WEBVTT 00:00:01.437 --> 00:00:03.070 Survey ship - Pantheon. 00:00:03.266 --> 00:00:05.733 Orbiting planet - Earth. 00:00:06.332 --> 00:00:08.316 Dominant life form - Human. 00:00:08.964 --> 00:00:11.412 Belief system - Various. 00:00:11.797 --> 00:00:13.799 More information required. 00:00:14.199 --> 00:00:15.639 Scanning for samples. 00:00:25.145 --> 00:00:27.141 Welcome to Survey Ship Pantheon. 00:00:27.149 --> 00:00:29.928 Our mission is to investigate the culture of your planet 00:00:29.961 --> 00:00:33.665 and you have been selected to represent your belief system. 00:00:33.697 --> 00:00:35.250 Please state your name. 00:00:35.987 --> 00:00:37.113 Srivati. 00:00:37.309 --> 00:00:38.262 Religion? 00:00:38.323 --> 00:00:39.163 Buddhist. 00:00:39.746 --> 00:00:40.745 Holy book? 00:00:41.169 --> 00:00:42.625 We've got many holy books. 00:00:43.117 --> 00:00:46.236 A particularly large collection known as the Pali Canon. 00:00:46.364 --> 00:00:48.116 I like the Dhammapada. 00:00:48.707 --> 00:00:50.046 Holy building? 00:00:51.425 --> 00:00:52.797 They go by different names, 00:00:52.813 --> 00:00:54.843 often Buddhist Temple, Buddhist Vihara; 00:00:54.862 --> 00:00:57.107 we call ours the Buddhist Centre. 00:00:57.347 --> 00:00:58.365 Symbol? 00:00:58.943 --> 00:01:00.221 The eight spoked wheel. 00:01:00.235 --> 00:01:04.584 That represents eight excellent teachings on how to lead a good Buddhist life. 00:01:05.992 --> 00:01:09.552 You will now be asked a series of questions from the categories on screen. 00:01:09.582 --> 00:01:14.726 You have 30 of your Earth seconds to provide a satisfactory answer to each one. 00:01:14.750 --> 00:01:18.144 Failure to comply will result in matter dispersal. 00:01:18.183 --> 00:01:19.135 Are you ready? 00:01:19.203 --> 00:01:20.491 As I'll ever be. 00:01:20.998 --> 00:01:22.147 Standby. 00:01:22.967 --> 00:01:24.291 Choose the first category. 00:01:24.333 --> 00:01:25.634 Well, let's start with God. 00:01:25.742 --> 00:01:27.783 What do you believe about God? 00:01:28.382 --> 00:01:32.209 Well, I've not been taught, we're not taught in Buddhism that there is a God. 00:01:32.615 --> 00:01:36.428 Some people think we see our Buddha as a God, 00:01:36.428 --> 00:01:39.223 but he was a human being, just a very extra special one. 00:01:46.084 --> 00:01:47.509 Life after death. 00:01:48.509 --> 00:01:51.128 What do you believe will happen to humans after death? 00:01:51.149 --> 00:01:55.610 I believe along with most Buddhists that when we die, our body is finished. 00:01:55.614 --> 00:01:57.720 We can cremate or bury it, 00:01:57.769 --> 00:02:01.046 but that our consciousness, that's like our thoughts and feelings, 00:02:01.054 --> 00:02:04.152 that can take rebirth in a new human body, 00:02:04.206 --> 00:02:06.856 and it makes a difference how we've behaved in this life. 00:02:06.919 --> 00:02:10.837 So, if I'm full of anger and getting annoyed and being impatient, 00:02:10.870 --> 00:02:12.856 then I won't have such a good life 00:02:12.876 --> 00:02:16.141 in the sense that there'll be plenty of problems for me to deal with. 00:02:16.729 --> 00:02:20.013 But if I'm practising patience and being kind, it'll turn out better. 00:02:26.195 --> 00:02:27.185 Beginnings. 00:02:28.067 --> 00:02:29.749 How did your religion begin? 00:02:29.998 --> 00:02:33.883 It began two and half thousand years ago in north eastern India, 00:02:34.035 --> 00:02:36.092 with a man called Siddhartha Gautama. 00:02:36.110 --> 00:02:37.302 He was a prince, 00:02:37.313 --> 00:02:39.811 and he was really concerned about why there was and is 00:02:39.820 --> 00:02:41.630 so much suffering in the world. 00:02:42.071 --> 00:02:45.752 He tried all kind of things, trying to get answers and understanding. 00:02:46.238 --> 00:02:50.441 In the end he gained Enlightenment, which is hard to describe, 00:02:50.462 --> 00:02:54.337 but people were aware that he was so different, 00:02:54.821 --> 00:02:56.239 he became known as the Buddha, 00:02:56.247 --> 00:02:59.725 'the Fully Awakened One', because he really understood how things are. 00:03:05.064 --> 00:03:06.261 Everyday Life. 00:03:07.060 --> 00:03:09.352 How does your religion affect everyday life? 00:03:09.558 --> 00:03:13.076 Well, ideally it would affect every moment of daily life, 00:03:13.343 --> 00:03:15.974 everything from what I say, what I do, 00:03:16.054 --> 00:03:19.328 even what I'm thinking, and there're lots of Buddhist teachings to help with that, 00:03:19.335 --> 00:03:21.292 including the Noble Eightfold Path, 00:03:21.363 --> 00:03:24.243 but especially the practice of the Five Precepts. 00:03:24.711 --> 00:03:28.701 For example, the First Precept is about non-harm or non-violence, 00:03:28.735 --> 00:03:30.557 which means I am vegetarian. 00:03:30.862 --> 00:03:33.321 Also really important is the practice of meditation, 00:03:33.336 --> 00:03:36.718 because that gives you a direct way of working with your mind, 00:03:36.828 --> 00:03:40.638 developing your awareness and becoming more kind as well. 00:03:46.854 --> 00:03:47.879 Festivals. 00:03:49.244 --> 00:03:51.702 What is the most important festival in your religion? 00:03:52.527 --> 00:03:55.396 I think our most important festival is Buddha Day. 00:03:55.444 --> 00:03:58.942 In other parts of the world, it's called Wesak or Vaisakha, 00:03:58.974 --> 00:04:02.183 and it's a celebration of when the Buddha gained his Enlightenment. 00:04:02.302 --> 00:04:04.559 We do lots of different things on a day like that, 00:04:04.617 --> 00:04:07.688 we might meditate together, listen to a talk, 00:04:07.716 --> 00:04:10.553 definitely do a puja, which is like Buddhist devotion, 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:13.696 and that can include chanting mantras, 00:04:13.712 --> 00:04:17.948 making special offerings, for example, of flowers, candles and incense. 00:04:18.082 --> 00:04:20.271 Definitely, it's a chance to come together 00:04:20.296 --> 00:04:23.986 as a spiritual community, which we call Sangha. 00:04:30.179 --> 00:04:31.390 Rites of Passage. 00:04:31.603 --> 00:04:33.931 How did you receive your name? 00:04:34.470 --> 00:04:37.364 I received my name at my Ordination Ceremony. 00:04:37.513 --> 00:04:39.879 Ordination is like a training, 00:04:39.916 --> 00:04:43.386 and it's in order to become a more fully committed member 00:04:43.402 --> 00:04:45.560 of a particular Buddhist group, 00:04:45.608 --> 00:04:49.745 and the name itself has a meaning, so Srivati, my name, 00:04:49.779 --> 00:04:53.297 means 'She is who is full of beauty, radiance and loveliness', 00:04:53.328 --> 00:04:55.667 which has always felt like a tall order, 00:04:55.698 --> 00:04:58.164 especially because it's about how positive I am. 00:04:58.279 --> 00:05:02.553 The more positive, patient, kind I am, the more lovely I'll be. 00:05:08.586 --> 00:05:09.497 Random. 00:05:09.501 --> 00:05:12.193 Why do Buddhists shave their heads? 00:05:12.506 --> 00:05:15.073 Well as you can see, not all of us do. 00:05:15.143 --> 00:05:18.845 The shaven heads go with the people who practise in a monastic tradition, 00:05:18.859 --> 00:05:21.657 that means people who are known as monks and nuns. 00:05:21.774 --> 00:05:23.375 The nuns are the women, 00:05:23.389 --> 00:05:27.283 and they shave their heads basically to keep life really simple, 00:05:27.596 --> 00:05:29.601 that's how they manage their hair. 00:05:29.630 --> 00:05:32.855 It also helps them to not get vain about their appearance, 00:05:32.910 --> 00:05:36.134 so really, Buddhists can look all kinds of different ways, 00:05:36.140 --> 00:05:39.726 they may have hair or not, they may wear robes or not, 00:05:39.955 --> 00:05:41.282 or just ordinary clothes. 00:05:41.327 --> 00:05:44.656 You can't necessarily recognise a Buddhist when you see one on the street. 00:05:46.654 --> 00:05:49.435 Thank you. Your answers are satisfactory. 00:05:49.604 --> 00:05:53.326 Matter dispersal beams powering down. 00:05:54.548 --> 00:05:57.114 You will now be returned to Earth, human. 00:05:57.506 --> 00:05:58.564 Goodbye. 00:05:58.945 --> 00:06:00.071 Goodbye.