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List of games that Buddha would not play

199 points by zdw 5y ago

abhayhegde 5y ago
Very interesting to see Chess in this list. Neither is it pointless nor is it harmful, in my opinion. I fail to see why a game refining the logical thinking should be kept away. I mean the best chess players in the world currently are some of the most disciplined, soft-spoken people.
slater 5y ago
No video games though. Phew! :D
- kortex 5y ago
  I'm thinking he would be a fan of Get over it with Bennett Foddy. It's effectively deterministic with respect to user input (no "rolling dice" rng, just physics). No game board, you aren't physically stepping. Just you and the obstacle course.
- simplicio 5y ago
  Though "no toy bows" would arguably include a bunch of popular video-games. No Skyrim, for example
  - kgwxd 5y ago
    "Ball games" no Rocket League. It's the only form of meditation I practice and I'm sure as hell not going to main Snow Day. I'm going to ignore Buddha on this one.
  - pdw 5y ago
    Curiously, toy swords are OK. Also no objection to dolls or action figures. So Star Wars fans can continue to enjoy their light sabers.
- drclau 5y ago
  Not so fast! 2. The same games played on imaginary boards. [...]
  - crazysim 5y ago
    I'm pretty sure my Xbox has a PCB in it.
- Hamuko 5y ago
  Probably depends on whether or not RNG counts as a "game of throwing dice".
testfoobar 5y ago
Perhaps to escape suffering, one must also escape joy?
- goatlover 5y ago
  Is that desirable? Maybe joy makes the suffering worthwhile. At least for some of us. Maybe even most.
- hackingthelema 5y ago
  I think it's more avoiding clinging to temporary joy. Have you met a person who seems to live in their glory days, clinging to the last time they were happy? Spending their entire life chasing after those first highs? I find it hard to describe people like this as anything but 'suffering'. I would also note that the meditative techniques of the Buddha eventually lead to an experience called the 'jhanas', which are pleasurable all on their own: > Directed thought, singleness of preoccupation, and evaluation act as the causes. When the causes are fully ripe, results will appear — (d) rapture (piti), a compelling sense of fullness and refreshment for body and mind, going straight to the heart, independent of all else; (e) pleasure (sukha), physical ease arising from the body's being still and unperturbed (kaya-passaddhi); mental contentment arising from the mind's being at ease on its own, undistracted, unperturbed, serene, and exultant (citta-passaddhi). (https://accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/lee/inmind.html#jhana https://accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/lee/inmind.html#jhana) There are plenty of joyful feelings in the path the Buddha set forth; spending time in meditation in these altered states of consciousness is part of the path, as I understand it. It's not all as austere as it may seem at first!
drpgq 5y ago
Looks like Jenga is out.
- ModernMech 5y ago
  Here’s a comic of Buddha playing Jenga with other philosophers: https://existentialcomics.com/comic/226 https://existentialcomics.com/comic/226 Also Sorry!: https://existentialcomics.com/comic/102 https://existentialcomics.com/comic/102
  - CamperBob2 5y ago
    Warning: productivity sink. Save versus Procrastination or lose 5 hours
- UnpossibleJim 5y ago
  Dude! If there ain't no Jenga in Nirvana, then there ain't no me in Nirvana!
janosett 5y ago
This reveals a bit how the Buddha, like other religious leaders throughout history, sought to control the behavior of his followers and decide where they should derive their joy from. It feels like this sort of prescriptive thinker is exactly the type of person we should not listen to. Why should we think their moral compass / philosophy is better guided than our own? If a certain form of game is fun and not harming others, why not continue it? Edited: removing “self-important” description as it was unnecessarily negative to make my point
- philtar 5y ago
  I don't think the world Self-Important means what you think it means. While I'm not religious, these are thinkers whose works are probably the longest surviving works of thought. This is just being facetious.
  - janosett 5y ago
    Imagine you think video games are a waste of time, or that a certain food type shouldn’t be eaten because it’s unhealthy or unclean. Those are fine opinions to hold personally, but obviously many people may disagree. The self-importance I meant is when you think your opinions are more important than those of others and try to control their behavior. FWIW— I’ve since edited the post because I think that wording makes it seem unnecessarily negative on my part.
    - andybak 5y ago
      Some people are more perceptive or knowledgable than others. Not all opinions are equal. You can't easily dismiss the idea that one can learn from others. I don't dispute the existence of "false teachers" or the harm done by fossilized belief systems but your argument doesn't convince me that there's not a baby being tossed out with that bathwater. Also - many esoteric or philosophical traditions engage with exactly this problem - the tension between the need for a teacher and the fact that many insights can only be arrived at through personal experience. This dichotomy is a huge part of the millenia old debate on such matters.
- 5y ago
kpmcc 5y ago
I'd like to see a list of games the Buddha would play, as I don't think it would contain anything unless the game somehow pertained to discernment of the nature of suffering or the extinction of the cycle of rebirth.
- saargrin 5y ago
  so Dark Souls basically
  - Trasmatta 5y ago
    Yeah, that's the first one that came to mind. Sekiro as well, which explicitly has Buddhist themes and imagery too. I wouldn't say it's specifically a Buddhist game, but it absolutely has the themes of life, rebirth, and suffering.
  - lelandfe 5y ago
    Planescape: Torment would fit nicely as well
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
  Outer Wilds sounds kinda close actually. With the new DLC I think it might be the best game I've ever played.
  - ycombinete 5y ago
    I cannot play it for longer than 10 minutes without feeling motion sickness
    - AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
      That's a shame. You could try playing it in a smaller window or on a smaller TV I suppose.
      - rendall 5y ago
kragen 5y ago
Some of the context for one version of this list from the Sāmaññaphala Sutta (DN 2) https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/DN/DN02.html https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/DN/DN02.html: “Whereas some contemplatives & brahmans, living off food given in faith, remain addicted to damaging seed and plant life such as these—plants propagated from roots, stems, joints, buddings, and seeds—he abstains from damaging seed and plant life such as these. This, too, is part of his virtue. “Whereas some contemplatives & brahmans, living off food given in faith, remain addicted to consuming stored-up goods such as these—stored-up food, stored-up drinks, stored-up clothing, stored-up vehicles, stored-up bedding, stored-up scents, and stored-up meat—he abstains from consuming stored-up goods such as these. This, too, is part of his virtue. “Whereas some contemplatives & brahmans, living off food given in faith, remain addicted to watching shows such as these—dancing, singing, instrumental music, plays, ballad recitations, hand-clapping, cymbals and drums, magic-lantern scenes, acrobatic and conjuring tricks, elephant fights, horse fights, buffalo fights, bull fights, goat fights, ram fights, cock fights, quail fights; fighting with staves, boxing, wrestling, war-games, roll calls, battle arrays, and regimental reviews—he abstains from watching shows such as these. This, too, is part of his virtue. “Whereas some contemplatives & brahmans, living off food given in faith, remain addicted to heedless and idle games such as these—eight-row chess, ten-row chess, chess in the air, hopscotch, spillikins, dice, stick games, hand-pictures, ball-games, blowing through toy pipes, playing with toy plows, turning somersaults, playing with toy windmills, toy measures, toy chariots, toy bows, guessing letters drawn in the air, guessing thoughts, mimicking deformities—he abstains from heedless and idle games such as these. This, too, is part of his virtue. “Whereas some contemplatives & brahmans, living off food given in faith, remain addicted to high and luxurious furnishings such as these—over-sized couches, couches adorned with carved animals, long-haired coverlets, multi-colored patchwork coverlets, white woolen coverlets, woolen coverlets embroidered with flowers or animal figures, stuffed quilts, coverlets with fringe, silk coverlets embroidered with gems; large woolen carpets; elephant, horse, and chariot rugs, antelope-hide rugs, deer-hide rugs; couches with canopies, couches with red cushions for the head and feet—he abstains from using high and luxurious furnishings such as these. This, too, is part of his virtue. “Whereas some contemplatives & brahmans, living off food given in faith, remain addicted to scents, cosmetics, and means of beautification such as these—rubbing powders into the body, massaging with oils, bathing in perfumed water, kneading the limbs, using mirrors, ointments, garlands, scents, creams, face-powders, mascara, bracelets, head-bands, decorated walking sticks, ornamented water-bottles, swords, fancy sunshades, decorated sandals, turbans, gems, yak-tail whisks, long-fringed white robes—he abstains from using scents, cosmetics, and means of beautification such as these. This, too, is part of his virtue. “Whereas some contemplatives & brahmans, living off food given in faith, remain addicted to talking about lowly topics such as these—talking about kings, robbers, ministers of state; armies, alarms, and battles; food and drink; clothing, furniture, garlands, and scents; relatives; vehicles; villages, towns, cities, the countryside; women and heroes; the gossip of the street and the well; tales of the dead; tales of diversity [philosophical discussions of the past and future], the creation of the world and of the sea, and talk of whether things exist or not—he abstains from talking about lowly topics such as these. This, too, is part of his virtue. “Whereas some contemplatives & brahmans, living off food given in faith, remain addicted to debates such as these—‘You understand this doctrine and discipline? I’m the one who understands this doctrine and discipline. How could you understand this doctrine and discipline? You’re practicing wrongly. I’m practicing rightly. I’m being consistent. You’re not. What should be said first you said last. What should be said last you said first. What you took so long to think out has been refuted. Your doctrine has been overthrown. You’re defeated. Go and try to salvage your doctrine; extricate yourself if you can!’—he abstains from debates such as these. This, too, is part of his virtue. “Whereas some contemplatives & brahmans, living off food given in faith, remain addicted to running messages & errands for people such as these—kings, ministers of state, noble warriors, brahmans, householders, or youths (who say), ‘Go here, go there, take this there, fetch that here’—he abstains from running messages & errands for people such as these. This, too, is part of his virtue. “Whereas some contemplatives & brahmans, living off food given in faith, engage in scheming, persuading, hinting, belittling, & pursuing gain with gain, he abstains from forms of scheming & persuading [improper ways of trying to gain material support from donors] such as these. This, too, is part of his virtue.”
andybak 5y ago
Oddly enough I've been pondering the connection between Buddhism and games for a while now. The concept of "incremental games" and their fundemental pointlessness of the achievements therein brought to mind my layman's understanding of Buddhist teachings about attachment and loss. Also - the presence in a various Buddhist traditions of "pointless tasks done with mindfulness" made me wonder where the line was between "pointless but beneficial" and "pointless and harmful". I tried to engage a Buddhist friend in this discussion but was hampered by my lack of knowledge about Buddhism itself and the partly-formed concepts I was struggling to give some shape to.
- Moodles 5y ago
  I recently somehow fell into a YouTube rabbit hole where this guy was speedrunning Spyro on PS1. It’s a game I used to play as a kid about a purple dragon. Spyro collects gems and kills enemies. It’s pretty fun. I thought it was incredibly pointless to keep speedrunning it day after day, but these two guys were talking in the video about how other games are just cheap thrills, but to them, Spyro meant something more: to strive to be better, to better themselves in life, etc. It got pretty deep. And they were really enjoying themselves. Sometimes frustrated, but often laughing or elated at new times. So positive. Then I realised that if heat death of the universe is our ultimate destiny (and certainly our own death before that), then life really is all about the journey anyway and I suppose nothing is really more meaningful than anything else. I don’t believe in god but I feel if god did exist, it would want us to enjoy our journey and be kind to other people.
  - andybak 5y ago
    > Then I realised that if heat death of the universe is our ultimate destiny (and certainly our own death before that), then life really is all about the journey anyway and I suppose nothing is really more meaningful than anything else. And yet, some activities leave me feeling empty and others feel like they were time well spent. Is that distinction a genuine insight, or just another socially imposed arbitrary judgement?
    - 5y ago
digsmahler 5y ago
Enlightened people, very boring at parties.
- crawfordcomeaux 5y ago
  Mindfully sitting with and finding value in whatever I'm judging as boring has led me to enjoy what I'm experiencing. You're the one boring yourself.
- mxmilkiib 5y ago
  Ajahn Brahm of BSWA is a right laugh. An Aussie from England, the story goes that went to all Buddhist temples in London until they found the happiest bunch of monastics (Thai forest, eventually under Ajahn Chah). Fresh NYE stream; https://youtu.be/b4Sqj4h4Jds https://youtu.be/b4Sqj4h4Jds Ajahn Sujato, who works on Sutta Central, is under them in the same lineage.
guerrilla 5y ago
As with everything in Buddhism, it's important to double check the philology on this (if anyone has done that specific work yet) because as with many other things a lot of it was added later for various reasons. Not wise to assume we're talking about the historical Buddha here rather than the character Buddha without verifying that.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
asiachick 5y ago
I had friends who wouldn't play poker because the entire point is to learn to lie/deceive better than others.
- omarfarooq 5y ago
  You have outstanding friends.
- devinmcafee 5y ago
  This seems like an overly simplistic way of looking at poker, and I feel is not a fair judgement of the game. The game is not just about deception. To play poker (and win) you need many skills: - mastery over your own body, specifically the ability to restrain outward displays of emotion related to the hand you were dealt or the cards being drawn - the ability to calculate probabilities, because you have limited information and do not know the cards others have, you must assess the current situation and attempt to make decisions using a probabilistic model - budgeting resources. Your chips are a finite resource and wasting them or not betting enough will affect your future hands - psychology. You have to learn the way your opponents think. You learn their tells, behavior, and strategies, and have to practice empathy to determine their behavior in a given scenario That being said, its fine that your friends don't like the game, to each their own! I just personally don't think it's fair to view it through such a narrow lens. *Edited for formatting
- aidenn0 5y ago
  I wonder if they would be okay with poker variants where bluffing is less important like Chicago at a full table?
- antifa 5y ago
  I don't play poker because literally nobody wants to play without gambling.
philosopher1234 5y ago
This is almost certainly superstitious and neurotic, not wise.
tartoran 5y ago
Would Buddha play Mahjong? How about Go or Chess?
- pdw 5y ago
  Chess is played on a board of 8 rows, so that's out.
  - sundarurfriend 5y ago
    As the article mentions, these are thought to refer to particular games ("ashtapada" = (game of) eight steps, "dasapada" = ten steps). From the description (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtapada https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtapada), they sound like casual games somewhat similar to Ludo/Parcheesi.
selfhifive 5y ago
I'm tempted to think that Buddha made some rules just to challenge his disciples and see if they actually understood the message. Like the Zen monks who love messing with their students. Except some knobhead took it seriously and remembered it and his disciples then codified it.
- jrootabega 5y ago
  I'm confident they were mired in superstition, like all cultures, and since we only focus on what has been tested and distilled over time, there is a tendency to think they were Ancient Wise Ones Without Flaws.
- godDLL 5y ago
  You're most probably right, to a degree. If it were a knobhead that codified it, though it would have been some rare kind, where his result is good enough to get the message through, if you stop to think about it for five minutes. That's an improbably good result, for a knobhead. So, maybe no knobheads involved. :)
  - selfhifive 5y ago
    I'm joking. Buddhism involves the ever moving mind so any game that forces you to stop in the moment is against the philosophy. It's the case that when asked what is buddhism one must raise his fist; when asked what is the meaning of life one must say a cherry tree; the response isn't important but that there be no stopping of the mind is of the essence. Like where should I put my mind? Nowhere. That kind of thing.
dang 5y ago
One past thread: List of games that Buddha would not play - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24136469 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24136469 - Aug 2020 (9 comments)
satisfice 5y ago
I am glad that the Buddha said nothing against Sniper Elite 4.
- godDLL 5y ago
  Can you build your life and friends around that? Then it's a real game, the kind people play seriously. Buddha talked about the games that put you in a magical forest of your own, using your mind to trip for the play of it. Buddha wouldn't play recorded music. Recorded music is not happening. Buddha would take up a flute and jam with a band though. So is your gaming more like recorded music listening activity, or more like something to bring people together and organize your life around? That you know. I don't know.
  - satisfice 5y ago
    I enjoy playing Sniper Elite 4. I think the Buddha would have been intrigued by it, too. It is a meditation on the impermanence of existence. If you play it enough you wake up to the futility of endless struggle. I’m sure Krishna would have approved, in any case. He said “one imagines he is the slayer, the other, the slain. Both are deceived.” Yes. Because it’s all virtual. It’s all a journey.
actually_a_dog 5y ago
Some specific games the Buddha would not play: chess, D&D, 20 questions.
rendall 5y ago
This reminds me so much of Jorge Luis Borges' Celestial Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge that I wonder if he was inspired by this list. In it he lists 14 purported categories of animal: 1. those that belong to the Emperor, 2. embalmed ones, 3. those that are trained, 4. suckling pigs, 5. mermaids, 6. fabulous ones, 7. stray dogs, 8. those included in the present classification, 9. those that tremble as if they were mad, 10. innumerable ones, 11. those drawn with a very fine camelhair brush, 12. others, 13. those that have just broken a flower vase, 14. those that from a long way off look like flies.
mensetmanusman 5y ago
Interesting topic, I just flew into SFO this week and there was a 7 year old boy playing on his iPad. He was mostly chain-sawing prostitutes the whole time…
- np_tedious 5y ago
  Buddha is ok with this, as long as there's no ball, 8 or 10 route boards, or racing towards a certain configuration
dqpb 5y ago
Interesting. So the Buddha was a micro-managing prick, just like everyone else.
FarhadG 5y ago
Sorry for the naive question: but why would Buddha not play these games? I can't seem to find anything insightful for the rationale.
- awb 5y ago
  1st sentence: > The Buddhist games list is a list of games that Gautama Buddha is reputed to have said that he would not play and that his disciples should likewise not play, because he believed them to be a 'cause for negligence'. By “cause for negligence”, I’m assuming that could mean that you might neglect your worldly / spiritual duties.
  - FarhadG 5y ago
    It sounds right but I'm still dumbfounded as to why these particular games. I'd imagine games, of all sorts, could be categorized as "cause for negligence" with this rationale, no?
    - Werewolf255 5y ago
      It's a koan. The Bhudda would play all of those games, because the games themselves are not the cause for negligence, but the attachments and importance that people give the games can create a cause for negligence. Part of the lesson/joke is that he pretty much lists anything and everything that could be considered a game.
      - mynameisash 5y ago
        > It's a koan. How do you come to that conclusion? As I recall, koans are from the Chinese, Japanese, etc., schools of (Mahayana) Buddhism -- specifically zen. But the linked article specifically states that these are from early texts (which would be more aligned to Theravada/pre-split).
      - eesmith 5y ago
        Could you clarify? The game Go doesn't seem excluded. Nor tic-tac-toe. Nor card games (including poker, Dominion, and Magic: The Gathering). Am I missing something in my understanding of that list?
gverrilla 5y ago
Funny
Trasmatta 5y ago
Do modern Buddhists follow these guidelines? Is there an equivalent to pharisaism in Buddhism, where there's a strict adherence to rules and regulations, while completely missing the original intent?
- praptak 5y ago
  Some modern Buddhists do follow "no games during retreats" or the more general "playing games does not mix well with the practice". Games do encourage attachment and speculative thinking, so it is not about some abstract purity or punishing oneself by denying pleasant things. It's more like "don't smoke if you train for marathon".
tintor 5y ago
Ball games? Why? This covers many sports.
- heikkilevanto 5y ago
  Indeed - I don't mind Buddha not playing them, and I don't mind other mere mortals playing them. But I do mind people taking it for granted that I should have any interest in such waste of time!
cirrus3 5y ago
Covered in a podcast hosted by Ken Jennings and John Roderick https://www.omnibusproject.com/378 https://www.omnibusproject.com/378 > About this Episode > In which a great spiritual leader lists all the kinds of dice and pick-up sticks and toy windmills that are off-limits to the enlightened, and Ken wants to lick a tetherball pole. Certificate #25968.
dlsa 5y ago
Yet, there's no explanation of why Buddha would not play these games. Seems like an important omission.
- awb 5y ago
  1st sentence: > The Buddhist games list is a list of games that Gautama Buddha is reputed to have said that he would not play and that his disciples should likewise not play, because he believed them to be a 'cause for negligence'.
  - dlsa 5y ago
    And what exactly does that mean? No exploration of that in the article or any particular exploration for each game. Its a list after all. How does that apply to 8x8 but not a 9x9 board game? I'd expect a passing comment about it at least. A paragraph.
    - awb 5y ago
      Fair point, but it’s a problem that plagues many religions where the decrees have been preserved but the reasoning lost or modified through interpretation. Who knows but maybe the list had an “etc.” in it that covers 9x9 but that 8x8 was the prevalent game of the times so it was called out explicitly. Or maybe 9x9 games took 10x the time as a 8x8 game, and no one could fathom spending days playing a 9x9 game. Or maybe it is just an arbitrary list. This is common with any law like the “right to bear arms” where new “arms” like rocket launchers were invented later. Unfortunately, the context appears lost. I understood “negligence” to mean that playing games is likely to make you negligent of your spiritual or daily life. That’s still a common philosophy with parents chiding their kids for playing too many games and not spending enough time on school work, chores, etc.
awb 5y ago
Reminded me that there’s a movie on Netflix about Baggio, a famous soccer / football player from Italy who was proudly Buddhist. Yet “Ball sports” are on the list of games not to be played by disciples of Buddhism. I’ve only seen praise for Baggio around his faith. I’m curious how deeply held these beliefs are around games and if anyone in the Buddhist community ever approached Baggio about it.
roylez 5y ago
Imagine Buddha played a game and lost to his opponent. This would not happen. If you want to start your own religion, you would not allow this to happen.
- karmakurtisaani 5y ago
  This is kind of a curious feature of all human hierarchies. Often times, people higher in the hierarchy will not participate in competition of any kind with the rest, since they have so little to win. On the other hand, making mistakes publicly can (and will) cast doubt in their abilities in general. In my company we sometimes have these fun pub quiz type activities. The higher-ups never participate.
- samatman 5y ago
  The Mahabharata prominently features Yudhisthira losing a game of dice to his opponent, and Yudhisthira is a demigod, being fathered by Yama.
  - roylez 5y ago
    Yudhisthira is not an omnipotent god like Buddha. His story in Mahabharata makes him more human than godlike. He makes a lot of mistakes.
- godDLL 5y ago
  You're free to leave Buddhism.
im3w1l 5y ago
He didn't say "all games". He made a very detailed list. It makes me wonder: Are there any notable absences?
DaveSapien 5y ago
Wow, I haven't seen this before, Some interesting things here. I wonder what he would make of VideoGames...well points 5 through 12 some up a good chunk of video games. But I wonder about more indie/experimental games? Particularly 'Zen' or wellness games, as the "cause for negligence" rang a bell for me. What if a game is more of an aid, or inspirational story, or other uplifting experience? I'm making one right now, so this is a great list to have come across. My game is an abstraction of the Zen calligraphy practice of Ensô, where every day you paint an uninhibited ink circle on a blank sheet of paper. I spent some time breaking down what the daily discipline was for me, and then translate these elements into a game. Theres a lot more to it than that but that's the (very) basic starting point. As I'm nearing release I can see there are definite places it falls short. Though I started with the intent of it NOT being a "cause for negligence", hopefully my intent shines through.
cupcake-unicorn 5y ago
This is amazing. I would have loved to get a religious exception for PE due to the "ball games" thing!
onecommentman 5y ago
On the other hand, the Catholics have a patron saint of Chess. https://www.chessmaniac.com/saint-teresa-of-avila-patron-saint-of-chess/ https://www.chessmaniac.com/saint-teresa-of-avila-patron-sai... In which I found an old familiar anecdote: “There is an anecdote that Charles Borromeo, Bishop of Milan, was playing chess among friends and someone asked what would they do if they were just told that they were about to die and that Christ was at hand for Judgment Day. One person said he would start praying. Another said he would go straight to confession. A third person said he would rush off to church and prostate himself before the Blessed Sacrament. But Charles replied that he would continue his game of chess, for that he begun it for the glory of God, and should continue it for the same end; whatever was done with a single view to God was a holy and meritorious act.”
canistel 5y ago
Hmm... Does this then explain why Sri Lankans play Draughts on a 12x12, like the Canadians?
okareaman 5y ago
Buddha also didn't play the victim
wruza 5y ago
Games of marking diagrams on the floor such that the player can only walk on certain places. … Rhys Davids suggests that it may refer to parihāra-patham, a form of hop-scotch As kids we have played a game like this, called “the sun” (aka knives-grounds). One draws two concentric circles in a dirt/sand, one ~40cm (the sun), another one 1.5-2m in diameter, and splits this ring into few equal sectors, similar to chrome icon. Then everyone’s turn is to throw a knife into an adjacent enemy territory so that it sticks (1 attempt; everyone gets out for safety but the one who throws - they must stand in their area). You cut their territory along the orientation of the knife in two parts and join the lesser to yours. If a player become cut from the sun, he throws a knife blind. The one who can’t stand on their territory long enough to throw a knife loses. Hop-scotch was mostly played by girls cause they didn’t wear a knife. There were many variations, and if you’re curious yes I’m oldtime russian.
- Cogito 5y ago
  That sounds incredibly fun! We were repeatedly banned from playing "Stretch". 2 players stand facing each other with their feet together. They take turns throwing a knife into the ground, and their opponent must move the closest foot sideways so that it is in-line with the knife. If the knife doesn't stick in the ground the opponent puts their feet back together. First person to fall over loses. I'm sure everyone had their own rules, and this was not that long ago (surely!) in Australia.
- mumintrollet 5y ago
  That sounds very fun :D It very roughly reminds me of what I used to play as a kid in Sweden, which was called "Land and country", though it had a lot less knives. Each player started with a sector ("country") of a slightly larger circle (~3m diameter), taking turns in order to throw a small stick/shovel into some other country, thus declaring "war" on them. The person who gets "attacked" has to step on the thrown item with everyone else trying to run away as far as possible. Once the item has been stepped on, the attacked person tries to throw the item at a player of their choice. If they hit, they get to "annex" as large a region of that country as they can without lifting either foot from some starting position in their home country. It always was my favorite game despite apparently not being Buddha-friendly :)
godDLL 5y ago
This seems to be about tripping. Buddha wouldn't go tripping as a game. Not paying attention. Embodying a thing made up. Instead, Buddha would always be playing a game. A game of not tripping. Of being present. Of listening to what's happening, and embodying such. There is in that vein a game I've first seen being played no the BBS forums. It does not have a name beyond "the game". It worked as a social way of troll control, the same concept as a Buddha's game but for social groups. It doesn't work like that no more. Buddha would say this is because you're trying to guess what the other's thinking, no doubt.

199 points by zdw 5y ago

Very interesting to see Chess in this list. Neither is it pointless nor is it harmful, in my opinion. I fail to see why a game refining the logical thinking should be kept away. I mean the best chess players in the world currently are some of the most disciplined, soft-spoken people.

slater 5y ago

No video games though. Phew! :D

kortex 5y ago
I'm thinking he would be a fan of Get over it with Bennett Foddy. It's effectively deterministic with respect to user input (no "rolling dice" rng, just physics). No game board, you aren't physically stepping. Just you and the obstacle course.
simplicio 5y ago
Though "no toy bows" would arguably include a bunch of popular video-games. No Skyrim, for example
- kgwxd 5y ago
  "Ball games" no Rocket League. It's the only form of meditation I practice and I'm sure as hell not going to main Snow Day. I'm going to ignore Buddha on this one.
- pdw 5y ago
  Curiously, toy swords are OK. Also no objection to dolls or action figures. So Star Wars fans can continue to enjoy their light sabers.
drclau 5y ago
Not so fast! 2. The same games played on imaginary boards. [...]
- crazysim 5y ago
  I'm pretty sure my Xbox has a PCB in it.
Hamuko 5y ago
Probably depends on whether or not RNG counts as a "game of throwing dice".

testfoobar 5y ago

Perhaps to escape suffering, one must also escape joy?

goatlover 5y ago
Is that desirable? Maybe joy makes the suffering worthwhile. At least for some of us. Maybe even most.
hackingthelema 5y ago
I think it's more avoiding clinging to temporary joy. Have you met a person who seems to live in their glory days, clinging to the last time they were happy? Spending their entire life chasing after those first highs? I find it hard to describe people like this as anything but 'suffering'. I would also note that the meditative techniques of the Buddha eventually lead to an experience called the 'jhanas', which are pleasurable all on their own: > Directed thought, singleness of preoccupation, and evaluation act as the causes. When the causes are fully ripe, results will appear — (d) rapture (piti), a compelling sense of fullness and refreshment for body and mind, going straight to the heart, independent of all else; (e) pleasure (sukha), physical ease arising from the body's being still and unperturbed (kaya-passaddhi); mental contentment arising from the mind's being at ease on its own, undistracted, unperturbed, serene, and exultant (citta-passaddhi). (https://accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/lee/inmind.html#jhana https://accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/lee/inmind.html#jhana) There are plenty of joyful feelings in the path the Buddha set forth; spending time in meditation in these altered states of consciousness is part of the path, as I understand it. It's not all as austere as it may seem at first!

drpgq 5y ago

Looks like Jenga is out.

ModernMech 5y ago
Here’s a comic of Buddha playing Jenga with other philosophers: https://existentialcomics.com/comic/226 https://existentialcomics.com/comic/226 Also Sorry!: https://existentialcomics.com/comic/102 https://existentialcomics.com/comic/102
- CamperBob2 5y ago
  Warning: productivity sink. Save versus Procrastination or lose 5 hours
UnpossibleJim 5y ago
Dude! If there ain't no Jenga in Nirvana, then there ain't no me in Nirvana!

janosett 5y ago

This reveals a bit how the Buddha, like other religious leaders throughout history, sought to control the behavior of his followers and decide where they should derive their joy from. It feels like this sort of prescriptive thinker is exactly the type of person we should not listen to. Why should we think their moral compass / philosophy is better guided than our own? If a certain form of game is fun and not harming others, why not continue it? Edited: removing “self-important” description as it was unnecessarily negative to make my point

philtar 5y ago
I don't think the world Self-Important means what you think it means. While I'm not religious, these are thinkers whose works are probably the longest surviving works of thought. This is just being facetious.
- janosett 5y ago
  Imagine you think video games are a waste of time, or that a certain food type shouldn’t be eaten because it’s unhealthy or unclean. Those are fine opinions to hold personally, but obviously many people may disagree. The self-importance I meant is when you think your opinions are more important than those of others and try to control their behavior. FWIW— I’ve since edited the post because I think that wording makes it seem unnecessarily negative on my part.
  - andybak 5y ago
    Some people are more perceptive or knowledgable than others. Not all opinions are equal. You can't easily dismiss the idea that one can learn from others. I don't dispute the existence of "false teachers" or the harm done by fossilized belief systems but your argument doesn't convince me that there's not a baby being tossed out with that bathwater. Also - many esoteric or philosophical traditions engage with exactly this problem - the tension between the need for a teacher and the fact that many insights can only be arrived at through personal experience. This dichotomy is a huge part of the millenia old debate on such matters.
5y ago

kpmcc 5y ago

I'd like to see a list of games the Buddha would play, as I don't think it would contain anything unless the game somehow pertained to discernment of the nature of suffering or the extinction of the cycle of rebirth.

saargrin 5y ago
so Dark Souls basically
- Trasmatta 5y ago
  Yeah, that's the first one that came to mind. Sekiro as well, which explicitly has Buddhist themes and imagery too. I wouldn't say it's specifically a Buddhist game, but it absolutely has the themes of life, rebirth, and suffering.
- lelandfe 5y ago
  Planescape: Torment would fit nicely as well
AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
Outer Wilds sounds kinda close actually. With the new DLC I think it might be the best game I've ever played.
- ycombinete 5y ago
  I cannot play it for longer than 10 minutes without feeling motion sickness
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
    That's a shame. You could try playing it in a smaller window or on a smaller TV I suppose.
    - rendall 5y ago

kragen 5y ago

Some of the context for one version of this list from the Sāmaññaphala Sutta (DN 2) https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/DN/DN02.html https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/DN/DN02.html: “Whereas some contemplatives & brahmans, living off food given in faith, remain addicted to damaging seed and plant life such as these—plants propagated from roots, stems, joints, buddings, and seeds—he abstains from damaging seed and plant life such as these. This, too, is part of his virtue. “Whereas some contemplatives & brahmans, living off food given in faith, remain addicted to consuming stored-up goods such as these—stored-up food, stored-up drinks, stored-up clothing, stored-up vehicles, stored-up bedding, stored-up scents, and stored-up meat—he abstains from consuming stored-up goods such as these. This, too, is part of his virtue. “Whereas some contemplatives & brahmans, living off food given in faith, remain addicted to watching shows such as these—dancing, singing, instrumental music, plays, ballad recitations, hand-clapping, cymbals and drums, magic-lantern scenes, acrobatic and conjuring tricks, elephant fights, horse fights, buffalo fights, bull fights, goat fights, ram fights, cock fights, quail fights; fighting with staves, boxing, wrestling, war-games, roll calls, battle arrays, and regimental reviews—he abstains from watching shows such as these. This, too, is part of his virtue. “Whereas some contemplatives & brahmans, living off food given in faith, remain addicted to heedless and idle games such as these—eight-row chess, ten-row chess, chess in the air, hopscotch, spillikins, dice, stick games, hand-pictures, ball-games, blowing through toy pipes, playing with toy plows, turning somersaults, playing with toy windmills, toy measures, toy chariots, toy bows, guessing letters drawn in the air, guessing thoughts, mimicking deformities—he abstains from heedless and idle games such as these. This, too, is part of his virtue. “Whereas some contemplatives & brahmans, living off food given in faith, remain addicted to high and luxurious furnishings such as these—over-sized couches, couches adorned with carved animals, long-haired coverlets, multi-colored patchwork coverlets, white woolen coverlets, woolen coverlets embroidered with flowers or animal figures, stuffed quilts, coverlets with fringe, silk coverlets embroidered with gems; large woolen carpets; elephant, horse, and chariot rugs, antelope-hide rugs, deer-hide rugs; couches with canopies, couches with red cushions for the head and feet—he abstains from using high and luxurious furnishings such as these. This, too, is part of his virtue. “Whereas some contemplatives & brahmans, living off food given in faith, remain addicted to scents, cosmetics, and means of beautification such as these—rubbing powders into the body, massaging with oils, bathing in perfumed water, kneading the limbs, using mirrors, ointments, garlands, scents, creams, face-powders, mascara, bracelets, head-bands, decorated walking sticks, ornamented water-bottles, swords, fancy sunshades, decorated sandals, turbans, gems, yak-tail whisks, long-fringed white robes—he abstains from using scents, cosmetics, and means of beautification such as these. This, too, is part of his virtue. “Whereas some contemplatives & brahmans, living off food given in faith, remain addicted to talking about lowly topics such as these—talking about kings, robbers, ministers of state; armies, alarms, and battles; food and drink; clothing, furniture, garlands, and scents; relatives; vehicles; villages, towns, cities, the countryside; women and heroes; the gossip of the street and the well; tales of the dead; tales of diversity [philosophical discussions of the past and future], the creation of the world and of the sea, and talk of whether things exist or not—he abstains from talking about lowly topics such as these. This, too, is part of his virtue. “Whereas some contemplatives & brahmans, living off food given in faith, remain addicted to debates such as these—‘You understand this doctrine and discipline? I’m the one who understands this doctrine and discipline. How could you understand this doctrine and discipline? You’re practicing wrongly. I’m practicing rightly. I’m being consistent. You’re not. What should be said first you said last. What should be said last you said first. What you took so long to think out has been refuted. Your doctrine has been overthrown. You’re defeated. Go and try to salvage your doctrine; extricate yourself if you can!’—he abstains from debates such as these. This, too, is part of his virtue. “Whereas some contemplatives & brahmans, living off food given in faith, remain addicted to running messages & errands for people such as these—kings, ministers of state, noble warriors, brahmans, householders, or youths (who say), ‘Go here, go there, take this there, fetch that here’—he abstains from running messages & errands for people such as these. This, too, is part of his virtue. “Whereas some contemplatives & brahmans, living off food given in faith, engage in scheming, persuading, hinting, belittling, & pursuing gain with gain, he abstains from forms of scheming & persuading [improper ways of trying to gain material support from donors] such as these. This, too, is part of his virtue.”

andybak 5y ago

Oddly enough I've been pondering the connection between Buddhism and games for a while now. The concept of "incremental games" and their fundemental pointlessness of the achievements therein brought to mind my layman's understanding of Buddhist teachings about attachment and loss. Also - the presence in a various Buddhist traditions of "pointless tasks done with mindfulness" made me wonder where the line was between "pointless but beneficial" and "pointless and harmful". I tried to engage a Buddhist friend in this discussion but was hampered by my lack of knowledge about Buddhism itself and the partly-formed concepts I was struggling to give some shape to.

Moodles 5y ago
I recently somehow fell into a YouTube rabbit hole where this guy was speedrunning Spyro on PS1. It’s a game I used to play as a kid about a purple dragon. Spyro collects gems and kills enemies. It’s pretty fun. I thought it was incredibly pointless to keep speedrunning it day after day, but these two guys were talking in the video about how other games are just cheap thrills, but to them, Spyro meant something more: to strive to be better, to better themselves in life, etc. It got pretty deep. And they were really enjoying themselves. Sometimes frustrated, but often laughing or elated at new times. So positive. Then I realised that if heat death of the universe is our ultimate destiny (and certainly our own death before that), then life really is all about the journey anyway and I suppose nothing is really more meaningful than anything else. I don’t believe in god but I feel if god did exist, it would want us to enjoy our journey and be kind to other people.
- andybak 5y ago
  > Then I realised that if heat death of the universe is our ultimate destiny (and certainly our own death before that), then life really is all about the journey anyway and I suppose nothing is really more meaningful than anything else. And yet, some activities leave me feeling empty and others feel like they were time well spent. Is that distinction a genuine insight, or just another socially imposed arbitrary judgement?
  - 5y ago

digsmahler 5y ago

Enlightened people, very boring at parties.

crawfordcomeaux 5y ago
Mindfully sitting with and finding value in whatever I'm judging as boring has led me to enjoy what I'm experiencing. You're the one boring yourself.
mxmilkiib 5y ago
Ajahn Brahm of BSWA is a right laugh. An Aussie from England, the story goes that went to all Buddhist temples in London until they found the happiest bunch of monastics (Thai forest, eventually under Ajahn Chah). Fresh NYE stream; https://youtu.be/b4Sqj4h4Jds https://youtu.be/b4Sqj4h4Jds Ajahn Sujato, who works on Sutta Central, is under them in the same lineage.

guerrilla 5y ago

As with everything in Buddhism, it's important to double check the philology on this (if anyone has done that specific work yet) because as with many other things a lot of it was added later for various reasons. Not wise to assume we're talking about the historical Buddha here rather than the character Buddha without verifying that.

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asiachick 5y ago

I had friends who wouldn't play poker because the entire point is to learn to lie/deceive better than others.

omarfarooq 5y ago
You have outstanding friends.
devinmcafee 5y ago
This seems like an overly simplistic way of looking at poker, and I feel is not a fair judgement of the game. The game is not just about deception. To play poker (and win) you need many skills: - mastery over your own body, specifically the ability to restrain outward displays of emotion related to the hand you were dealt or the cards being drawn - the ability to calculate probabilities, because you have limited information and do not know the cards others have, you must assess the current situation and attempt to make decisions using a probabilistic model - budgeting resources. Your chips are a finite resource and wasting them or not betting enough will affect your future hands - psychology. You have to learn the way your opponents think. You learn their tells, behavior, and strategies, and have to practice empathy to determine their behavior in a given scenario That being said, its fine that your friends don't like the game, to each their own! I just personally don't think it's fair to view it through such a narrow lens. *Edited for formatting
aidenn0 5y ago
I wonder if they would be okay with poker variants where bluffing is less important like Chicago at a full table?
antifa 5y ago
I don't play poker because literally nobody wants to play without gambling.

philosopher1234 5y ago

This is almost certainly superstitious and neurotic, not wise.

tartoran 5y ago

Would Buddha play Mahjong? How about Go or Chess?

pdw 5y ago
Chess is played on a board of 8 rows, so that's out.
- sundarurfriend 5y ago
  As the article mentions, these are thought to refer to particular games ("ashtapada" = (game of) eight steps, "dasapada" = ten steps). From the description (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtapada https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtapada), they sound like casual games somewhat similar to Ludo/Parcheesi.

selfhifive 5y ago

I'm tempted to think that Buddha made some rules just to challenge his disciples and see if they actually understood the message. Like the Zen monks who love messing with their students. Except some knobhead took it seriously and remembered it and his disciples then codified it.

jrootabega 5y ago
I'm confident they were mired in superstition, like all cultures, and since we only focus on what has been tested and distilled over time, there is a tendency to think they were Ancient Wise Ones Without Flaws.
godDLL 5y ago
You're most probably right, to a degree. If it were a knobhead that codified it, though it would have been some rare kind, where his result is good enough to get the message through, if you stop to think about it for five minutes. That's an improbably good result, for a knobhead. So, maybe no knobheads involved. :)
- selfhifive 5y ago
  I'm joking. Buddhism involves the ever moving mind so any game that forces you to stop in the moment is against the philosophy. It's the case that when asked what is buddhism one must raise his fist; when asked what is the meaning of life one must say a cherry tree; the response isn't important but that there be no stopping of the mind is of the essence. Like where should I put my mind? Nowhere. That kind of thing.

dang 5y ago

One past thread: List of games that Buddha would not play - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24136469 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24136469 - Aug 2020 (9 comments)

satisfice 5y ago

I am glad that the Buddha said nothing against Sniper Elite 4.

godDLL 5y ago
Can you build your life and friends around that? Then it's a real game, the kind people play seriously. Buddha talked about the games that put you in a magical forest of your own, using your mind to trip for the play of it. Buddha wouldn't play recorded music. Recorded music is not happening. Buddha would take up a flute and jam with a band though. So is your gaming more like recorded music listening activity, or more like something to bring people together and organize your life around? That you know. I don't know.
- satisfice 5y ago
  I enjoy playing Sniper Elite 4. I think the Buddha would have been intrigued by it, too. It is a meditation on the impermanence of existence. If you play it enough you wake up to the futility of endless struggle. I’m sure Krishna would have approved, in any case. He said “one imagines he is the slayer, the other, the slain. Both are deceived.” Yes. Because it’s all virtual. It’s all a journey.

actually_a_dog 5y ago

Some specific games the Buddha would not play: chess, D&D, 20 questions.

rendall 5y ago

This reminds me so much of Jorge Luis Borges' Celestial Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge that I wonder if he was inspired by this list. In it he lists 14 purported categories of animal: 1. those that belong to the Emperor, 2. embalmed ones, 3. those that are trained, 4. suckling pigs, 5. mermaids, 6. fabulous ones, 7. stray dogs, 8. those included in the present classification, 9. those that tremble as if they were mad, 10. innumerable ones, 11. those drawn with a very fine camelhair brush, 12. others, 13. those that have just broken a flower vase, 14. those that from a long way off look like flies.

mensetmanusman 5y ago

Interesting topic, I just flew into SFO this week and there was a 7 year old boy playing on his iPad. He was mostly chain-sawing prostitutes the whole time…

np_tedious 5y ago
Buddha is ok with this, as long as there's no ball, 8 or 10 route boards, or racing towards a certain configuration

dqpb 5y ago

Interesting. So the Buddha was a micro-managing prick, just like everyone else.

FarhadG 5y ago

Sorry for the naive question: but why would Buddha not play these games? I can't seem to find anything insightful for the rationale.

awb 5y ago
1st sentence: > The Buddhist games list is a list of games that Gautama Buddha is reputed to have said that he would not play and that his disciples should likewise not play, because he believed them to be a 'cause for negligence'. By “cause for negligence”, I’m assuming that could mean that you might neglect your worldly / spiritual duties.
- FarhadG 5y ago
  It sounds right but I'm still dumbfounded as to why these particular games. I'd imagine games, of all sorts, could be categorized as "cause for negligence" with this rationale, no?
  - Werewolf255 5y ago
    It's a koan. The Bhudda would play all of those games, because the games themselves are not the cause for negligence, but the attachments and importance that people give the games can create a cause for negligence. Part of the lesson/joke is that he pretty much lists anything and everything that could be considered a game.
    - mynameisash 5y ago
      > It's a koan. How do you come to that conclusion? As I recall, koans are from the Chinese, Japanese, etc., schools of (Mahayana) Buddhism -- specifically zen. But the linked article specifically states that these are from early texts (which would be more aligned to Theravada/pre-split).
    - eesmith 5y ago
      Could you clarify? The game Go doesn't seem excluded. Nor tic-tac-toe. Nor card games (including poker, Dominion, and Magic: The Gathering). Am I missing something in my understanding of that list?

gverrilla 5y ago

Funny

Trasmatta 5y ago

Do modern Buddhists follow these guidelines? Is there an equivalent to pharisaism in Buddhism, where there's a strict adherence to rules and regulations, while completely missing the original intent?

praptak 5y ago
Some modern Buddhists do follow "no games during retreats" or the more general "playing games does not mix well with the practice". Games do encourage attachment and speculative thinking, so it is not about some abstract purity or punishing oneself by denying pleasant things. It's more like "don't smoke if you train for marathon".

tintor 5y ago

Ball games? Why? This covers many sports.

heikkilevanto 5y ago
Indeed - I don't mind Buddha not playing them, and I don't mind other mere mortals playing them. But I do mind people taking it for granted that I should have any interest in such waste of time!

cirrus3 5y ago

Covered in a podcast hosted by Ken Jennings and John Roderick https://www.omnibusproject.com/378 https://www.omnibusproject.com/378 > About this Episode > In which a great spiritual leader lists all the kinds of dice and pick-up sticks and toy windmills that are off-limits to the enlightened, and Ken wants to lick a tetherball pole. Certificate #25968.

dlsa 5y ago

Yet, there's no explanation of why Buddha would not play these games. Seems like an important omission.

awb 5y ago
1st sentence: > The Buddhist games list is a list of games that Gautama Buddha is reputed to have said that he would not play and that his disciples should likewise not play, because he believed them to be a 'cause for negligence'.
- dlsa 5y ago
  And what exactly does that mean? No exploration of that in the article or any particular exploration for each game. Its a list after all. How does that apply to 8x8 but not a 9x9 board game? I'd expect a passing comment about it at least. A paragraph.
  - awb 5y ago
    Fair point, but it’s a problem that plagues many religions where the decrees have been preserved but the reasoning lost or modified through interpretation. Who knows but maybe the list had an “etc.” in it that covers 9x9 but that 8x8 was the prevalent game of the times so it was called out explicitly. Or maybe 9x9 games took 10x the time as a 8x8 game, and no one could fathom spending days playing a 9x9 game. Or maybe it is just an arbitrary list. This is common with any law like the “right to bear arms” where new “arms” like rocket launchers were invented later. Unfortunately, the context appears lost. I understood “negligence” to mean that playing games is likely to make you negligent of your spiritual or daily life. That’s still a common philosophy with parents chiding their kids for playing too many games and not spending enough time on school work, chores, etc.

awb 5y ago

Reminded me that there’s a movie on Netflix about Baggio, a famous soccer / football player from Italy who was proudly Buddhist. Yet “Ball sports” are on the list of games not to be played by disciples of Buddhism. I’ve only seen praise for Baggio around his faith. I’m curious how deeply held these beliefs are around games and if anyone in the Buddhist community ever approached Baggio about it.

roylez 5y ago

Imagine Buddha played a game and lost to his opponent. This would not happen. If you want to start your own religion, you would not allow this to happen.

karmakurtisaani 5y ago
This is kind of a curious feature of all human hierarchies. Often times, people higher in the hierarchy will not participate in competition of any kind with the rest, since they have so little to win. On the other hand, making mistakes publicly can (and will) cast doubt in their abilities in general. In my company we sometimes have these fun pub quiz type activities. The higher-ups never participate.
samatman 5y ago
The Mahabharata prominently features Yudhisthira losing a game of dice to his opponent, and Yudhisthira is a demigod, being fathered by Yama.
- roylez 5y ago
  Yudhisthira is not an omnipotent god like Buddha. His story in Mahabharata makes him more human than godlike. He makes a lot of mistakes.
godDLL 5y ago
You're free to leave Buddhism.

im3w1l 5y ago

He didn't say "all games". He made a very detailed list. It makes me wonder: Are there any notable absences?

DaveSapien 5y ago

Wow, I haven't seen this before, Some interesting things here. I wonder what he would make of VideoGames...well points 5 through 12 some up a good chunk of video games. But I wonder about more indie/experimental games? Particularly 'Zen' or wellness games, as the "cause for negligence" rang a bell for me. What if a game is more of an aid, or inspirational story, or other uplifting experience? I'm making one right now, so this is a great list to have come across. My game is an abstraction of the Zen calligraphy practice of Ensô, where every day you paint an uninhibited ink circle on a blank sheet of paper. I spent some time breaking down what the daily discipline was for me, and then translate these elements into a game. Theres a lot more to it than that but that's the (very) basic starting point. As I'm nearing release I can see there are definite places it falls short. Though I started with the intent of it NOT being a "cause for negligence", hopefully my intent shines through.

cupcake-unicorn 5y ago

This is amazing. I would have loved to get a religious exception for PE due to the "ball games" thing!

onecommentman 5y ago

On the other hand, the Catholics have a patron saint of Chess. https://www.chessmaniac.com/saint-teresa-of-avila-patron-saint-of-chess/ https://www.chessmaniac.com/saint-teresa-of-avila-patron-sai... In which I found an old familiar anecdote: “There is an anecdote that Charles Borromeo, Bishop of Milan, was playing chess among friends and someone asked what would they do if they were just told that they were about to die and that Christ was at hand for Judgment Day. One person said he would start praying. Another said he would go straight to confession. A third person said he would rush off to church and prostate himself before the Blessed Sacrament. But Charles replied that he would continue his game of chess, for that he begun it for the glory of God, and should continue it for the same end; whatever was done with a single view to God was a holy and meritorious act.”

canistel 5y ago

Hmm... Does this then explain why Sri Lankans play Draughts on a 12x12, like the Canadians?

okareaman 5y ago

Buddha also didn't play the victim

wruza 5y ago

Games of marking diagrams on the floor such that the player can only walk on certain places. … Rhys Davids suggests that it may refer to parihāra-patham, a form of hop-scotch As kids we have played a game like this, called “the sun” (aka knives-grounds). One draws two concentric circles in a dirt/sand, one ~40cm (the sun), another one 1.5-2m in diameter, and splits this ring into few equal sectors, similar to chrome icon. Then everyone’s turn is to throw a knife into an adjacent enemy territory so that it sticks (1 attempt; everyone gets out for safety but the one who throws - they must stand in their area). You cut their territory along the orientation of the knife in two parts and join the lesser to yours. If a player become cut from the sun, he throws a knife blind. The one who can’t stand on their territory long enough to throw a knife loses. Hop-scotch was mostly played by girls cause they didn’t wear a knife. There were many variations, and if you’re curious yes I’m oldtime russian.

Cogito 5y ago
That sounds incredibly fun! We were repeatedly banned from playing "Stretch". 2 players stand facing each other with their feet together. They take turns throwing a knife into the ground, and their opponent must move the closest foot sideways so that it is in-line with the knife. If the knife doesn't stick in the ground the opponent puts their feet back together. First person to fall over loses. I'm sure everyone had their own rules, and this was not that long ago (surely!) in Australia.
mumintrollet 5y ago
That sounds very fun :D It very roughly reminds me of what I used to play as a kid in Sweden, which was called "Land and country", though it had a lot less knives. Each player started with a sector ("country") of a slightly larger circle (~3m diameter), taking turns in order to throw a small stick/shovel into some other country, thus declaring "war" on them. The person who gets "attacked" has to step on the thrown item with everyone else trying to run away as far as possible. Once the item has been stepped on, the attacked person tries to throw the item at a player of their choice. If they hit, they get to "annex" as large a region of that country as they can without lifting either foot from some starting position in their home country. It always was my favorite game despite apparently not being Buddha-friendly :)

godDLL 5y ago

This seems to be about tripping. Buddha wouldn't go tripping as a game. Not paying attention. Embodying a thing made up. Instead, Buddha would always be playing a game. A game of not tripping. Of being present. Of listening to what's happening, and embodying such. There is in that vein a game I've first seen being played no the BBS forums. It does not have a name beyond "the game". It worked as a social way of troll control, the same concept as a Buddha's game but for social groups. It doesn't work like that no more. Buddha would say this is because you're trying to guess what the other's thinking, no doubt.