0:00:07.445,0:00:09.421
In all times and places in our history,

0:00:09.421,0:00:10.938
human beings have wondered,

0:00:10.938,0:00:12.192
"Where did we come from?

0:00:12.192,0:00:14.165
What's our place in the world?

0:00:14.165,0:00:16.505
What happens to us after we die?"

0:00:16.505,0:00:18.568
Religions are systems of belief

0:00:18.568,0:00:20.634
that have developed and evolved over time

0:00:20.634,0:00:21.803
in response to these

0:00:21.803,0:00:23.924
and other eternal mysteries,

0:00:23.924,0:00:25.660
driven by the feeling that some questions

0:00:25.660,0:00:27.834
can only be answered by faith

0:00:27.834,0:00:29.214
and based on an intuition

0:00:29.214,0:00:31.385
that there is something greater than ourselves,

0:00:31.385,0:00:33.584
a higher power we must answer to,

0:00:33.584,0:00:35.927
or some source we all spring from

0:00:35.927,0:00:38.342
and to which we must return.

0:00:39.342,0:00:41.695
Hinduism means the religions of India.

0:00:41.695,0:00:42.910
It's not a single religion

0:00:42.910,0:00:44.933
but rather a variety of related beliefs

0:00:44.933,0:00:46.858
and spiritual practices.

0:00:46.858,0:00:48.907
It dates back five millennia

0:00:48.907,0:00:50.373
to the time of Krishna,

0:00:50.373,0:00:51.850
a man of such virtue

0:00:51.850,0:00:54.441
that he became known as an avatar of Vishnu,

0:00:54.441,0:00:57.402
an incarnation of the god in human form.

0:00:57.402,0:00:59.637
He taught that all life follows karma,

0:00:59.637,0:01:01.337
the law of cause and effect,

0:01:01.337,0:01:04.561
and our job is to do our duty, or dharma,

0:01:04.561,0:01:06.473
according to our place in society

0:01:06.473,0:01:09.048
without worrying how things turn out.

0:01:09.048,0:01:12.190
When we die, we are reincarnated into a new body.

0:01:12.190,0:01:13.655
If we followed our dharma

0:01:13.655,0:01:15.814
and did our proper duty in our past life,

0:01:15.814,0:01:17.185
we get good karma,

0:01:17.185,0:01:20.352
which sends our soul upward in the social scale.

0:01:20.352,0:01:21.934
Our rebirth into the next life

0:01:21.934,0:01:24.888
is thus determined by what we do in this one.

0:01:24.888,0:01:28.253
The wheel of rebirths is called samsara.

0:01:28.253,0:01:30.199
It's possible for a very holy person

0:01:30.199,0:01:32.611
to lead a life with enough good karma

0:01:32.611,0:01:34.409
to escape the wheel.

0:01:34.409,0:01:36.869
This escape is called moksha.

0:01:36.869,0:01:39.817
Hinduism teaches that everything is one.

0:01:39.817,0:01:40.765
The whole universe is

0:01:40.765,0:01:43.856
one transcendent reality called Brahman,

0:01:43.856,0:01:45.717
and there's just one Brahman

0:01:45.717,0:01:47.260
but many gods within it,

0:01:47.260,0:01:50.179
and their roles, aspects, and forms differ

0:01:50.179,0:01:52.470
according to various traditions.

0:01:52.470,0:01:54.387
Brahma is the creator,

0:01:54.387,0:01:56.089
Vishnu is the preserver

0:01:56.089,0:01:58.624
who sometimes takes on human form,

0:01:58.624,0:02:00.910
and Shiva is the transformer,

0:02:00.910,0:02:02.572
or Lord of the Dance.

0:02:02.572,0:02:06.069
Durga is the fiercely protective divine mother.

0:02:06.069,0:02:07.939
Ganesha has an elephant head

0:02:07.939,0:02:11.486
and is the wise patron of success.

0:02:11.486,0:02:14.717
Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world.

0:02:14.717,0:02:17.075
And although most Hindus live in India,

0:02:17.075,0:02:19.123
they can be found on every continent,

0:02:19.123,0:02:21.288
one billion strong.

0:02:22.010,0:02:23.366
Now, let's travel west,

0:02:23.366,0:02:24.978
across deserts and mountains

0:02:24.978,0:02:28.253
to the fertile crescent about 4,000 years ago.

0:02:28.253,0:02:30.040
Judaism began with God calling

0:02:30.040,0:02:32.842
Abraham and Sarah to leave Mesopotamia

0:02:32.842,0:02:35.486
and migrate to the land of Canaan.

0:02:35.486,0:02:38.481
In return for their faith in the one true God,

0:02:38.481,0:02:39.885
a revolutionary concept

0:02:39.885,0:02:42.436
in the polytheistic world of that time,

0:02:42.436,0:02:45.652
they would have land and many descendants.

0:02:45.652,0:02:47.736
From this promise came the land of Israel

0:02:47.736,0:02:49.436
and the chosen people,

0:02:49.436,0:02:50.734
but staying in that land

0:02:50.734,0:02:52.236
and keeping those people together

0:02:52.236,0:02:54.356
was going to be very difficult.

0:02:54.356,0:02:56.947
The Israelites were enslaved in Egypt,

0:02:56.947,0:02:58.897
but God freed them with the help

0:02:58.897,0:03:00.456
of the prophet Moses,

0:03:00.456,0:03:02.112
who received the Ten Commandments

0:03:02.112,0:03:04.532
and later hundreds more.

0:03:04.532,0:03:06.296
They conquered the Promised Land,

0:03:06.296,0:03:09.376
but could only keep it for a few hundred years.

0:03:09.376,0:03:11.402
Israel sits at a crossroads

0:03:11.402,0:03:12.771
through which many armies

0:03:12.771,0:03:14.309
marched over the centuries.

0:03:14.309,0:03:15.509
And in the year 70,

0:03:15.509,0:03:16.912
the Romans destroyed the temple

0:03:16.912,0:03:19.277
in their capital, Jerusalem.

0:03:19.277,0:03:21.154
So, the religion transformed itself

0:03:21.154,0:03:22.487
from a temple religion

0:03:22.487,0:03:23.897
with sacrifices and priests

0:03:23.897,0:03:25.970
to a religion of the book.

0:03:25.970,0:03:28.263
Because of this, Judaism is a faith

0:03:28.263,0:03:31.270
of symbolism, reverence, and deep meanings

0:03:31.270,0:03:33.901
tied to the literature of its history.

0:03:33.901,0:03:35.366
The many sacred scriptures make up

0:03:35.366,0:03:37.358
the Hebrew bible, or Tanakh,

0:03:37.358,0:03:39.572
and hundreds of written discussions and interpretations

0:03:39.572,0:03:42.238
are contained in an expansive compendium

0:03:42.238,0:03:43.458
of deeper meanings,

0:03:43.458,0:03:45.061
called the Talmud.

0:03:45.061,0:03:47.977
Jews find rich, symbolic meaning in daily life.

0:03:47.977,0:03:49.110
At the Passover meal,

0:03:49.110,0:03:50.946
every item on the menu symbolizes

0:03:50.946,0:03:53.696
an aspect of the escape from slavery.

0:03:53.696,0:03:55.016
The importance of growing up

0:03:55.016,0:03:56.867
is emphasized when young people

0:03:56.867,0:03:59.171
reach the age of bar and bat mitzvah,

0:03:59.171,0:04:01.443
ceremonies during which they assume responsibility

0:04:01.443,0:04:02.380
for their actions

0:04:02.380,0:04:03.644
and celebrate the weaving

0:04:03.644,0:04:04.692
of their own lives

0:04:04.692,0:04:06.678
into the faith, history, and texts

0:04:06.678,0:04:08.357
of the Jewish people.

0:04:08.357,0:04:11.266
There are 14 million Jews in the world today,

0:04:11.266,0:04:12.738
6 million in Israel,

0:04:12.738,0:04:14.119
which became independent

0:04:14.119,0:04:17.233
following the horrors of genocide in World War II,

0:04:17.233,0:04:19.824
and 5 million in the United States.

0:04:20.408,0:04:23.806
But now let's go back 2500 years and return to India

0:04:23.806,0:04:25.116
where Buddhism began

0:04:25.116,0:04:27.883
with a young prince named Siddhartha.

0:04:27.883,0:04:29.137
On the night he was conceived,

0:04:29.137,0:04:30.696
his mother, Queen Maya,

0:04:30.696,0:04:32.886
is said to have been visited in her sleep

0:04:32.886,0:04:35.809
by a white elephant who entered her side.

0:04:35.809,0:04:37.806
Ten months later, Prince Siddartha was born

0:04:37.806,0:04:39.558
into a life of luxury.

0:04:39.558,0:04:41.974
Venturing forth from his sheltered existence

0:04:41.974,0:04:43.088
as a young man,

0:04:43.088,0:04:44.516
he witnessed the human suffering

0:04:44.516,0:04:45.926
that had been hidden from him

0:04:45.926,0:04:49.310
and immediately set out to investigate its sources.

0:04:49.310,0:04:51.502
Why must people endure suffering?

0:04:51.502,0:04:54.605
Must we reincarnate through hundreds of lives?

0:04:54.605,0:04:56.019
At first he thought the problem

0:04:56.019,0:04:58.055
was attachment to material things,

0:04:58.055,0:04:59.943
so he gave up his possessions.

0:04:59.943,0:05:01.669
He became a wandering beggar,

0:05:01.669,0:05:04.994
which he discovered certainly made him no happier.

0:05:04.994,0:05:07.693
Then he overheard a music teacher telling a student,

0:05:07.693,0:05:09.947
"Don't tighten the string too much, it will break.

0:05:09.947,0:05:11.657
But don't let it go too slack,

0:05:11.657,0:05:13.584
or it will not sound."

0:05:13.584,0:05:14.752
In a flash, he realized

0:05:14.752,0:05:16.916
that looking for answers at the extremes

0:05:16.916,0:05:18.343
was a mistake.

0:05:18.343,0:05:20.847
The middle way between luxury and poverty

0:05:20.847,0:05:22.133
seemed wisest.

0:05:22.133,0:05:24.419
And while meditating under a bodhi tree,

0:05:24.419,0:05:26.588
the rest of the answer came to him.

0:05:26.588,0:05:29.344
All of life abounds with suffering.

0:05:29.344,0:05:31.209
It's caused by selfish craving

0:05:31.209,0:05:34.556
for one's own fulfillment at the expense of others.

0:05:34.556,0:05:36.058
Following an eight-step plan

0:05:36.058,0:05:38.224
can teach us to reduce that craving,

0:05:38.224,0:05:40.641
and thus reduce the suffering.

0:05:40.641,0:05:43.799
On that day, Siddhartha became the Buddha,

0:05:43.799,0:05:45.307
the enlightened one.

0:05:45.307,0:05:47.681
Not the only one, but the first one.

0:05:47.681,0:05:49.152
The Buddhist plan is called

0:05:49.152,0:05:50.414
the Eightfold Path,

0:05:50.414,0:05:51.916
and though it is not easy to follow,

0:05:51.916,0:05:52.991
it has pointed the way

0:05:52.991,0:05:55.060
for millions to enlightenment,

0:05:55.060,0:05:57.144
which is what Buddhahood means,

0:05:57.144,0:05:58.285
a state of compassion,

0:05:58.285,0:05:59.080
insight,

0:05:59.080,0:05:59.934
peace,

0:05:59.934,0:06:01.807
and steadfastness.

0:06:01.807,0:06:03.989
From the time he got up from under that tree

0:06:03.989,0:06:06.097
to the moment of his death as an old man,

0:06:06.097,0:06:08.251
the Buddha taught people how to become enlightened:

0:06:08.251,0:06:09.008
right speech,

0:06:09.008,0:06:09.805
right goals,

0:06:09.805,0:06:11.939
a mind focused on what is real,

0:06:11.939,0:06:14.688
and a heart focused on loving others.

0:06:14.688,0:06:17.181
Many Buddhists believe in God or gods,

0:06:17.181,0:06:20.269
but actions are more important than beliefs.

0:06:20.269,0:06:21.808
There are nearly a billion Buddhists

0:06:21.808,0:06:23.117
in the world today,

0:06:23.117,0:06:27.057
mostly in East, Southeast, and South Asia.

0:06:27.948,0:06:31.221
2,000 years ago in Judaism's Promised Land,

0:06:31.221,0:06:33.237
Christianity was born.

0:06:33.237,0:06:36.439
Just as Hindus called Krishna "God in Human Form,"

0:06:36.439,0:06:38.609
Christians say the same thing about Jesus,

0:06:38.609,0:06:40.361
and Christianity grew out of Judaism

0:06:40.361,0:06:43.463
just as Buddhism grew out of Hinduism.

0:06:43.463,0:06:45.946
The angel Gabriel was sent by the God of Abraham

0:06:45.946,0:06:47.860
to ask a young woman named Mary

0:06:47.860,0:06:50.195
to become the mother of his son.

0:06:50.195,0:06:51.694
The son was Jesus,

0:06:51.694,0:06:53.214
raised as a carpenter

0:06:53.214,0:06:55.136
by Mary and her husband Joseph,

0:06:55.136,0:06:56.859
until he turned 30,

0:06:56.859,0:06:58.644
when he began his public career

0:06:58.644,0:07:00.808
as the living word of God.

0:07:00.808,0:07:02.816
Less interested in religiousness

0:07:02.816,0:07:04.060
than in justice and mercy,

0:07:04.060,0:07:06.612
Jesus healed the sick in order to draw crowds

0:07:06.612,0:07:09.608
and then taught them about his heavenly father --

0:07:09.608,0:07:12.524
affectionate, forgiving, and attentive.

0:07:12.524,0:07:14.737
Then, he would invite everyone to a common table

0:07:14.737,0:07:17.489
to illustrate his Kingdom of God,

0:07:17.489,0:07:21.576
outcasts, sinners, and saints all eating together.

0:07:21.576,0:07:22.612
He had only three years

0:07:22.612,0:07:24.381
before his unconventional wisdom

0:07:24.381,0:07:25.659
got him into trouble.

0:07:25.659,0:07:26.860
His enemies had him arrested,

0:07:26.860,0:07:28.635
and he was executed by Rome

0:07:28.635,0:07:29.840
in the standard means

0:07:29.840,0:07:32.511
by which rabble-rousers were put to death,

0:07:32.511,0:07:34.114
crucifixion.

0:07:34.114,0:07:36.197
But shortly after he was buried,

0:07:36.197,0:07:38.194
women found his tomb empty

0:07:38.194,0:07:39.520
and quickly spread word,

0:07:39.520,0:07:42.553
convinced that he had been raised from the dead.

0:07:42.553,0:07:43.940
The first Christians described

0:07:43.940,0:07:46.023
his resurrected appearances,

0:07:46.023,0:07:49.118
inspiring confidence that his message was true.

0:07:49.118,0:07:53.307
The message: love one another as I have loved you.

0:07:53.307,0:07:55.350
Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus

0:07:55.350,0:07:57.443
in December at Christmas,

0:07:57.443,0:07:59.706
and his suffering, death, and resurrection

0:07:59.706,0:08:01.915
during Holy Week in the spring.

0:08:01.915,0:08:03.246
In the ceremony of baptism,

0:08:03.246,0:08:04.686
a washing away of sin

0:08:04.686,0:08:06.961
and welcoming into the Christian community,

0:08:06.961,0:08:08.787
recall Jesus's own baptism

0:08:08.787,0:08:10.958
when he left his life as a carpenter.

0:08:10.958,0:08:12.430
In the rite of Communion,

0:08:12.430,0:08:14.461
Christians eat the bread and drink the wine

0:08:14.461,0:08:17.127
blessed as the body and blood of Jesus,

0:08:17.127,0:08:19.593
recalling Jesus's last supper.

0:08:19.593,0:08:22.017
There are two billion Christians worldwide,

0:08:22.017,0:08:25.821
representing almost a third of the world's people.

0:08:27.081,0:08:29.568
Islam began 1400 years ago

0:08:29.568,0:08:31.359
with a man of great virtue,

0:08:31.359,0:08:33.028
meditating in a mountain cave

0:08:33.028,0:08:34.743
in the Arabian desert.

0:08:34.743,0:08:36.997
The man was Muhammad.

0:08:36.997,0:08:39.249
He was visited by a divine messenger,

0:08:39.249,0:08:41.162
again the angel Gabriel,

0:08:41.162,0:08:43.335
in Arabic, Jibril,

0:08:43.335,0:08:46.002
delivering to him the words of Allah,

0:08:46.002,0:08:48.028
the one God of Abraham.

0:08:48.028,0:08:49.212
In the next few years,

0:08:49.212,0:08:50.849
more and more messages came,

0:08:50.849,0:08:53.108
and he memorized and taught them.

0:08:53.108,0:08:55.814
The verses he recited were full of wise sayings,

0:08:55.814,0:08:56.846
beautiful rhymes,

0:08:56.846,0:08:58.981
and mysterious metaphors.

0:08:58.981,0:09:01.764
But Muhammad was a merchant, not a poet.

0:09:01.764,0:09:03.321
Many agreed the verses

0:09:03.321,0:09:05.015
were indeed the words of God,

0:09:05.015,0:09:08.011
and these believers became the first Muslims.

0:09:08.011,0:09:11.016
The word Muslim means one who surrenders,

0:09:11.016,0:09:14.334
meaning a person who submits to the will of God.

0:09:14.334,0:09:16.368
A Muslim's five most important duties

0:09:16.368,0:09:18.516
are called the Five Pillars:

0:09:18.516,0:09:21.626
Shahada, Muslims declare publicly,

0:09:21.626,0:09:24.681
there is no other God but Allah,

0:09:24.681,0:09:27.502
and Muhammad is his final prophet;

0:09:27.502,0:09:31.436
Salat, they pray five times a day facing Mecca;

0:09:31.436,0:09:34.050
Zakat, every Muslim is required

0:09:34.050,0:09:37.852
to give 2 or 3% of their net worth to the poor;

0:09:37.852,0:09:41.163
Sawm, they fast during daylight hours

0:09:41.163,0:09:43.001
for the lunar month of Ramadan

0:09:43.001,0:09:44.551
to strengthen their willpower

0:09:44.551,0:09:46.598
and their reliance on God;

0:09:46.598,0:09:49.510
and Hajj, once in a lifetime,

0:09:49.510,0:09:51.605
every Muslim who is able must make a pilgrimage

0:09:51.605,0:09:53.499
to the holy city of Mecca,

0:09:53.499,0:09:54.440
rehearsing for the time

0:09:54.440,0:09:55.941
when they will stand before God

0:09:55.941,0:09:58.061
to be judged worthy or unworthy

0:09:58.061,0:10:00.388
of eternal life with Him.

0:10:00.388,0:10:01.522
The words of God,

0:10:01.522,0:10:04.340
revealed to the prophet over 23 years,

0:10:04.340,0:10:06.161
are collected in the Quran,

0:10:06.161,0:10:09.995
which literally translates into "the recitation."

0:10:09.995,0:10:12.355
Muslims believe it to be the only holy book

0:10:12.355,0:10:14.244
free of human corruption.

0:10:14.244,0:10:15.745
It's also considered by many

0:10:15.745,0:10:17.157
to be the finest work of literature

0:10:17.157,0:10:19.315
in the Arabic language.

0:10:19.315,0:10:21.662
Islam is the world's second largest religion,

0:10:21.662,0:10:25.714
practiced by over one and a half billion Muslims around the globe.

0:10:27.020,0:10:28.973
Religion has been an aspect of culture

0:10:28.973,0:10:30.803
for as long as it has existed,

0:10:30.803,0:10:34.137
and there are countless variations of its practice.

0:10:34.137,0:10:35.572
But common to all religions

0:10:35.572,0:10:37.720
is an appeal for meaning

0:10:37.720,0:10:38.861
beyond the empty vanities

0:10:38.861,0:10:41.634
and lowly realities of existence,

0:10:41.634,0:10:42.732
beyond sin,

0:10:42.732,0:10:43.564
suffering,

0:10:43.564,0:10:45.665
and death,

0:10:45.665,0:10:47.248
beyond fear,

0:10:47.248,0:10:49.376
and beyond ourselves.