All language subtitles for Holy.Marvels.with.Dennis.Quaid.S02E01.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

af Afrikaans
ak Akan
sq Albanian
am Amharic
ar Arabic
hy Armenian
az Azerbaijani
eu Basque
be Belarusian
bem Bemba
bn Bengali
bh Bihari
bs Bosnian
br Breton
bg Bulgarian
km Cambodian
ca Catalan
ceb Cebuano
chr Cherokee
ny Chichewa
zh-CN Chinese (Simplified)
zh-TW Chinese (Traditional)
co Corsican
hr Croatian
cs Czech
da Danish
nl Dutch
eo Esperanto
et Estonian
ee Ewe
fo Faroese
tl Filipino
fi Finnish
fr French
fy Frisian
gaa Ga
gl Galician
ka Georgian
de German
gn Guarani
gu Gujarati
ht Haitian Creole
ha Hausa
haw Hawaiian
iw Hebrew
hi Hindi
hmn Hmong
hu Hungarian
is Icelandic
ig Igbo
id Indonesian
ia Interlingua
ga Irish
it Italian
ja Japanese
jw Javanese
kn Kannada
kk Kazakh
rw Kinyarwanda
rn Kirundi
kg Kongo
ko Korean
kri Krio (Sierra Leone)
ku Kurdish
ckb Kurdish (Soranรฎ)
ky Kyrgyz
lo Laothian
la Latin
lv Latvian
ln Lingala
lt Lithuanian
loz Lozi
lg Luganda
ach Luo
lb Luxembourgish
mk Macedonian
mg Malagasy
ms Malay
ml Malayalam
mt Maltese
mi Maori
mr Marathi
mfe Mauritian Creole
mo Moldavian
mn Mongolian
my Myanmar (Burmese)
sr-ME Montenegrin
ne Nepali
pcm Nigerian Pidgin
nso Northern Sotho
no Norwegian
nn Norwegian (Nynorsk)
oc Occitan
or Oriya
om Oromo
ps Pashto
fa Persian
pl Polish
pt-BR Portuguese (Brazil)
pt Portuguese (Portugal)
pa Punjabi
qu Quechua
ro Romanian
rm Romansh
nyn Runyakitara
ru Russian
sm Samoan
gd Scots Gaelic
sr Serbian
sh Serbo-Croatian
st Sesotho
tn Setswana
crs Seychellois Creole
sn Shona
sd Sindhi
si Sinhalese
sk Slovak
sl Slovenian
so Somali
es Spanish
es-419 Spanish (Latin American)
su Sundanese
sw Swahili
sv Swedish
tg Tajik
ta Tamil
tt Tatar
te Telugu
th Thai
ti Tigrinya
to Tonga
lua Tshiluba
tum Tumbuka
tr Turkish
tk Turkmen
tw Twi
ug Uighur
uk Ukrainian
ur Urdu
uz Uzbek
vi Vietnamese
cy Welsh
wo Wolof
xh Xhosa
yi Yiddish
yo Yoruba
zu Zulu
Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:01,917 --> 00:00:04,208 [tense music] 2 00:00:12,208 --> 00:00:17,000 - Tonight, it's something we've all wondered about. 3 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:19,542 What happens when we die? 4 00:00:19,542 --> 00:00:22,083 - Everyone's heard of the phrases "pearly gates" 5 00:00:22,083 --> 00:00:24,125 and "a city on the hill." 6 00:00:24,125 --> 00:00:26,042 - Spinning white light came towards me 7 00:00:26,042 --> 00:00:27,750 out of this murky darkness. 8 00:00:27,750 --> 00:00:30,667 - Do we go to an actual place 9 00:00:30,667 --> 00:00:32,750 and if so, what kind of place? 10 00:00:32,750 --> 00:00:34,583 Is it a good place? 11 00:00:34,583 --> 00:00:37,792 - The main street is said to be paved with gold. 12 00:00:37,792 --> 00:00:40,500 Many cultures prior to Christianity have the same sort 13 00:00:40,500 --> 00:00:43,667 of paradise that you have to be judged in order to enter. 14 00:00:44,792 --> 00:00:48,083 - Or something very different? 15 00:00:48,083 --> 00:00:50,583 - Fire, brimstone, eternal suffering. 16 00:00:50,583 --> 00:00:52,208 It's the bad place 17 00:00:52,208 --> 00:00:55,667 and it's terrifying even to non-believers. 18 00:00:55,667 --> 00:00:58,208 - People spend more time trying to stay out of hell 19 00:00:58,208 --> 00:01:00,542 than they do trying to get into heaven. 20 00:01:00,542 --> 00:01:04,125 - And what if instead of going anywhere, 21 00:01:04,125 --> 00:01:06,500 we're simply reborn? 22 00:01:06,500 --> 00:01:08,917 - It doesn't happen often, but every once in a while, 23 00:01:08,917 --> 00:01:11,750 someone comes back from the dead. 24 00:01:11,750 --> 00:01:16,708 - Now, remarkable stories from around the globe, of heaven, 25 00:01:16,708 --> 00:01:19,542 hell, and life after death. 26 00:01:19,542 --> 00:01:21,667 [dramatic music] 27 00:01:31,542 --> 00:01:36,208 Many people believe in some kind of heaven, 28 00:01:36,208 --> 00:01:40,333 a place you get sent to if you've lived a good life. 29 00:01:41,583 --> 00:01:44,625 It's a concept that dates back centuries. 30 00:01:44,625 --> 00:01:46,667 [tense music] 31 00:01:47,833 --> 00:01:51,500 - I think sort of the classic Christian view of heaven is 32 00:01:51,500 --> 00:01:55,292 that it's a lush, idyllic paradise somewhere in the sky 33 00:01:55,292 --> 00:01:59,167 where God and the angels and the saints reside. 34 00:01:59,167 --> 00:02:01,042 Ask most Christians to describe heaven 35 00:02:01,042 --> 00:02:04,417 and you'll probably get some version of this. 36 00:02:04,417 --> 00:02:06,375 - [Dennis] This idea of a lush 37 00:02:06,375 --> 00:02:08,917 and bountiful heaven is first made popular 38 00:02:08,917 --> 00:02:14,125 by a 16th century Dutch painter named Hieronymus Bosch. 39 00:02:14,125 --> 00:02:16,333 - Bosch is born in the mid 15th century. 40 00:02:16,333 --> 00:02:19,208 His most famous religious work is known 41 00:02:19,208 --> 00:02:21,417 as "The Garden of Earthly Delights", 42 00:02:21,417 --> 00:02:25,583 which he creates just a few years before he dies. 43 00:02:25,583 --> 00:02:28,208 - Looking at the details of the painting, it's fascinating. 44 00:02:28,208 --> 00:02:31,458 We see men and women of multiple races 45 00:02:31,458 --> 00:02:33,667 gathering in a beautiful garden, 46 00:02:33,667 --> 00:02:38,208 playing with animals, even hanging out with Jesus himself. 47 00:02:38,208 --> 00:02:40,042 - Due to how popular this painting is, 48 00:02:40,042 --> 00:02:43,750 it's copied extensively which helps spread this particular 49 00:02:43,750 --> 00:02:45,542 idyllic image of heaven. 50 00:02:46,542 --> 00:02:48,250 - [Dennis] But this isn't the same picture 51 00:02:48,250 --> 00:02:50,167 that the Bible paints. 52 00:02:50,167 --> 00:02:52,083 - It might surprise you to learn that Jesus 53 00:02:52,083 --> 00:02:55,458 and the Bible in general doesn't actually tell us much about 54 00:02:55,458 --> 00:02:57,375 what heaven looks like. 55 00:02:57,375 --> 00:03:00,083 All Jesus says is that it's a particular place 56 00:03:00,083 --> 00:03:01,625 that he'll prepare for us 57 00:03:01,625 --> 00:03:04,958 and in the gospel of Luke, Jesus declares that when we die, 58 00:03:04,958 --> 00:03:07,458 we'll be with him in paradise. 59 00:03:07,458 --> 00:03:10,083 That's about it, at least from his own words. 60 00:03:11,042 --> 00:03:14,583 - Outside of Jesus' own words, the bulk of the description 61 00:03:14,583 --> 00:03:16,625 of heaven comes from the Book of Revelations, 62 00:03:16,625 --> 00:03:19,542 which is the last book of the Bible. 63 00:03:19,542 --> 00:03:21,375 - There's a lot of death in Revelation 64 00:03:21,375 --> 00:03:24,000 as we work our way towards the end of the world, 65 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:25,458 so it makes sense that this is 66 00:03:25,458 --> 00:03:27,583 where we would get our most detailed description 67 00:03:27,583 --> 00:03:29,792 of the afterlife, especially heaven, which 68 00:03:29,792 --> 00:03:33,167 of course, the Bible is trying to help us reach. 69 00:03:33,167 --> 00:03:36,042 Everyone's heard of the phrases "pearly gates" 70 00:03:36,042 --> 00:03:37,417 and "a city on the hill." 71 00:03:37,417 --> 00:03:39,250 These ideas come from Revelation. 72 00:03:39,250 --> 00:03:41,417 Heaven is described as a new city 73 00:03:41,417 --> 00:03:44,292 of Jerusalem, high up on a mountain. 74 00:03:44,292 --> 00:03:48,792 It has tall walls and 12 gates made from pearls. 75 00:03:48,792 --> 00:03:51,875 - The main street is said to be paved with gold 76 00:03:51,875 --> 00:03:56,042 but clear as glass, and there's no need for a sun or the moon 77 00:03:56,042 --> 00:03:57,542 because it's illuminated by God. 78 00:03:59,042 --> 00:04:02,583 - Whether it's a city paved in gold or a lush garden, 79 00:04:02,583 --> 00:04:05,125 the main point about the Christian view of heaven is 80 00:04:05,125 --> 00:04:06,542 that it's marvelous. 81 00:04:06,542 --> 00:04:09,708 It's a wonderful and amazing place, 82 00:04:09,708 --> 00:04:11,583 and you definitely want to go there. 83 00:04:12,583 --> 00:04:15,458 - [Dennis] Surprisingly, the concept of heaven 84 00:04:15,458 --> 00:04:17,375 doesn't start with Christians. 85 00:04:17,375 --> 00:04:19,625 It goes back much further. 86 00:04:19,625 --> 00:04:22,292 - Many cultures prior to Christianity have the same sort 87 00:04:22,292 --> 00:04:25,375 of place, an ideal paradise that you have 88 00:04:25,375 --> 00:04:27,375 to be judged in order to enter, 89 00:04:27,375 --> 00:04:30,042 and one of the earliest is in Iranian religion, 90 00:04:30,042 --> 00:04:32,000 which is known as Zoroastrianism. 91 00:04:33,542 --> 00:04:37,208 - Zoroastrianism predates Jesus by 600 years 92 00:04:37,208 --> 00:04:39,208 or more depending on who you ask. 93 00:04:39,208 --> 00:04:42,875 It's based on the teachings of a prophet named Zoroaster 94 00:04:42,875 --> 00:04:46,167 as set forth in a text called the Avesta, 95 00:04:46,167 --> 00:04:47,500 which describes a judgment 96 00:04:47,500 --> 00:04:49,917 that takes place on a bridge called the Chinvat 97 00:04:49,917 --> 00:04:51,750 that you cross when you die. 98 00:04:51,750 --> 00:04:54,167 - Interestingly, the more righteous you are, 99 00:04:54,167 --> 00:04:56,625 the bridge stays wide, 100 00:04:56,625 --> 00:05:00,083 but the more sinful you are, the bridge narrows 101 00:05:00,083 --> 00:05:01,458 to the edge of a blade. 102 00:05:01,458 --> 00:05:03,833 [tense music] 103 00:05:03,833 --> 00:05:06,542 - If you've lived according to the right principles, 104 00:05:06,542 --> 00:05:10,542 you enter the House of Song, which is basically heaven. 105 00:05:10,542 --> 00:05:12,833 - The idea of tests and judgments is a sort 106 00:05:12,833 --> 00:05:14,750 of common thread throughout various 107 00:05:14,750 --> 00:05:16,125 different religious traditions. 108 00:05:16,125 --> 00:05:18,875 We see it in stories of Egyptians, of the Chinese, 109 00:05:18,875 --> 00:05:20,417 and even the Polynesians. 110 00:05:20,417 --> 00:05:22,958 And all of these cultures believe in this good place, 111 00:05:22,958 --> 00:05:27,333 a place after death that we are judged worthy of or not. 112 00:05:27,333 --> 00:05:28,917 - [Dennis] While the question of whether 113 00:05:28,917 --> 00:05:32,542 that good place is real has puzzled us all, 114 00:05:32,542 --> 00:05:36,542 in 2008, a neurosurgeon named Eben Alexander 115 00:05:36,542 --> 00:05:41,458 claims he knows the answer, because he's been there. 116 00:05:41,458 --> 00:05:43,708 - Well, I grew up in North Carolina, went to a 117 00:05:43,708 --> 00:05:46,958 conventional Methodist church which basically promised 118 00:05:46,958 --> 00:05:50,125 eternity in heaven if you'd been living a very, 119 00:05:50,125 --> 00:05:51,500 kind of Christian life. 120 00:05:51,500 --> 00:05:53,375 But as a scientist, 121 00:05:53,375 --> 00:05:56,375 I was falling away from some of those beliefs. 122 00:05:56,375 --> 00:05:58,542 Having gone through this long career of taking care 123 00:05:58,542 --> 00:06:02,250 of neurosurgical patients, I really could see no way 124 00:06:02,250 --> 00:06:04,083 that conscious awareness could survive 125 00:06:04,083 --> 00:06:05,708 the death of the brain and body. 126 00:06:06,875 --> 00:06:09,042 - [Dennis] Then a terrifying experience 127 00:06:09,042 --> 00:06:11,875 provides a new perspective. 128 00:06:11,875 --> 00:06:15,625 - Was at 4:30 in the morning, November 10th, 2008. 129 00:06:15,625 --> 00:06:18,167 I awoke with severe back pain, 130 00:06:18,167 --> 00:06:20,375 headache and soon thereafter, 131 00:06:20,375 --> 00:06:22,417 my family, when they saw me having seizures 132 00:06:22,417 --> 00:06:24,917 on the bed, called 911. 133 00:06:24,917 --> 00:06:29,125 - [Dennis] Eben has a severe case of bacterial meningitis. 134 00:06:29,125 --> 00:06:33,500 As he falls into a deep coma, his life starts slipping away. 135 00:06:34,625 --> 00:06:38,083 - This bacteria is resistant to antibiotics. 136 00:06:38,083 --> 00:06:40,792 In hour one, you might have two or three bacteria, 137 00:06:40,792 --> 00:06:44,625 but if you get 12 hours out, you've got literally trillions 138 00:06:44,625 --> 00:06:47,917 of these bacteria and they are just taking over. 139 00:06:47,917 --> 00:06:49,875 - [Dennis] The bacteria attacks the part 140 00:06:49,875 --> 00:06:53,292 of the brain controlling speech, consciousness, 141 00:06:53,292 --> 00:06:55,542 memory, and emotion. 142 00:06:55,542 --> 00:06:59,167 For seven days, Eben hovers near death. 143 00:07:00,458 --> 00:07:03,792 - My survival went from 10% to 2% with no chance 144 00:07:03,792 --> 00:07:06,375 of recovery, and the doctor was recommending stopping 145 00:07:06,375 --> 00:07:09,083 antibiotics and taking me off the ventilator 146 00:07:09,083 --> 00:07:10,083 and just letting me go. 147 00:07:11,208 --> 00:07:13,375 - [Dennis] Then against all odds, 148 00:07:13,375 --> 00:07:18,208 not only does Eben wake up, he's somehow okay. 149 00:07:18,208 --> 00:07:19,958 It's a medical miracle, 150 00:07:19,958 --> 00:07:24,792 but Eben believes the miracle is actually not medical. 151 00:07:24,792 --> 00:07:26,542 It's divine. 152 00:07:26,542 --> 00:07:27,958 - My whole journey started 153 00:07:27,958 --> 00:07:30,625 in what I call the Earthworm-eye view, 154 00:07:30,625 --> 00:07:32,708 like being in dirty jello, like roots 155 00:07:32,708 --> 00:07:34,667 and blood vessels all around me. 156 00:07:34,667 --> 00:07:36,708 There was a slowly spinning white light 157 00:07:36,708 --> 00:07:39,417 that came towards me out of this murky darkness. 158 00:07:39,417 --> 00:07:41,917 It came packaged with a perfect musical melody. 159 00:07:41,917 --> 00:07:44,125 It opened up like a rip in the fabric 160 00:07:44,125 --> 00:07:45,917 of that ugly, Earthworm-eye view realm, 161 00:07:45,917 --> 00:07:48,250 and led me up into this brilliant, 162 00:07:48,250 --> 00:07:50,708 ultra-real gateway valley. 163 00:07:50,708 --> 00:07:54,708 There was this beautiful forest going off around a meadow, 164 00:07:54,708 --> 00:07:57,917 sparkling waterfalls into crystal blue pools. 165 00:07:57,917 --> 00:08:00,042 There were thousands of beings dancing 166 00:08:00,042 --> 00:08:01,583 in this meadow down below. 167 00:08:01,583 --> 00:08:03,083 Lots of joy and merriment. 168 00:08:03,083 --> 00:08:05,333 There were children playing and dogs jumping. 169 00:08:05,333 --> 00:08:09,125 Up above were these swooping orbs of angelic choirs, 170 00:08:09,125 --> 00:08:11,958 I mean, the words do not do it justice. 171 00:08:11,958 --> 00:08:14,667 Towards the very end of my journey, I recognized 172 00:08:14,667 --> 00:08:17,208 that there were thousands of beings going off 173 00:08:17,208 --> 00:08:20,542 around me into the distance, heads bowed, murmuring energy, 174 00:08:20,542 --> 00:08:23,333 and it was all leading me in a certain direction. 175 00:08:23,333 --> 00:08:27,125 That's what I was witnessing was his sense of of being drawn 176 00:08:27,125 --> 00:08:29,042 to where these beings were. 177 00:08:29,042 --> 00:08:32,708 And there was a beautiful young woman beside me as a kind 178 00:08:32,708 --> 00:08:35,042 of a spiritual guide on this butterfly wing. 179 00:08:35,042 --> 00:08:37,375 She looked at me with a look of pure love 180 00:08:37,375 --> 00:08:38,792 and that message from her 181 00:08:38,792 --> 00:08:40,250 to me I think was the main message I was 182 00:08:40,250 --> 00:08:41,667 to bring back to this world. 183 00:08:41,667 --> 00:08:44,125 You are deeply loved and cherished forever. 184 00:08:44,125 --> 00:08:46,375 And I cannot tell you how comforting it was, 185 00:08:46,375 --> 00:08:49,167 but I knew by then that I could trust in the universe, 186 00:08:49,167 --> 00:08:50,875 that I would be taken care of. 187 00:08:50,875 --> 00:08:52,708 - [Dennis] When he shares this experience, 188 00:08:52,708 --> 00:08:55,375 Eben's doctors are skeptical. 189 00:08:55,375 --> 00:08:59,917 They think he was dreaming, perhaps even hallucinating. 190 00:08:59,917 --> 00:09:03,042 - But Dr. Alexander rejects that idea. 191 00:09:03,042 --> 00:09:04,375 As a neuroscientist, 192 00:09:04,375 --> 00:09:07,375 he believes that his brain should have been so damaged at 193 00:09:07,375 --> 00:09:08,708 that point that it wouldn't have had 194 00:09:08,708 --> 00:09:10,750 the ability to hallucinate. 195 00:09:10,750 --> 00:09:11,958 - His educated belief is 196 00:09:11,958 --> 00:09:14,042 that he actually witnessed the divine. 197 00:09:14,042 --> 00:09:16,708 When he came close to death, he realized 198 00:09:16,708 --> 00:09:19,833 that heaven was real because in his mind, he went there. 199 00:09:20,917 --> 00:09:22,042 - [Dennis] Eben Alexander goes on 200 00:09:22,042 --> 00:09:24,708 to write a book about his experience, 201 00:09:24,708 --> 00:09:26,875 and while his account 202 00:09:26,875 --> 00:09:30,083 of visiting a wondrous place he calls heaven becomes 203 00:09:30,083 --> 00:09:33,458 well-known, it's far from the only one. 204 00:09:33,458 --> 00:09:34,833 - There are lots of stories 205 00:09:34,833 --> 00:09:36,375 of people having near death experiences 206 00:09:36,375 --> 00:09:39,375 and one thing that's really hard to dismiss is that all 207 00:09:39,375 --> 00:09:42,625 of these people describe similar experiences of reaching 208 00:09:42,625 --> 00:09:45,042 or encountering some state of being 209 00:09:45,042 --> 00:09:48,042 that they would describe as heaven-like. 210 00:09:48,042 --> 00:09:49,792 - [Dennis] While many consider heaven 211 00:09:49,792 --> 00:09:51,917 to be a spiritual realm, 212 00:09:51,917 --> 00:09:56,667 there's one group that believes it's a very real place. 213 00:10:01,500 --> 00:10:02,875 - Heaven is often thought 214 00:10:02,875 --> 00:10:05,083 to be a place we reach when we die, 215 00:10:06,125 --> 00:10:10,083 but what if you didn't have to wait that long to enter it? 216 00:10:10,083 --> 00:10:14,917 What if you could enter heaven without having to die? 217 00:10:14,917 --> 00:10:16,792 According to some Tibetan Buddhists, 218 00:10:16,792 --> 00:10:21,333 heaven is literally a place on Earth. 219 00:10:21,333 --> 00:10:22,958 It's called Shambhala. 220 00:10:25,125 --> 00:10:28,542 - [Hugo] The 14th and current Dalai Lama describes Shambhala 221 00:10:28,542 --> 00:10:32,250 as a pure land in the human realm, 222 00:10:32,250 --> 00:10:35,625 where only those with the right merit may enter. 223 00:10:36,875 --> 00:10:38,917 - So the key here obviously is describing it 224 00:10:38,917 --> 00:10:41,125 as existing in the human realm. 225 00:10:41,125 --> 00:10:44,042 So it's said that this realm is located somewhere 226 00:10:44,042 --> 00:10:48,167 in Central Asia, in or around the Himalaya mountains. 227 00:10:49,875 --> 00:10:51,750 - The first mention of Shambhala actually comes 228 00:10:51,750 --> 00:10:54,833 from an ancient Hindu text known as the Vishnu Purana, 229 00:10:57,458 --> 00:11:00,292 which dates back to around 400 AD. 230 00:11:00,292 --> 00:11:03,375 This Sanskrit name is adopted into Buddhist tradition, 231 00:11:03,375 --> 00:11:06,917 which finds its way into Tibet around the seventh century. 232 00:11:08,208 --> 00:11:09,708 - [Dennis] A thousand years later, the idea 233 00:11:09,708 --> 00:11:12,542 of Shambhala reaches Europe, 234 00:11:12,542 --> 00:11:15,583 inspiring a few very brave souls 235 00:11:15,583 --> 00:11:18,208 to head out to find it. 236 00:11:18,208 --> 00:11:19,875 - One of the first Europeans who tries 237 00:11:19,875 --> 00:11:23,125 to find Shambhala is a 17th century Portuguese 238 00:11:23,125 --> 00:11:26,625 Jesuit named Estevao Cacella. 239 00:11:26,625 --> 00:11:28,167 Now through religious circles, 240 00:11:28,167 --> 00:11:31,042 Cacella hears about this legendary kingdom 241 00:11:31,042 --> 00:11:33,292 of heaven on Earth near the Himalayas. 242 00:11:34,875 --> 00:11:39,042 - In 1627, he leads a mission from India into Bhutan 243 00:11:39,042 --> 00:11:42,625 to the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, Tibet, 244 00:11:42,625 --> 00:11:44,875 which is the home of the Panchen Lama, 245 00:11:44,875 --> 00:11:47,583 the second highest ranking Tibetan Buddhist monk, 246 00:11:47,583 --> 00:11:49,042 after the Dalai Lama. 247 00:11:50,042 --> 00:11:52,583 - Cacella is hoping to get guidance on finding Shambhala 248 00:11:52,583 --> 00:11:55,542 and he stays in Tibet for three years, 249 00:11:55,542 --> 00:11:59,000 but as far as we know, he never makes it to Shambhala 250 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:01,125 before he dies in 1630. 251 00:12:02,333 --> 00:12:04,875 - Even though he probably never reached Shambhala, 252 00:12:04,875 --> 00:12:06,917 the report that Father Cacella sent back 253 00:12:06,917 --> 00:12:09,292 to Portugal about his expedition 254 00:12:09,292 --> 00:12:11,667 and his meetings with Buddhist monks is 255 00:12:11,667 --> 00:12:13,667 what really introduces the Western world 256 00:12:13,667 --> 00:12:15,042 to the name Shambhala 257 00:12:15,042 --> 00:12:17,250 and to the concept of a heaven on Earth. 258 00:12:19,125 --> 00:12:21,708 - And so the search for Shambhala is on. 259 00:12:21,708 --> 00:12:23,667 For centuries, all these different explorers 260 00:12:23,667 --> 00:12:25,042 and writers speculate 261 00:12:25,042 --> 00:12:28,375 where in Central Asia this utopia might be hidden. 262 00:12:28,375 --> 00:12:30,458 [dramatic music] 263 00:12:30,458 --> 00:12:34,375 - [Dennis] Then in 1924, a Russian husband and wife team 264 00:12:34,375 --> 00:12:38,042 embarks on perhaps the most promising search 265 00:12:38,042 --> 00:12:40,667 for this paradise on Earth. 266 00:12:40,667 --> 00:12:42,000 - Writer, Helena Roerich 267 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:44,375 and her archeologist artist husband, Nicholas, 268 00:12:44,375 --> 00:12:48,042 become obsessed with Shambhala after Helena claims 269 00:12:48,042 --> 00:12:51,042 that she received telepathic directions from an otherworldly 270 00:12:51,042 --> 00:12:53,667 spirit, imploring them to go and find it. 271 00:12:54,625 --> 00:12:57,208 - This intrepid duo get the attention of the Bolsheviks 272 00:12:57,208 --> 00:12:59,833 who had just overthrown the Russian government 273 00:12:59,833 --> 00:13:01,625 and the Bolsheviks then become convinced 274 00:13:01,625 --> 00:13:04,833 that if they can find Shambhala, they will be seen 275 00:13:04,833 --> 00:13:06,917 as being on the side of the good. 276 00:13:06,917 --> 00:13:10,292 - Soviet Secret Police leader Gleb Bokii 277 00:13:10,292 --> 00:13:13,000 even thinks that Shambhala might hold secrets 278 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:16,833 to powerful knowledge, things like mind control, 279 00:13:16,833 --> 00:13:20,458 advanced weapons, and prophecies of the future. 280 00:13:20,458 --> 00:13:24,208 - So the Bolsheviks decide to fund the Roerich's 281 00:13:24,208 --> 00:13:27,667 journey to search for Shambhala, and we know a lot about 282 00:13:27,667 --> 00:13:29,125 their adventures in part because 283 00:13:29,125 --> 00:13:32,208 they took extensive documentation in their diaries. 284 00:13:33,708 --> 00:13:35,125 - [Dennis] Over the next four years, 285 00:13:35,125 --> 00:13:38,333 the team explores thousands of miles. 286 00:13:39,500 --> 00:13:41,833 - They crisscross various mountain passes 287 00:13:41,833 --> 00:13:44,500 in the Gobi Desert, charting several peaks 288 00:13:44,500 --> 00:13:46,083 for the very first time. 289 00:13:46,083 --> 00:13:48,375 Along the way, they visit temples 290 00:13:48,375 --> 00:13:52,417 and meet with spiritual leaders to collect clues. 291 00:13:52,417 --> 00:13:54,333 - It's an intense journey. 292 00:13:54,333 --> 00:13:56,417 They have to deal with rebel groups 293 00:13:56,417 --> 00:13:59,292 and looters, not to mention extreme desert 294 00:13:59,292 --> 00:14:02,333 weather conditions and starvation. 295 00:14:02,333 --> 00:14:04,917 Several of their team members actually die 296 00:14:04,917 --> 00:14:06,250 during the expedition. 297 00:14:07,542 --> 00:14:11,000 - [Dennis] But do they ever reach Shambhala? 298 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:13,500 - The Roerich diaries describe an area 299 00:14:13,500 --> 00:14:14,875 of the Altai Mountains 300 00:14:14,875 --> 00:14:17,333 where they meet, quote, "an old believer" 301 00:14:17,333 --> 00:14:20,125 that shows them the entrance to Shambhala, 302 00:14:20,125 --> 00:14:23,125 but it's sealed with stones 303 00:14:23,125 --> 00:14:26,083 and the old believer tells the Roerichs that the people 304 00:14:26,083 --> 00:14:29,542 of Shambhala won't emerge from the entrance until it's time 305 00:14:29,542 --> 00:14:31,250 to rid the world of evil. 306 00:14:32,542 --> 00:14:34,500 - Unfortunately, their diaries don't say if anything else 307 00:14:34,500 --> 00:14:38,125 happened, so we will never know if they actually 308 00:14:38,125 --> 00:14:39,417 did find Shambhala. 309 00:14:40,750 --> 00:14:42,250 - [Dennis] Whether successful or not, 310 00:14:42,250 --> 00:14:45,958 the Roerich quest inspires a much more sinister 311 00:14:45,958 --> 00:14:48,542 expedition a few years later. 312 00:14:49,750 --> 00:14:51,542 - In the 1930s, as Hitler 313 00:14:51,542 --> 00:14:54,125 and the Nazis are gaining power in Europe, 314 00:14:54,125 --> 00:14:56,792 they become increasingly interested in augmenting 315 00:14:56,792 --> 00:14:59,542 that power with the divine. 316 00:14:59,542 --> 00:15:02,083 - Hitler's right hand man and head of the SS, 317 00:15:02,083 --> 00:15:05,417 Heinrich Himmler is obsessed with spiritualism 318 00:15:05,417 --> 00:15:09,875 and the occult, and he recruits an officer named Ernst Schafer 319 00:15:09,875 --> 00:15:13,542 to lead a team to Tibet in search of Shambhala. 320 00:15:13,542 --> 00:15:16,083 - Schafer, who's much more scientifically 321 00:15:16,083 --> 00:15:19,042 minded than Himmler isn't thrilled with the idea, 322 00:15:19,042 --> 00:15:21,333 but he also knows he can't refuse Himmler if he wants 323 00:15:21,333 --> 00:15:22,792 to stay alive. 324 00:15:22,792 --> 00:15:26,917 So he sets off for Tibet, but he doesn't find Shambhala. 325 00:15:28,333 --> 00:15:31,167 - Schafer has to bring something back to Himmler, 326 00:15:31,167 --> 00:15:33,042 so he starts collecting all sorts 327 00:15:33,042 --> 00:15:34,958 of things from his time in Tibet. 328 00:15:34,958 --> 00:15:36,917 He collects plants and animals. 329 00:15:36,917 --> 00:15:40,042 He collects casts of various Tibetan people, 330 00:15:40,042 --> 00:15:42,042 all sorts of archeological 331 00:15:42,042 --> 00:15:44,208 and anthropological evidence that he can give 332 00:15:44,208 --> 00:15:46,792 to his boss upon his return. 333 00:15:46,792 --> 00:15:48,208 - Lucky for Schafer, 334 00:15:48,208 --> 00:15:51,500 the Nazis are receptive to this trove of research 335 00:15:51,500 --> 00:15:55,167 and ultimately consider his expedition to be a success. 336 00:15:55,167 --> 00:15:58,792 They even reward him with his own institute inside 337 00:15:58,792 --> 00:16:01,375 one of their prestigious organizations. 338 00:16:01,375 --> 00:16:03,292 - [Dennis] Despite these failed attempts, 339 00:16:03,292 --> 00:16:07,708 some believers still hope Shambhala will be found. 340 00:16:07,708 --> 00:16:11,375 - According to Tibetan Buddhist beliefs, it's in Shambhala 341 00:16:11,375 --> 00:16:14,375 that a new supreme being called Kalki will be born. 342 00:16:15,542 --> 00:16:17,333 Now, Kalki will come forth 343 00:16:17,333 --> 00:16:20,375 and defeat those trying to destroy the kingdom 344 00:16:20,375 --> 00:16:23,375 and usher in a golden age of peace. 345 00:16:23,375 --> 00:16:29,125 - This is forecast to occur in the year 2424 or 2425. 346 00:16:29,125 --> 00:16:32,625 So maybe then we'll finally find out if heaven 347 00:16:32,625 --> 00:16:34,250 is a place on Earth. 348 00:16:35,750 --> 00:16:38,458 - Of course, many people believe there's a darker side 349 00:16:38,458 --> 00:16:42,583 to the afterlife, one that's usually known as hell. 350 00:16:45,083 --> 00:16:46,625 - The word hell itself, 351 00:16:46,625 --> 00:16:50,333 it actually comes from an eighth century Anglo-Saxon phrase 352 00:16:50,333 --> 00:16:53,083 used by the pagans to describe what they envisioned 353 00:16:53,083 --> 00:16:55,125 as the netherworld of the damned. 354 00:16:56,333 --> 00:16:59,000 - Hell is like the ultimate horror when it comes 355 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:00,208 to the afterlife, right? 356 00:17:00,208 --> 00:17:03,042 Fire, brimstone, eternal suffering. 357 00:17:03,042 --> 00:17:04,500 It's the bad place 358 00:17:04,500 --> 00:17:08,208 and it's terrifying, even to non-believers. 359 00:17:08,208 --> 00:17:10,208 - It's in our music, in our movies, 360 00:17:10,208 --> 00:17:12,375 in our books, great works of art. 361 00:17:12,375 --> 00:17:16,167 Hell is everywhere in the human collective psyche. 362 00:17:19,708 --> 00:17:22,250 - The idea of what hell looks like varies from culture 363 00:17:22,250 --> 00:17:24,708 to culture, but one thing is clear, 364 00:17:24,708 --> 00:17:28,250 no matter how it's imagined, it's always the place 365 00:17:28,250 --> 00:17:30,708 where people face the consequences 366 00:17:30,708 --> 00:17:33,333 for their behavior on Earth. 367 00:17:33,333 --> 00:17:35,708 - The Mesopotamian religion has a versions of hell 368 00:17:35,708 --> 00:17:39,583 called Kur, and it's basically a sealed fortress 369 00:17:39,583 --> 00:17:44,333 where prisoners must drink dirt and eat stones. 370 00:17:45,333 --> 00:17:47,000 - For the ancient Greeks, 371 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:49,333 once the dead get to Hades, the underworld, 372 00:17:49,333 --> 00:17:50,875 which is famously guarded 373 00:17:50,875 --> 00:17:53,667 by a terrifying three-headed dog named Cerberus, 374 00:17:53,667 --> 00:17:57,292 they receive judgment and anyone who's deemed wicked 375 00:17:57,292 --> 00:17:59,208 proceeds to a place called Tartarus 376 00:17:59,208 --> 00:18:01,292 to receive their divine punishment. 377 00:18:02,625 --> 00:18:05,000 - Hindu text about spiritual punishment describes several 378 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:06,625 realms similar to hell. 379 00:18:06,625 --> 00:18:09,583 Torture there can include things like dismemberment, 380 00:18:09,583 --> 00:18:11,542 piercing, and burning, depending on 381 00:18:11,542 --> 00:18:14,417 what specific offenses a person might have committed. 382 00:18:14,417 --> 00:18:16,375 - The ancient Egyptians believe 383 00:18:16,375 --> 00:18:21,125 that upon death, a person would be judged by 42 judges 384 00:18:21,125 --> 00:18:22,500 and their heart would be weighed 385 00:18:22,500 --> 00:18:25,292 against the feather of truth. 386 00:18:25,292 --> 00:18:27,083 - If the heart is lighter than the feather, 387 00:18:27,083 --> 00:18:30,417 then they're allowed to pass into the permanent afterlife, 388 00:18:30,417 --> 00:18:32,583 but if it's heavier, they're thrown 389 00:18:32,583 --> 00:18:35,208 to the god Ammit, the devourer of the dead, 390 00:18:35,208 --> 00:18:38,417 and portrayed as this hybrid being that's part hippo, 391 00:18:38,417 --> 00:18:40,708 part lion, and part crocodile. 392 00:18:40,708 --> 00:18:43,708 Ammit would torture them in a lake of fire 393 00:18:43,708 --> 00:18:44,833 and then eat them. 394 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:47,417 - The Christian version of hell 395 00:18:47,417 --> 00:18:49,417 ultimately becomes the most famous. 396 00:18:49,417 --> 00:18:53,458 Hell is a dark place where unrepentant sinners go 397 00:18:53,458 --> 00:18:56,667 after being judged by God after death. 398 00:18:56,667 --> 00:19:00,042 - [Dennis] This version of hell becomes widespread, 399 00:19:00,042 --> 00:19:03,542 thanks to a bestselling 14th century author. 400 00:19:03,542 --> 00:19:08,083 - In 1321, the Catholic Italian writer Dante Alighieri 401 00:19:08,083 --> 00:19:10,917 pinned his famous divine comedy. 402 00:19:12,500 --> 00:19:16,042 - It's an epic poem which is divided into three sections. 403 00:19:16,042 --> 00:19:18,292 In the part called "The Inferno", 404 00:19:18,292 --> 00:19:20,792 he maps what he calls the nine circles of hell, 405 00:19:20,792 --> 00:19:24,250 based on levels of how bad the punishments are. 406 00:19:24,250 --> 00:19:27,500 And Dante goes into substantial detail about the type 407 00:19:27,500 --> 00:19:29,417 of torture which is involved. 408 00:19:29,417 --> 00:19:32,917 - He also describes which particular bad deeds 409 00:19:32,917 --> 00:19:34,792 will earn you a place in hell. 410 00:19:34,792 --> 00:19:38,750 Being lustful earns you a spot in the second circle. 411 00:19:38,750 --> 00:19:42,208 He puts Cleopatra and Helen of Troy here, for instance. 412 00:19:42,208 --> 00:19:44,708 Heretics end up in the sixth circle 413 00:19:46,333 --> 00:19:50,542 where they spend eternity in entombed, in flaming crypts. 414 00:19:50,542 --> 00:19:52,333 - [Dennis] But all these accounts of hell 415 00:19:52,333 --> 00:19:55,625 leave out one crucial detail. 416 00:19:55,625 --> 00:19:57,417 Where is it? 417 00:19:57,417 --> 00:20:00,375 - Though the Christian Bible doesn't offer a precise 418 00:20:00,375 --> 00:20:01,833 location for hell, 419 00:20:01,833 --> 00:20:05,500 we do get some clues, like "heart of the Earth," 420 00:20:05,500 --> 00:20:09,083 and "lower earthly regions," which contribute to the idea 421 00:20:09,083 --> 00:20:11,792 that hell might be located underground. 422 00:20:13,250 --> 00:20:16,417 - It might have to do with the ancient Egyptians. 423 00:20:16,417 --> 00:20:19,875 They believed in an underground hell long before the Bible. 424 00:20:19,875 --> 00:20:24,208 For them, it was reached through caves which are dark, 425 00:20:24,208 --> 00:20:27,875 scary, hot, and very real. 426 00:20:27,875 --> 00:20:31,125 - [Dennis] This idea is further developed in something 427 00:20:31,125 --> 00:20:34,292 called the Book of Caverns. 428 00:20:34,292 --> 00:20:36,042 - The Book of Caverns is not an actual book 429 00:20:36,042 --> 00:20:37,875 in the traditional sense. 430 00:20:37,875 --> 00:20:39,375 It's a collection 431 00:20:39,375 --> 00:20:43,000 of religious documents inscribed on tomb walls written 432 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:46,167 between 1300 and 1200 BC, 433 00:20:46,167 --> 00:20:50,542 and is perhaps the best source for the Egyptian idea of hell. 434 00:20:50,542 --> 00:20:54,333 It details the journey the sun god Ra takes 435 00:20:54,333 --> 00:20:57,167 through six caverns of their netherworld. 436 00:20:57,167 --> 00:21:00,792 - It lays out many familiar themes of how like judgment 437 00:21:00,792 --> 00:21:04,208 and punishment, but there's also a real focus 438 00:21:04,208 --> 00:21:06,708 on the underworld as a geographical place 439 00:21:06,708 --> 00:21:11,375 because it gives several hints about an actual topographical 440 00:21:11,375 --> 00:21:13,250 structure of the caverns. 441 00:21:13,250 --> 00:21:16,875 It's almost like a map to hell. 442 00:21:16,875 --> 00:21:18,375 Though as far as we know, 443 00:21:18,375 --> 00:21:20,708 no one has been successful in finding it. 444 00:21:20,708 --> 00:21:23,042 - [Dennis] The ancient Greeks also believed 445 00:21:23,042 --> 00:21:24,750 hell was underground. 446 00:21:24,750 --> 00:21:28,542 In fact, an influential scholar named Strabo claimed 447 00:21:28,542 --> 00:21:32,542 it could be reached via a portal called Pluto's Gate. 448 00:21:32,542 --> 00:21:35,542 It's named after the Roman God of the underworld, 449 00:21:35,542 --> 00:21:39,792 and it's a place Strabo said he actually visited. 450 00:21:39,792 --> 00:21:41,500 - And at this site, 451 00:21:41,500 --> 00:21:44,542 there's a stone temple which is built over a cave believed 452 00:21:44,542 --> 00:21:46,542 to be the gateway to hell, 453 00:21:46,542 --> 00:21:49,625 and that's because this cave is deadly. 454 00:21:49,625 --> 00:21:52,000 Anyone who gets too close to it 455 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:55,042 and lingers there dies from suffocation 456 00:21:55,042 --> 00:21:58,750 by this foul smelling gas emanating from the cave, 457 00:21:58,750 --> 00:22:03,042 sometimes referred to as the breath of death. 458 00:22:03,042 --> 00:22:04,500 - To the ancients, 459 00:22:04,500 --> 00:22:07,500 this is pretty convincing proof of the underworld 460 00:22:07,500 --> 00:22:10,417 and what else but hell could actually be down there? 461 00:22:11,625 --> 00:22:14,125 - Pluto's Gate becomes a major tourist attraction. 462 00:22:14,125 --> 00:22:15,958 People come from miles around 463 00:22:15,958 --> 00:22:20,125 to sit at a safe distance in the specially built seating 464 00:22:20,125 --> 00:22:24,542 and watch as priests send live animals into the cave. 465 00:22:24,542 --> 00:22:27,292 Everything from bulls to birds, 466 00:22:27,292 --> 00:22:29,958 and when they pull them back out, they're dead. 467 00:22:31,333 --> 00:22:33,167 - [Dennis] When Earthquakes hit the area 468 00:22:33,167 --> 00:22:34,917 in the sixth century AD, 469 00:22:34,917 --> 00:22:39,542 the cave is destroyed and its location is lost to time. 470 00:22:40,917 --> 00:22:42,167 - As we get into the Dark 471 00:22:42,167 --> 00:22:44,625 and Middle Ages, people decide that these accounts 472 00:22:44,625 --> 00:22:47,625 of an entrance to hell must be mythical. 473 00:22:47,625 --> 00:22:50,542 So Pluto's Gate is chalked up as legend. 474 00:22:52,042 --> 00:22:56,917 - [Dennis] Then in 1965, a team of Italian archeologists 475 00:22:56,917 --> 00:22:58,625 sets out to look for it. 476 00:22:59,833 --> 00:23:03,125 - And sure enough it's found, in present day Turkey 477 00:23:03,125 --> 00:23:04,792 near the city of Pamukkale. 478 00:23:07,875 --> 00:23:10,292 - [Dennis] Following a thermal hot spring, 479 00:23:10,292 --> 00:23:13,125 the team uncovers the ruins filled 480 00:23:13,125 --> 00:23:14,875 with inscriptions dedicated 481 00:23:14,875 --> 00:23:17,917 to the god of the underworld, Pluto. 482 00:23:17,917 --> 00:23:21,000 - The cave is located along a geologically active seismic 483 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:25,667 fault line, which releases deadly carbon dioxide gas, 484 00:23:25,667 --> 00:23:28,250 which will kill any human or animal today. 485 00:23:28,250 --> 00:23:30,750 Anyone who visits the cave will see 486 00:23:30,750 --> 00:23:32,667 dead birds lining the entrance. 487 00:23:35,042 --> 00:23:38,292 - [Dennis] And today, archeologists continue to search 488 00:23:38,292 --> 00:23:39,875 for other physical caves 489 00:23:39,875 --> 00:23:43,667 that ancients might have interpreted as hell. 490 00:23:45,250 --> 00:23:46,583 - [Robert] In 2012, an archeologist 491 00:23:46,583 --> 00:23:48,167 named Michael Galaty 492 00:23:48,167 --> 00:23:50,875 is working in the Mani Region of Southern Greece as part 493 00:23:50,875 --> 00:23:54,542 of a team excavating the extensive Alepotrypa cave. 494 00:23:55,833 --> 00:23:58,833 - What's fascinating about Alepotrypa is not 495 00:23:58,833 --> 00:24:00,708 that it was used by the ancient Greeks, 496 00:24:00,708 --> 00:24:04,417 but that it predates them by thousands of years. 497 00:24:04,417 --> 00:24:06,333 It's one of the earliest known inhabited 498 00:24:06,333 --> 00:24:08,000 places of that region. 499 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:10,708 It's clear that ancient people once lived 500 00:24:10,708 --> 00:24:12,708 and died in the cave. 501 00:24:12,708 --> 00:24:15,208 - Excavations have identified the remains 502 00:24:15,208 --> 00:24:19,250 of over 170 different people across several centuries, 503 00:24:19,250 --> 00:24:24,458 and it appears to have been in use from about 6,000 BC 504 00:24:24,458 --> 00:24:27,625 all the way up to 3,200 BC. 505 00:24:27,625 --> 00:24:29,167 - It's around that time 506 00:24:29,167 --> 00:24:31,542 that a catastrophic earthquake takes place. 507 00:24:32,458 --> 00:24:34,917 [rocks clattering] 508 00:24:34,917 --> 00:24:37,333 Burying not only the entrance to the cave, 509 00:24:37,333 --> 00:24:39,958 but hundreds of people trapped inside. 510 00:24:39,958 --> 00:24:42,958 [explosion rumbling] 511 00:24:44,292 --> 00:24:47,708 - Think of it like the ancient eruption of Pompeii. 512 00:24:47,708 --> 00:24:49,667 You have all these innocent people trapped 513 00:24:49,667 --> 00:24:53,875 and buried except unlike Pompeii, many of the people 514 00:24:53,875 --> 00:24:57,833 inside the Alepotrypa Cave wouldn't have died instantly. 515 00:24:57,833 --> 00:24:59,708 Many might have died slowly from things like 516 00:24:59,708 --> 00:25:02,083 injuries or starvation. 517 00:25:02,083 --> 00:25:03,667 It would've been torture, 518 00:25:03,667 --> 00:25:07,417 and maybe this is where the idea of hell comes from. 519 00:25:07,417 --> 00:25:08,958 - Archeologists have found 520 00:25:08,958 --> 00:25:11,833 that there was also a large society of people living just 521 00:25:11,833 --> 00:25:14,458 outside the cave at that time, 522 00:25:14,458 --> 00:25:16,000 so they would've seen this happen 523 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:19,875 and they might've heard the tortured screams 524 00:25:19,875 --> 00:25:23,542 of the poor people trapped underground inside 525 00:25:23,542 --> 00:25:25,375 for several more days. 526 00:25:25,375 --> 00:25:27,708 [dramatic music] 527 00:25:29,042 --> 00:25:30,667 It would be horrifying. 528 00:25:30,667 --> 00:25:33,083 Like hell on Earth. 529 00:25:33,083 --> 00:25:36,333 - Galaty, like many others, is fascinated with how 530 00:25:36,333 --> 00:25:38,583 and why all of these cultures 531 00:25:38,583 --> 00:25:40,875 around the Mediterranean tell a similar story 532 00:25:40,875 --> 00:25:45,833 of hell being a physical place on Earth that's underground 533 00:25:45,833 --> 00:25:47,542 where people are tortured. 534 00:25:47,542 --> 00:25:49,083 He thinks that the tragedy 535 00:25:49,083 --> 00:25:52,292 of the cave collapse in Alepotrypa may have inspired 536 00:25:52,292 --> 00:25:54,208 this storytelling tradition. 537 00:25:54,208 --> 00:25:58,375 Basically, a prehistoric origin story for all 538 00:25:58,375 --> 00:26:00,208 of our modern beliefs about hell. 539 00:26:08,083 --> 00:26:12,625 - Lots of people consider death to be life's final curtain, 540 00:26:12,625 --> 00:26:15,042 but what if there's an encore? 541 00:26:15,042 --> 00:26:19,083 Would you want the chance to do things differently? 542 00:26:20,167 --> 00:26:21,792 - Across the world, 543 00:26:21,792 --> 00:26:24,208 many faiths believe in something called reincarnation. 544 00:26:24,208 --> 00:26:25,750 So what does this mean? 545 00:26:25,750 --> 00:26:30,792 Well, you die and then you get to start again. 546 00:26:31,792 --> 00:26:34,208 You get another life, you get another chance to try 547 00:26:34,208 --> 00:26:36,167 and do better. 548 00:26:36,167 --> 00:26:39,500 - [Robert] Reincarnation means that your soul gets reborn 549 00:26:39,500 --> 00:26:41,583 into a different body. 550 00:26:41,583 --> 00:26:44,583 - The word reincarnation literally means 551 00:26:44,583 --> 00:26:46,417 entering the flesh again. 552 00:26:46,417 --> 00:26:48,375 So similar to the Christian viewpoint, 553 00:26:48,375 --> 00:26:50,208 the soul is essentially immortal. 554 00:26:50,208 --> 00:26:53,958 It just moves from body to body over time, 555 00:26:53,958 --> 00:26:56,875 instead of immediately going to heaven or hell. 556 00:26:56,875 --> 00:27:00,792 - [Dennis] Reincarnation is a core belief in Buddhism, 557 00:27:00,792 --> 00:27:04,042 which was founded around 600 BC. 558 00:27:04,042 --> 00:27:06,667 - Buddha taught his followers that the cycle of life 559 00:27:06,667 --> 00:27:08,250 and death is endless. 560 00:27:08,250 --> 00:27:11,917 When we die, our soul is reborn in a new body. 561 00:27:11,917 --> 00:27:15,917 But what form that body takes is based on our karma, 562 00:27:15,917 --> 00:27:19,417 essentially how good or bad we were in our previous life. 563 00:27:19,417 --> 00:27:21,125 - Live well and pure, 564 00:27:21,125 --> 00:27:23,875 come back as a healthy and successful human. 565 00:27:23,875 --> 00:27:27,042 Live sinfully, and you might end up as an earthworm. 566 00:27:30,792 --> 00:27:32,208 - [Dennis] Perhaps the greatest example 567 00:27:32,208 --> 00:27:36,833 of Buddhist reincarnation today is the Dalai Lama. 568 00:27:36,833 --> 00:27:39,458 - The Dalai Lama is the head of Tibetan Buddhism, 569 00:27:39,458 --> 00:27:42,500 which is the most prominent school of modern Buddhism. 570 00:27:42,500 --> 00:27:46,292 - Buddhists believe that the Dalai Lama is the same soul 571 00:27:46,292 --> 00:27:50,375 reincarnated in a new body each time he dies. 572 00:27:51,542 --> 00:27:54,417 - There have been 13 Dalai Lamas prior to the current one, 573 00:27:54,417 --> 00:27:57,125 dating back to the early 1400s. 574 00:27:57,125 --> 00:27:59,750 So if you do the math, it means that 575 00:27:59,750 --> 00:28:01,417 the current Dalai Lama has been reincarnated 576 00:28:01,417 --> 00:28:03,792 so many times that he's actually been walking the Earth 577 00:28:03,792 --> 00:28:06,417 for over 600 years. 578 00:28:06,417 --> 00:28:10,958 - [Dennis] The current Dalai Lama was revealed in 1937. 579 00:28:12,333 --> 00:28:16,792 - In December of 1933, the 13th Dalai Lama dies and soon 580 00:28:16,792 --> 00:28:19,375 after, the highest ranking Tibetan Buddhist monks have 581 00:28:19,375 --> 00:28:22,667 to start looking for his replacement, the embodiment 582 00:28:22,667 --> 00:28:25,125 of his reincarnated soul. 583 00:28:25,125 --> 00:28:27,958 - [Robert] It can take years and there are very strict rules 584 00:28:27,958 --> 00:28:31,333 and steps as well as a series of tests. 585 00:28:31,333 --> 00:28:33,542 - Obviously, one of the first criteria is 586 00:28:33,542 --> 00:28:35,583 to find a child born right 587 00:28:35,583 --> 00:28:38,208 after the previous Dalai Lama died. 588 00:28:38,208 --> 00:28:40,083 The monks test many such children, 589 00:28:40,083 --> 00:28:43,500 but in 1937, they meet Lhamo Thondup. 590 00:28:43,500 --> 00:28:46,708 Like the others before him, he's just the right age. 591 00:28:46,708 --> 00:28:48,667 - [Dennis] Incredibly, this boy proves 592 00:28:48,667 --> 00:28:51,625 to be different almost immediately. 593 00:28:51,625 --> 00:28:53,042 - The monks ask the boy 594 00:28:53,042 --> 00:28:57,000 to make selections from a large group of objects. 595 00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:00,083 Thondup chooses two items that had belonged 596 00:29:00,083 --> 00:29:03,708 to the previous Dalai Lama, a drum and a walking stick, 597 00:29:03,708 --> 00:29:07,292 and he literally says the words, "It's mine". 598 00:29:07,292 --> 00:29:08,708 - It's pretty uncanny. 599 00:29:08,708 --> 00:29:12,667 Why would this boy be so drawn to these particular objects 600 00:29:12,667 --> 00:29:16,083 unless his soul recognized them? 601 00:29:16,083 --> 00:29:18,083 - [Dennis] Believers in reincarnation 602 00:29:18,083 --> 00:29:23,208 point to other examples outside of Buddhism as well. 603 00:29:23,208 --> 00:29:26,250 - Perhaps the most well-known researcher of reincarnation 604 00:29:26,250 --> 00:29:30,542 and past lives is a psychologist named Ian Stevenson from 605 00:29:30,542 --> 00:29:32,250 the University of Virginia. 606 00:29:32,250 --> 00:29:35,167 - Stevenson publishes 20 books during his career, 607 00:29:35,167 --> 00:29:37,958 most of which involve interviewing children who claim 608 00:29:37,958 --> 00:29:40,583 to have unusual, vivid memories 609 00:29:40,583 --> 00:29:44,125 and then comparing them with records of deceased people. 610 00:29:45,917 --> 00:29:48,750 - [Dennis] Stevenson's most shocking story comes 611 00:29:48,750 --> 00:29:51,458 from the Pollock family in Hexham, England. 612 00:29:52,583 --> 00:29:55,708 In 1957, John and Florence Pollock's 613 00:29:55,708 --> 00:29:58,958 young daughters, Jacqueline and Joanna die 614 00:29:58,958 --> 00:30:01,792 after being struck by a car. 615 00:30:01,792 --> 00:30:05,458 - In early 1958, Florence gets pregnant again 616 00:30:05,458 --> 00:30:07,833 and gives birth to twin girls 617 00:30:07,833 --> 00:30:09,917 that they named Gillian and Jennifer. 618 00:30:10,917 --> 00:30:13,250 - John immediately sees similarities between Gillian 619 00:30:13,250 --> 00:30:16,292 and Jennifer, and his deceased daughters. 620 00:30:17,583 --> 00:30:19,083 Particularly with Jennifer, 621 00:30:19,083 --> 00:30:21,750 who has two birthmarks on her hip 622 00:30:21,750 --> 00:30:24,750 and on her forehead, in the same spots 623 00:30:24,750 --> 00:30:26,417 that Jacqueline had scars. 624 00:30:27,583 --> 00:30:30,083 - [Dennis] Once the girls are old enough to talk, 625 00:30:30,083 --> 00:30:33,375 they have some very interesting things to say. 626 00:30:34,417 --> 00:30:36,917 - The girls recount stories and facts 627 00:30:36,917 --> 00:30:40,583 only their deceased older sisters could have known. 628 00:30:40,583 --> 00:30:44,125 - Florence describes overhearing the twins talking about 629 00:30:44,125 --> 00:30:46,542 the car accident in the present tense, 630 00:30:46,542 --> 00:30:48,375 as if they're reliving it. 631 00:30:48,375 --> 00:30:51,792 They say things like "There's blood coming out of your eyes. 632 00:30:51,792 --> 00:30:53,375 That's where the car hit you." 633 00:30:53,375 --> 00:30:55,042 Though there are a lot of skeptics out there, 634 00:30:55,042 --> 00:30:56,375 Ian Stevenson continues 635 00:30:56,375 --> 00:30:59,292 to interview the family over a period of decades, 636 00:30:59,292 --> 00:31:01,875 and the girls continue to exhibit 637 00:31:01,875 --> 00:31:03,833 this incredible behavior. 638 00:31:03,833 --> 00:31:05,875 - After compiling all of his research, 639 00:31:05,875 --> 00:31:08,125 Stevenson has enough evidence to conclude 640 00:31:08,125 --> 00:31:10,042 that the Pollocks are legit 641 00:31:10,042 --> 00:31:12,208 and do provide enough evidence to support 642 00:31:12,208 --> 00:31:14,875 the idea of reincarnation. 643 00:31:14,875 --> 00:31:17,875 - While we can't be sure if the stories are true, 644 00:31:17,875 --> 00:31:19,500 they certainly provide hope 645 00:31:19,500 --> 00:31:22,250 that death doesn't have to be the end. 646 00:31:27,375 --> 00:31:29,542 - Reincarnation isn't the only possibility 647 00:31:29,542 --> 00:31:31,375 for a second chance at life. 648 00:31:31,375 --> 00:31:34,833 Instead of coming back as a new person, 649 00:31:34,833 --> 00:31:38,375 what if you can come back as yourself? 650 00:31:39,542 --> 00:31:41,417 - In the Bible, 651 00:31:41,417 --> 00:31:44,958 people die all the time and presumably end up in heaven 652 00:31:44,958 --> 00:31:47,042 or hell, but we shouldn't forget 653 00:31:47,042 --> 00:31:48,958 that there's an alternative. 654 00:31:48,958 --> 00:31:51,833 It doesn't happen often, but every once in a while, 655 00:31:51,833 --> 00:31:53,583 someone comes back from the dead. 656 00:31:55,542 --> 00:31:57,667 - Coming back from the dead is commonly referred to 657 00:31:57,667 --> 00:32:01,667 as resurrection, or sometimes called anastasis 658 00:32:01,667 --> 00:32:05,500 from the Greek word meaning rising up or standing up again. 659 00:32:05,500 --> 00:32:09,125 The most famous resurrection story is that of Jesus Christ. 660 00:32:09,125 --> 00:32:11,667 - [Dennis] Jesus isn't the only one believed 661 00:32:11,667 --> 00:32:13,458 to rise from the dead. 662 00:32:13,458 --> 00:32:16,375 - There are many accounts of Jesus himself actually bringing 663 00:32:16,375 --> 00:32:19,542 people back from the dead during his ministry on Earth. 664 00:32:19,542 --> 00:32:23,458 - The gospel of John tells the story of Lazarus of Bethany. 665 00:32:23,458 --> 00:32:27,208 While lying on his deathbed, desperate for help, 666 00:32:27,208 --> 00:32:30,208 his sisters, Mary and Martha go looking for Jesus 667 00:32:30,208 --> 00:32:31,750 who is quite far away. 668 00:32:31,750 --> 00:32:33,000 When they find him 669 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:34,458 and tell him about their brother, 670 00:32:34,458 --> 00:32:38,833 Jesus replies, "Our friend Lazarus is asleep, 671 00:32:38,833 --> 00:32:41,583 but I am going to awaken him." 672 00:32:41,583 --> 00:32:44,333 - That's when Jesus utters his famous words, 673 00:32:44,333 --> 00:32:47,208 "I am the resurrection and the life. 674 00:32:47,208 --> 00:32:50,167 You who believes in me shall never die." 675 00:32:51,458 --> 00:32:54,125 - Jesus has the tomb of Lazarus open 676 00:32:54,125 --> 00:32:56,292 and he commands the deceased Lazarus 677 00:32:56,292 --> 00:32:58,250 to rise up and come out. 678 00:32:59,542 --> 00:33:03,375 Miraculously he does, and Lazarus's sisters are overjoyed. 679 00:33:04,750 --> 00:33:07,958 - [Dennis] According to the Bible, it's not just Jesus 680 00:33:07,958 --> 00:33:10,708 who has this miraculous power. 681 00:33:10,708 --> 00:33:14,583 - One of Jesus's most about followers is the apostle, Peter. 682 00:33:14,583 --> 00:33:17,875 He's a fisherman from Galilee that devotes his life 683 00:33:17,875 --> 00:33:19,583 to spreading the word of Christ. 684 00:33:19,583 --> 00:33:22,333 Peter basically becomes his right hand man. 685 00:33:24,500 --> 00:33:26,833 - In Acts 9, Peter is preaching in Lydda 686 00:33:26,833 --> 00:33:30,208 when two men from the nearby town of Joppa show up. 687 00:33:30,208 --> 00:33:33,208 They tell him there's a local seamstress named Tabitha 688 00:33:33,208 --> 00:33:35,125 who fell ill and died. 689 00:33:36,417 --> 00:33:39,083 She was a pious Christian known for her charitable acts, 690 00:33:39,083 --> 00:33:41,542 and she was so beloved by everyone in Joppa, 691 00:33:41,542 --> 00:33:43,875 they were hoping Peter could come quickly 692 00:33:43,875 --> 00:33:46,333 and see if there's anything he could do. 693 00:33:46,333 --> 00:33:49,083 - According to the story, Peter wastes no time getting 694 00:33:49,083 --> 00:33:52,083 to Joppa and he goes to the upper chamber of a house 695 00:33:52,083 --> 00:33:54,042 where the townspeople have cleaned 696 00:33:54,042 --> 00:33:57,125 and laid out Tabitha's body, 697 00:33:57,125 --> 00:34:00,625 and he decides to show them the power of the Lord. 698 00:34:01,917 --> 00:34:03,583 - He kneels down next to her, 699 00:34:03,583 --> 00:34:08,542 says a prayer, and commands, "Tabitha, arise." 700 00:34:08,542 --> 00:34:12,125 She opens her eyes, sees Peter and sits up. 701 00:34:12,125 --> 00:34:14,375 He takes her hand, lifts her up, 702 00:34:14,375 --> 00:34:17,667 and calls in the others to see what he has done 703 00:34:17,667 --> 00:34:19,042 through God's grace. 704 00:34:21,208 --> 00:34:23,667 - The story of this resurrection miracle spreads 705 00:34:23,667 --> 00:34:27,250 and creates many more Christian believers, which is exactly 706 00:34:27,250 --> 00:34:29,042 what Peter had planned. 707 00:34:30,250 --> 00:34:32,667 - [Dennis] These accounts help lay the foundation 708 00:34:32,667 --> 00:34:34,958 for a stunning prediction. 709 00:34:34,958 --> 00:34:36,208 - In the book of Revelation, 710 00:34:36,208 --> 00:34:38,208 it foretells that there will be a complete 711 00:34:38,208 --> 00:34:41,375 and total resurrection of the dead, as in every person 712 00:34:41,375 --> 00:34:44,083 who has died will be brought back to life. 713 00:34:45,250 --> 00:34:47,042 - The idea is linked to this notion 714 00:34:47,042 --> 00:34:48,417 called the second coming. 715 00:34:48,417 --> 00:34:49,833 It's something that we see not only in the book 716 00:34:49,833 --> 00:34:52,375 of Revelation, but also other creedal statements 717 00:34:52,375 --> 00:34:53,708 like the Apostles' Creed. 718 00:34:55,792 --> 00:34:59,208 - Basically, after ascending to heaven, Jesus returns 719 00:34:59,208 --> 00:35:02,375 to Earth to judge both the living and the dead. 720 00:35:02,375 --> 00:35:04,542 To judge the dead, he'll have to raise them. 721 00:35:04,542 --> 00:35:06,875 Yes, all of them. 722 00:35:06,875 --> 00:35:08,875 - Just imagine what that would mean. 723 00:35:08,875 --> 00:35:13,375 Untold billions of bodies pulled from their graves 724 00:35:13,375 --> 00:35:17,292 and reanimated, on top of the existing living population. 725 00:35:17,292 --> 00:35:20,417 - [Dennis] There might be a much more tangible way 726 00:35:20,417 --> 00:35:26,375 to bring people back from the dead, and sooner. 727 00:35:26,375 --> 00:35:28,458 - The idea of resurrection has captivated 728 00:35:28,458 --> 00:35:31,583 the human imagination for millennia, 729 00:35:31,583 --> 00:35:34,542 but where did the idea first begin? 730 00:35:36,833 --> 00:35:39,875 - One of the most powerful gods in the Egyptian pantheon is 731 00:35:39,875 --> 00:35:43,792 Osiris, the god of agriculture and fertility. 732 00:35:43,792 --> 00:35:46,583 And according to his legend, Osiris is murdered 733 00:35:46,583 --> 00:35:50,792 and dismembered by a jealous rival god, his brother Seth. 734 00:35:50,792 --> 00:35:55,708 - Osiris's faithful wife, the goddess Isis, reassembles him, 735 00:35:55,708 --> 00:35:59,375 wraps him in linen strips, anoints him with sacred oils, 736 00:35:59,375 --> 00:36:01,875 and buries his body. 737 00:36:01,875 --> 00:36:05,500 - This ritual resurrects Osiris, 738 00:36:05,500 --> 00:36:08,083 and he ultimately becomes the God of the underworld, 739 00:36:08,083 --> 00:36:10,250 and it's because of this legend 740 00:36:10,250 --> 00:36:12,875 that mummification becomes all the rage 741 00:36:12,875 --> 00:36:16,708 with Egyptian pharaohs who also want a shot at immortality. 742 00:36:17,667 --> 00:36:19,833 - But some Egyptologists like Kurt Sethe 743 00:36:19,833 --> 00:36:23,250 in the 1930's proposed that Osiris might actually 744 00:36:23,250 --> 00:36:26,208 have started out as a real life king of Egypt, 745 00:36:26,208 --> 00:36:27,500 and this suggests 746 00:36:27,583 --> 00:36:30,167 that a human can somehow come back from the dead 747 00:36:30,167 --> 00:36:31,458 and become deified. 748 00:36:33,875 --> 00:36:37,875 - [Dennis] A similar theme is echoed in Greek mythology. 749 00:36:37,875 --> 00:36:41,708 - Resurrection happens several times in Greek myths. 750 00:36:41,708 --> 00:36:46,417 In most cases, it's a gift bestowed upon select humans 751 00:36:46,417 --> 00:36:48,917 by the gods, but that's not always how it goes. 752 00:36:50,333 --> 00:36:52,708 - In one story, there's a demigod named Asclepius, 753 00:36:52,708 --> 00:36:56,417 who is the son of Apollo and immortal woman, 754 00:36:56,417 --> 00:37:00,542 and Asclepius is a doctor who lives in the human world 755 00:37:00,542 --> 00:37:03,208 and he's really honed his healing skills, to the point 756 00:37:03,208 --> 00:37:07,500 where he starts dabbling with raising people from the dead. 757 00:37:07,500 --> 00:37:10,750 - [Dennis] First up, the son of the king of Athens. 758 00:37:12,542 --> 00:37:14,500 - Asclepius resurrects Hippolytus 759 00:37:14,500 --> 00:37:16,500 after he dies in a chariot fall. 760 00:37:16,500 --> 00:37:19,667 He also resurrects the Thracian king named Lycurgus 761 00:37:19,667 --> 00:37:23,333 and a prince of Crete called Glaucus, amongst others. 762 00:37:23,333 --> 00:37:24,875 - This angers Zeus, 763 00:37:24,875 --> 00:37:28,542 who thinks only real gods should be resurrecting people, 764 00:37:28,542 --> 00:37:31,708 so he strikes Asclepius down with a lightning bolt. 765 00:37:31,708 --> 00:37:33,792 [lightning booms] 766 00:37:33,792 --> 00:37:36,667 - [Dennis] Farther east, ancient Hindu tradition 767 00:37:36,667 --> 00:37:39,708 has its own famous resurrection story. 768 00:37:40,875 --> 00:37:43,542 - In the Hindu holy text known as the Mahabharata, 769 00:37:43,542 --> 00:37:45,208 there's a great story about 770 00:37:45,208 --> 00:37:48,375 a beautiful princess named Savitri. 771 00:37:48,375 --> 00:37:50,458 She meets and falls madly in love 772 00:37:50,458 --> 00:37:52,583 with a woodsman named Satyavan, 773 00:37:52,583 --> 00:37:54,875 who's really an exiled prince. 774 00:37:54,875 --> 00:37:58,625 - After they get married, they receive an unwelcome prophecy 775 00:37:58,625 --> 00:38:02,583 that Satyavan will die on their one year anniversary. 776 00:38:02,583 --> 00:38:05,958 And sure enough, that's exactly what happens. 777 00:38:05,958 --> 00:38:08,167 - Savitri is devastated 778 00:38:08,167 --> 00:38:10,667 and when Yama, the god of death, comes 779 00:38:10,667 --> 00:38:14,375 to take Satyavan's soul, she pursues him across the desert 780 00:38:14,375 --> 00:38:15,792 to the entrance of the underworld, 781 00:38:15,792 --> 00:38:18,875 all the time she's pleading that he return 782 00:38:18,875 --> 00:38:20,542 her beloved husband. 783 00:38:20,542 --> 00:38:22,292 - Now, Yama isn't in the business 784 00:38:22,292 --> 00:38:23,750 of giving back the dead, 785 00:38:23,750 --> 00:38:26,792 but he's moved by the princess's devotion, 786 00:38:26,792 --> 00:38:31,500 feels bad for her, so he offers to grant her one wish. 787 00:38:31,500 --> 00:38:34,292 Anything, except giving back her husband. 788 00:38:35,375 --> 00:38:38,500 - Savitri cleverly tells Yama that her wish is 789 00:38:38,500 --> 00:38:41,542 to have many children, he agrees. 790 00:38:41,542 --> 00:38:44,542 But then she follows up by asking how she's supposed 791 00:38:44,542 --> 00:38:47,375 to have this large family without Satyavan, 792 00:38:47,375 --> 00:38:50,125 the only man she has vowed to love? 793 00:38:50,125 --> 00:38:53,083 - So Savitri basically outsmarts the god of death 794 00:38:53,083 --> 00:38:56,708 and she forces him to resurrect her beloved husband. 795 00:38:57,958 --> 00:39:00,333 - [Dennis] As powerful as these stories are, 796 00:39:00,333 --> 00:39:03,708 most scholars consider them to be myths, 797 00:39:03,708 --> 00:39:07,125 but can there be some truth to the concept 798 00:39:07,125 --> 00:39:09,000 of reanimating the dead? 799 00:39:10,500 --> 00:39:12,417 - Any sensible doctor will tell you that the type 800 00:39:12,417 --> 00:39:14,667 of resurrection described in the Bible 801 00:39:14,667 --> 00:39:18,875 or other religious myths just isn't scientifically sound. 802 00:39:18,875 --> 00:39:21,500 However, that doesn't necessarily mean 803 00:39:21,500 --> 00:39:24,250 that when we die, it's all over. 804 00:39:24,250 --> 00:39:26,792 Science has increasingly found that the body 805 00:39:26,792 --> 00:39:31,333 and brain don't just go from 100 to zero instantly. 806 00:39:31,333 --> 00:39:33,208 - One of the most fascinating areas 807 00:39:33,208 --> 00:39:36,750 of modern research involves what are called zombie genes. 808 00:39:38,042 --> 00:39:40,708 These are genes that increase their activity for up 809 00:39:40,708 --> 00:39:44,750 to 12 hours after death, meaning that their associated cells 810 00:39:44,750 --> 00:39:47,042 are still alive and active. 811 00:39:47,042 --> 00:39:50,083 We used to think that all biological processes stopped 812 00:39:50,083 --> 00:39:53,667 after death, but apparently that's not the case. 813 00:39:55,042 --> 00:39:57,375 - In related research, scientists have successfully 814 00:39:57,375 --> 00:40:00,250 reanimated pig brains and organs up to an hour 815 00:40:00,250 --> 00:40:01,792 after the animal has died. 816 00:40:03,542 --> 00:40:04,833 - This is a huge step towards 817 00:40:04,833 --> 00:40:07,292 what would clearly be the ultimate goal, 818 00:40:07,292 --> 00:40:12,000 to actually, medically bring someone back from the dead. 819 00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:15,708 Perhaps resurrection will one day be possible with 820 00:40:15,708 --> 00:40:17,833 or without divine intervention. 821 00:40:17,833 --> 00:40:20,042 [dramatic music] 822 00:40:20,042 --> 00:40:23,542 - Whether we end up in paradise or hell, 823 00:40:24,542 --> 00:40:28,042 in a new body or in our old one, 824 00:40:28,042 --> 00:40:32,250 all humans can rely on an absolute certainty. 825 00:40:33,250 --> 00:40:38,083 Someday, we'll find out where we go when we die. 826 00:40:39,417 --> 00:40:41,000 I'm Dennis Quaid. 827 00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:43,833 Thanks for watching "Holy Marvels." 67095

Can't find what you're looking for?
Get subtitles in any language from opensubtitles.com, and translate them here.