up end the caste system embedded in hinduism spirituality.hey are challenging the fabric of indian society. hindus believe in reincarnation. the idea that after death we are reborn again and again. each rebirth is determined by the karma that you accumulate from your previous life. karma can be based on things like your words, thoughts or deeds. but it can also be affected by hindu notions of purity and pollution. if i achieve enough good karma, this my next birth will be higher than this one, until finally i achieve liberation, moksha from the ikele of birth and rebirth. karma can work the other way too, if i accumulate bad karma, i will have to pay the consequence of that in the next life. there's no such thing as hell in hinduism, but there is something that's almost as bad. i could be reborn as an untouchable. the untouchables, also known as the dalit occupy the lowest levels in india's caste system. the brahmen are at the top, the untouchables at the very bottom. the untouchables take care of society's most polluting tasks, cleaning the

in hinduism there are a lot of things that can pollute you. nothing more than dead body.he dead bodies. entire caste is responsible for the disposal. but because they touch those bodies continually more and more polluted. not only outcast from society but according to hinduism, when they die born back into the untouchable caste. eternity of suffering in social positions. but perfect example of what we were talking about. just as many hindus will say if you're untouchable, it's because you did something in previous life to deserve it. part of religion. just as many would say no our religion is about liberation and freedom and justice and caste system is against that. that's the thing, religion is whatever a religious person says it is. >> fascinating. you must love doing this. i'm sure you learn a lot. >> dream job. i can't believe you guys pay me for it. >> don't want to jinx you -- not you guys, you're one of us now. welcome. thank you so much. don't miss original series "believer," premiers sunday night 10:00 p.m. on cnn. we'll be right back. ♪ (vo) do not go gentle int

are instructed from a very young age in the religion that he preached, vaishnavism, an offshoot of hinduisming to their beliefs they worship only one god, follow a vegetarian diet, and reject the caste system. and here, the doctrine includes this special art form. this form of classical dance is now recognised by the authorities as a genre in its own right. many of these monks have performed around the world. that was amazing. thank you very much indeed. i know you spend a lifetime learning the skills of this, but can i have a go, can i try? arms through here...? very good. thank you so much. one, two, three, four. there are 64 positions in this classical dance, and i'm having trouble with the first two. it's very difficult. one, two, three... without the grace, as well. no grace whatsoever. he makes it look so easy. and it's incredibly difficult. i'm going to leave it to the experts. sometimes you have to give up and let them carry on. an exquisite performance. but there's one problem, one very big problem. and that is that this island may simply not exist in just a few decades time. hard

you know, hinduism in many ways is obsessed with issues of purity and pollution.t of indian society is predicated on, you know, how polluted you are as an individual. and with the aghori do by rejecting that notion, is that -- their argument that is there is no caste system. like, nothing should separate us. and so, yes, some of them take part in these displays where they do things, like, for instance, eat dead people. >> seth: uh-huh. >> and others express their faith by opening orphanages or taking care of leprosy patients. so there is something really beautiful about the belief system itself. >> seth: and in general is it safe to say that what you're finding of these very disparate religions is how much is similar at the core of all them? >> i mean, yeah, i don't want to sound, like, too fluffy or anything. but, i mean, if you spend enough time studying the religions of the world, if you immerse yourself in these different faith communities, you can't help but recognize how beyond -- you know, the external stuff, the myths and the metaphors -- that ultimately t

. >> so they are a 500-year-old sect of hinduism, it is just an illusion so to prove that belief thesed of holy men, gugurus will go around and take theatrical plays of you see i'm covered in ashes of the dead, they will eat decaying corpses to suggest nothing can separate you from god. the idea is beautiful, but i think a way that a number of these holy men express it are problematic. >> you ate something before, what did you eat? >> i ate a piece of a brain. >> from a corpse. >> from a corpse. >> a lot of these live in the kremation grounds along the banks of the river, they believe the lord will provide so a lot of what they eat is in the cremation ground. some of that is left overs of cremated corpses. >> what i discover is that there are many others who have thrown off some of the more sort of thee theatrical expressions by doing other things like opening or n orphan ageage orphanages, it may seem frightening and scary and foreign but when you really break down into it you find you have a lot more in common with these people than you actually think you did. >> they take care of le

. ♪ ♪ >>> i came to india to do a show about hinduism. about karma. reincarnation. the cast system.ndu sect called the igori. >> what's happening now? >> i don't know. >> that's when things got out of hand.

these are aghori gurus, they reject the concept of purity in hinduism, so they take part in these spectacular so they'll eat rotted corpses, feces, drink water from the g g ganges and do anything to shock the system so that anything you think pollutes you is pure illusion. i was there to learn from them and i think this guy immediately thought i was there to be his disciple. as soon as i sat down, he was like you belong to me. you are mine. eat this. drink this. and so i -- >> did you eat anything? >> i -- i ate what he gave me. >> doounow what it was? >> i do know what it was, yes. a piece of a -- of a corpse's brain. it was a brain. yeah. a little piece of brain. >> okay. so -- so, that's one episode. where could you possibly take us after this? >> the important thing to understand is underneath those practices is a beautiful belief expressed in other ways, which is taking care of orphans, or leprosy patients, people because of the cast system in india don't have anyone to care for this religious group does go out and care for them. that's the point of this episode. >> so you see beauty in

they are a 500-year-old hindu sect that rejected the concepts of purity and pollution of hinduism. way they prove that is taking part of theatrical displays of self-pollution, for instance covering themselves in the ashes of dead or consuming rotted meat. everything that would appal a mainstream hindu. what's amazing is there are other agori who have taken that belief, but put it in to practice a different way by, for instance, opening hospitals to take care of leprosy patients or taking care of low cast or even outcast children. in every one of those episodes, what you are going to see is a religion that seems frightening, exotic and foreign, but once you become one of them, what you recognize is it's not as scary as you thought and perhaps you, yourself, share some of those beliefs. >> what were you thinking at that moment? >> i was pretty scared for my life. you know, he threatened to cut off my head and throw me into the gangi's if i ask one more question, which i'm sure you have experienced occasionally with a guest. i'm 100% in. that was the deal i made with the communities.

for a hindu sect, concept is because they reject notions of purity and pollution, fundamental to hinduism want to shock the system self-polluting. live off cremation grounds, cover themselves in ashes of the dead. eat rotted bits of meat. corpses, what is left. all of this to say, there is no such thing as pollution, purity, it's all an illusion. >> used to read a lot of joseph campbell. >> me too. >> and his writing about commonalities between various religious faiths. is that something you found in your travels? >> i wanted to be joseph campbell ever since i was 14. this is -- i came up with the idea of this show at 16 or 17 years old. i'm not kidding. this is what i want to do. i think it's the same thing. i learned in my studies and travels while we all speak different religious languages we're expressing the same faith, sentiment behind it is the same. what campbell was staying, myths and metaphors telling the same stories. >> journey of the hero. >> exactly. what the show is about. trying to do by immersing myself in various religions, those often demonized or misunderstood. even th

in hinduism, there are a lot of things that can pollute you, but nothing is more polluting than a dead rid of those, so an entire untouchab untouchab untouchable caste is responsible. not only are they outcast from society, but according to traditional hindu theology, when they die, they will be reborn back into this untouchable class. so it's an eternity of this kind of suffering in social positions. but this is, i think, a perfect example of what we were talking about, is that just as there are many hindus who will say if you're an untouchable, it's because you did something in a previous life to deserve it. it's part of our religion. there are just as many hindus who would say our religion is about liberation and freedom and justice, and the caste system is against that. that's the thing is that a religion is whatever a religious person says it is. >> it's fascinating. >> it's a dream job. i can't believe you guys pay me for it. >> i don't want to jinx you. it's not you guys. you're one of us now. welcome. thank you so much. don't miss cnn's new original series, "believer" with reza

concept is because they reject notions of purity and pollution, which is fundamentalfundamental to hinduismhock the system by self-polluting. they cover themselves in the ashes of the dead. that's what i've got all over me. they eat rotted bits of meat. they sometimes will eat corpses, what's left on the cremation things. all of this is to basically say there's no such thing as pollution. there's no such thing as pollution. it's all an illusion. >> joseph campbell, a lot of his writing was about sort of commonalities between various religious faiths. is that something you found in your travels? >> i've wanted to be joseph campbell ever since i was 14. >> i camep with the idea of this show when i was like 16, 17 years old. >> is that right? >> i'm not kidding. it's like this is what i want to do. i think it's the same thing. i've learned in my studies and travels that while we all speak different religious languages, we're expressing the same faith. the sentiment behind it is the same. that's exactly what campbell was saying. he was saying all these myths, all these metaphors, they're essent