All language subtitles for 06 Eng The.Story.of.God.with.Morgan.Freeman.S01E06.HDTV.x264-RBB

When I
was 16, I got really sick.

Was run down, working hard
in school, not eating properly,

and I got pneumonia, and an
abscess developed on my lung.

Well one day the abscess
burst and I hemorrhaged.

I needed blood.

Pretty sure everybody
thought I might die,

obviously I didn't.

But some say that god saved me.

Believers think god communicates
to us through miracles.

That miracles are
proof of the divine.

Now I'm going on a
journey to discover

the power of miracles.

You fell from up there
down to here?

What did the doctors say?

You are a miracle.

To discover
what's luck and what is fate.

In the Chinese
thought everything has a

reason for why it occurred.

To see how belief in miracles

can change history.

The miracles
symbolize the beginning

of the Jewish people.

And how faith can change lives.

You are looking
at a true miracle of god.

To achieve
what appears to be impossible.

The real miracle is
to transform the human mind.

That's the miracle we need.

Most who believe in god believe

god is watching over us.

Every moment of every day,
guiding us, saving us.

To me it has to be a miracle
that he can look out

for all seven billion of us.

So when I heard about
alcides Marino

I had to come to New York
and hear his story.

Well here we are.

Eight years ago, alcides came
to work as a window washer

at this 47 story tower
in Manhattan.

Tell me about it, what happened?

I woke up in
the morning, take my car in,

commute from New Jersey
and come to the building.

Did you take the elevator?

And go all the way to the top.

The top is 47 stories high.

47 stories, yes,

and climb to the platform.

Alcides
had just begun to lower the

platform when one of the two
cables holding it snapped.

I just grabbed the scaffold and

just hold up until
another cable snap.

911 what's the emergency?

9-15 responding,

transport is on the way.

The paramedics
they found me right

in the middle, the
scaffold like that.

Between the two buildings.

Yeah between the two,

it was right in the middle,
they took me out from the.

Alcides
fell 47 stories, 500 feet.

He broke ten bones,
his lungs collapsed,

he needed 43 pints of
blood and plasma.

He spent three weeks in a coma.

Do you remember the day you
woke up from the coma?

- I.
- woke up December 24th

right in the bed
and my wife was there.

A fall from
just ten stories is something

hardly anyone survives.

Doctor's say alcides's 47 story
plunge was beyond belief.

I've seen it all,
or at least I think I have,

until something like
this happens.

You fell from
up there down to here?

Yes.

And here you are.

Yes sir and look
I'm walking and everything.

Give me a name for that.

I mean the doctor told me,

"you are a miracle."

He said, "you are a miracle."

What do you think?

I don't know,
still I don't know.

Alcides
has a hard time accepting this

as a miracle because he was
not alone when he fell.

His younger brother was on
this platform with him,

he died the moment he
hit the ground.

What was your brother's name?

Edgar.

Edgar.

There we are.

There he is.

Yeah.

Still feels the same.

Very nice.

My brother's a big loss.

Were you close?

Really, really close,

that was a great man.

I'm sorry alcides,

it must be very painful.

Yes, I just
bring him to work with me,

to help out, because.

He's younger.

Oh yes he
was younger than me and

he was a good man.

You think god saved you?

I think so, I believe that yes.

So that makes you the miracle,

but at the same time,
your brother is gone,

the one you, do you
worry about that?

Do you try to reconcile that,
try to figure out why him?

And not me.

Not you.

Well yes I asking why, why, why,

what happened, why?

If it was me,
I would wonder every day.

God give me a second chance,

I mean to keep going, to
keep going with my life.

I still looking forward
to find out what

exactly I have to do.

Alcides is
no longer a window washer;

he and his wife have a
new life in Arizona,

where they're raising
their family.

He's still trying to
understand whether

god has a plan for him.

Why me, does god has
a purpose for me?

Alcides wonders, "why
did I survive when"

my beloved brother
did not?"

Why, I mean is there some entity
that makes that choice?

Or is, do we live
with randomness,

just pure mindless randomness?

For christians, miracles are
proof that life is not random.

They believe god intervenes
in the world for a reason.

Jews also believe in
the power of miracles.

In fact their faith was
built on a bedrock

of divine intervention.

I've come to Jerusalem to
see how Jews celebrate

the miracles of their
exodus from Egypt.

On a night that's different
from all other nights.

Passover.

Hi.

Hello there.

How do you do?

I'm very well
thank you, this is for you.

Thank you very much, I'm aviva.

Hello aviva.

Welcome to my home, you do.

Oh lord, oh.

Rabbi Maya.

Nice to meet you, how wonderful.

Maya leibovich
is the first Israeli

born woman ever to
become a rabbi.

I've known a few rabbis,
never a lady.

I hope you enjoy the seder and

we'll do our utmost to make it.

If there's food I'll be okay.

Food, of course.

Yes.

This is the charoset, and you
can taste it and you can

decide if it, it's got
to make you feel as

if you're getting drunk,
is it winy enough?

To tell you the
truth I think it's enough.

I think it's enough too.

Okay guys let's get started,

seder pesach is starting.

Come on, everybody sit down.

One of the most important
traditions in judaism

and this has been ordered to
us from our ancestors,

thou shalt not speak on your
cell phone during the seder.

So we have a cell phone
basket here.

The month that
we came out of Egypt

is called in Hebrew Nissan.

And the word Nissan comes
from the word nissim,

which is miracles.

It's the month of the miracles,

which will symbolize
the beginning of

the Jewish people, and
the people as an entity.

The way we go
with the seder is that

we read through the haggadah
so Morgan as our guest

we would welcome you
to start with

the bread of affliction.

This is the
bread of affliction that

our fathers ate in
the land Egypt.

Let all that are hungry
enter and eat,

and all who are in want come
and celebrate the Passover.

This year we are slaves,

next year we shall be free men.

The Passover meal is a
celebration of the bond

Jews feel with god, and it's
an occasion for children

to understand the foundation
of their faith.

The seder recounts how the
Jews escaped slavery.

Thanks to god's striking
the Egyptians with

a series of ten plagues.

So rabbi...

Yes.

Why Passover,

what does the word
itself refer to?

When god brought
upon Egypt the tenth plague

of killing the first born,
he told the israelites

to put blood on the thresholds
of their homes and

the angel of death passed over
the homes of the Hebrews,

and only took the first
born of the Egyptians.

Many Jews believe god's sparing

of their children was proof
they were his chosen people.

But this was not the
only divine sign.

The miracle of
getting out of Egypt was

followed by the miracle
splitting of the sea.

God made two miracles,
one was splitting

the sea before the Hebrews,
and then closing it

before the Egyptians.

So god wants us to remember
the Egyptians are just his

sons as we are, so by putting
drops of wine on our plates

we're actually putting drops
of sorrow that god had lost

so many of his children
while saving the others.

This acknowledgement that the

exodus miracles didn't
benefit everyone,

reminds me of alcides moreno.

Divine will is not
easy to understand.

So what is your take
on the whole idea

of the series of miracles?

I don't think
anybody's gonna split

the sea for us today.

I wish somebody would bring
peace to us today,

but the Bible is not
a book of history.

The Bible is a book of ideas.

The question is what can
we learn from it?

What can we take into
our own life?

It's a way of saying
thank you, you know.

It's a way of teaching the kids
that every small thing is

not granted, that you
need to say thank you.

It's nice to have parents,

it's lovely to have a roof
above your head.

That probably
the biggest miracle of

all of them that Jews
are still here.

I want them to come out with the

idea that miracles can happen.

That's the story.

The israelites
saw these miracles

as proof that god cared
about them.

Not all modern Jews believe in
the miracles of Passover,

but these stories still
define them as a people,

and that deep well of tradition
and moral strength

has sustained them, been
called on by them for

thousands of years to get
them through hard times.

Around the world
belief in miracles

gives people strength.

In Mexico City the basilica
of our lady of Guadalupe

marks the spot where the
virgin Mary is said

to have appeared to a
peasant 500 years ago.

In Hong Kong, Buddhist pilgrims
flock to the statue of

guan yin, who they
hope will Grant them

medical cures, a spouse,
or good grades.

And in Rome miracles can turn
ordinary people into saints.

I've come to the Vatican
to understand how

the catholic church
verifies miracles.

I think the first time I was
at the Vatican was about 1983.

I'm meeting monsignor
Marcelo Sanchez sorondo,

the head of the pontifical
academy of sciences.

So let's talk just for a
moment about miracles,

do miracles really exist?

For instance Jesus
walking on water.

In the life of Christ,

if you don't accept
the miracles it's

impossible to understand.

Each page of the gospel
is a miracle of Christ.

To consider a person is Saint
the church needs a miracle.

In order to have saints you

have to have miracles.

Yes.

Unless you are a martyr,

the only way to sainthood is
to be deemed responsible

for performing two
miracles after you die.

Pope John Paul the second
became a Saint in 2014,

after two women who
prayed to him after

his death claimed to be
miraculously cured.

One of Parkinson's disease,
another of a brain aneurism.

The Vatican spends years
investigating these claims,

sometimes decades.

The church has a devil's
advocate who goes and

whenever anybody claims
to have seen or

experienced a miracle,

the church sends the
advocate to investigate.

Yes, they have to advocate

and have scientific people,
special doctors,

to prove that this is a special
intervention of god.

So if I come
and say I have experienced

a miracle, would the
church then say,

okay well we'll check that out.

Exactly, we've got to check.

Does the hand
of god really intervene?

Not just in matters
of life and death,

but also in the ups and downs
of our daily lives

or does everything that
happens happen by chance?

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What, if anything,

governs the seemingly random
moments that change

our lives and send us into
different directions?

Like a poor boy from Mississippi

ending up in Hollywood.

I always loved the movies,

always dreamed I would
be in them.

I was a believer, and
I actually made it,

now was that a miracle?

Most of us have a turning
point in our lives,

a pivotal moment where you
wondered, how did this happen?

Mine was 1989 I
made three films,

'Lean on me',
'Driving miss Daisy'

and 'Glory'.

Did I make it happen?

Was someone up there calling
the shots, or was I lucky?

To try to understand this I've
arranged to meet a psychology

professor who thinks
we often mistake

random chance for miracles.

Danny Oppenheimer.

Nice to see you.

How are you today?

I'm good, you?

I'm good.

Good.

What are you doing?

I'm flipping coins.

Why?

I'm looking for streaks.

Streaks?

Yeah if you
flip a coin enough times

you're gonna get a streak.

Really?

That's a lot of tails.

Well if I flip a coin twice and

I get heads both times
is that miraculous?

No, if you do it 50 times

and you get 60 that's a miracle.

Well yeah if you get more

than you flip certainly.

But how rare does an event have
to be before we would

call it miraculous, one in a
million, one in a billion?

I'll choose billion.

Alright one in a billion,

well let's try something.

Alright.

Jack of diamonds, 6 of spades,
king of spades, 2 of hearts,

7 of diamonds and Ace of spades.

Is it miraculous to have
gotten this sequence?

No, I mean it's just a random

selection of cards off the deck.

Well right
but this particular sequence

starting with the Jack
and then getting

the six of spades and
then king of spades,

it only happens one in
about 14 billion times

you draw six cards.

So it's pretty
miraculous by your

one in a billion standard.

So you're telling me that

this is miraculous?

Well no as you said before

it's just a random set of cards.

What if it was the first
six digits of your

social security number, what
if it were the last six

digits of your social
security number?

The first six digits of
your phone number?

Sometimes it's not
actually miraculous,

sometimes it's just
probability playing

its tricks on you.

Alright so
how do we include the divine

because there are people who
really do think that

there is divine intervention in
these kinds of interplays.

Absolutely
and nothing I'm saying

here rules out the
possibility of the divine.

The fact that probability
predicts certain things

doesn't mean that there can't
be divine intervention.

But miraculous things that
are so unlikely that you

think it can't happen by
chance alone, they do happen,

and they have to happen.

It would be odd if the didn't,
because with six billion

people in the world there
are so many opportunities

for something really
unusual to happen,

we would expect it to
happen to some of them.

Mmm.

It's human nature to make a
symphony out of

the cacophony of events
going on around us,

doesn't mean that divine
Providence doesn't exist.

In fact as I learned
when I was in Rome,

in the past chance
and god co-existed.

The ancient Romans had a
different take on miracles.

Before they became christians
Romans had many gods.

They believed the gods
controlled their fate and

everything that happened
was decided by them.

Archaeologist Valerie Higgins
tells me the gods even

determined the outcome
of sporting events.

So we're
here in the circus Maximus,

this was the largest
circus in Rome,

in fact in the Roman empire,

and this was where they
did chariot racing.

We are actually
standing on the track?

Yeah the
starting gates were down there,

and they would race
through here up to the other

end where they would turn
around and then go

back down that end, and they
would do that seven times.

At least a quarter of a million
people could fit in here.

Bedlam.

Yeah right, so this was a place

that was full of life
and full of action.

Well it
must have been quite a lot

like modern day horse racing,
you know, betting,

and wagering, and.

For sure yes,
we know there was lots of

betting, and lots of gambling.

Gambling
particularly on dice games

was frowned upon because
you were betting on the

will of the gods, but
widespread gambling

began to change the way
Romans thought about fate,

and opened the way for
belief in miracles.

How did gambling fit with
the idea that your fate

was already set no matter
what you did,

you were going to wind up the
way you were gonna wind up.

They did very
much believe that their

fate was set, but, you know, it
didn't make them passive.

They certainly did
everything they could

to get the gods behind
their riders.

Well if I were
to ask like for instance

the day of a big race, you know,
and the ancient Romans were

thinking well it's in the
hands of the gods,

but we need to know
what the gods want.

Right.

How would we figure that out?

How did they go about figuring
out what the gods wanted?

What the gods wanted,

well you had to go to a
priest who was specialized

in this sort of thing.

Just around the
corner from the race track,

hidden in an alleyway and
down in a basement,

Valerie takes me to see the
remains of the temple

that dates back to the
third century.

A place where Romans may
have tried to twist

the will of the gods.

This is spectacular.

Yes it is,

what we're coming into
now is a mithraeum.

A mithraeum.

Yeah that's right,

it's a special kind of ritual
space for the cult of mithras.

He's the god, he's
killing the bull.

Mithras was
a god for men, tough men,

soldiers, powerful business men.

So we're here
in this mithraeum which is

kind of like the
original man cave.

We know they did a lot
of feasting.

Would there be any of the

priests down here with them?

There would be priests down here

yes I think for sure, who would
be overseeing the feasting,

'cause it was quite essential
that you did the ritual,

you know, correctly to
ensure that your team

was going to be successful
in the Circus Maximus.

So here we are down here and

we're doing all of
the rituals and so

are we really adjusting
the fates to

take care of what we
want taken care of,

or do we do a little?

No that
doesn't stop you giving fate

a helping hand.

Certainly we know there
was a lot of cheating

that went on in the
Circus Maximus.

No.

Oh I'm afraid so,

they did everything they
could to make things work,

to make them successful,
and they certainly

weren't above cheating.

The fact that you were allowing
the gods to decide your fate,

didn't mean that you couldn't
help them along.

If you could.

If you could help them along.

Yeah, yeah, you know,

because their idea is that
the god works for you,

and that's in every aspect
of your life including

of course your team racing
in the circus Maximus.

The Romans don't have faith,
they just follow the rituals.

Have fates.

They have fates, quite right,

they have fates not faith.

That h makes a big difference.

The ancient
Romans believe that if you

were good to the gods,
they would be good to you.

Every single event from
winning a chariot race to

rolling of the dice could
be the result of

divine intervention,
a minor miracle.

I'm just trying to work out
how a couple of millennia of

catholicism might have changed
the way the Romans think.

Do they still think
god will intercede?

And reward their fate with
a royal flush perhaps?

The idea that nothing in
our lives happens by

chance did not die with the
culture of ancient Rome.

It remained alive and well in
the Chinese philosophy

and religion daoism.

Daoism dates back nearly
two millennia.

Gods are not the
focus of daoism,

the focus is the dao.

The ultimate creative
energy of the universe

to which we are all connected.

This interconnectedness
means our fates are

all set at birth.

So do daoist's believe
miracles are possible?

To find out I'm heading
to the heart of the

Chinese community in
Los Angeles to meet

a fourth generation daoist fate
calculator named Jenny Liu.

Jenny Liu?

Morgan Freeman.

Yes ma'am.

Nice to meet you.

Thank you.

Come on in please.

Thank you.

So did you do my life chart?

I did, we had
you here as June 1st,

so 6-1, 1937; 2 am,
is that correct?

Yes.

Your life map
lets us know what over

120 stars are located at
your time of birth.

These stars configure a
certain energy field that

impact the quality and
success of your life.

So in China we don't call
this astrology actually,

we call it fate calculation,
fate calculation.

Fate calculation.

Covers your
life in ten year periods,

and we see from age six
to 15 is one, 16 to 25,

and so on and so forth.

So what now between 76 and 85?

Right now you're
in your friendship sector.

In the friendship sector
the star that's there

is called wun-zong.

This star represents scholars,
learned people.

These are the people
that you want

to surround yourself with.

So far so good.

So far so good, and
one of the reasons why maybe

you have not come here yet
until today is one of the

stars in your personal
sector is called din-sun

and din-sun is
the adventurer,

somebody who likes to take
things as they come.

So if my
fate is already laid out,

does that leave room
for like miracles?

Absolutely, we
don't think of astrology

chart as predestined that
it's your only fate

that's carved in stone.

We see a life map, just like
we say life is a journey,

and you go on any journey
you need to have a map.

There's gonna be dead ends,

there's gonna be multiple
pot holes.

If you know where they are
you're still in charge

of your own car, this is just
a navigation system.

You can turn.

If you understand how you're
connected to everything

around you, that is the
miracle waiting to happen.

So is this
connected to feng shui?

Feng shui this is
based on the daoist thought,

everything around
us is connected.

Everything is made of energy,

we're all connected
through this energy.

Feng is wind, shui is water.

It's an energy that we cannot
destroy or create,

it's always there.

But we can divert it,
we can harness it.

In China we say.

We ride it.

We can ride it exactly.

I was gonna say in Chinese
they'll say birds

do not fly they are flown.

Fish do swim they are.

Carried.

They are carried,
they are swum by water.

We always think,

particularly in christianity,

that a miracle is a result
of divine intervention.

In the Chinese
thought everything

is connected.

Everything has a reason
for why it occurred.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Feng shui, wind, water.

Birds don't fly,
they ride the wind.

Fish don't swim,
they're carried.

Everything that happens
to us is a result of

all the things that we
are connected to.

What we call divine
intervention is merely

connections we weren't aware of.

Makes me wonder if we
shouldn't maybe stop

trying so hard to
control our lives

and learn to ride
the wave of life.

Our lives are filled with
unexpected twists and turns.

Some believe there's nothing
beyond randomness.

Others say we are propelled
by the will of god

or the energy of the universe.

Both those beliefs could make
the difference between

life and death because the
human mind could have

a hidden power to
unleash a miracle.

I'm travelling the world trying

to understand the power
of miracles.

And I've come to Cairo to
find out if that power

could come from our own minds.

I'm visiting one of the world's
oldest hospitals,

a place that was famous for
combining medical science

with the healing
power of belief.

So the writings
around the building describe

the founding of this hospital,
and of the entire complex.

Harvard historian of islam and

physician Ahmed Ragab
has brought me

to the Qalawun complex,

which first opened its
doors around 1285 ad.

This would be
the entrance through

which patients would
normally walk.

Wow, this is a
dramatic change from outside.

This is actually by design.

When you walk into this corridor
from the outside the

sunny and the dirty street,
and it's very noisy.

You walk in here and it's a
dark, calm, shaded corridor.

Patients came here hoping to be

cured by both cutting edge
medicine and

a miraculous intervention
from god.

I want to
show you something here.

Oh okay.

Oh my goodness.

The construction here is the
most impressive thing

I think I've seen anywhere.

This is the
shrine of sultan Qalawun,

the founder of this hospital.

Patients would have come
in and offer prayer

of thanks for the sultan.

Slowly Qalawun himself
becomes connected to

the idea of healing.

It's like in this history
we're looking at

the making of a healing Saint.

Does that
mean that there becomes

a connection between
faith and healing?

Medicine as a whole was seen as

the conduit of the will of god.

So at the end of the day we
fall sick in part this is

something that god wills, and
we would only be healed

through medicine but only
by the will of god.

If god wills it.

Exactly.

So actually
everything that happens

is a will of god.

Exactly.

Centuries ago
muslims believed faith

and medicine worked
hand in hand.

But can belief in divine
intervention actually help

medicine heal us today?

Tom Renfro is familiar with
the cliché the miracle of

modern medicine, because he's
a practicing physician,

but he also believes
in divine miracles

and that one happened to him.

It was 18 years
ago that I stood there

to give thanks to god for
healing me and what I told you

at that time was, "you are
looking at a true miracle."

"A miracle of god."

The hunt for
miracle stories has brought

Indiana university scholar
candy Gunther brown to

Norton, Virginia to meet tom.

She's studying whether faith
and prayer can actually

improve medical outcomes.

The
question that really interests

me is what happens when
people prey for healing.

Candy it was in
1996 in the fall of that year,

that I found a nodule
on the back of my neck.

Later on that fall I found
more nodules under my arm,

and I sought medical attention,

and the biopsy under my
arm showed that I had

an unusual form of lymphoma
called mantle cell lymphoma.

The prognoses was very poor,
and they gave me months to

live, and basically told me
enjoy what time you have left.

And the goal is to hopefully
keep me alive through Christmas.

I was a physician, I knew
the objective evidence

that was there.

I was in multi organ failure.

I had a disease that there
was no medicine or cure for

that would wipe
this disease out.

Instead of despair the lord
wants us to remember,

I brought you all this way
I'm not gonna leave

you here by yourself.

Did you have medical treatments?

No I did not
have medical treatments,

not at that time.

The tumors continued
to progress,

and as they progressed the
people came together more and

more intense with prayer.

My pastor organized a
weekend prayer to where

people would come and pray
perhaps even all night,

and it was a remarkable time.

By now the tumors were the
size of apples on my neck.

My arms stuck out because
of the massive

adenopathy under my arms.

My abdomen was expanded,
I was dying.

The lord actually spoke
to me and said,

"now is the time to
go to the hospital."

Chemotherapy
typically only delays

the progress of mantle
cell lymphoma.

It's not a cure.

So they started
an infusion and it was

like the rock that David
threw at goliath.

Before the infusion even
completed there was something

that changed in me physically.

The tumors they became like
a nerf ball, like a sponge,

and very soft, and they
started disappearing

in front of your eyes.

And all of this massive
adenopathy just disappeared

over the next 24, 48 hours.

It was gone.

Do you ever wonder did the

chemotherapy just work
better than the doctors

expected it to work?

The chemotherapy
it wasn't designed to cure.

No one expected the tumors
to utterly start

disappearing or melting.

I should have died multiple
times during this illness

from pulmonary embolisms,
from pneumonia,

from renal failure.

But I had faith.

I had people that poured their
words into me to encourage me,

and I believe through that that
god intervened and healed me,

and here we are 18 years later
me talking to you.

To me that is a miracle.

It is a miracle that I'm here.

Why did tom Renfro survive when

so many people who prey
for healing don't make it?

Tom believes the power
of his faith and that of

the people around him helped
the chemotherapy achieve

the impossible.

It strikes me that much of
what we call miraculous

starts right here in the mind.

We close our eyes in
prayer don't we,

and I think that's because the
goal is to focus the mind.

To transcend the distractions
of everyday life.

To set our minds to
achieve what at first

we might fear is impossible.

I've come to India to explore
a religion that believes

we all have the mental power
to perform miracles.

This is the mahabodhi
temple in bodh gaya.

According to Buddhist
tradition 2,500 years ago

a man named siddhartha
gautama came to the

realization that the
human mind had

immense untapped powers.

In doing so he founded an
entirely new religion,

buddhism, and tradition
says he did it right here

under this tree.

I want to understand what
Buddhists believe

happened to siddhartha as
he sat under the tree.

Tibetan monk losang tenpa has
promised to help me find out.

So.

Glad to be here.

I'm glad you could come.

Oh me too.

So this is our
holy spot where the

Buddha obtained awakening.

Losang tells
me he'll get me to understand

the miracle of the Buddha's
enlightenment,

and he will do it by
challenging my mind

to get me to see
the light myself.

So what do you know about?

Siddhartha, I mean.

What do they
teach you in America?

I learned
that he was of noble birth,

and he grew up very,
very sheltered,

and then one day he wondered
out of the compound.

That's right.

And began to
see life as it really was.

Why did he do that?

That's the question you're

going to answer.

Well how would you
like it if your father

had decided as soon as you
were born that this

baby of mine's gonna
be the king?

So I've got to keep him in
this palace surrounded by

beautiful sense objects,
flowers that never drooped,

beautiful young ladies
who never look old.

Sounds perfect.

Isn't that perfect
yeah, but this guy wasn't

satisfied with that.

Buddha left the palace, right?

Yes.

And do you know what
he saw when he left the palace?

Well as I
understand it he saw suffering.

He saw real life.

And what for?

Well there
were old people, cripples.

Yeah.

Beggars.

Yeah.

People who had nothing,

people who were hungry.

Yeah it's like an eye opener,
it's like a wow.

He saw death.

Yeah.

His father didn't
want him to see death.

He made him think so strongly,
he felt I've got to

leave this place and find out
what is the cause of this.

Why do people suffer?

Siddhartha roamed for six years

seeking to understand the
cause of suffering.

Until he finally came to the
shade of a ficus tree,

and decided that he would
stay right on that spot,

focusing his mind, until
he discovered how

to end human suffering.

After sitting motionless
for an entire night,

siddhartha achieved a
mental transformation.

Buddhists say he became the
Buddha, the enlightened one.

He taught us, he
said you know what a good

doctor would tell a patient,
"man you're sick, you're sick,

you're suffering, you know,
you have a problem."

Second, I know the cause,
basically craving attachment.

The Buddha
realized that by letting

go of his desires and
his attachment

to the material world,

he could rid himself
of suffering.

But the Buddha and for
generations of Buddhists

after him, this freedom from
attachment seems to

allow a remarkable perhaps
even miraculous mental

and physical focus.

You know he was so
grateful to this tree under

which he'd sat and achieved
this amazing realization,

he sat in this are for seven
weeks and for one of those

weeks just gazing,
unwinkingly they say.

Unmoving and
unblinking for seven days.

It's possible, why not?

We haven't exercised our minds.

We're so busy with
external things,

buying and selling, and
doing all the things.

We've never actually seen

a yogi in action.

Well in a sense
it's an amazing thing

but you and I can do it.

For Buddhists
years of mental training

and showing love and
compassion to others

can free them from suffering.

Walking around this
temple you feel like a

miracle really could happen.

The miracle of people being
content with their lives.

People getting along together.

Do you want to just come and

see how a Tibetan llama
teaches western students?

Sure.

How are you?

I am well, how are you sir?

I'm very good, I saw your movie.

Oh you did, which one?

I don't know.

Who else likes my movie?

Bravo.

Shortcut we all need to care and

love and respect each other.

That is the source of happiness.

Whoever had that their
journey's good.

Whoever not keep this in their
heart, journey's not good.

Thank you, from today
you are my friend.

Okay.

I like you.

I like you.

So a lot of religions are pretty

much miracle based.

I mean christianity, judaism.

Right.

Really.

Right.

You don't do miracles?

What's a miracle?

I mean flying in the
sky is that a miracle?

It is, it is, it is.

Birds do it, birds do it.

But we
normally think of miracles

as some sort of divine thing,

something that gives us proof of
god or something, you know.

Okay so that we
could ask where is god?

We ask the mystics or
the yogi's were is god?

They'll point here, they
won't point up there.

They'll say it's in here.

So then if you're being
inspired by your inner god,

Buddha, Christ, you know,
Christian or whatever

you want to call it,
maybe then you can perform

what's called a miracle.

What does this world
need the most?

It needs healing, right, love,
it needs reconciliation.

I think that's a miracle, and
that's the miracle we need.

We don't need people levitating
three inches off

their butts, you know, while
meditating that's stupid.

Right.

So let's stick to
the real miracle which

is to transform the
human mind really.

Alright, you
know what you did there?

What?

Solved the problem of miracles.

Thank you, walk on.

You're alright in my book.

It's ironic that a man who
wanted us to tap

into the power that we all
have within ourselves,

is thought of as some sort
of divine being.

The point of buddhism
as far as I can see,

is to teach us that we're
all capable of much

more than we might
believe we are,

if we just concentrate on it,
just put our minds to it.

I used to struggle to make
sense of miracle stories.

How oceans could be parted.

How it was possible
to walk on water.

But I think I was
missing the point.

To believe in miracles is
to believe there is more

to life than meets the eye.

To accept there could be
something that connects us,

unites us.

So many souls pass
through this world,

and as our paths cross
miraculous things can

and do happen.

People get the breaks
they always wanted,

people inspire one another,
people fall in love.

And whether these events
are orchestrated

by the hand of god,
the power of the mind,

or just a one in a
million chance,

I believe we should
believe in miracles.

Because miracles however
you define them help us to,

well they give us hope.

They drive us to create
reality out of possibility.

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