-
Simulating Liberation: The Tibetan Buddhist Game Ascending the
[Spiritual] Levels
Jens Schlieter
This contribution examines the soteriological conception of the
Tibetan/ Ne-pali Buddhist game ascending the [spiritual] levels (sa
gnon rnam bzhags), a game that belongs to the group of Chutes and
Ladders board games. Already in medieval India, these games were
used by various traditions for the purpose of demonstrating
soteriological paths. The Tibetan game visualizes the respec-tive
characteristics (including the effectiveness and the dangers) of
different Buddhist spiritual paths. By applying ludological and
narrative approaches taken from recent methodological discussions
of digital games, the contribu-tion discusses the question of
whether the structure of the game can be de-scribed by the logic of
simulation, narration, or both. Given that the game induces that
its Buddhist players identify themselves with their individual way
through the game (with the workings of karma?), and that karma in
this game is determined by throwing a cubic die (so, by mere
chanceat least from an etic perspective), the game may modify or
even subversively undermine a certain conception of karma. Finally,
the soteriological nature of the game can be taken as a hermeneutic
tool for a broader perspective, namely, the pos-sible analysis of
the religious ludology of other primarily non-religious board
games.
Every Game is its Rules.
David Parlett, The Oxford History of Board Games
The differentiation of levels and paths, And even the attainment
of Buddhahoodall these
Are of conventional reality and are not ultimate.
Having understood this kind of distinction, If you are going to
practice rites, practice them all
Otherwise, forgo them all.
Sakya Paita, A Clear Differentiation of the Three Codes
AXMaschinengeschriebenen Text[appeared in: Maya Burger, Philippe
Bornet. eds. Religions in Play. Games, Rituals, and Virtual Worlds.
Zuerich: Pano, 2012: 93-116]
-
Jens Schlieter07*2
1. The Game Ascending the [Spiritual] Levels or, Simulating
Liberation
I will focus on the soteriological conception of the Tibetan/
Nepali Bud-dhist game ascending the [spiritual] levels (sa gnon
rnam bzhags).1 This game, supposedly designed by the famous Tibetan
scholar-monk Sa skya paita Kun dga rgyal mtshan (11821251) on the
basis of an Indian/ Nepali
game called ngapa (Ngas [snakes] and dice, or: Nga-traps),
belongs to the group of Chutes and Ladders board games. Already in
medieval India, these games were used for the purpose of
demonstrating soterio-logical paths, e.g., the Jain variant Game of
Wisdom, Gyan Chaupar/ jn chaupr, or the Hindu Bhakti variant board
of liberation, moka-paa.2 At first view, this soteriological
dimension has been lost in the journey of the game to the West.
The Tibetan Buddhist game board with its up to 104 squares
simulates the spiritual paths not only of the three major Buddhist
vehicles (hear-ers, bodhisattvas, and Tantric adepts), but also of
Hindu, Bon, and Muslim traditions. Each move in the game,
determined by casting a die, symbolizes the karma of the player,
taking him up or down, and, finally, propels him to reach nirvana.
Combining fun with didactics, the game demonstrates how final
liberation can be achieved only by the two Mahayana Buddhist paths
(bodhisattva- and vajra-yna). All other paths, including the
Buddhist Hinayana vehicle, end in blind alleys. Scrutinized more
thoroughly, the game visualizes a specific interpretation of the
effectiveness, as well as the risks and dangers, of the two
Mahayana paths. In the initial phase of the game, players are
confronted with asynchronous, highly contingent ups and downs;
later in the game, safer moves show how advanced Mahayana Buddhists
canin this worldenjoy the fruits of their practice as well
as the certainty of final liberation in the future.More
specifically, I will try to answer the following questions:(1)
Focusing on the soteriological time schedule, or time manage-
ment offered for the different liberation paths, I will try to
show how the design of this game fulfils its task.
(2) Applying ludological and narrative approaches taken from
recent methodological discussions of digital games, I will discuss
the question of
1 I would like to thank my colleagues Karnina Kollmar-Paulenz
and Frank Neu-bert for helpful comments.
2 See Topsfield 2006a: Instant karma, 79.
-
Simulating Liberation 07*3
whether the structure of the game can be described by the logic
of simu-lation, or the logic of narration, or both.
(3) Finally, I would like to discuss how the attraction and fun
of this game can be contextualized in relation to Buddhist
practice. Should we conclude that this game primarily functions as
a pedagogical means to visualize the different paths and their
inner temporalitybeing noth-ing more than an illustration? The
simulation approach may point to another aspect: Given that (a) the
game induces that its Buddhist players (at least to a certain
degree) identify themselves with their individual way through the
game (with the workings of karma?), and that (b) the karma in this
game is determined by throwing a cubic die (so, by mere
chanceat
least from an etic perspective), one may ask if this game
modifies or even subversively undermines a certain conception of
karma. If this holds true, we may conclude that this game simulates
contingent workings of karma (traditionally, the wholesome or
negative qualities of actions performed with the mind, mouth, or
body), but, by simulating it incompletely, opens up the possibility
of a less causal interpretation of karma. Finally, the apparent
religious nature of the game can be taken as a hermeneutic tool for
a broader perspective, namely, the possible analysis of the
religious ludology of other well-known non-religious board
games.
2. Buddhism, Chance, and Board Games
Generally speaking, games and plays do not score high in the
Early Bud-dhist tradition. The most famous example seems to be the
passage from the Brahmajla Sutta, D I:
Whereas some ascetics and Brahmins remain addicted to such games
and idle pursuits as eight- or ten-row chess, chess in the air,
hopscotch,
spillikins, dicing, hitting sticks, [] ball games [], playing
with toy wind-mills, [] guessing letters, [] the ascetic Gotama
refrains from such idle pursuits (D I.7).3
A number of other passages in the Pali canon display a critical
attitude toward games and play, focusing, for example, on the
possible ruinous effect
3 Walshe 1995: The Long Discourses, 70.
-
Jens Schlieter07*4
of gambling,4 or the stereotype of the betraying dice-player.5
Even later, in a play of draka, Mcchakaika (Little Clay Cart,
around 400 AD), a strong dichotomy between the teachings of the
Buddha and the engagement in games can be observed. This play
depicts a miserable, poor dice player who turns to the doctrine of
the Buddha with the words Im fed up with
the life of a gambler. Ive made up my mind to become a Buddhist
monk!
Please remember always when the wretched masseur-turned-gambler
took to the life of religion (End of act II).6
However, even Gautama the young Buddha-to-be seems to have
enjoyed gaming and playing, as the hagiographical account of the
Nidnakath narrates. Observing the activities of the sixteen-year
old, people spread rumors in his family: Siddhatta is constantly
absorbed in playing; he does not learn even one of the arts. What
will he do if a violent conflict arises?7
Important aspects for the questions raised here can be drawn
from certain texts which bring together the fortune of the play
with karma. A very interesting passage from the Aguttara-Nikya uses
the metaphor of a dice game for the workings of karma:
Just as a perfect throw of dice, when thrown upwards, will come
to rest firmly wherever it falls, similarly, due to those tainted
failures in liv-ing caused by unwholesome volition, beings will be
reborn in the plane of misery, in a bad destination, in the lower
world, in hell [8]. I declare, monks, that actions willed,
performed and accumulated will not become extinct as long as their
results have not been experienced, be it in this life, the next
life or in subsequent future lives (A X. 206).9
4 Compare SN 6.9 (S I.186), Tudu Brahm Sutta: Trifling the evil
luck of one / Who by the dice doth lose his wealth. / But greater
far his evil luck, / [] / Who gainst the Blessed Saints on earth /
Doth set his heart at enmity (Rhys Davids 1993: The Book of Kindred
Sayings, Part I, 188).
5 See, for instance, Jtakas 62 and 91, or Dgha Nikya 23, where
game, play (p. kana), and akkha (vedic ak, game; die) are described
in that way; compare additionally Lders 1907: Das Wrfelspiel im
alten Indien.
6 Basham 1994: The Little Clay Cart, 52.7 My translation; Pali
text in Fausbll 1990: The Jtaka Together with its Commen-
tary, vol. I, 63: siddhattho kpasutova vicarati, na kici sippa
sikkhati, sagme paccupahite ki karissat; compare Jayawickrama 1990:
The Story of Gotama Buddha, 78, who translates he passes his days
in the enjoyment of pleasures.
8 This equation makes sensetraditional Indian dice had just four
significant sides (a long-sided die).
9 Tr. by Nyanaponika Thera 1990: Numerical Discourses of the
Buddha, 267.
-
Simulating Liberation 07*5
Although the simile of the perfect throw might eventually derive
from non-Buddhist literature, it is used here to visualize the
workings of karma. The simile compares the incalculable contingency
of a throw arriving at a definite state with the (allegedly
incalculable) failure of unwholesome human behavior resulting
likewise in a definite staterebirth in hell. Un-derstanding karma
and rebirth in terms of the good fortune or bad luck of dice throws
seem, therefore, not to be an extraordinary or dis-torted
interpretation. In the later developments of the Buddhist
traditions, which I will not be able to outline here, playing and
entertainment with games (but not: gambling) seem to have gained a
positive rehabilitation.10 I will now proceed with a methodological
remark; after that I will turn to a description of the family of
games of snake and ladders, to which the Tibetan board game
belongs.
3. Methodological Approach: Ludology / Simulation Versus
Narrative / Representation
Recent studies of digital games have proposed to distinguish
between ludological and narratological approaches. According to the
narratologi-cal view, games are understood as forms of narrative
such as a novel. In this scenario, games tell a story with
different sequences, situations, and some kind of ending. Thus,
games can be studied by analyzing their recounted text using
theories of narrative. Conversely, the ludological study focuses on
the specific internal structure, i.e., the abstract and formal
systems inherent in the structure of games. These rules, usually
not to be altered in a running game, limit the number of players;
they regulate the tempo of a game, the possible moves, and so on.
In short: Narrative approaches
intend to analyze games as some kind of fictional
representation, while ludological approaches in their stricter
sense analyze games as particular way[s] of structuring
simulation.11 To simulate, Frasca defines, is to model a (source)
system through a different system which maintains to somebody some
of the behaviors of the original system.12 In simulation
10 For example in the Lotus-Sutra (Saddharmapuarika-stra),
chapter II, 81: The little boys even, who in playing erected here
and there heaps of sand with the intention of dedicating them as
Stpas to the Jinas, they have all of them reached enlightenment
(Kern 2002: The Saddharma-Puarka, 50).
11 Frasca 2003: Simulation versus Narrative, 223.12 Frasca 2003:
223.
-
Jens Schlieter07*6
theory, therefore, the major interest of the observer pertains
to the rules and the internal design of the game, not on the
representational elements. The latter can be changed easily and
are, therefore, quite often only in-cidental. Digital games,
however, may offer some kind of reaction by simulating different
scenarios which lead the player in different worlds.
In my view, those two approaches are not contradictory but
highlight different dimensions of certain games. As I will try to
show in the subse-quent analysis, a combination of the two
approaches makes sense, at least for the Game of Liberation.
The difference of analyzing games in terms of narratology or
ludology is mirrored in different procedures in developing a game.
There are authors of game narrations, but designers of game
rules.13 By adapting a certain framework of rules for the
liberation game, the designer displayed his beliefs of the
probability and rank of certain eventse.g., how likely
it will be for adherents of the Mahayana paths to reach final
liberation (in terms of necessary moves). This assumption about the
probability of certain events in the game is well hidden inside the
model not as a piece of information but as a rule.14
The hermeneutical model of simulation allows a more accurate
analy-sis of the specific structure of digital games which are (1)
not bound to a fixed serial sequence of events; (2) players,
therefore, could go through several different versions and
iterations of the story; (3) players are of-ten enabled by the game
rules to decide where to interrupt, depart, or restart the game (to
name just some specifics). Certainly, these elements of modern
digital games are not to be found in the Buddhist board game. From
Frascas perspective, all traditional board games might be
described
as representational, since they do not have the specific
input-output-loop of computer games. Yet, one may stick to the
creative moment of representation as mentioned by Parlett: How
representational a game
13 Examples of the adaptability of game narratives could be
given by various attempts of game designers to subvert the
free-market ideology of games such as Monopoly simply by changing
the designation of certain squares, but not the internal structure
of the game. A well-known example for such an attempt to use an
existent game for a new ideological purpose is the French
revolution game (Jeu de la Rvolution Franaise) that used goose
games (Jeux de lOie) as prototype model (compare Leith 1996: La
Pdagogie travers les jeux; Mohn 2004: Kunst als Medium der
Zeit).
14 Frasca 2003: 228.
-
Simulating Liberation 07*7
is depends on the level at which it is being played and the
extent of the players imagination.15
In the special case of the Tibetan board game, the players
simulate (according to the definition above) the workings of good
and bad karma, i.e., the cycle of rebirth and final liberation. The
first move of the players entering the game is, no doubt, an act of
simulated reincarnation: The players piece is born into the six
realms. However, not every square is
reached through reincarnation. Some moves seem to be more
appropriately described as self-transformative training (such as
the uppermost row, consisting of life events of the historical
Buddha). Nevertheless, a certain
combination of rebirths leads to the final liberation, which
makes the name game of liberation plausible.
4. Games of Liberation: History and General Description
Today, the games of the Chutes and Ladders-type (like the
Leiterli game played in the German-speaking parts of Switzerland)
form a type of childrens game played with two or more players on a
numbered, grid-like
game board with squares. Originally, the game came from India to
Europe and the West (in the United States as Chutes and Ladders,
marketed by
Milton Bradley since 1943). In the 1890s, the game appeared in
Victorian
England.In his studies of the original Indian versions of the
game, Andrew Tops-
field arrived at the conclusion that almost all religious
traditions in India had their version of the game, which he
describes thus:
The surviving Vaiava, Jain, and Muslim versions of gyn chaupar
are all of an elaborate and fully evolved character, and in the
first two cases at least can be presumed to have undergone a
lengthy period of development which is now obscure. All these
versions are fundamentally similar. In each case the player embarks
on a kind of Pilgrims Progress, in which, according to the throw of
a die (or dice) or cowries, his piece ascends from the lower
squares, inscribed with the names of hellish states and earthly
vices, to the higher, representing more advanced spiritual states
and heavenly realms, and thus ultimately to the winning square, the
abode of the supreme Deity or final Liberation.16
Most forms of the game consist of 72 squares (e.g., the Tibetan
Buddhist block-print variant), some have 84 (Jain) or even more
(104, or up to 360
15 Parlett 1999: Board Games, 6.16 Topsfield 1985: The Indian
Game of Snakes, 203.
-
Jens Schlieter07*8
squares). Usingin further developed variantsChutes and Ladders,
they
allow on these squares a contingent rise or downfall: Landing on
a square with a ladder, the player can progress up the board to the
top of the lad-der, skipping the squares in between. A square with
a snake head, on the contrary, forces the player to slide down the
snake to its tail (or even worse: to get swallowed by the snake)
and to repeat certain rows of the board. The player who first
reaches the top square (mostly in the middle of the utmost row) of
the board wins.
In the Indian versions, snakes symbolize vices and the ladders
virtues. Negative, selfish behaviorssuch as greed, disobedience,
deceit, anger,
pride, ignoranceserve as roadblocks to the progress toward final
libera-tion. Virtues, on the other hand, include charity,
compassion, devotion,
knowledge. Played with a four-sided die, the board represents
the karmic progress in a series of subsequent lives, ultimately
leading to liberation. In the lower realms, the players are
threatened by a possible downfall to different hells represented by
certain squares of lower rungs.17 It may be added that in China,
Korea and Japan, a rather secular variant of a game
belonging to this game family is known as the promotion game,
simu-lating the complex promotion system in state officials.18 The
historical relationships between these different games are not
clear. According to Topsfield, very few surviving boards of the
Indian variant date from prior to the 18th century; none seems to
date from prior to the 16th century.19 It seems highly probable
that these games are forerunners of the Tibetan Buddhist game:
The Vaiava versions in particular [] have assimilated many
disparate strands of Hindu social, religious, and philosophical
thought in their no-menclatures. It is also not unlikely that a
Buddhist form of the game may have existed in northern India during
the Pala-Sena period. The still popu-lar Tibetan Buddhist game of
Determination of the Ascension of Stages, which originally used a
72-square (89) board, could have been derived from an Indian form
of the game.20
Deepak Shimkada argued that the origin of the game may be
Buddhist, because the number of 72 squares fits well with its
cosmological and
17 A lively impression of the Jain version of the game can be
found at the digitalized version of the Victoria and Albert Museum:
http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1414_jain/snakesandladders/
(25.10. 2010).
18 Finkel 1995: Notes on two Tibetan Dice Games, 34 (and further
references).19 Topsfield 1985: 212.20 Topsfield 1985: 212213.
-
Simulating Liberation 07*9
numerological meaning in Indian Buddhism.21 This hypothesis of a
Buddhist origin is not very convincing, since it lacks additional
evidence. Micaela Soar recently showed that similar board games
were well known in medieval and classical Hindu- and
Jain-traditions. Illustrating depictions of games in sculptural
art, Soar cites the Jain work abhapaikh of Dhanapla, composed in
the late 10th century. It contains the following description of a
game: Like gamesmen, the living beings on the gaming board (Skt.
phalaka/ Prkt. phalaya) of the cycle of births (sasra), although
they are carried away by the dice/ senses (Skt. aka/ Prkt. akkha
has both meanings), when they see you, O Jina, the place of refuge/
square on a game board
(pai is the Prkrit for Sanskrit pada), they become free from
possession by prison (bandha), slaughter (Skt. vadha/ Prkt. vaha)
and death (maraa).22
Soar points out that the author uses here a figurative style
that allows for different interpretations. Unfortunately, no
details of the board or
pieces are given in the description. We can conclude that the
pieces in the game are men (players), and the squares signify
sasra. A very interesting point is the implication of a safe place
the players may arrive at. Does this refer to the final quarter of
Backgammon, as she suggests? Or does it point to the final
liberation in some variant or forerunner of a Chutes and Ladders
game after the point of no return (see below)?23
The average number of necessary moves of any version of Chutes
and Ladders can be calculated by the Markov chain. A Markov chain,
named after the mathematician Andrei A. Markov (18561922), concerns
about a
sequence of random variables, which correspond to the states of
a certain system, in such a way that the state at one time epoch
depends only on the one in the previous time epoch.24 In the game
of liberation the odds of moving from any square to any other
square are fixed and, moreover, in-dependent in relation to
previous moves. In the modern popular American version of Chutes
and Ladders with its 100 squares and 19 chutes and ladders, a
player can win the game with 7 rolls; however, an average of 39.6
spins will be needed in order to move from the starting point to
square 100.25
21 Shimkada 1983: A Preliminary Study of the Game of Karma,
321322.22 Soar 2007: Board Games and Backgammon, 208. Prakrit:
srviva bandhavaha-
maraa-bhio jia na huti pai dithe akkhe hi vi hrant jv
sasra-phalayammi (cited according to Soar).
23 Similar Topsfield 2006b: Snakes and ladders, 89, Note 2.24
Ching/ Michael 2006: Markov Chains, 1.25 Althoen/ King/ Schilling
1993: How Long Is a Game, 7176.
-
Jens Schlieter07*10
More precisely, the Tibetan Game of Liberation can be
represented as a state-absorbing Markov chain: the next state of
the game depends only on the current status (the given square),
independently from the future and past states. At each turn, the
player starts from a given state on a certain square; and, since
the players do not interact (e.g., they do not kick out pieces of
others), they have fixed odds of moving from there to certain other
squares.
5. Description of Two Versions of the Tibetan Game
Older versions of the Tibetan game of Liberation seem to be
lost.26 Mark Tatz and Jody Kent present in their book RebirthThe
Tibetan Game of
Liberation (1978) a block-print which they take to be the oldest
surviving example of the Buddhist version.27
Figure 1 Block print of Ascending the Levels, ascribed to Sa
skya paita28
This version is made of 98 squares; the highest square to be
reached in the
game is the Field of the Dharmakya (chos skui zhing). Rather
than being indicated by Chutes and Ladders, the moves connected to
more distant squares are indicated by numbers, signifying the
destinations, on each respective square.
Above and below the game, on the board of Sa skya paitas
block-
printed version, some verses ascribed to him explain the purpose
of the
26 I am not convinced of Finkels assumption (Finkel 1995: 43)
that the first Western description of some variant of this game
might be the one by Schlagintweit [1863] 1999: Buddhism in Tibet,
293298. The tables for indicating lucky and unlucky periods
discussed in Schlagintweit fail to have important features such as
the liberation paths; they seem to be divination tables more
accurately. A short description of a game named Wheel of [cyclic]
Existence (srid pai khor lo), obviously belonging to the games of
liberation, is described in Norbu/ Harrer 1960: Tibet, verlorene
Heimat, 95; compare Hummel/ Brewster 1963: Games of the Tibetans,
8.
27 Judged from its printing technique, it appears to be rather
recentfrom the 19th century? The arrangement on the board, however,
seems to represent a simpler, possibly older variant of the
game.
28 Plate reproduced in Tatz/ Kent 1978: Rebirth 11 (courtesy of
Sakya Jigdal Dag-chen Rinpoche, Seattle, USA).
-
Simulating Liberation 07*11
game. After paying homage to Majur, the Bodhisattva of wisdom,
Sa skya
paita describes the situation of being in the world as amassing
karma.
Very interesting are his explanations in regard to the workings
of karma
symbolized by the game, which will be discussed below.The second
version of the game depicted here, which will be analyzed
in detail, was painted on a Thangka by a young artist in Nepal
in 1971. With its original size of around 4750 cm, this version of
the game has 104
squares (13 rows of 8 squares). The way through the game board
is deter-mined by rolling a six-sided die. Depending on which of
the six values of the Tibetan die (sa, a, ga, da, ra, ya)29 is
obtainedthe best throw being the sa (one), then a etc.the player
figures out his next destination. In an
emic description of the game the mere chance of the die may
nevertheless be interpreted as the workings of karma, and the
travel of the [players]
piece as the sign/ symbol of the players individual karmic deeds
(so soi las rtags rdeu rdzas), as the explanation on the printed
board reads. This identification is substantiated by the rule that
each player should use as his pawn a small item of his personal
belongings, e.g., a ring.
Figure 2 Modern Version of the Game (Thangka Painting; Nepal,
1971)30
The single squares of the board consist of heterogeneous
representations of:
(a) Cosmological landscapes and mythical topoi (the mount Meru,
the four continents, Urgyan, the formless realm; or the eight
different
hells, heavens, ambhala etc.);
(b) States of liberation paths of the Hinayana and the Mahayana
(includ-ing different aspects of gaining Buddhahood);
(c) Certain gods (e.g., the heaven of the 33 gods; Yama, the god
of death; Rudra, or Mahkla)
(d) Other religious traditions (Hindu-tradition; barbarians;
Bon);(e) Certain meditational and other states of advanced
practitioners
(Hindu-knowledge-holder; Arhatship; etc.).31
29 Different versions of Tibetan dice are reproduced in Finkel
1995: 3537; 40; 42; Tibetan dice games (sho rgyab pa) are described
in Hummel/ Brewster 1963.
30 Plate reproduced in Tatz/ Kent 1978 (inclosure).31 The
heterogeneity of the fields (compare Hummel/ Brewster 1963: 8)
seems
to be a didactic necessity of these gamesa comparable mixture of
historic
-
Jens Schlieter07*12
The goal of the game is to leave the suffering of samsara, which
is to reach final nirvana, depicted in the game as square No. 104
(in the upper left
corner). Conversely, the most horrific square is No. 1 (baseline
row, in the
right corner). This, the Vajra hell, is indeed a trap, because
to leave this hell one has to repeat all numbers of the cube
according to its value, i.e., three times three, six times six,
etc. A player with bad luck may indeed stay for the whole game in
this hell.32
The game starts with square No. 24, the great heavenly road
(lhai lam chen). In the case of the square No. 24 the possible
destinations of the next rebirth are: 1. the Realm of the four
celestial kings (27); 2. = the Southern Continent (17); 3. = become
an Asura (15); 4. = become an Animal (11); 5. = become a Hungry
Ghost (10); 6. = go to the Reviving Hell (6). A player able to roll
ten times the 2 will proceed via the Tantric path to the Dharmakya
(square No. 92); with 19 throws, talented lucky ones can enter
final nirvana.
However, playing this game usually takes a long time; some
players spend hours in a round trip through a variety of hells.
More or less consistent, the game board follows the logic of the
three dif-ferent realms (of sensual desire, of pure form, and
formlessness). The four lowermost rows are devoted to the six
karmic destinations (kmadhtu): first, eight hells; in the second
row, asuras, animals, hungry ghosts etc.; in the third, the four
continents and other areas of human existence (includ-ing the
non-Buddhist religions); and in the fourth row, gods and heavenly
spheres.
The fifth row consists of squares with states of the path of the
hearers, the ravakayna, but, to the right, one can enter already
the more advanced Tantric paths (the small path of accumulation).
Further rows on the right side show the higher steps of the Tantric
paths, whereas on the left side the Mahayana path (the Sutra-path)
is depicted.33 Some further squares in the middle show the highest
states of Hinayana paths, and mythical or heavenly topoi such as
ambhala, the Potala, or Buddha-fields.
events, virtues etc. can be found in the French Revolution Game
(compare Reichardt 1989: Das Revolutionsspiel).
32 The possibly long duration of the game is confirmed by the
description in Norbu/ Harrer 1960: 95.
33 This three-partite model of Buddhist traditions can be found
in various doxo-graphical texts, not to mention the systematization
of the Tibetan Buddhist canon collection of the word (bka gyur)
with its three major divisions Vi-naya (dul ba), Stra (mdo) and
Tantra (rgyud).
-
Simulating Liberation 07*13
Beginning with row 10, some squares eliminate the risk to fall
back in lower states. At these places only one value of the die is
given, and if this number occurs, the player moves to the next
higher square. In row 12, the peak states of the Bodhisattva- and
the Tantra-paths are located, and aspects of Buddhahood, such as
the Dharmakya. Row 13, finally, comprises some important topoi of
the hagiography of Buddha kyamuni (to enter
a physical form, sprul sku; the great leave; extreme asceticism;
defeating Mra; awakening; turning the wheel of the law; to work
wonders, and
finally, entering nirvana). In this row, the player has to move
one-by-one through every square. Since the narrated events are
taken from Gautama Siddhrthas hagiography, one may interpret this
whole row as consisting
of one single life. Entering nirvana is only possible for those
who took the physical form of a Buddha and went through the
significant steps of his hagiography.
6. Simulating Liberation
In accordance with Mahayana Buddhist philosophy, the game
illustrates to its players that final liberation is just a matter
of time. Therefore, from a point of view of absolute truth or
definite meaning, the cycle of rebirth simulated in the game is to
be characterized as emptiness; or, to put it in other words, every
player may be able to experience liberation right from the start of
the game.34
The wit of the game is simulated karma, that is, simulation of
the soteriological future. The attractiveness of this simulation
could lie, more precisely, in its contrast to the convictions
shared by the players about each others karmic qualities. Quite
often, I assume, the game may send
the good guy in hell and the bad guy in heaven. The wit of the
game, therefore, seems to depend on the interaction among the
players. Absorbed in their pleasure and thrill, they get (without
reserve) involved in the pedagogical purpose of the liberation
gameto allude to the Buddhist
concept: a well-composed skill in means.35
34 If the world is characterized as a cosmic play (as in certain
Hindu traditions), the game of liberation might well represent a
play of a play, a simulation of a simulation.
35 Many games have their roots in educational technologies, and
their pedagogical value was only recently emphasized, for example
in Miller 2008: Games. Purpose and Potential in Education, 512.
-
Jens Schlieter07*14
Looking at the two winning Buddhist paths more thoroughly, one
can detect highly interesting features.
Figure 3 Important rule structures in a Tibetan Game of
Liberation
Very clearly the path of the Tantra vehicle is faster than the
Sutra vehicle;
it allows for large jumps on the board (e.g., one may get from
square No.
25 directly to square No. 72, knowledge holder of the eight
siddhis). In the words of Sa skya paita: The seeds planted through
the Mantra sys-tem ripen to harvest within a single day.36 At the
same time it is more dangerous, because if at the square No. 33
(Small Path of accumulation,
sngags tsogs lam chung ba) a players die shows a 6, he will
descend to the vajra hell (No. 1, rdo dmyal pa [sic]). Symbolized
by this downfall are the consequences of breaking Tantric vows.
Again Sa skya paita, citing the
Mahmudrtilakatantra: Whosoever, out of pride, explains tantras
and precepts to the uninitiated/ causes both master and pupil to be
reborn in
hell immediately upon their deaths.37 A very interesting detail
of the game design, however, is hidden in the following rule
structure:
(1) If someone descends to the Vajra-hell, which is only
possible from square No. 33, one must first execute the full number
of throws as
described above, but after that one is able to proceed to square
No.
9 (Yama, lord of Death). From there one gets with a chance of
50%
directly back to a higher square within the Tantric path (No.
42);
however, one may have to divert to square No. 34, Mahkla, and
from there on via a Buddha field (No. 70) to the Sutra Path (e.g.,
No.
71). And, again from square No. 33, a second possible downfall
leads
to Rudra (16); a square from where a departure is only possible
with a 2, but yet again this leads with a high probability back to
the Tantric path (via Mahkla, No. 34). On the whole, this rule
structure follows the idea once a Tantric practitioner(nearly) for
ever a
Tantric practitioner.(2) The point of no return, where it is no
longer possible to leave the
Tantric path, is reached by entering No. 66 (the first Tantra
level,
sngags sa dang po). This square signifies the reception of an
initiation
36 Sakya Paita 2002: 111 (from verse 121).37 Sakya Paita 2002:
100 (from verses 3940).
-
Simulating Liberation 07*15
necessary for progressing on the Tantric path as a teacher (and
con-comitantly to leave the status as a novice). By this
ruleattribut-ing no return to this squarethe importance of this
initiation is
stressed, too.
The 14 usual Tantric vows (Skt. samaya, Tib. dam tshig) require
receiving empowerment from a Tantric masterand to hold the guru in
highest
esteem. The Tantric master guides his students through difficult
practices; however, if a practitioner is not able to hold or
fulfill a vow, a breach of the vow in question is implied, which is
reflected in every field by the down-fall to another field.38
Tantric practice is indeed understood as dangerous. Consequently,
the downfalls are deeper: Breaking tantric samaya is more harmful
than breaking other vows. It is like falling from an airplane
compared to falling from a horse.39 According to Buddhist
historiography, Sa skya paita admonished his contemporaries to act
according to the
vows. This impetus can be seen in his work A Clear
Differentiation of the Three Codes (sdom gsum rab gye) as well: it
explains in detail the different vows of the individual path of the
Vinaya, the Bodhisattva and the Vajra
vows.40 Roughly speaking, the individual path consists of Vinaya
vows or traditional monastic morality, its ideal of individual
liberation leading to a certain state of perfection; the
Bodhisattva or Mahyna path consists
of vows which emphasize the cultivation of boddhicitta, or the
compas-sionate thought of bringing happiness and enlightenment to
all sentient beings. Compared to the Tantric path, the ordinary
Mahyna Buddhist
Path depicted on the upper left side of the game board is indeed
slower, yet more secure, because it does not imply the possible
downfall in traps.
38 Compare Sakya Paita 2002; Sparham 2000: Fulfillment of All
Hopes. Guru Devotion in Tibetan Buddhism; Sparham (trans.) 2005:
Tso-kha pa (esp. 4562 [the vows]; 79113 [the downfalls]). The 14
vows are usually: (1) disparaging ones guru(s); (2) intentionally
breaking a promise related to the Prtimoka, Mahayana, or Tantric
ethics; (3) to hate a spiritual friend or vajra brother/ sister as
adepts of the same guru; (4) abandoning love for sentient beings;
(5) give up bodhicitta; (6) cynical or ironical attitudes toward
the spiritual doctrine; (7) indiscretion about secrets; (8) to
despise the five aggregates; (9) disbelief in the central
importance of emptiness; (10) not to use violence if required to
have sympathy for malicious persons; (11) to give up the belief in
emptiness; (12) to cause regret in the minds of beings who have
faith; (13) not to rely on samaya; (14) to disrespect women.
39 Thondup 1996: Preface, x.40 Compare Sakya Paita 2002: 95.
-
Jens Schlieter07*16
Moreover, only the 9th and 10th square of the Mahyna-path (Nos
94 and
95) allow to move to square No. 84, which implies in the next
step to realize
the dharmakya body of the Buddhas, whereas this can be reached
from
four squares of the Tantric path.The point of no return of the
Mahyna Paths is reached by entering
the first Stra level (mdo sa dang po), which is in fact the
first level of the Bodhisattva path (bodhisattvabhmi). This level,
called great pleasure, is intended for the practitioner to train
the perfection of giving (dna-pramit). It is, however, not
exclusively leading to a Bodhisattva career: From this first Sutra
level, one may depart with a 3 to the third Tantric level (No.
74).
Nevertheless, if two players enter simultaneously the two
different
paths, for the reasons that we have seen, the adepts of the
Tantric path will definitely be faster.
On the lower levels of the Mahayana depicted in the game, i.e.,
the en-trance to the Mahayana in square No. 51, there are even more
diversions
to lower squares.
7. Conclusion
As could be seen, players of the game will experience by their
individual progression through the game an asynchronous
soteriological time schedule. By its rules determining the
plausibilities of progression and downfalls, the game carries out
certain inter- and inner-religious discourses on the efficacy,
dangers and goals of liberation paths. According to the narrative
approach of describing games, one could interpret the players
individual liberation pathsformed by playing the gameas
hypothetic
spiritual biographies. Moreover, every square could be
interpreted as trig-gering (in religious specialists) certain
narratives (e.g., what does it mean to achieve an Arhat
status?).
Yet does this narrative description alone suffice? An important
factor is the interpretation of the individual paths as an outcome
of personal karma. This interpretation transforms the several
rebirth-movements in the game to some kind of conditioned fate
experienced by the piece of the player.41
41 One is tempted to call the pieces, which simulate the fate of
persons, ava-tarsyet not as the manifestation of a deity, but like
in digital games, as a users symbolic representation in a digital
world.
-
Simulating Liberation 07*17
According to my interpretation, the structure of the game is
pre-de-termined by its rules which are governed by pure chance.
From an emic understanding (and the respective verses of Sa skya
paita can be taken as
a clue here), the outcome of dicing could be seen by at least
some players as actively influenced by the players own karma. One
of the poems ascribed to the Sixth Dalai Lama summarizes this
interpretation of karma nicely: Good and bad deeds seeds / even
though they are sown secretly / it is not
possible to conceal the ripened fruit of each single [deed].42
Yet: Can this karmic interpretation of the game claim plausibility?
On the one hand, dicing as a means of divination was a common
practice in pre-modern Tibet. An attitude toward the game that
combines the fate of the pieces with the players own karma would
therefore not be too extraordinary. On the other
hand, Buddhist philosophers emphasized that the karmic influence
on the future cannot be figured out; even to know ones current
total amount of
positive or negative karma is not possible for ordinary beings.
Moreover, throwing dice by itself should, according to the
theoretical descriptions of karma (as a quality of certain deeds;
Tibetan las rgyu bras, fruits of ac-tion), be more or less
neutralan exception could be a combination with
intense negative feelings.Another argument against the view that
the individual paths through
the game could be interpreted as determined by karma can be seen
in the fact that it is possible to repeat the game immediatelywith,
we assume,
a different result. Although this seems plausible, we have to
characterize this as a hypothetical assumption, as we are not
informed about which unwritten rules were in use in pre-modern
times. In practice, it could be the case that rules did not allow
the immediate repetition. However, I would follow Tatz and Kent in
maintaining that this game was rarely used
for predictive divination in pre-Modern Tibet or Nepal.43
So if the personal way through the game is not (generally) seen
as de-termined by personal karma at work in a stricter sense, how
do players deal with this simulation of karma? Did players on
winning pathsafter
passing the point of no returnfeel obliged to dedicate their
merit (ac-cording to the Bodhisattva ideal) to those takers
experiencing rebirths in the lower realms of the game? Or, do they
see every single match as a
42 Tibetan text (poem 86 of the larger collection) in Srensen
1990: Divinity Secu-larized, 295: [86] dkar nag las kyi sa bon / de
lta lkog tub tab kyang / bras bus bas pas mi thub / rang rang so
sor smin gis.
43 Tatz/ Kent 1978: 16, against Waddell (cited there).
-
Jens Schlieter07*18
specific setting of the karma of the whole group? This approach,
again, would imply that workings of karma can be experienced in the
game.
If we use simulation as an interpretive tool, we may assume that
the game by itself discloses a situation where the takers are able
to discuss the difference (or matching) of each players individual
(assumed) karma and
his success in the game. This, in a way, may indeed undermine a
certain belief in karma; namely, the causal interpretation of
immediate and transparent retribution of those actions which are
believed to have a strong karmic quality. Interestingly, a critique
of this causal understanding of karma can be found in Sa skya
paitas Three Vows, where he states:44
That teaching called the inevitable effectiveness of light and
dark deeds is widely hailed as a great wonder.
Yet it simply mistakes an interpretable sense for one that is
definite.
Supposedly, this may imply a certain tendency to dislocate the
workings of karma into a more transcendental sphere, making karma
if not more invisible, then a bit more hypotheticalin particular to
the end of the
gamefinal liberation, which will definitely be reached by all
players (if
not in this game, it may happen in the next).45 This dislocation
may finally help to substantiate the view that all sufferings, all
different hells, libera-tion paths, and even the very goal of the
game are conceptualizations of conventional reality; ultimately,
there are no such things.
Furthermore, the apparent religious nature of the game can be
taken as a hermeneutic tool for a broader perspective. Taking the
obviously religious nature of the Indian and Tibetan forerunners of
the Chutes and Ladders games as a model for analyzing the religious
implications of rules and structures of traditional board games,
one might propose the following questions to guide an analysis of
games:
(a) Do games have a finite or an infinite structure? Do players
have to abort the game intentionally, or does the game offer a
definite end?46
(b) In case there is a definite end: (b1) Do these games
represent a goal as a secure place where the contingency of a world
of rivalry, failure, disappointment and suffering will be abandoned
(as, e.g., the Indian
44 Sakya Paita 2002: 61 (verses 156157); the argument is
followed by a discus-sion of the Buddhas karma referring to the
three-body-theory.
45 Given that the game will not be aborted with the first
reaching the goal, and will be played long enough.
46 Compare the conceptualization in Carse 1986: Finite and
Infinite Games.
-
Simulating Liberation 07*19
game Patchisi/ Paccsi and its several Western versions, such as
Ludo,
Parcheesi, Jeu des Petits Chevaux, Mensch rgere Dich nicht!,
Eile
mit Weile)?47 Is this secure place represented somewhere on the
game board (as in Chutes and Ladders, or the Patchisi games), or do
the pieces leave the game board (as in Backgammon)? Interpreted
soteriologically, the retraction of all pieces or pawns from the
board to a secure place out-side of the game(-world) would imply a
stricter division between an inner worldly/ immanent and a
transcendent sphere.
Or, (b2) does a definite end always imply that the end will
happen with-out entering a secure haven in the game? To take an
example from the early days of computer games, the famous single
player game Pakkuman/ Pac-man: The game cannot be won; it is a
constant struggle in an ever more turbulent and continuously
accelerated haunting; the restless moves of the players PacMan end
up always with the final extermination of PacMan
by one of the four life-consuming ghosts (since this game was
invented in Japan, it would be very tempting to analyze its
mythological background, its portrayal of an endless samsara, more
deeply).
(c) How do games allow a player to identify with his piece(s) on
the board, e.g., by placing personal belongings as ones avatar in
the gameor
do they encourage a more distant view?There are, of course,
games which seem to resist such an interpreta-
tion from a soteriological point of view. For example, chess
seems to be a more or less secular game.48
Even if certain of our results pertaining to the Tibetan
Buddhist game are conjecturesthere is always a difference between
the games internal
structure and the ad-hoc, or home rules of the playersI do hope
that
some ethnographic account of the recent use of the game in Nepal
or
the Tibetan community will shed further light on the attitudes
toward a simulated soteriology.
47 Cf. Parlett 1999.48 A religious dimensionon a narrative
levelcan, however, be seen in the
portrayal of a given hierarchical order of powers. I thank
Philippe Bornet for pointing me to Jacques de Cessoles Les checs
moraliss, a scripture of the 13th century, portraying the whole
game as an allegory of the Christian-medieval social ethics and
normative expectations; see Kliewer 1966: Die mittelalterliche
Schachallegorie.
-
Jens Schlieter07*20
References
Literature
Althoen, S.C./ King L./ Schilling K. (1993): How Long Is a Game
of Snakes and Lad-ders?. In: The Mathematical Gazette 78, 478,
7176.
Basham, A.L. (1994): draka. The little Clay Cart. An English
translation of the Mcchakaika of draka, as adapted for the stage,
ed. Arvind Sharma, State Uni-versity of New York Press: Albany.
Carse, James P. (1986): Finite and Infinite Games. Ballantine
Books: New York.Ching, Wai-Ki/ Michael K. Ng (2006): Markov Chains:
Models, Algorithms and Applica-
tions. Springer: New York.Fausbll, Viggo (ed.) (1990): The Jtaka
Together with its Commentary Being Tales of
the Anterior Births of Gotama Buddha. Vol. I. Pali Text Society:
Oxford.Finkel, Irving L. (1995): Notes on two Tibetan Dice Games.
In: New Approaches to
Board Games Research: Asian Origins and Future Perspectives, ed.
Alexander J. de Voogt. International Institute for Asian Studies:
Leiden, 2447.
Frasca, Gonzalo (2003): Simulation versus Narrative. In:, The
Video Game Theory Reader, ed. Mark J.P. Wolf, Bernard Perron.
Routledge: New York, London, 221235.
Goldberg, Jay, Lobsang Dakpa (trans.) (1990): Mipham.
MoTraditional Divination System, Snow Lion: Ithaka.
Hummel, Siegbert, / Brewster, Paul. G. (1963): Games of the
Tibetans. (Folklore Fel-lows Communications 187). Soumalainen
Tiedeakatemia: Helsinki.
Jayawickrama, N.A. (1990): The Story of Gotama Buddha. The
Nidna-kath of the Jtakahakath. The Pali Text Society: Oxford.
Kern, Henrik (trans.) (2002 [1884]): The Saddharma Pdarka or the
Lotus of the True Law. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications.
Kliewer, Heinz-Jrgen (1966): Die mittelalterliche
Schachallegorie und die deutschen Schachzabelbcher in der Nachfolge
des Jacobus de Cessolis. Heidelberg: Universitt Heidelberg
(Diss.).
Leith, James A. (1996): La Pdagogie travers les jeux: le jeu de
loie pendant la Rvolution et lEmpire. In: Former un Nouveau Peuple?
PouvoirEducationRvo-lution, ed. Josiane Boulad-Ayoub. LHarmattan:
Paris, 159186.
Lders, Heinrich (1907): Das Wrfelspiel im alten Indien.
Weidmannsche Buchhan-dlung: Berlin.
Miller, Christopher T. (ed.) (2008): Games: Purpose and
Potential in Education. Springer: Berlin, New York.
Mohn, Jrgen (2004): Kunst als Medium der Zeit in der europischen
Religionsge-schichte: Religionssthetische Interpretationen zur
Franzsischen Revolution und zu Caspar David Friedrich. In: Der
Kanon und die Sinne: Religionssthetik als akademische Disziplin,
ed. Susanne Lanwerd. Univ. de Luxembourg: Luxemburg, 100118.
Norbu, Thubten Jigme/ Harrer, Heinrich (1960): Tibet, verlorene
Heimat. Ullstein: Wien.
-
Simulating Liberation 07*21
Nyanaponika Thera/ Bhikkhu Bodhi (1990): Numerical Discourses of
the Buddha. An Anthology of Suttas from the Aguttara Nikya. BPS:
Kandy.
Parlett, David (1999): The Oxford History of Board Games. Oxford
University Press: Oxford & New York.
Reichardt, Rolf (1989): Das Revolutionsspiel von 1791. Ein
Beispiel fr die Medienpolitik und Selbstdarstellung der
Franzsischen Revolution; mit einer Spielanleitung. Insel Verlag:
Frankfurt am Main.
Rhys Davids, C.A.F./ Woodward F.L. (trans.) (1993): The Book of
the Kindred Sayings. Sanyutta-nikya, or grouped Suttas. The Pali
Text Society: Oxford.
Sakya Paita Kunga Gyaltshen (2002): A Clear Differentiation of
the Three Codes: Essen-tial Distinctions Among the Individual
Liberation, Great Vehicle, and Tantric Systems. Translated by Jared
Douglas Rhoton. State University of New York Press: Albany.
Schlagintweit, Emil (1999 [1863]): Buddhism in Tibet, Book Faith
India: Delhi.Shimkhada, Deepak (1983): A Preliminary Study of the
Game of Karma in India,
Nepal, and Tibet. In: Artibus Asiae 54 (4), 308322.Soar, Micaela
(2007): Board Games and Backgammon in Ancient Indian Sculpture.
In: Ancient Board Games in Perspective, ed. I.L. Finkel. British
Museum Press: London, 177231.
Srensen, Per K. (1990): Divinity Secularized. An Inquiry into
the Nature and Form of the Songs ascribed to the Sixth Dalai Lama.
Arbeitskreis fr Tibetische und Bud-dhistische Studien: Wien.
Sparham, Gareth (2000): Fulfillment of All Hopes. Guru Devotion
in Tibetan Buddhism, Wisdom: Boston.
Sparham, Gareth (trans.) (2005): Tso-kha pa. Tantric Ethics. An
Explanation of the Precepts for Buddhist Vajrayna Practice. Wisdom:
Boston.
Tatz, Mark/ Kent, Jody (1978): Rebirth. The Tibetan Game of
Liberation. Rider & Com-pany: London.
Thondup, Tulku (1996): Preface. In: Perfect Conduct:
Ascertaining the Three Vows, ed. Dudjom Rinpoche/ Jigdral Yeshe
Dorje. Boston: Wisdom Publications.
Topsfield, Andrew (1985): The Indian Game of Snakes and Ladders.
In: Artibus Asiae 46 (3), 203226.
(2006a): Instant Karma: The Meaning of Snakes and Ladders In:
The Art of Play: Board and Card Games of India, ed. id. Marg
Publications: Bombay, 7489.
(2006b): Snakes and ladders in India: Some further Discoveries.
In: Artibus Asiae 66 (1), 143179.
Walshe, Maurice (1995): The Long Discourses of the Buddha. A
Translation of the Dgha-Nikya. Wisdom: Boston.
Video Game
Pakkuman/ Pac-man (Namco, Japan 1980)