Speakers Alien Abduction: Hinduism
Robot Survey ship Pantheon orbiting planet: Earth. Dominant life form: Human. Belief system: Various. More information required. Scanning for samples. Welcome to survey ship Pantheon, our mission is to investigate the culture of your planet, and you have been selected to represent your belief system. Please state your name.
Rupal Patel Rupal Patel.
Robot Religion.
Rupal Patel Hindu.
Robot Holy book.
Rupal Patel There are lots, um, but the key ones are the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita.
Robot Holy building.
Rupal Patel Uh, the mandir or also known as a Hindu temple.
Robot Symbol.
Rupal Patel The om.
Robot You will now be asked a series of questions from the categories on screen. You have 30 of your Earth seconds to provide a satisfactory answer to each one. Failure to comply will result in matter dispersal. Standby. Choose the first category.
Rupal Patel Uh, God.
Robot What do you believe about God?
Rupal Patel Um, Hindus believe there's one supreme god. Um, he's the all doer. He's come down on this Earth, and he's known by different by different names. We call him Bhagwan. Um, he is ultimately the creator, sustainer, and the destroyer. Um, also known as Brahma, Vishnu, Shiv, and seen in Hindu temples in lots of different forms.
Rupal Patel Uh, life after death.
Robot What do you believe will happen to humans after death?
Rupal Patel Um, Hindus believe that each life form has an atman, um, this, in essence, is an immortal soul. Following death, the atman moves into a new life form, and this cycle of birth, death, and rebirth we call reincarnation. Um, during each life we do lots of good things, lots of bad things, which is called karma, and we're trying to do lots of good things to move up and, um, have a better life. Um, and ultimately, our chief aim is to go and live with God by having lots of good karma.
Rupal Patel Beginnings.
Robot How did your religion begin?
Rupal Patel Um, Hinduism is unique in that it doesn't have a single founder. Um, we see it as an eternal religion and never really started, but it was it was revealed to us. Um, it was revealed through, um, scriptures or religious texts like the Vedas, um, and also, um, through the incarnation of God on this Earth, um, for example, for some Hindus, um, Lord Krishna.
Rupal Patel Everyday life.
Robot How does your religion affect everyday life?
Rupal Patel For me, I will start each day, um, by praying to God in front of my home Mandir, um, and that we call a puja. Um, I have a strict vegetarian diet, Hindus believe in non-violence. Um, our scriptures also give us lots of detail in terms of our duty to our family, our duty to society, our environment. In essence, we're trying to be good people and get lots of good karma so we can go and, um, sit or be with God. Um, yeah. Festivals.
Robot What is the most important festival in your religion?
Rupal Patel Hinduism is full of lots and lots of festivals, including Holi, Ankot, um, the most, one of the most popular and well known is, is Diwali, which is the Festival of Light. We have loads of fireworks, we light diyas, um, and in essence, we're, um, marking the return of, um, Sita and Rama from 14 years in exile. Um, for us, it marks, well we're celebrating, um, the defeat of darkness, um, with with, with light.
Rupal Patel Rites of passage.
Robot What happens at a Hindu funeral?
Rupal Patel Hindus are generally cremated. Um, that's the burning of a body. We feel that the at- it helps to release the atman from from the body. Um, we wear white, we sprinkle water over the body, we sing lots of prayers. And following the cremation, the ashes will be distributed in water, ideally the river Ganges. Just like, um, the, a river flows into the sea, we're aiming for the atman to to go back to God.
Rupal Patel Random.
Robot Why do so many Hindus have a dot on their foreheads?
Rupal Patel The dot is a chandlo, um, it's traditionally made out of red pollen paint, um, and it's a mark of our faith and our commitment to God. Um, we will apply it, um, during puja or during worship, and often you'll see married women wearing a chandlo, and that's a marker of their commitment to their husbands.
Robot Thank you. Your answers are satisfactory. Matter dispersal beams. Powering down. You will now be returned to Earth, human.
Rupal Patel Thank you.
Robot Goodbye |