of this in your head.

00:04:13.825 --> 00:04:16.479
You'll just recognize 75/100, that's 3/4

00:04:16.479 --> 00:04:19.420
because 25/100 is 1/4

00:04:19.420 --> 00:04:22.962
and now let's do, let's say we have,

00:04:22.962 --> 00:04:24.712
let's say we have 2.5

00:04:26.407 --> 00:04:29.748
and we wanna represent that as a fraction.

00:04:29.748 --> 00:04:31.587
Well, there's a bunch of
ways that you could do this.

00:04:31.587 --> 00:04:35.170
You could say, well,
this is five times 0.5

00:04:37.107 --> 00:04:40.827
and that's going to be five times 1/2.

00:04:40.827 --> 00:04:43.689
Well, that's going to be 5/2.

00:04:43.689 --> 00:04:46.132
It's an improper fraction
but it's a fraction.

00:04:46.132 --> 00:04:47.485
And so once again, the whole point here

00:04:47.485 --> 00:04:48.847
and you might already be familiar

00:04:48.847 --> 00:04:50.195
with the different ways of converting

00:04:50.195 --> 00:04:52.817
between fractions and decimals

00:04:52.817 --> 00:04:56.195
but if you recognize 1/5, 1/4, 1/2,

00:04:56.195 --> 00:04:57.585
it's going to be a lot easier.

00:04:57.585 --> 00:04:59.345
Notice if you did it the other way around

00:04:59.345 --> 00:05:00.654
it'd be a little bit more work.

00:05:00.654 --> 00:05:04.210
If I said, let me
convert 3/5 to a decimal,

00:05:04.210 --> 00:05:07.114
well, then you would have
to divide five into three.

00:05:07.114 --> 00:05:08.794
Five into three and you'd say, okay,

00:05:08.794 --> 00:05:13.023
five goes into three zero times
so let's put a decimal here.

00:05:13.023 --> 00:05:14.081
Now, let's go to 30.

00:05:14.081 --> 00:05:16.208
Five goes into 30 six times.

00:05:16.208 --> 00:05:18.556
Six times five is 30.

00:05:18.556 --> 00:05:22.351
You subtract and then
you get no remainder.

00:05:22.351 --> 00:05:25.546
So this wasn't a ton of work but this one,

00:05:25.546 --> 00:05:26.486
the reason why I like this one,

00:05:26.486 --> 00:05:29.610
not only is it faster but it
gives you a better intuition

00:05:29.610 --> 00:05:32.110
for what actually is going on.


Hindu scripture overview

WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

00:00:00.504 --> 00:00:01.860
- [Instructor] As we've
mentioned in previous videos,

00:00:01.860 --> 00:00:04.186
Hinduism is a very diverse religion,

00:00:04.186 --> 00:00:06.948
with many different practices,
and even different beliefs,

00:00:06.948 --> 00:00:11.035
but there is a core
centered around scripture.

00:00:11.035 --> 00:00:14.954
And the most important of
these texts are the Vedas.

00:00:14.954 --> 00:00:19.491
Now the word Veda literally
means knowledge in Sanskrit,

00:00:19.491 --> 00:00:21.467
and they were written
during the Vedic Period.

00:00:21.467 --> 00:00:23.536
It was called the Vedic Period
because this was the time

00:00:23.536 --> 00:00:25.336
that we believe the Vedas were written,

00:00:25.336 --> 00:00:28.323
and we have a whole video
on the actual Vedic Period.

00:00:28.323 --> 00:00:31.101
Now there are four Vedas: Rigveda,

00:00:31.101 --> 00:00:34.963
Yajurveda, Samaveda, and Atharvaveda.

00:00:34.963 --> 00:00:37.373
The first of these is the Rigveda.

00:00:37.373 --> 00:00:39.226
When I say first, it's
because it's believed

00:00:39.226 --> 00:00:41.380
that it was written
before the other Vedas,

00:00:41.380 --> 00:00:43.713
as early as 3,500 years ago.

00:00:45.326 --> 00:00:46.963
The other three are also pretty old,

00:00:46.963 --> 00:00:49.963
probably older than 3,000 years old.

00:00:50.987 --> 00:00:54.933
Now these four texts are
a combination of rituals,

00:00:54.933 --> 00:00:59.266
of hymns, of mantras, of
songs, and of philosophy.

00:00:59.266 --> 00:01:02.455
For example Rigveda, Rig you can translate

00:01:02.455 --> 00:01:05.979
as meaning praise, so it's
knowledge of ways to praise,

00:01:05.979 --> 00:01:08.812
praise the eternal, or praise God.

00:01:09.908 --> 00:01:13.563
Yajurveda you could view
as these prose mantras,

00:01:13.563 --> 00:01:17.562
knowledge of these prose
mantras, is Yajurveda.

00:01:17.562 --> 00:01:21.251
Samaveda, this is knowledge
of songs or hymns.

00:01:21.251 --> 00:01:24.963
Atharvaveda, you can view
these as knowledge of

00:01:24.963 --> 00:01:28.755
things that you should do in your life.

00:01:28.755 --> 00:01:31.219
Now these four texts can be sub-classified

00:01:31.219 --> 00:01:34.969
into the type of text
that they actually are.

00:01:37.275 --> 00:01:39.539
So what you see here is
the sub-classification

00:01:39.539 --> 00:01:41.882
of the Vedas that's often referenced,

00:01:41.882 --> 00:01:44.149
that amongst these texts some of the

00:01:44.149 --> 00:01:47.755
verses are mantras, hymns, prayers,

00:01:47.755 --> 00:01:49.747
those are referred to as Samhitas.

00:01:49.747 --> 00:01:51.785
You have the things that are more rituals,

00:01:51.785 --> 00:01:54.214
ceremonies, these are Aranyakas.

00:01:54.214 --> 00:01:56.551
And Aranyakas are also
things being referred to,

00:01:56.551 --> 00:01:58.529
things that you have learned, or rituals

00:01:58.529 --> 00:02:01.479
to do in the forest, maybe at the time

00:02:01.479 --> 00:02:04.377
when the Vedas were
written these were things

00:02:04.377 --> 00:02:07.439
that people would go meditate
and do in the forest.

00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:09.648
You have the Upanishads, which means

00:02:09.648 --> 00:02:12.065
to sit close to, or sit near.

00:02:13.199 --> 00:02:15.143
And if you look at the Upanishads,

00:02:15.143 --> 00:02:19.415
it really is referring to
sitting close, or near a teacher,

00:02:19.415 --> 00:02:22.338
there's a lot of dialog
between student and teacher.

00:02:22.338 --> 00:02:24.135
And the Upanishads, in particular,

00:02:24.135 --> 00:02:28.286
really form the spiritual
core of Hinduism,

00:02:28.286 --> 00:02:31.375
it really focuses around
spiritual philosophy.

00:02:31.375 --> 00:02:35.542
And amongst these four Vedas,
there are 108 Upanishads,

00:02:36.471 --> 00:02:40.336
and 108 is considered a very
auspicious number in Hinduism.

00:02:40.336 --> 00:02:43.247
Now you also have Brahmanas,
which are commentary.

00:02:43.247 --> 00:02:46.815
Now to be clear, there
are verses in the Vedas

00:02:46.815 --> 00:02:48.888
that can be many of these,

00:02:48.888 --> 00:02:50.654
that can be Aranyakas and Upanishads,

00:02:50.654 --> 00:02:54.237
so these things are
not mutually exclusive.

00:02:55.478 --> 00:02:59.510
Now in the Hindu tradition,
one of the unifying factors

00:02:59.510 --> 00:03:02.517
are the Vedas and the sub-classifications,

00:03:02.517 --> 00:03:04.525
or sub-categorizations of the Vedas,

00:03:04.525 --> 00:03:08.416
these are often viewed
as divine revelations.

00:03:08.416 --> 00:03:09.614
Even though the Vedas themselves,

00:03:09.614 --> 00:03:12.941
some of the authors refer
to themselves as authors,

00:03:12.941 --> 00:03:15.777
as people who are
introspecting on these ideas

00:03:15.777 --> 00:03:18.787
and writing about them, it is believed

00:03:18.787 --> 00:03:22.549
by many Hindus that this
is divine revelation.

00:03:22.549 --> 00:03:25.216
And the term for that is Shruti.

00:03:27.767 --> 00:03:30.645
And Shruti can also be
translated as what is heard,

00:03:30.645 --> 00:03:35.325
you could argue what is heard
directly from the divine.

00:03:35.325 --> 00:03:36.839
Now, in comparison to Shruti,

00:03:36.839 --> 00:03:40.173
you also have this notion of Smriti.

00:03:40.173 --> 00:03:44.230
Smriti can be translated
as what is remembered.

00:03:44.230 --> 00:03:47.054
And there's a significant
number of Smriti texts,

00:03:47.054 --> 00:03:50.536
some of them that are
also held very closely,

00:03:50.536 --> 00:03:54.703
and meet the threshold of divine
scripture for many Hindus.

00:03:56.967 --> 00:03:59.453
Now the most famous of the Smriti texts

00:03:59.453 --> 00:04:01.703
are the famous Hindu epics.

00:04:04.480 --> 00:04:07.413
So this is an image from the Ramayana.

00:04:07.413 --> 00:04:09.502
The Ramayana tells a story of Rama,

00:04:09.502 --> 00:04:11.719
who is one of Vishnu's incarnations,

00:04:11.719 --> 00:04:15.386
going to save the
Princess Sita from Ravana.

00:04:16.485 --> 00:04:19.828
The Mahabharata is a story
of really a family feud

00:04:19.828 --> 00:04:22.894
between the Pandavas and the Kauravas.

00:04:22.894 --> 00:04:26.038
You see here the Pandava
princes, the five Pandava princes

00:04:26.038 --> 00:04:28.983
who are all married to Draupadi,

00:04:28.983 --> 00:04:30.661
it's an interesting
story in the Mahabharata

00:04:30.661 --> 00:04:35.606
how they did end up being
married to one princess.

00:04:35.606 --> 00:04:38.248
And the most significant
part of the Mahabharata,

00:04:38.248 --> 00:04:41.445
for modern day Hindus,
is the Bhagavad Gita.

00:04:41.445 --> 00:04:43.071
It is a subset of the Mahabharata,

00:04:43.071 --> 00:04:44.464
and the Mahabharata is quite long,

00:04:44.464 --> 00:04:45.861
it will take you a while to read it,

00:04:45.861 --> 00:04:48.350
but the Bhagavad Gita is quite short.

00:04:48.350 --> 00:04:51.652
And the Bhagavad Gita takes place really

00:04:51.652 --> 00:04:53.423
in the climax of the Mahabharata,

00:04:53.423 --> 00:04:56.636
when you have the Battle of Kurukshetra,

00:04:56.636 --> 00:05:00.798
where the Pandavas are fighting
their cousins the Kauravas.

00:05:00.798 --> 00:05:03.098
And one of the Pandava brothers, Arjuna,

00:05:03.098 --> 00:05:05.055
who's really considered
the greatest warrior

00:05:05.055 --> 00:05:08.488
of the brothers, as he takes his chariot

00:05:08.488 --> 00:05:10.702
into battle, his charioteer ends up

00:05:10.702 --> 00:05:14.035
being Krishna, also an avatar of Vishnu.

00:05:16.870 --> 00:05:19.582
And the Bhagavad Gita is
really about the conversation

00:05:19.582 --> 00:05:23.493
between Krishna and Arjuna,
and it's all about Krishna

00:05:23.493 --> 00:05:27.112
reassuring Arjuna not only
his role in the universe,

00:05:27.112 --> 00:05:29.550
but it also becomes a
little bit of a layer

00:05:29.550 --> 00:05:33.607
of the spiritual philosophy
discussed in the Upanishads.

00:05:33.607 --> 00:05:37.270
In modern day India, the
Bhagavad Gita is probably

00:05:37.270 --> 00:05:41.437
the scripture that is most
cited by modern Hindus.

00:05:42.958 --> 00:05:45.103
So if you really want to
understand the spiritual core

00:05:45.103 --> 00:05:48.262
of Hinduism, the best place
to look are the Upanishads,

00:05:48.262 --> 00:05:50.668
and you also have the Bhagavad Gita,

00:05:50.668 --> 00:05:52.885
which even though it's
part of the Mahabharata,

00:05:52.885 --> 00:05:56.349
which is considered Smriti, it is revered,

00:05:56.349 --> 00:06:00.516
and is often considered to be
divinely revealed, by Hindus.

00:06:01.615 --> 00:06:02.821
Now this isn't a comprehensive listing

00:06:02.821 --> 00:06:05.486
of all of the scripture
that is important to Hindus.

00:06:05.486 --> 00:06:08.863
Obviously you have the Vedas,
which are very ancient.

00:06:08.863 --> 00:06:12.110
Even these epics, their
events might have taken place

00:06:12.110 --> 00:06:14.870
3,000 years ago, or maybe more;

00:06:14.870 --> 00:06:18.618
their composition was
over 2,000 years ago,

00:06:18.618 --> 00:06:21.758
they were canonized
during the Gupta Empire,

00:06:21.758 --> 00:06:23.384
but there's many other texts.

00:06:23.384 --> 00:06:24.870
You have things that are believed written

00:06:24.870 --> 00:06:27.342
during the Vedic Period, the Vedanta,

00:06:27.342 --> 00:06:31.509
which relate to things like
medicine and astronomy.

00:06:34.159 --> 00:06:38.709
You have commentaries on
things like the Upanishads,

00:06:38.709 --> 00:06:40.822
things like the Brahama Sutra.

00:06:40.822 --> 00:06:45.013
You have the Puranas, which
literally means the old things,

00:06:45.013 --> 00:06:49.180
and these are a whole collection
of old stories, epics, etc.

00:06:50.814 --> 00:06:52.701
So Hinduism, as I mentioned, it is a

00:06:52.701 --> 00:06:55.455
very broad religion, it
is a very diverse religion

00:06:55.455 --> 00:06:57.144
and you even see that in the texts.

00:06:57.144 --> 00:06:58.958
I'll now leave you with
a final excerpt from

00:06:58.958 --> 00:07:01.760
the Bhagavad Gita, and what's
interesting about this,

00:07:01.760 --> 00:07:04.270
as I mentioned, is the
parallels that it gives

00:07:04.270 --> 00:07:07.117
to what we see in the
Upanishads, and some of what

00:07:07.117 --> 00:07:11.284
we looked at on the first
video on Brahman and Atman.

00:07:12.245 --> 00:07:14.102
The man who sees me in everything

00:07:14.102 --> 00:07:16.364
and everything within me will not be

00:07:16.364 --> 00:07:20.468
lost to me, nor will
I ever be lost to him.

00:07:20.468 --> 00:07:22.372
So this is Krishna talking to Arjana,

00:07:22.372 --> 00:07:24.157
and Krishna's saying me, you could

00:07:24.157 --> 00:07:26.976
say God, or the Ultimate Reality.

00:07:26.976 --> 00:07:29.798
He who is rooted in
oneness realizes that I am

00:07:29.798 --> 00:07:34.311
in every being; wherever
he goes, he remains in me.

00:07:34.311 --> 00:07:38.020
When he sees all being as
equal in suffering or in joy

00:07:38.020 --> 00:07:40.070
because they are like himself,

00:07:40.070 --> 00:07:42.987
that man has grown perfect in yoga.

00:07:43.892 --> 00:07:46.356
And the term yoga, in
modern day, often refers to

00:07:46.356 --> 00:07:50.692
the type of stretching, and
exercising, and body postures

00:07:50.692 --> 00:07:52.774
that you might even
have at your local gym,

00:07:52.774 --> 00:07:54.303
but it's really a more general term

00:07:54.303 --> 00:07:58.138
of how do you connect to
that Ultimate Reality?

00:07:58.138 --> 00:07:59.725
And some of what you might
learn in a yoga class

00:07:59.725 --> 00:08:02.525
is one mechanism, leveraging the body,

00:08:02.525 --> 00:08:04.367
but there's other techniques,
through meditation

00:08:04.367 --> 00:08:06.511
and other things, other forms of yoga

00:08:06.511 --> 00:08:09.078
that are trying to get the individual

00:08:09.078 --> 00:08:11.427
to better recognize the illusion,

00:08:11.427 --> 00:08:13.093
the Maya around them, and get connected

00:08:13.093 --> 00:08:16.343
to the oneness of the Ultimate Reality.


Varnas and the Caste System

WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

00:00:00.621 --> 00:00:03.221
- [Instructor] In any
textbook overview of Hinduism

00:00:03.221 --> 00:00:06.244
you will quickly encounter
the caste system,

00:00:06.244 --> 00:00:10.687
and the caste system is the
notion that people are born

00:00:10.687 --> 00:00:14.719
into the roles that they
have to play in society.

00:00:14.719 --> 00:00:16.983
Now the reason why I put this in quotes

00:00:16.983 --> 00:00:20.038
is because they're associated this notion

00:00:20.038 --> 00:00:24.053
from the various Hindu
scripture of Varnas,

00:00:24.053 --> 00:00:26.113
but the best translation from Sanskrit

00:00:26.113 --> 00:00:29.049
into English of Varnas is classes.

00:00:29.049 --> 00:00:31.141
And it's interesting
to think about whether

00:00:31.141 --> 00:00:34.298
they were first intended
to be just social classes,

00:00:34.298 --> 00:00:39.143
or also hereditary classes
as the caste system implies.

00:00:39.143 --> 00:00:42.685
What we do know is that as
we approach modern Hinduism

00:00:42.685 --> 00:00:44.828
over the last several hundred years,

00:00:44.828 --> 00:00:47.343
it did approach something that was more

00:00:47.343 --> 00:00:49.216
what you are born into.

00:00:49.216 --> 00:00:51.020
But we'll look a little
bit at the scripture

00:00:51.020 --> 00:00:52.318
and I'll leave it up to you to decide

00:00:52.318 --> 00:00:54.111
whether it was more of a social class

00:00:54.111 --> 00:00:57.333
or if it was a class
that you were born into.

00:00:57.333 --> 00:01:01.434
Now the four Varnas that
are described in the Vedas

00:01:01.434 --> 00:01:03.324
and other Hindu scripture,

00:01:03.324 --> 00:01:05.396
at the top you have the Brahmins

00:01:05.396 --> 00:01:07.625
who are the priests and the teachers,

00:01:07.625 --> 00:01:10.560
not to be confused with the god Brahma

00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:14.024
or the ultimate reality, Brahman.

00:01:14.024 --> 00:01:15.643
Next you have the Kshatriyas

00:01:15.643 --> 00:01:17.735
who are the warriors and rulers.

00:01:17.735 --> 00:01:19.590
And it's interesting that
at least in Hindu society

00:01:19.590 --> 00:01:21.955
the Brahmins were considered higher

00:01:21.955 --> 00:01:25.229
than the warriors, the rulers, the kings.

00:01:25.229 --> 00:01:26.712
After that you have the Vaishyas

00:01:26.712 --> 00:01:28.807
who are the farmers, the merchants.

00:01:28.807 --> 00:01:31.841
And then next the Shudras, the laborers,

00:01:31.841 --> 00:01:35.608
those who worked in service
to the other three classes.

00:01:35.608 --> 00:01:39.016
Now you also had and have
people who are outside

00:01:39.016 --> 00:01:41.683
of these four different classes.

00:01:42.594 --> 00:01:45.126
Today they refer to themselves as Dalits,

00:01:45.126 --> 00:01:46.827
which means the oppressed,

00:01:46.827 --> 00:01:50.054
but sometimes they've been
referred to as untouchable,

00:01:50.054 --> 00:01:53.749
and that's because in
traditional Hindu society

00:01:53.749 --> 00:01:56.769
many of these people weren't
even able to enter temples,

00:01:56.769 --> 00:01:58.188
they were discriminated against,

00:01:58.188 --> 00:02:00.802
they didn't have access to resources,

00:02:00.802 --> 00:02:02.761
they weren't even allowed to shake hands

00:02:02.761 --> 00:02:05.478
or make physical contact
with other members

00:02:05.478 --> 00:02:06.895
of Hindu society.

00:02:07.890 --> 00:02:10.554
And we'll talk a little
bit more about how this may

00:02:10.554 --> 00:02:12.836
or may not be changing.

00:02:12.836 --> 00:02:17.038
Now to see the basis of the
Varna system in scripture

00:02:17.038 --> 00:02:20.871
I will start with this
quote from the Rigveda.

00:02:21.864 --> 00:02:23.603
Now this is from the Purusha Sukta,

00:02:23.603 --> 00:02:28.314
and Purusha in the Vedas you
can view as this cosmic being,

00:02:28.314 --> 00:02:30.773
but they anthropomorphize this being,

00:02:30.773 --> 00:02:35.144
making it seem or making an
analogy with a human body.

00:02:35.144 --> 00:02:36.986
"When they divided the Cosmic Being,

00:02:36.986 --> 00:02:39.550
"how many portions did they make?

00:02:39.550 --> 00:02:42.197
"What do they call his mouth, his arms?

00:02:42.197 --> 00:02:44.632
"What do they call his thighs and feet?

00:02:44.632 --> 00:02:46.786
"The Brahmin was his mouth,

00:02:46.786 --> 00:02:49.912
"of both arms was the Rajanya made."

00:02:49.912 --> 00:02:52.106
The Rajanya you could
view as the Kshatriyas,

00:02:52.106 --> 00:02:53.811
the warriors and the kings.

00:02:53.811 --> 00:02:55.851
"His thighs became the Vaishya,

00:02:55.851 --> 00:02:59.107
"from his feet the Sudra was produced."

00:02:59.107 --> 00:03:02.232
So in the Vedas, and there's some dispute

00:03:02.232 --> 00:03:04.236
about whether this was
originally in the Vedas

00:03:04.236 --> 00:03:06.448
or about whether it was added later,

00:03:06.448 --> 00:03:08.494
to have a creation story,

00:03:08.494 --> 00:03:12.456
but it is making reference
to these four Varnas.

00:03:12.456 --> 00:03:15.328
But here it is not 100%
clear whether it's just

00:03:15.328 --> 00:03:17.521
talking about the various
classes of society.

00:03:17.521 --> 00:03:19.497
You're bound to have some
priests and teachers,

00:03:19.497 --> 00:03:21.251
some warriors and rulers,
some farmers, merchants,

00:03:21.251 --> 00:03:22.348
some laborers.

00:03:22.348 --> 00:03:25.471
Or are they saying
something more fundamental?

00:03:25.471 --> 00:03:28.727
Now we can go to the
time of the Mahabharata,

00:03:28.727 --> 00:03:30.165
when the Mahabharata was written

00:03:30.165 --> 00:03:32.370
and the subset of the Mahabharata

00:03:32.370 --> 00:03:33.925
which is the Bhagavad Gita,

00:03:33.925 --> 00:03:37.081
and they also make reference
to this Varna system.

00:03:37.081 --> 00:03:40.538
So the Bhagavad Gita is
the part of the Mahabharata

00:03:40.538 --> 00:03:43.681
where you have Krishna talking to Arjuna

00:03:43.681 --> 00:03:46.685
and reassuring him about his role in life,

00:03:46.685 --> 00:03:50.361
and this is what Krishna tells Arjuna.

00:03:50.361 --> 00:03:54.105
"A Brahman's virtues, born
of his nature, are serenity,

00:03:54.105 --> 00:03:57.649
"self-control, austerity,
purity, tolerance,

00:03:57.649 --> 00:04:00.366
"honesty, learning, and to know the truth

00:04:00.366 --> 00:04:02.278
"of things which be.

00:04:02.278 --> 00:04:04.942
"A Kshatriya's pride, born of his nature,

00:04:04.942 --> 00:04:07.339
"lives in valor,
exuberance, determination,

00:04:07.339 --> 00:04:09.803
"resourcefulness, bravery in battle,

00:04:09.803 --> 00:04:14.376
"and generosity and noble
demeanor as a lord of men.

00:04:14.376 --> 00:04:17.563
"A Vaisya's task, born with his nature,

00:04:17.563 --> 00:04:21.464
"is to till the ground,
tend cattle, venture trade.

00:04:21.464 --> 00:04:25.818
"A Sudra's state, suiting
his nature, is service."

00:04:25.818 --> 00:04:30.003
Arguably in service to
the other three classes.

00:04:30.003 --> 00:04:33.210
Now once again, it doesn't
make strict reference

00:04:33.210 --> 00:04:35.369
to you are born a Brahmin,

00:04:35.369 --> 00:04:37.843
if your father was a Brahmin
then you have to be a Brahmin,

00:04:37.843 --> 00:04:42.014
or if your father was a Kshatriya,
you will be a Kshatriya.

00:04:42.014 --> 00:04:44.069
It is making reference to this idea

00:04:44.069 --> 00:04:46.569
of being "born of his nature."

00:04:48.292 --> 00:04:50.015
So you could interpret that as,

00:04:50.015 --> 00:04:52.968
this is this idea that you
have some innate gifts,

00:04:52.968 --> 00:04:54.822
you have some innate tendencies,

00:04:54.822 --> 00:04:57.827
and those innate tendencies
are going to dictate

00:04:57.827 --> 00:05:00.750
whether you're going to
be a Brahmin, a Kshatriya,

00:05:00.750 --> 00:05:03.208
a Vaisya, or a Shudra.

00:05:03.208 --> 00:05:05.496
I encourage you as always to look up

00:05:05.496 --> 00:05:07.109
the primary documents yourself,

00:05:07.109 --> 00:05:08.642
and especially when you're
looking at something

00:05:08.642 --> 00:05:09.859
that is a translation,

00:05:09.859 --> 00:05:12.255
this is a translation
from Sanskrit to English,

00:05:12.255 --> 00:05:14.248
how it is translated matters.

00:05:14.248 --> 00:05:16.034
So try to look up multiple translations

00:05:16.034 --> 00:05:18.716
and come to your own conclusion.

00:05:18.716 --> 00:05:22.313
Now regardless of whether
the ancient Hindu scripture,

00:05:22.313 --> 00:05:25.148
the Bhagavad Gita is over 2,000 years old,

00:05:25.148 --> 00:05:26.884
if we're talking about the Vedas

00:05:26.884 --> 00:05:29.905
and especially if the Purusha Sukta

00:05:29.905 --> 00:05:31.495
was part of the original Vedas,

00:05:31.495 --> 00:05:33.754
we're talking about something
that's over 3,000 years old,

00:05:33.754 --> 00:05:36.912
regardless of the original
intent of the Varna system,

00:05:36.912 --> 00:05:39.675
whether it was supposed to
be just talking about classes

00:05:39.675 --> 00:05:42.514
as opposed to a hereditary caste,

00:05:42.514 --> 00:05:45.943
the reality is is over the
last several hundred years

00:05:45.943 --> 00:05:48.722
in India it did become a caste.

00:05:48.722 --> 00:05:51.881
People whose parents were
Brahmins became Brahmins.

00:05:51.881 --> 00:05:55.053
People whose parents were
Kshatriyas became Kshatriyas.

00:05:55.053 --> 00:05:56.977
And they married amongst themselves,

00:05:56.977 --> 00:06:00.939
and it did dictate their social status.

00:06:00.939 --> 00:06:03.409
And so to put all of this in perspective

00:06:03.409 --> 00:06:05.075
I'm going to give you a quote from

00:06:05.075 --> 00:06:08.592
really one of India's founding fathers.

00:06:08.592 --> 00:06:10.950
So this is a picture of B.R. Ambedkar

00:06:10.950 --> 00:06:13.161
and he was born a Dalit,

00:06:13.161 --> 00:06:17.161
and faced significant discrimination
when he was growing up.

00:06:17.161 --> 00:06:18.511
He wasn't allowed to sit on chairs

00:06:18.511 --> 00:06:20.888
or eat next to his fellow students.

00:06:20.888 --> 00:06:23.523
As you can imagine his family
wouldn't have had access

00:06:23.523 --> 00:06:26.286
to nowhere near the
resources that other people

00:06:26.286 --> 00:06:28.768
in the village or in the city
would have had access to.

00:06:28.768 --> 00:06:31.398
They would have been
actively discriminated with,

00:06:31.398 --> 00:06:33.154
they wouldn't have even been
able to make physical contact

00:06:33.154 --> 00:06:35.934
with members of the formal Varna system.

00:06:35.934 --> 00:06:38.790
But despite all of that discrimination

00:06:38.790 --> 00:06:41.455
he was able to get a significant education

00:06:41.455 --> 00:06:44.729
and eventually become
India's first Law Minister,

00:06:44.729 --> 00:06:47.008
and not only that, but
the principal architect

00:06:47.008 --> 00:06:49.570
of the Indian Constitution.

00:06:49.570 --> 00:06:52.544
And this is what he wrote
about the caste system.

00:06:52.544 --> 00:06:55.561
"Caste is not a physical
object like a wall of bricks

00:06:55.561 --> 00:06:58.198
"or a line of barbed wire
which prevents the Hindus

00:06:58.198 --> 00:07:02.011
"from co-mingling and which has
therefore to be pulled down.

00:07:02.011 --> 00:07:05.670
"Caste is a notion, it
is a state of the mind."

00:07:05.670 --> 00:07:08.057
And if you look at modern India

00:07:08.057 --> 00:07:09.962
or if you talk to modern Hindus,

00:07:09.962 --> 00:07:13.976
many of them will say hey, we
don't take caste seriously.

00:07:13.976 --> 00:07:16.507
We view this as a part of our past,

00:07:16.507 --> 00:07:17.840
and a part of our past

00:07:17.840 --> 00:07:20.099
that we're not necessarily that proud of.

00:07:20.099 --> 00:07:21.926
But there are still Hindus who do take

00:07:21.926 --> 00:07:23.338
the caste system seriously,

00:07:23.338 --> 00:07:25.515
especially if you go into
rural areas and villages.

00:07:25.515 --> 00:07:27.796
Many of the things that
B.R. Ambedkar faced,

00:07:27.796 --> 00:07:29.450
this level of discrimination,

00:07:29.450 --> 00:07:32.590
of Dalits not being able to go a temple,

00:07:32.590 --> 00:07:34.716
not having access to water resources,

00:07:34.716 --> 00:07:36.491
this is still happening in India.

00:07:36.491 --> 00:07:40.335
And in things like
inter-marriage the caste system

00:07:40.335 --> 00:07:43.896
is still taken reasonably
seriously by a large portion

00:07:43.896 --> 00:07:45.896
of the Hindu population.

00:07:46.783 --> 00:07:50.310
Now here's another quote
from B.R. Ambedkar.

00:07:50.310 --> 00:07:52.369
"Some men say that they
should be satisfied

00:07:52.369 --> 00:07:55.170
"with the abolition of
untouchability only,

00:07:55.170 --> 00:07:57.428
"leaving the caste system alone.

00:07:57.428 --> 00:07:59.892
"The aim of abolition
of untouchability alone

00:07:59.892 --> 00:08:02.747
"without trying to
abolish the inequalities

00:08:02.747 --> 00:08:06.914
"inherent in the caste
system is a rather low aim."