Hindu Scriptures, Vedas, Upanishads and Gita | Talk by Jay Lakhani - Hindu Academy London

Om Hari hi Om, Shri Gurubhyo namah ! shree jail Jay Lakhani an excellent communicator of  hinduism in Britain and director of the hindu academy the Vivekananda Center in London over the  last 15 years Shree Lakhani has given talks on   Hinduism to thousands of youngsters at English  schools colleges and universities if you wish   to get a glimpse of the modern dynamic face of  Hinduism then do not miss this series of talks okay the session this morning is going to be  on scriptures what are scriptures simply simple   English scriptures are holy books every religion  will have certain some books they call holy or   sacred and we are going to study sacred texts  or sacred books of the hindus today now why are   scriptures important first question arises you  see if you wanted to learn about religion the   Hindu region will tell you the best people who  can tell you about well you know those people   who say we can experience God for ourselves they  are the number one the best proponent of religion   people who claim first-hand experience of God and  there's a generic title with you these people that   is she somebody you can see your experience core  and this is essential this is the first port of   call if you were to study about religion study  your religion the first port of call should be   rishi a person who is able to talk about religion  from his own experience because he can give you   first and knowledge of religion but Rishi's are  difficult to get by you cannot find them easily   you cannot be know look up your yellow pages in  Syria our Rishi oh yes here or or wherever you   know that tricky they're not easy to find and if  they are there they may not you want to announce   themselves they may be very keep themselves very  aloof may not mix with you at all so difficult   to find them the second place where we can you  know second port of call should be the Scriptures   what are scriptures now the Scriptures are if you  like what the Rishi's tell us about God what the   rishi is there to say about spiritual experience  surely that's the second best thing we can fall   back on because then we can learn exactly what  these Rishi's talked about or taught maybe 500   years ago hundred years ago thousand years ago  so get a whole mass of lovely literature about   what the Rishi's have told us about the world in  religion and God this is the second best place to   find it learn about religion now see even though  this seems like a straight for exercise it is not   that simple let me just explain to you why the  experience of the Rishi's are very dynamic and   they come out when they talk about the religious  experience it is almost like poetry so it sounds   very grand and great but it's very poetic and  very few people can understand this kind of very   abstract poetry so even though the teachings are  very grand and great you prefer to fall back on   second-best the second best is not to just study  what they are taught but actually study their   lives their lives themselves are very exciting  interests because their lives in a way reflect   their teachings so the second best thing is okay  the teachings about the spiritual experience this   is high stuff they're failing that we can look  at their own lives because their lives are the   best lesson for rest of humanity so look at the  lives of the Rishi's so the lives and teachings   are great proponents of religion the prophets or  the Rishi's is one of the best ways of acquiring   religious knowledge so we accept that there's  a second best of scriptures are crucial this   is where the Scriptures are records or written  records about what the Rishi's are taught or how   they lived becomes very important now see this is  just still very general classification the Hindu   so now devised a method whereby they say there  are some scriptures or some books of authority   that requires special Signet there were special  significance they are primary means most important   primary texts and there are other texts which  I think the Hindu say a secondary or of lower   importance or less importance so the subdivided  scriptures into two great portions and again   let me tell you scriptures are very important  holy books are very important because people to   find people who are experienced in God are very  difficult these people are very difficult to find   they occur only once in a while so the next best  thing the human beings can go oh man can't get   relate to is of course the books of the scriptures  the holy books are important there is one religion   that paid a heavy price because the books were  destroyed the books were overnight a madcap King   in a drunkard drunkard drunker stupor decided to  demolish or destroy born all the scripts of one   particular religion a letter agent paid a heavy  price and you know what what their religion what   that religion needs or name of the religion the  Zoroastrian religion the Parsee religion their   scriptures were burned overnight by med cap King  you will be surprised to hear the name of that   great king or that madcap king he was scholar is  called Alexander the Great he is nothing there   is nothing great about a man who destroys their  scriptures of a religion so in one night when he   was drunk he has ordered all the scriptures all  the temples of Saracen should be demolished and   the Russian paid a heavy price because the lost  most of the scriptures so they legs their ass   and don't call Alexander the Great second are  we saying in India their learning is great at   all but anyway so scriptures are important now the  Hindus ever said have divided the scriptures into   two broad categories one category the excess  of great importance primary are called Shruti   scriptures Shruti the word Shruti comes from  Sanskrit root of AX which means that which has   been hard so what are they talking about how do  you hear through these whether you can in deepest   of meditation you acquire knowledge if you like  you hear these marvellous teachings in the deepest   of meditation that's why perhaps they're called  shooties Oh perhaps they were called shooties   because they were passed on by word of mouth  for many thousands of years before they were   written down but whatever the reason that called  shruti's shruti's are the scriptures of authority   of the hindus in this text are classified as the  four Vedas from the Sanskrit root whether we the   means to know so what are they talking about these  are books of knowledge but what kind of knowledge   are we talking about are we talking about say  knowledge about biology or chemistry mathematics   why they call it the books of knowledge the way  there are books of knowledge of what of the nature   of reality what is this all about remember when we  started teaching Hinduism we said the name we give   to our religion is not Hinduism at all real is  called Dharma and Therma is trying to make sense   of the world that we live in what is this all  about I want to understand this world so we are   trying to come to terms with the nature of reality  what is this real thing in front of what is the   nature of reality the right to English so the  Vedas are not talking about say necessary labor   below you can be they are talking about nature of  reality knowledge about the nature of reality what   is this all about that's why they call books of  knowledge whether that gives us knowledge about   what is this all about what is this what is this  you want to understand that's why they call with   us from the Sanskrit root Vida there are four  with us that we are classified don't need to go   into details for your GCSE but just let me give  you some brief idea regarding what the Vedas are   all about the most ancient way that's called the  Rig Veda then Rig Veda set to musical called sama   Veda then we are judge or whether which is more  kind of linked with this idea of liturgy etc and   finally we good atharvaveda not the four Vedas  then you look at the text of the Vedas where how   are they how are the way that's compiled let me  give some brief just brief idea about the Vedas   and how they are compiled you don't need to go  into great detail the only portion the starting   part of the Vedas normally the early books of  the Vedas all the four Vedas are normally there's   some heat apportion or hymns you say hymns what I  would hymns are there you know how do these hymns   of the way thus oh yes we do we never do religious  ceremony suppose you're doing the rebirth ceremony   marriage ceremony we're doing anyhow one etc the  the hymns that the priests are singing are this   hymns picked up from the same table some heat a  proportion of the Vedas what are these hymns like   let me ask you an idea the ancient man went Rohini  was trying to make sense of the world he thought   the best way to understand the world and come to  grips with it is to personify it so for example   today we are under the force of Varun you know  this rain God so we are saying let us personify   the forces of nature what are the force of nature  like fire wind Sun etcetera so this is all these   forces of natural force the VC around is less  personify them let us then turn let us turn them   into personalities so the wind God in the fire God  and so on in the hymns are in a way dedication to   these forces of nature in a personalized our so  when you hear this in the hymns in the rig whether   they would recite when you're doing pooja worship  hewan etc they will be singing the glories of our   own and in draw and hug me so that's why you keep  hearing the word Baldwin and Indra and awed me but   this is what they are doing the personified  forces of nature being worship being adored   why do you do that think about it the ancient man  thought if I can keep these forces of nature under   control and keep them in on my side then I'm safe  let's try and build friendship with the forces of   nature so the some hitha portion was basically  just doing that and we are still using we are   still you know caught up with that so we still  use it in a mechanical manner without realizing   what we are actually doing you are appeasing the  forces of nature saying oh don't disturb us or   wind and fire and be your friends other than our  force that's what we are doing when you're doing   the heaven and the Vives are--when and all that so  these are the first part of the Vedas are the some   heat apportioned the hymns dedicated to the forces  of nature okay so you must know these things it's   nice for you to know where it comes from and what  is the significance why did we Hindus cannot get   fixated on that this is the reason the ancient  Hindu was trying to in a way control nature by   appeasing nature praising the glories of nature  of horses is understandable because modern man   we have moved on now we don't need to do all that  bobbing down to the force of electricity we put it   in wires in light of our offices and rooms happily  in Rome or workplaces this will be harnessed   nature without singing the glories through science  you've done the same thing so these are the first   part of the Vedas are the hymn portion to some  heat abortion the second part of the way those are   the liturgy liturgy means very elaborate ritual  you know when you do certain ceremonies they will   ask you don't go around in this clockwise manner  and then offer this flower and fruit and gray and   gray into the fire so all the liturgy how you  should do the heaven what should the altar look   like what should the measurements what you should  offer to the into the fire how we should offer it   which end you should use this elaborate liturgy or  ritual practice is the second portion of the Vedas   deals with a karmic and the ritualistic portion it  has got its own place so far the heart of Hinduism   is we are still seeing the superficial aspects of  in tourism in the way that is the end portion of   the Vedas our code the Aaronic and they are our  own it means things that were discovered in the   forest through deep meditation this is where the  heart of Hinduism is so if anybody says you know   where do I learn Hinduism should I study I said  if you study the hymns of the way they ask where   we can press become a good pujari and do some  religious ceremonies and charge money for it or   something if you say should we do the liturgy  well if you want to do the formal worship it   will be useful if you want to heart of Hinduism  dropping exciting philosophic heart of indu ISM   you need to go to the Aaronic of the Vedas this is  where most of the interesting stuff lies the end   portion of the Vedas in these these particular  gems of philosophic knowledge are contained in   short kind of skin of little snippets scattered  all over the four Vedas mostly in the RNA portion   and they are called open each other the word  opening each other means oopah means to come   here and shudder means to destroy us out here he  is telling me to come here he'll destroy me this   is terrible I don't go near this open Ishod  but really the meaning of open ition is very   interesting he says Upanishad means come near I  will destroy your delusion regarding the nature   of reality what you think this world is not so  there's something different you got a deluded   world worldview you don't know exactly what this  world is like what is this universe all about you   want to know about nature of reality don't you  I will teach that to you come near me I will   destroy your delusion Shaddaa destroy the delusion  regarding the nature of reality these are called   the opening shells there are 108 opening shot so  even perhaps more but this is what recorded most   people do not really know read any of them but  10 or 11 of these are considered to be central   very important in the more than Hindus will  continue to you know understand those 10 or 11   opening or the key open issues of the Hindus some  of the open issues are very tiny only 12 versus   some 18 versus some huge but you know for your  information this is the philosophic throbbing   heart of Hinduism so if somebody says I want to  understand religion Hinduism necessary only are   you serious go to the opening shots and most of us  have not got even a single copy of a single loop   initially that time it will booklets 12 verses  they can believe one a four sheet contains one   open issue that that's simple but they are very  powerful why they are powerful they are telling   us about what happens when you experience God  that's what they're talking about or experience   spirit spirit means I am something special Atman  and the spirit not what I think I am but what I   actually am I actually experience Who I am truly  am and that is a thrilling experience and when you   try and give expression to it or try and you put  it in words you struggle words are difficult you   can't because you say I know it's sometimes you  something fantastic said explain tell me what did   you experience is why I can't tell you no disciple  don't tell me no I can't really this is like this   like that just a thrilling experience that defies  simple classification or simple verbal explanation   so you know what the Rishi's did how they present  in this idea through poetry they never sat down   and debated and put tables for you to follow they  just flow or with poetry and you know why poetry   are a powerful tool because poetry's have the  ability or put it or giving if you are giving you   an understanding on the depth of understanding of  very difficult things we define normal words using   words so this why poetry are very powerful because  they are used using words are being used to   express things which normally cannot be expressed  through words that's what poetry is all about   that's why people love poetry because somehow  just a combination of words gives you a deeper   understanding about everything if you look at each  and every word there is nothing powerful but when   you put them in that particular group they become  poetic they give you deeper understanding about   nature of reality they transcend words that's why  poetry a very path that's why the opening should   always poetic can ever argumentative debate with  you discuss with what is good they don't do that   they fly off if you experience God suppose you  get a thrilling experience what comes out of your   mouth will be so poetic naturally you don't need  to go into a school and learn how to do poetry   will flow from you because you're trying to give  expression to a very powerful experience in the   moment you open your mouth wonderful stuff will  come out so the ancient and modern Rishi's of   India have you an expression to their spiritual  experience through the open he shirts I told you   what the meaning of the open each of these come  near I destroy the illusion regarding the nature   of reality I tell you what this is truly all about  who you truly are that is what open issues are   this is the throbbing heart of the Hindu religion  is that most English have not even heard of the   word open issue let alone read one and you see  the thing is you might say when it gets heavy   are we lost have you lost out no they will travel  so what we have is this we've got one text that   incorporates all this 108 upanishads and ties it  all together one text contains oh they feel like   the done the Jews of old open ishes the heart of  all the open e shirts and that the Hindus know   that scripture the Hindus are aware of and they  use it in every home you should find it the one   that kind of takes if you like that's the central  teachings of all these different open ishod's and   combines it into one textbook or one text can you  guess what the text is here you are shop key here   the bhagavata gita public EDA is nothing but the  synthesis of all dopes initials you see because   open shows that difficult so what happens with  Krishna is that he is if you like synthesized   brought together all the different strands or  thinking of the open e should experience the   Rishi's and put it in one text that has become the  text of authority of Hindus the Bhagavad Gita the   word public means is holy in Gita means a song  so again the word song song of the load or song   of song of the divine so bubbly is also poetic  in style but it in a way incorporates all this   lovely stuff with opening shots into one text  book the bug with Geeta would be considered a   scripture of authority like it is containing  the heart of the heart all the open it should   be teachings combine synthesize reconciled in one  text is head you must know a little bit about the   bug with either too little bit only so this is the  heart the philosophic heart of Hindus Hinduism it   has got about 700 verses for your knowledge you  just need to know basics if you do a level with   us we will teach you the Bhagavad Gita as well as  one of the opening shots imagine you learnt that   if you do a level you study the catawba Nisha  is one of the most powerful open Isha's of this   maintain open Isha's one of the center one is cut  open assured if you study a level we will we will   we will go through the whole cut open it with  you and see how powerful it is how dynamic it   is how exciting it is but for GCSE just the basic  knowledge so we talk about open assured we talk   about the bhagavad-gita the scripture of authority  it's got seven hundred verses in a way the reason   why the bug with you has Paris even better than  the opening shot is because it doesn't give you   just free-flowing poetry it in a way allows you to  translate these marvelous teachings into practice   otherwise religion is just pure theory so the  Bhagavad Gita's try tells us not only about   the theory of Hinduism it also tells us how to  put them into practice it is teaching us how to   use religion your daily lives for work ethic and  openness a poetry they don't so do this wrong the   open the bhagavad-gita translates these teachings  Morrow's teachings into practicing this is how you   turn them into practice not just preaching turning  them into practice so this is the importance of   the bhagavad-gita now so far I have touched on  some of the scriptures which are on this side the   scriptures of authority say the key things you  must remember remember is Shruti from the term   shrew taught the way does from the word with the  books of knowledge about the nature of reality and   in the Vedas you must know the some heat apportion  the hymns the ritualistic portion the karmic on in   the aronia which contain the open Ishod mostly  the philosophic heart of the Hindus telling us   how we can understand this reality greater the  greater depth and then we say we synthesize the   pressure then we go this moral stacks for the  bhagavad-gita which contains if somebody said in   a few sentences tell us what is or other punishes  about would either shruti about what the vedas are   all about or what the Bhagwad Gita is all about  you can tell them in these few sentences this   is what they are all about they are talking about  the nature of reality what is this all about they   are talking about our essential nature remember we  study that portion when we do section one we just   learn about the idea that our essential nature  is quite different from what it appears it's   not the body or even the in mind that I possess  in the intelligence that I have something great   and grand about our essential nature which is much  more than just our body or our intelligence have   a mind about all these things that you possess it  is a spirit Atman you are the spirit so the Vedas   the open he shows the bugger this is what they  talk about and teach about our essential nature   the spirit Atman what else do they talk about they  talk about essential nature of this whole of this   creation you see despite appearances underpinning  this world physical world with galaxies and stars   and moons underpinning this is also something  very dynamic hiding underneath it and that too   is spirit and we define that as Brahma they the  Sanskrit processes Brahma but in English we'll   make it Brahman and Atma become Atman so carry  you know flow with it so the word Brahman the   principle underpins this reality spirit that too  comes from the Vedas the shruti's the open issue   in the bhagavad-gita is it all of them contain the  same thing the strands of this kind of teaching   nature of reality our essential nature to the  spirit Ackman essential nature of the universe as   Brahman the relationship between acronym from one  this is what they talk about the opening shots in   the bhagavad-gita in the Vedas now see again one  thing you notice so far we hardly use the word God   this is the flowing deep ideas of Hindu religion  most Hindus are lost all that and all these gods   and goddesses come in all these personalities come  in I don't think they're bad and so you see this   is the central teaching you are special you are  that this is the teaching of the than the Vedas   so we must recognize this our essential anchor the  spirit so so far I've touched on this aspect the   scriptures of authority based on the experience  of human beings ancient and modern or became the   prophets the Rishi's of ancient and modern India  they are the foundation of Hinduism but even   though look you are you are already beginning to  feel that I lost you you know you feel that the   leap uncle is going on and on what is the atman  and brahman vegetable sort is is tiresome chip   see most people cannot relate to these things  is too abstract they need something that they   can give their teeth into so how can you get your  teeth into religion stories narratives so we come   to the second branch of the Hindu scriptures  these are the shooties now I'm going to talk   about the second branch of the Hindu scriptures  called the smithee's Smithy's means I just told   you this abstract principle of atman and brahman  is difficult to get your mind round is to abstract   its principle oriented in the English the Sanskrit  word is a Purusha it's very principle oriented it   because are difficult to digest if you could  understand if you could relate to and you will   go blank on me straightaway when I talk of this  with these scriptures you suddenly see why yeah   this is good stuff here because now we use the  most important tool human beings have created   narrative storytelling I can present the same  idea that I find open assured in a story like   man or you look for you I like that stuff  you will immediately relate with your smile   you go away fingers understood religion if I just  give you a phone in Rome and you go away feeling   constipated or difficult I just if I present the  same ideas through this colorful narrative you   say I love Indu ISM I understand everything now  so this abstract principle becomes digestible   accessible through the narrative the Smoothie  scripture do not underestimate the power of the   narrative the storytelling look are not done any  story so far and you are beginning to feel tired   already aren't you I will give you a story in  a minute and soon you get lighter say yeah now   this is beginning to make sense the moment you  tell anybody there is a story the us pick up   straight have you noticed young or old you can  relate to ideas difficult ideas in a story much   more than you can through abstraction just  principle principle you may be true but is   tiring that is why it created a whole mass of  narrative without filling without apologizing Sita oh the work you do I'm goes under the name  of people care does it mean you're looking after   people is it because I know you care for people  that's why quality people care well the name   people care actually comes from the name of  the Indian people tree which is known for its   sheltering and nurturing properties and that's  the philosophy that we would like to incorporate   as part of our care work look at people don't  know chart but that is your much I love it and   we had Thai go up zoo food what kind of give what  I mean what kind of care service do you provide   something a corrosion and well we provide a  mixture of hourly care where for example as   somebody needs a bath in the morning and we  also provide live-in care where for example   the care worker lives with the client for 24 hours  a day now you say that looking after the elderly   people in their own homes is better then sending  that sending them to a care home to get a career   model but indian recorders are you rather than it  when a care home Omo khludova what is the reason   behind it well everyone prefers the comfort of  their own home and not only that but they also   are surrounded by their family and friends  and their loved ones so staying in your own   home allows greater interaction with your loved  ones surely in some cases is almost impossible to   look after the elderly in your own homes because  seconds may be so difficult hoax and joke mockery   that the Annunaki shock I assure you to talk  we know there must be some situation like that   yes there may be medical conditions which make it  almost impossible to live in your own home and in   those cases yes you would need to use a care home  but perhaps there should be more of an exception   rather than a rule okay sounds like a good idea  looking after the elderly in your own home but   surely it must be a very expensive exercise if  you compare the costing and it can actually work   out cheaper to have a carer in your own home  rather than being moved to a care home and we   at people care can help you in terms of providing  this sort of service showing this country Social   Services provide this service so do you work with  social services or how does it work um yes so you   can get in touch with your local social services  and if you like we can help you in that process   and social services can then give you a personal  budget and and we as people care agency try to   work as much as possible within that budget so you  can actually get care at home free of charge good   one luck one of the question what kind of get  workers do you kind of you know employ get the   Morrow's when it the Rockets coming well we make  sure that the carers are genuinely caring people   because you can't be in this industry without  being genuinely caring and we also try and match   clients with certain languages for example a lot  of our clients and carers are the jothee speaking   and we try and match them with each other so you  are saying that you are you continue to recruit a   possible Gujarati or Hindi speaking care workers  yes we are always recruiting so please do get in   touch with us if you're looking to do care work  one final question what prompted you then a pre-   a younger one what prompted you to do set work  well sometimes when you go and visit a client's   home and they hold your hand don't want to let  go or the smile that they have when they realize   that we are providing a genuinely caring service  makes it all really worthwhile and it's not just   for the client themselves it's for the carers as  well who not only are getting a salary but they're   doing some very satisfying work and sometimes when  you even look at the faces of the family members   of the elderly people who are now receiving care  you can see a great deal of relief because they   are having to handle so many responsibilities but  now they can have their burden East Thank You Sita

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Keywords: Vedas explained, hindu scripture, Vedas (Religious Text), upanishads (religious text), vedas and upanishads, upanishads explained, upanishads, vedas documentary bbc, vedas meaning, veda recital, Vedas, jay lakhani, hindu academy, spiritualism, Atharvaveda, london, bhagwad gita, hinduism history, hinduism (religion), gita, hinduism, narrative, sanskrit, atharva veda, swami vivekananda, the vedas, rig veda history, the vedas explained, hinduism vedas and upanishads, the vedas summary

Id: Cuc04Og5UAo

Length: 30min 29sec (1829 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 07 2014