0:00:10 > 0:00:14I'm Peter Owen Jones, I'm a vicar from the Church of England
0:00:14 > 0:00:18and I've taken a year off from my parishes to see for myself
0:00:18 > 0:00:22the richness of faith across six continents.
0:00:31 > 0:00:39I'm going to witness rituals never seen before, making people's journeys from birth to death.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43I'm going to encounter strange and beautiful faiths,
0:00:43 > 0:00:48expressing people's deepest hopes and fears.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51How can you say such things?
0:00:54 > 0:01:00My biggest hope is to understand humanity's timeless fascination with the divine.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03Am I dreaming?
0:01:57 > 0:02:01Well, it's Sunday morning and as ever I'm going to church,
0:02:01 > 0:02:03but this isn't just any church,
0:02:03 > 0:02:06this is the biggest church in the world.
0:02:06 > 0:02:13I'm a vicar in the Church of England - that makes me a Protestant.
0:02:13 > 0:02:18But Seoul is the centre of a very different - and growing - kind of Protestantism.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20CHEERFUL HYMN MUSIC
0:02:30 > 0:02:33Pentecostalism is the fastest-growing brand
0:02:33 > 0:02:34of Christianity in the world.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41The hymns may be in Korean,
0:02:41 > 0:02:48but the tunes are very recognisable as those born out of evangelical revivals.
0:02:48 > 0:02:53And that's because Pentecostalism was imported from America.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57It was originally an out-growth of American methodism.
0:02:57 > 0:03:05Pentecostalism expects and demands human beings to have an intense personal encounter with God.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09Central to it is a belief in the active gifts of the Holy Spirit -
0:03:09 > 0:03:16these are the gifts of prophecy, of healing and of speaking in tongues.
0:03:16 > 0:03:23These are the very same gifts that the disciples of Jesus experienced at the Feast of Pentecost,
0:03:23 > 0:03:28when the Bible says the Holy Spirit descended upon the 12 Apostles.
0:03:28 > 0:03:36It was a life-changing experience and they felt a power to spread the message of Jesus across the world.
0:03:36 > 0:03:41And the same is happening here, at this Pentecostal church.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47After the service, I discover just how fundamental they believe their
0:03:47 > 0:03:52prayers are to the survival of the country against the communist north.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55Intrigued, I take a Church bus
0:03:55 > 0:04:00along the border with North Korea to Prayer Mountain,
0:04:00 > 0:04:04a Christian bunker on the ideological front line.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08HE SPEAKS KOREAN
0:04:08 > 0:04:10The praying grottoes?
0:04:12 > 0:04:17I know these look like changing rooms from the local swimming baths,
0:04:17 > 0:04:21but they are in fact, all of them, prayer cubicles.
0:04:21 > 0:04:26And they're all full of people saying their prayers.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29Some people are going to stay in here for between 48 hours and
0:04:29 > 0:04:33a week, and they wont eat, they'll maybe a little water,
0:04:33 > 0:04:35but perhaps that's all. Erm...
0:04:37 > 0:04:40The inspiration for the prayer cubicles
0:04:40 > 0:04:45comes from the Bible - where people like Abraham, Moses and Jesus
0:04:45 > 0:04:50all prayed in the wilderness to wait on God and to seek his will.
0:04:50 > 0:04:56They also have a central auditorium where Christians can pray collectively.
0:04:56 > 0:05:03The whole Prayer Mountain movement sprang from the practice of the early Korean Christians,
0:05:03 > 0:05:10persecuted by the home religions and philosophies of Buddhism, Shinto, and Confucianism.
0:05:10 > 0:05:15In desperation, Christians who could not practise their faith openly
0:05:15 > 0:05:17would wake up as early as four in the morning
0:05:17 > 0:05:24to ascend the nearby mountains where they could freely pray, until the first ray of sun rise.
0:05:24 > 0:05:29Since the 1950s, it's the threat of communist North Korea,
0:05:29 > 0:05:35which has inspired South Korean Christians to continue to make the trip to Prayer Mountain.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56Brazil is home to the world's largest Catholic population.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58In total, 140 million souls.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03But things are changing. For over four centuries,
0:06:03 > 0:06:08the Catholic Church has been the major Christian denomination in Brazil.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11Recently, there has been a surge in growth of Protestant churches.
0:06:13 > 0:06:19I'm about to meet one - Pastor Marcus, he's from the Church of the Assemblies of God, here in Brazil.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22It's the largest Pentecostal church in the country.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26And the people he's just about to minister to are not the type of men
0:06:26 > 0:06:30that are going to make it to church on Sunday.
0:06:30 > 0:06:32Let's go.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06APPLAUSE
0:07:08 > 0:07:09SHE SINGS
0:07:12 > 0:07:16Pentecostals believe that God, acting through his son Jesus
0:07:16 > 0:07:19and the Holy spirit, plays an active role in human life.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26But the devil is also ever present.
0:07:26 > 0:07:32Only through constant vigilance and in some cases, exorcism, is he kept at bay.
0:07:44 > 0:07:49When you are placing your hands on the men's faces, what is taking place there?
0:07:59 > 0:08:05Pentecostalism promises people who convert a total break with the past.
0:08:05 > 0:08:12They believe that they can transform bad people into good people by casting out their demons.
0:08:18 > 0:08:23Pastor Marcus has built up a formidable reputation in Rio's prisons.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45There's a line, I think in the New Testament, that says, "When I was sick, you comforted me.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49"When I was in prison, you visited me."
0:08:49 > 0:08:54I've been in a few prisons in my time, but that one is a black hole from hell.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57SHE SINGS
0:08:57 > 0:09:00APPLAUSE
0:09:18 > 0:09:23I'm in Bolivia to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana.
0:09:26 > 0:09:33Like many Catholic churches in South America, the basilica was built over a pre-existing sacred space.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37Native Bolivians worshipped their own gods here
0:09:37 > 0:09:41long before the arrival of Christianity from Europe.
0:09:41 > 0:09:47These days, it provides a unique service, which draws in people from miles around.
0:09:50 > 0:09:57Every Sunday, a priest performs automobile blessings directly outside the cathedral.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59There's an incredible mixture of smells out here.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03Basically, it's an aroma of champagne and diesel.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07And this isn't really the sort of thing one expects to see outside
0:10:07 > 0:10:11your parish church at 10.30 on Sunday morning.
0:10:12 > 0:10:17I'm curious to know why people have travelled here to have their cars blessed.
0:10:27 > 0:10:28That's completely thrown me.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30I've never asked God for a car.
0:10:30 > 0:10:37It may seem unusual to us to ask a priest to bless a car, but here in Bolivia, it is what the people want.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41So the Church offers the service.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43Right, well, as Bolivia has some of the world's
0:10:43 > 0:10:48most dangerous roads, it makes sense to get our vehicle blessed.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55Marvellous.
0:10:57 > 0:10:58Romero!
0:11:00 > 0:11:03Look what I have bought!
0:11:11 > 0:11:17Do you feel that after you've blessed this car, father, that things will go better for us?
0:11:39 > 0:11:42I like this pragmatic side of Catholicism and the way
0:11:42 > 0:11:46it has allowed these colourful, home-grown traditions, to thrive.
0:11:48 > 0:11:55And it's provided me with a great excuse to make some noise and crack open the bubbly!
0:12:14 > 0:12:18Johannesburg suffers from one of the worst crime rates in the world.
0:12:18 > 0:12:23In the inner-city district of Hillbrow, dozens of new Christian churches
0:12:23 > 0:12:28escape up here to find respite on a patch of wasteland above the city.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33Here we are. Here we are.
0:12:37 > 0:12:44Every Friday evening up here on this mound, the 12th Apostolic Church meet.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46And they meet for a prayer vigil.
0:12:46 > 0:12:51No-one's turned up yet. I was assured they'd all be here at three, and it's about half past five now.
0:12:52 > 0:12:58The 12th Apostolic Church was founded in South Africa in the 1940s.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02They broke away from the Protestant mainstream to create their own
0:13:02 > 0:13:07African Church, with its own African reading of the Bible.
0:13:07 > 0:13:12- Jesus is my number one, Jesus. ALL:- He is my number one.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15- Jesus... ALL:- He is my number one...
0:13:15 > 0:13:22As night falls, the atmosphere becomes more and more spiritually charged.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24THE SPEAK IN TONGUES
0:13:24 > 0:13:28Pentecostal Christians believe in a phenomenon called speaking in tongues.
0:13:28 > 0:13:36The idea comes from writing in the Bible but says that after Jesus was crucified, the Holy spirit
0:13:36 > 0:13:41came into his followers and they began speaking in other languages, or tongues.
0:13:41 > 0:13:47The time when this happened became known as Pentecost.
0:13:47 > 0:13:54In Africa, where spirits are very real presences to many people, I'm not surprised to find
0:13:54 > 0:13:59that this new Christian church puts the Holy spirit centre-stage.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02And even relies on it for protection.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07What's it like living in Hillbrow.
0:14:07 > 0:14:12It is a very rough place, to be frank.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16There's a lot of criminality and stuff like that.
0:14:16 > 0:14:22But we're not living in fear because the spirit is the armour of God, protecting us.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26- Any time, to us, we don't mind. - Is the church growing?
0:14:26 > 0:14:29Very big, yes.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33People come to this church because
0:14:33 > 0:14:35its spiritual milk.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38There is the word and there is the healing.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40There is power.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43There is light.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47So this church is based on the power and presence of the Holy Spirit?
0:14:47 > 0:14:49- Yes.- OK.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?
0:14:51 > 0:14:54- Yes.- You don't believe it.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57I do believe. I believe in the Holy Spirit.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01Then when I pray, pray for each and every one of you.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05Jehovah! In the name of Jesus.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09THEY SPEAK IN TONGUES
0:15:17 > 0:15:20In the name of Jesus Christ.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23It's loud, it's noisy, you're being shaken.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26Someone's banging you on the back and tapping the back of your head,
0:15:26 > 0:15:28whispering in your ear and...
0:15:28 > 0:15:30everything's happening at once.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32It's disorientating.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35But on the other hand,
0:15:35 > 0:15:37if you are bold enough to let go,
0:15:37 > 0:15:40you're enveloped by...
0:15:42 > 0:15:44..the Holy Spirit.
0:15:45 > 0:15:53The 12th Apostolic Church believe in the power, the reality, the presence - now - of the Holy Spirit.
0:15:53 > 0:15:59Not as some academic concept, not as some theological notion, but as a reality of God.
0:15:59 > 0:16:05So it's a very energetic, charismatic form of Christianity.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28I'm in Mexico City for what is a huge Catholic gathering
0:16:28 > 0:16:33in honour of Mexico's national saint, the Virgin of Guadalupe.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37It's estimated that there'll be over 5 million pilgrims here today.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41It's one of the biggest gatherings of people in the Americas.
0:16:44 > 0:16:49Pilgrimages like this one are an important feature of many religions.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53These Christians see it as their religious duty to make the journey.
0:16:53 > 0:16:59Pilgrimage sites often grow up around where miraculous events are believed to have occurred.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02Alfonso, why are these people coming in on their knees?
0:17:02 > 0:17:05When you have a problem, you ask to the Virgin for help.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09If she makes you the miracle, so you have to pay for it.
0:17:09 > 0:17:16And the most unusual form is that you have to go by your knees, or walking long distances.
0:17:16 > 0:17:21Some people have crawled for miles in honour of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
0:17:21 > 0:17:27I mean, you are tired, but you are not in pain because your faith is making you get to the place.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32Religion really matters here.
0:17:32 > 0:17:38There are people crying, carrying statues and icons which they've brought from their houses.
0:17:38 > 0:17:43This is testament to a society where Catholicism is immensely
0:17:43 > 0:17:48deep-rooted within the very soul of this country.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51When the Spanish conquered the Americans in the 16th century,
0:17:51 > 0:17:54they converted its people to Christianity.
0:17:54 > 0:17:59The Catholic Church demanded obedience to the Pope in Europe and faith in Jesus as the Son of God
0:17:59 > 0:18:05and Mary as the the viriginal Mother of God.
0:18:05 > 0:18:10Initially, the native Aztecs were resistant to conversion.
0:18:11 > 0:18:18But a vision of the Virgin to an indigenous man ten years after the Spanish conquest changed everything.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21One guy called Juan Diego was walking by the mountains and
0:18:21 > 0:18:25in one moment, suddenly appeared the Virgin of Guadalupe in front of him.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29She's brown-skinned, in front of an indigenous guy,
0:18:29 > 0:18:34so that's like the greatest moment in the religious history of Mexico.
0:18:34 > 0:18:40The apparition of a brown-skinned Virgin to an native Indian kick-started the mass conversion
0:18:40 > 0:18:43of the indigenous population and in an extraordinary turn
0:18:43 > 0:18:49of events, began to unite Indians and mixed blood mestizos under the banner of Catholicism.
0:19:06 > 0:19:13I joined the crowds packing into the basilica to pay their respects to the Virgin.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15This is like being on the M25 in rush hour!
0:19:17 > 0:19:20Stop-start, stop-start, stop-start.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24HE SINGS
0:19:32 > 0:19:36I never expected an escalator to take me underneath the Virgin of Guadalupe.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59It is extraordinary how a miraculous vision seen by one man
0:19:59 > 0:20:03can alter the religious history of an entire country.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06Lithuania used to have 200,000 Jews.
0:21:06 > 0:21:11They were part of the nine million strong Jewish population of Europe -
0:21:11 > 0:21:16after the Christians, the most important religious group in the Continent.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24The Nazis killed six million across Europe,
0:21:24 > 0:21:27but in Lithuania, 91% were killed,
0:21:27 > 0:21:32both by the German occupiers and the local people, during the Second World War.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35Amongst the hundreds of abandoned synagogues
0:21:35 > 0:21:38is this unusual wooden one.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42I think she's sitting outside her house...
0:21:42 > 0:21:47The key is held by Agrippina, an 82-year-old Orthodox Christian
0:21:47 > 0:21:51who witnessed what happened to the Jews in her village.
0:22:18 > 0:22:24Were there people from this village that took part in the killing?
0:22:53 > 0:22:57Some of the families that did this, are they still here?
0:23:41 > 0:23:44There are still Jews living in Lithuania.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49But I'm going to have to go to the capital, Vilnius, to find them.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58Before the Second World War there were about 100 Jewish synagogues,
0:23:58 > 0:24:01a thriving Jewish community, here in this town.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05But the Second World War decimated that population
0:24:05 > 0:24:08and many of the traditions that went with them.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10There's now only one -
0:24:10 > 0:24:12one - that remains.
0:24:18 > 0:24:23I'm joining the congregation as they prepare for their Friday worship.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28HE CHANTS
0:24:37 > 0:24:39THEY CHANT
0:24:47 > 0:24:51This service is the start of Shabbat, which commemorates the day
0:24:51 > 0:24:54that God rested after creating the Earth.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01Later you will come to my home, and tonight we will have Shabbat...
0:25:01 > 0:25:02- Tonight?- Yes.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05- I'll take you up. I'll come tonight.- Yeah, great.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08- Thank you for your invitation. - Bye-bye.- See you.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35My visit to Vilnius has brought to mind an issue
0:25:35 > 0:25:37that has been troubling me for some time -
0:25:37 > 0:25:43some of the words of the founder of my Protestant faith, Martin Luther.
0:25:43 > 0:25:48He had some fine things to say about
0:25:48 > 0:25:52our understanding of our relationship with God.
0:25:52 > 0:25:56But he also had some very dark things that he said,
0:25:56 > 0:26:00especially about the Jewish race, the Jewish people.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04I was reading this morning, and he said that the Jews were
0:26:04 > 0:26:06"a base, whoring people, that is,
0:26:06 > 0:26:08"no people of God,
0:26:08 > 0:26:10"and their boast of lineage
0:26:10 > 0:26:11"and circumcision and law
0:26:11 > 0:26:14"must be accounted as filth."
0:26:14 > 0:26:19He goes on to say that they should either be set to forced labour,
0:26:19 > 0:26:21or
0:26:21 > 0:26:24banished, exiled, forever.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33Not a very pretty picture, that one.
0:26:33 > 0:26:35Neither graceful nor holy,
0:26:35 > 0:26:37nor loving.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39Nor forgiving.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45And look, you know, if we're going to make this journey,
0:26:46 > 0:26:48we have to confront things like that.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50We can't just pretend they didn't exist,
0:26:50 > 0:26:54and that Christianity is all about Songs Of Praise and lisping vicars
0:26:54 > 0:26:58and some of the lovely things that it has to offer -
0:26:58 > 0:27:01you know, there are darknesses in its closet.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04I'm going to talk about it tonight.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08And I hope it's all right to talk about it at the Shabbat meal.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16The most painful part of all of this for me
0:27:16 > 0:27:20is that these words of Luther were used by the Christian Nazis
0:27:20 > 0:27:23to justify the Jewish Holocaust.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27Hello, Peter. My lovely neighbour.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30Hello, lovely neighbour. ..Hello. How are you?
0:27:30 > 0:27:33- Very good. Please come in.- Thank you.
0:27:33 > 0:27:34This is my grandfather.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36Shabbat shalom.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39- Shabbat shalom.- Shabbat shalom.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44Before the family can eat, we must ritually wash our hands -
0:27:44 > 0:27:46in silence.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48Mm-mm. Mmm...
0:27:49 > 0:27:52Mmm...mmm...mmm...
0:27:52 > 0:27:53Mm-mm.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55- Mm-mm.- Mmm.- Mm-mm.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58- Amen.- Mmm...!
0:28:02 > 0:28:06So the head of the family is giving to everybody the piece of challah,
0:28:06 > 0:28:10and nobody's allowed to speak till they take the piece of challah.
0:28:10 > 0:28:14You can take it, and the meal normally starts.
0:28:17 > 0:28:22The founder of the Protestant perspective...
0:28:22 > 0:28:26- Yes? - ..said some quite terrible things
0:28:26 > 0:28:30about members of the Jewish faith.
0:28:30 > 0:28:35As a Protestant Christian, I feel guilty about that.
0:28:35 > 0:28:37When can we move on?
0:28:37 > 0:28:42I believe when somebody understands the guilt
0:28:42 > 0:28:45for his own previous generations -
0:28:45 > 0:28:49as soon as this happens, this is the beginning of a new era.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53For example, the Jewish people will never blame somebody,
0:28:53 > 0:28:56but as soon as somebody starts thinking,
0:28:56 > 0:28:59"I feel very bad for what my great-great-grandparents did" -
0:28:59 > 0:29:04as soon as we come to that point, this is the beginning of new relationship.
0:29:04 > 0:29:07OK. We'll shake.
0:29:07 > 0:29:09- I hope you... - Shalom, shalom, shalom.
0:29:09 > 0:29:14So, now I know that in Britain I have got one more friend.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17I need to write your address and when we come, we continue...
0:29:17 > 0:29:20And we can just continue where we left off.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22Yes, yes, yes, yes.
0:29:22 > 0:29:24Wow!
0:29:24 > 0:29:26There we go, then.
0:29:52 > 0:29:54Umayyad Mosque?
0:30:02 > 0:30:05We're off to the Umayyad Mosque,
0:30:05 > 0:30:08which is one of the most important mosques in the world.
0:30:08 > 0:30:10It's in the old city of Damascus.
0:30:21 > 0:30:23I'm fascinated by that mosque.
0:30:23 > 0:30:26- Is it your first time to see the mosque?- Yes, it is.
0:30:26 > 0:30:29Is it your first time that you see a mosque?
0:30:29 > 0:30:33No, I've seen lots of mosques but none of them have seemed quite so ancient.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39I want to learn more about what happens inside a mosque.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42What are the main countries where the visitors come from?
0:30:42 > 0:30:43All over the world.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48Islam is the second largest religion in the world,
0:30:48 > 0:30:50with at least a billion followers.
0:30:50 > 0:30:54Literally, Islam means "submission to the will of God".
0:30:55 > 0:31:00After it was founded in 632 in what is now Saudi Arabia,
0:31:00 > 0:31:02it spread rapidly.
0:31:03 > 0:31:05When the Prophet Muhammad died, many of his followers
0:31:05 > 0:31:10felt that a new leader should come from the Prophet's family.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13This group became the Shi'a Muslims.
0:31:13 > 0:31:17Today, Shi'a Muslims do not recognise the authority
0:31:17 > 0:31:20of elected Muslim leaders.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23Instead, they follow the teaching of a line of imams
0:31:23 > 0:31:27who they believe are elected by God.
0:31:27 > 0:31:31Sunni Muslims believe that after the Prophet's death,
0:31:31 > 0:31:33a new leader should be elected by his followers.
0:31:33 > 0:31:38Today, they make up over 85% of Muslims.
0:31:38 > 0:31:42Having followed different leaders for hundreds of years,
0:31:42 > 0:31:47there are differences between how the two groups practise their faith.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51But they both share the same basic Islamic beliefs.
0:31:55 > 0:32:01What is the most important point of Islam, for you?
0:32:01 > 0:32:05It's to believe in God, in angels, in prophets,
0:32:05 > 0:32:11in books and destiny - the good and bad, from God.
0:32:11 > 0:32:16That's it. Once you believe in these five, you are a good Muslim.
0:32:16 > 0:32:18But that makes ME a good Muslim.
0:32:18 > 0:32:20Yeah - if you believe in God and the angels
0:32:20 > 0:32:22and the books and the prophets,
0:32:22 > 0:32:24including Prophet Muhammad.
0:32:24 > 0:32:30- Once you try to learn, you will come to a point that you accept it.- Mmm.
0:32:31 > 0:32:34Where is the focus of prayer?
0:32:34 > 0:32:38Any place you pray in is the correct place,
0:32:38 > 0:32:44but your prayer should be made facing direction of Mecca.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47- East. - No, which is south from Damascus.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51It's east from UK, west from India,
0:32:51 > 0:32:55- south from here and north from Australia.- It is.
0:32:55 > 0:32:59So, Mecca is the centre of the world.
0:32:59 > 0:33:03Why, when a Muslim man prays -
0:33:03 > 0:33:07he goes down on his knees, he leans his face forward,
0:33:07 > 0:33:10he puts his hands on the ground then his forehead on the ground?
0:33:10 > 0:33:12Every Muslim, making the prayer,
0:33:12 > 0:33:18should have seven bones touching the floor.
0:33:18 > 0:33:21The forehead, two hands,
0:33:21 > 0:33:24two knees, two feet.
0:33:24 > 0:33:30- OK.- And this is a teaching by the Prophet Muhammad, who said,
0:33:30 > 0:33:33"Pray as you saw me praying."
0:33:33 > 0:33:36You start the prayer like this,
0:33:36 > 0:33:40as if you are just throwing everything else of your worries
0:33:40 > 0:33:45and interests of your world behind you,
0:33:45 > 0:33:48and say, "God is greater".
0:33:48 > 0:33:49Allahu Akbar.
0:33:49 > 0:33:51- Allahu Akbar.- And then...
0:33:51 > 0:33:54Allahu Akbar. God is greater...
0:33:54 > 0:33:56Then you go down.
0:33:56 > 0:34:01Down here, you have to have your hands,
0:34:01 > 0:34:07your feet, and then your nose and forehead touching the ground.
0:34:08 > 0:34:10Allahu Akbar.
0:34:10 > 0:34:12MUEZZIN CHANTS
0:34:41 > 0:34:42Coming from the West,
0:34:42 > 0:34:47I had always thought of Ethiopia as a place of great hardship.
0:34:47 > 0:34:50I want to find out how the world's biggest religions
0:34:50 > 0:34:52provide for their people
0:34:52 > 0:34:56in the face of repeated droughts and subsequent famines.
0:34:58 > 0:35:02We set off to the northern province of Tigray.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08Tigray was the sight of the famine in the early 1980s
0:35:08 > 0:35:11that shaped my entire impression of Ethiopia.
0:35:13 > 0:35:15I am nervous of what I will find.
0:35:15 > 0:35:20I am certainly not prepared for a place of such spectacular beauty.
0:35:22 > 0:35:27The North Ethiopian Highlands are just so, so beautiful.
0:35:27 > 0:35:28So beautiful.
0:35:32 > 0:35:33In the valley of Negash,
0:35:33 > 0:35:36we stop at the first Muslim settlement
0:35:36 > 0:35:39founded in sub-Saharan Africa.
0:35:40 > 0:35:441,300 years ago, the Prophet Muhammad's daughter
0:35:44 > 0:35:48and 80 of his followers fled here from persecution in Mecca.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51There have been Muslims here ever since.
0:35:53 > 0:35:57I join the community elders here for a special prayer meeting
0:35:57 > 0:36:00which takes place in a house beside the mosque.
0:36:03 > 0:36:05CHANTING
0:36:09 > 0:36:13The ceremony starts with the roasting of coffee beans.
0:36:24 > 0:36:29Has there ever been a time when your prayers have not been answered,
0:36:29 > 0:36:34because there is so much suffering, there is a lot of pain in the world?
0:37:02 > 0:37:07This teaching's a challenge to my belief in a benevolent God,
0:37:07 > 0:37:09and to my expectations of Ethiopia.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14I mean, to be honest I wasn't really looking forward to coming here.
0:37:15 > 0:37:18I felt that I would be arriving in a land where
0:37:18 > 0:37:23I would be constantly confronted with sorrow,
0:37:23 > 0:37:26and with erm...
0:37:26 > 0:37:31..with things that I would find upsetting.
0:37:33 > 0:37:38And I wasn't really looking forward to being tested in that way.
0:37:40 > 0:37:44But being here is... quite, quite different.
0:38:04 > 0:38:06I'm in Bangkok in Thailand
0:38:06 > 0:38:09where Buddhism is the official state religion.
0:38:11 > 0:38:16But what I want to find out about is the essence of Buddhism itself.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18It actually originated in India
0:38:18 > 0:38:23and the Buddha was not a god but mortal, an Indian prince
0:38:23 > 0:38:28who claimed the roots of human suffering were our selfish desires.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31Desires are just illusions, he said.
0:38:31 > 0:38:37They can never be satisfied because the world changes all the time.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41Instead we should cease to strive and detach ourselves
0:38:41 > 0:38:43from people and things.
0:38:43 > 0:38:48That was the only true road to an everlasting state of bliss.
0:38:50 > 0:38:54The way to enlightenment was through meditation, good deeds and,
0:38:54 > 0:38:59as in most religions, the adherence to a long list of dos and don'ts.
0:39:01 > 0:39:03To refrain from taking life,
0:39:03 > 0:39:06to refrain from taking that which is not given,
0:39:06 > 0:39:10to refrain from sensual misconduct, to refrain from lying,
0:39:10 > 0:39:14to refrain from intoxicants which lead to loss of mindfulness.
0:39:14 > 0:39:16Then there are three additional precepts
0:39:16 > 0:39:19which are to refrain from eating at the wrong time,
0:39:19 > 0:39:23one should only eat between sunrise and noon,
0:39:23 > 0:39:25to refrain from dancing,
0:39:25 > 0:39:28using jewellery and going to shows.
0:39:28 > 0:39:35The last one is to refrain from using a high, luxurious bed.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40It's not that high, really, is it?
0:39:43 > 0:39:44I'll turn over now.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08Next morning I visit one of Bangkok's biggest temples
0:40:08 > 0:40:10to see Buddhism in practice.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17Today is Ordination Day, the culmination
0:40:17 > 0:40:20of a three to six month period for boys and young men
0:40:20 > 0:40:24spent learning how to control their desires.
0:40:30 > 0:40:34I'm struck by how much daily life is integrated here.
0:40:34 > 0:40:39In my own tradition, this would mean life behind closed doors.
0:40:39 > 0:40:41In Thailand, it's different.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44It seems the monks can come and go at will.
0:40:51 > 0:40:55In the complex of lanes behind the temple, I found a senior monk
0:40:55 > 0:40:58who could answer some of my questions.
0:40:58 > 0:41:02What I find very interesting is that a young man can become a monk
0:41:02 > 0:41:06for three months and then he can leave and have a family
0:41:06 > 0:41:10and then maybe later in life he can pick that up again.
0:41:10 > 0:41:12- Yes.- It seems very fluid.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15Of course, Buddhism is a part of community.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18In Thailand, we believe that if you are not ordained,
0:41:18 > 0:41:22a gentleman is not ordained, you are still considered as
0:41:22 > 0:41:25uncooked, you are still considered as raw.
0:41:25 > 0:41:32In that sense, your mind or your spirituality is not well trained.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35That's why in Thailand they believe that if you go and ask
0:41:35 > 0:41:40for someone's hand for marriage, they will ask you first criteria is
0:41:40 > 0:41:42are you ordained? Have you ordained?
0:41:42 > 0:41:46Only then they will consider to give your daughter because if you
0:41:46 > 0:41:50are not ordained yet, you don't know how to take care of the daughter yet.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53In that sense, the monastery plays a great role
0:41:53 > 0:41:58in terms of giving spiritual training for them.
0:41:58 > 0:42:00Make them ready to face society.
0:42:04 > 0:42:07The climax of the ordination comes
0:42:07 > 0:42:12when the abbot leads the monks three times around the temple.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19For me, the sight of the thousands of city families following them
0:42:19 > 0:42:26in quiet devotion is a sign of the faith in the Buddhist message.
0:42:26 > 0:42:30The Buddhist philosophy is that suffering comes from desire,
0:42:30 > 0:42:38from our continual craving for power, money, sex...
0:42:38 > 0:42:44and a thousand other worms that infest our hearts and our souls.
0:42:44 > 0:42:48It is that continual state of craving
0:42:48 > 0:42:51that the Buddhists seek to rid themselves of.
0:42:54 > 0:42:56We misunderstand in the West.
0:42:56 > 0:43:01We see Buddhism as a strange, rather ephemeral, slightly flowery thing
0:43:01 > 0:43:06that someone called Samantha has taken to and lives in Totnes.
0:43:06 > 0:43:11In the East, this is the main religion.
0:43:11 > 0:43:15Between 350 and 400 million people are Buddhists.
0:43:20 > 0:43:24I can't help but see an unexpected connection with Shinto here.
0:43:24 > 0:43:28Just as Shinto wards off the chaos of nature,
0:43:28 > 0:43:33so Buddhism teaches how to order the chaos within our hearts.
0:43:49 > 0:43:53The Daigo temple of Shingon Buddhism was built on a sacred spring
0:43:53 > 0:43:56in the ninth century and I've been allowed to peek
0:43:56 > 0:44:01into the austere daily lives of the novice monks who train there.
0:44:08 > 0:44:12I immediately noticed that these monks are finding
0:44:12 > 0:44:16a distinctive way to avert chaos in the mind and in the heart.
0:44:25 > 0:44:30Here is the theology of order in operation.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35Everything is timed.
0:44:35 > 0:44:41Everything is worked out to the very last detail.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46I think after a while of living here you would
0:44:46 > 0:44:51fall into the pattern and it would become immensely reassuring.
0:45:02 > 0:45:04At the heart of Buddhism
0:45:04 > 0:45:09there is a way to inner tranquillity and ultimately nirvana.
0:45:09 > 0:45:13There is no God, only a path to enlightenment.
0:45:13 > 0:45:15And for the monks here, it's an austere one.
0:45:47 > 0:45:50DRUM RHYTHMS AND CHANTING
0:46:47 > 0:46:49Right in the heart of Bangkok,
0:46:49 > 0:46:53there's an open-air shrine to a faith where office workers, students
0:46:53 > 0:46:56and tourists can just pop in
0:46:56 > 0:47:00at any time of the day to pay their respects and make a prayer.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03You can offer flowers or release some birds,
0:47:03 > 0:47:07or if you're really flush, commission a dance.
0:47:11 > 0:47:13This shrine is in Thailand,
0:47:13 > 0:47:17which is a Buddhist country, but it is not a Buddhist shrine.
0:47:17 > 0:47:20It is a Hindu shrine.
0:47:21 > 0:47:28What I love about this shrine is that here, on one of the busiest intersections in the city,
0:47:28 > 0:47:30is one of the busiest shrines in the city.
0:47:31 > 0:47:37I decided to find out what religion the people coming here to pray belonged to.
0:47:37 > 0:47:41- Are you Hindu or Buddhist?- Buddhist.
0:47:41 > 0:47:44But that's a Hindu god.
0:48:14 > 0:48:16I'm off to Calcutta in India
0:48:16 > 0:48:21to find out more about the role of the gods in the Hindu religion.
0:48:21 > 0:48:30Calcutta is one of India's greatest cities and three-quarters of its 15 million inhabitants are Hindu.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38I'm here at the high point of the religious calendar,
0:48:38 > 0:48:41when Calcutta's citizens, especially the women,
0:48:41 > 0:48:43are in full celebration mode.
0:48:43 > 0:48:47They're celebrating a nine-day act of reverence, or puja,
0:48:47 > 0:48:49to the goddess Durga.
0:48:49 > 0:48:53But while the women dance, on the banks of the city's river,
0:48:53 > 0:48:57the sacred Ganges, there are men whose sole occupation
0:48:57 > 0:49:01is to gather a holy ingredient for the festival.
0:49:05 > 0:49:12It is used to construct literally thousands of gods and goddesses.
0:49:20 > 0:49:22Over the nine days of the festival,
0:49:22 > 0:49:27the clay deities are brought to life in street shrines known as pandal,
0:49:27 > 0:49:33where the people come to have their wishes blessed by the now living gods.
0:49:33 > 0:49:37There are these makeshift shrines on every single street corner.
0:49:37 > 0:49:42All the people here are going around from shrine to shrine and
0:49:42 > 0:49:45there's a great deal of competition between the shrines
0:49:45 > 0:49:48to see which one is considered to be the best.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54Isn't that great?
0:49:54 > 0:49:56All of that is a recent construction.
0:49:56 > 0:49:58That in fact is a shrine.
0:49:59 > 0:50:03It's just such an incredible piece of design.
0:50:03 > 0:50:07A ship in the middle of this backstreet of Calcutta.
0:50:08 > 0:50:11But every shrine depicts the same scenario -
0:50:11 > 0:50:14the victory of the goddess Durga
0:50:14 > 0:50:15over the demon Mahisha.
0:50:18 > 0:50:22Hindus believe in one god - all the gods and goddesses
0:50:22 > 0:50:27are manifestations of this ultimate reality, Brahma.
0:50:27 > 0:50:32But I want to find out if these shrines have a deeper meaning.
0:50:32 > 0:50:36I've asked my old friend, Lakshmi Singh, to explain how
0:50:36 > 0:50:39these shrines relate to the mysteries
0:50:39 > 0:50:44of the vast number of inter-related Hindu gods and goddesses.
0:50:44 > 0:50:46The central figure
0:50:46 > 0:50:48of the whole of the puja
0:50:48 > 0:50:50- is Durga.- Is Durga.
0:50:50 > 0:50:55In these nine days, she changes from one energy to the other energy,
0:50:55 > 0:50:58from one form to the other form, like a woman,
0:50:58 > 0:51:03from a little girl, the daughter, she becomes the sister,
0:51:03 > 0:51:08she begins the wife, she becomes the mother, she becomes the grandmother.
0:51:08 > 0:51:15So it's the depiction of my life, my story, in different forms and how to go about it.
0:51:15 > 0:51:18But it's not about a woman.
0:51:18 > 0:51:21It's about the energy, the electricity
0:51:21 > 0:51:24which sustains everything here, in every form.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27What do you think when you look at this, Lakshmi?
0:51:27 > 0:51:30I must have control over myself.
0:51:30 > 0:51:35I must get rid of the negative side of me.
0:51:35 > 0:51:38To cut that green demon out.
0:51:38 > 0:51:40Get it out of me.
0:51:40 > 0:51:42A big fight is happening.
0:51:42 > 0:51:45But this is always work in progress, surely?
0:51:45 > 0:51:47All the time.
0:51:47 > 0:51:49So then me...
0:51:49 > 0:51:53I have to slay my demons
0:51:53 > 0:51:56before I'm able to understand
0:51:56 > 0:52:01wisdom, which is the goddess depicted on the left of the Durga.
0:52:04 > 0:52:10On the ninth day, women all over the city say goodbye to their mother goddesses.
0:52:12 > 0:52:16What's happening is that all the married women are gathering on stage
0:52:16 > 0:52:18and putting vermilion on the goddess Durga.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21They're also putting it on each other.
0:52:21 > 0:52:25LOUD DRUMMING
0:52:36 > 0:52:39But as the nine-day festival comes to an end,
0:52:39 > 0:52:42the clay figures are taken on their final journey.
0:52:46 > 0:52:47Throughout the night,
0:52:47 > 0:52:51some 20,000 Durga goddesses from all over the city
0:52:51 > 0:52:53are dragged through the streets
0:52:53 > 0:52:56back to the Ganges from whence they came.
0:52:56 > 0:52:59- Here we go. - Yeah, go.- Here we go.
0:53:39 > 0:53:44I'm beginning to understand that for Hindus, this life represents only a
0:53:44 > 0:53:51brief period of continuity in the eternal journey of the soul through countless deaths and rebirths.
0:53:53 > 0:53:58Such devotion is driven by the hope of your soul ultimately
0:53:58 > 0:54:03becoming one with Brahma, God, the ultimate reality.
0:54:19 > 0:54:24Religion in the Far East of Asia is often expressed very differently to Europe.
0:54:24 > 0:54:30It seems that people find many different ways to live out their relationship with God or the divine.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36I'm in Shingu, in south-east Japan,
0:54:36 > 0:54:40to wash the preparations for tonight's Oto Matsuri Fire Festival,
0:54:40 > 0:54:42which is celebrated by local people
0:54:42 > 0:54:45at the beginning of the new lunar year.
0:54:48 > 0:54:52These men are in effect saying goodbye to the old year.
0:54:52 > 0:54:55They're washing away the sins of the last one.
0:54:55 > 0:54:57Do you feel cleansed?
0:55:02 > 0:55:06- Are you ready for the fire? - We forget about woman now.
0:55:06 > 0:55:07You forget about women now?
0:55:07 > 0:55:10Baby. Baby.
0:55:12 > 0:55:16- Like a spirit baby. - Where does impurity come from?
0:55:34 > 0:55:39Why do ordinary middle-class citizens in this advanced country
0:55:39 > 0:55:42subject themselves to such discomfort?
0:55:42 > 0:55:45But I soon discover that for the men of Shingu,
0:55:45 > 0:55:49this is only the beginning of a big day of rituals.
0:55:50 > 0:55:55Unlike my faith, in Shinto, there is no single god to pray to.
0:55:55 > 0:55:58I'm told there's thousands of them.
0:55:58 > 0:56:04Today each participant prepares a torch on which he writes personal messages.
0:56:05 > 0:56:08What does this torch wish for?
0:56:14 > 0:56:20The cleansing of sins, the prayers to the spirits, it all sounds very elemental.
0:56:20 > 0:56:24Clearly this is a very special day in the year.
0:56:24 > 0:56:26And I'm hoping to find out why
0:56:26 > 0:56:30at tonight's fire festival on a hill overlooking the town.
0:56:30 > 0:56:352,000 men will assemble at a shrine below a sacred rock.
0:56:35 > 0:56:39It's known locally as a kamikura, a landing place for the gods,
0:56:40 > 0:56:45and what they do there sounds like it could be a bit of an ordeal.
0:56:48 > 0:56:53As night falls, there's a constant stream of arrivals at the rock.
0:56:58 > 0:57:00It's like Friday night in Reading down there.
0:57:04 > 0:57:07The ceremonial torch arrives and if they can stop
0:57:07 > 0:57:11fighting over it, the lighting of everyone else's can begin.
0:57:15 > 0:57:17And the purpose of the torches,
0:57:17 > 0:57:21with their personal wishes, now becomes apparent.
0:57:21 > 0:57:28Your torch is lit and then the smoke from that torch rises up to the gods
0:57:28 > 0:57:31with your wishes for the new lunar year.
0:57:34 > 0:57:39But that's only the prelude to the grand climax, when everyone is
0:57:39 > 0:57:44physically penned into the sacred space behind the temple gate.
0:57:44 > 0:57:46The men in charge of the gate have arrived.
0:57:46 > 0:57:50They are now pushing everyone back behind the temple gate
0:57:50 > 0:57:53and once everyone is inside, they'll shut the gate.
0:57:53 > 0:57:54There's fighting breaking out again.
0:57:54 > 0:57:58And then they will open the gate and there'll be this mad rush.
0:58:09 > 0:58:11It's mayhem down there.
0:58:11 > 0:58:12In fact, it's absolute chaos.
0:58:12 > 0:58:17And that's a bit of a shock to see in such an ordered society as Japan.
0:58:20 > 0:58:24That is a very ancient ritual and it's tied to a very primitive
0:58:24 > 0:58:28belief, that in the beginning, there was chaos,
0:58:28 > 0:58:33and that every year, the world has to be created anew.
0:58:48 > 0:58:51Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:51 > 0:58:54E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk