Playing with Karma: A Buddhist Board Game

Religions in Play: Games, Rituals, and Virtual Worlds, Zürich: Pano, 2012., 2012

2018

In a time when religious legal systems are discussed without an understanding of history or context, it is more important than ever to help widen the understanding and discourse about the prosocial aspects of religious legal systems throughout history. The Lost & Found (www.lostandfoundthegame.com) game series, targeted for an audience of teens through twentysomethings in formal, learning environments, is designed to teach the 1. In design, we were focusing on undergraduate players, with an eye towards sophistication of a modern table-top game. We were aiming for a game that would be interesting for college age audiences (perhaps to be used in conjunction with religious studies classes) yet

International E-Journal of Advances in Social Sciences, 2017

Modern computer games are huge virtual worlds that raise sophisticated social and even religious issues. The “external” aspect of the religious dimension of computer games focuses on the problem of the polysemantic relation of world religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism) to computer games. The “inner” aspect represents transformation of monotheistic and polytheistic religions within the virtual worlds in the view of heterogeneity and genre differentiation of computer games (arcades, action games, role-playing games, strategies, simulators, hybrid genres)

This contribution examines the soteriological conception of the Tibetan / Nepali 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 respective 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 contribution discusses the question of whether the structure of the game can be described 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 chance -at 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 possible analysis of the "religious ludology" of other primarily "non-religious" board games.

2012

that modern historical reenactments and medieval festivals call on the ludic qualities of performance and enactment of legends in the Middle Ages. They show how particular types of play developed, for example, the growth of tournaments due to feudalism and French literature, and link contemporary culture with the Middle Ages in that both "are pursuing a quest for a world driven more by pleasure than by necessity" (p. 59). The last chapter in this section, "Of Games and Civilizations: W. Jones, H. Cox, and J. Mill on the Indian Origins of Chess," by Philippe Bornet, addresses the shift of chess from its Indian origins to the Europeanized version. Through examination of the works of Sir William Jones, Hiram Cox, and James Mill, Bornet exposes some of the underlying cultural shifts and influences that led to the development of new (Western) myths of the origins and meaning of chess, for example, the Western emphasis on rationality and attitudes of "Indomania" and "Indo-phobia" (p. 76). Further, Bornet argues that these issues and perspectives have informed the way Westerners categorize, and therefore think about, games. In particular, he asks that the concept of chance be considered more deeply-"considered as morally inferior or indicative of a lesser

Humans are game players. Such a designation began long before video games, but has taken on new significance in light of present technological advances. Video games extend the designations of what it means to be "homo ludens," and thus what it means to be both human and religious. Studies of video games often take account of the religious content of games, but it is the experiential nature of playing games that extends the argument far into the past and into the future. This article makes an argument that religion, particularly in its ritual form, can be seen through a dialectical relation between the structures of games, and the freedom experienced by players. This is ultimately argued by attention to two different designations of video game varieties: god games and purposeless games.

Sport, Ethics and Philosophy, 2017

In a world that includes such global problems as poverty, war, hunger, greed, and crime we would not be out of line to feel depressed, pessimistic, and overwhelmed by what we encounter every day. Yet we often do not feel this way. In fact, we often find great joy and meaning in our lives. The monotony of our workaday lives is often interrupted or overcome by those activities that speak to us on a deeper level. Religion has filled this void for many people because it gives something transcendent to live for. Games have served a similar role for many people, as well. While we often see games as less serious or at least less transcendental than religion there is reason to believe that games can evoke similarly meaningful narratives that allow us to learn a great deal about ourselves and our world. And games do so often using the same symbolic and metaphorical mechanisms that generate meaning in religious experience. Many scholars claim that we understand much of the happenings in our world through myth or mythical ideas. 1 Others have argued that we understand much of the happenings in our world through games. 2 In this paper I will explore some of the ways in which the myths created from and through games generate meaning. People experience myths in games very similarly to how they might in religion. I will first explain what myth means in contemporary literature and then show how the very make up of games opens them to a mythical reality. I highlight two ways in particular. I will argue that the inefficiencies within games promote a deep engagement with the world, and this gratuitous nature provides a system for creating myths and actualizing mythical potential. In this paper I use the term games instead of sports even though most of my examples are of sports. Although I am idealizing sports by using them as examples, the focus of this paper falls intentionally on games and myth. Most scholars see sports as a subset of games. I will argue

2015

Popular online computer games, like World of Warcraft, are full-fledged virtual worlds brimming with ancient religious narratives, mystical worldviews and magical powers. Nevertheless, they are rarely discussed in sociological debates about religion. Online gaming may temporarily invoke a 'willing suspension of disbelief' but it can, given the fictitious nature of the text, never counter the secularization or disenchantment of Western culture. In this essay it is argued that the emphasis on (dis)belief in sociology creates a blind spot for 'play' as an important epistemological strategy to engage with religion. The ambivalent and transgressive nature of play, it is demonstrated, provides the opportunity for young players of World of Warcraft to experience spirituality without necessarily believing in supernatural claims; to fully immerse themselves in the 'magic circle' without conversion to a pre-defined set of beliefs and to freely experiment with religious narratives without becoming a true believer.

Bornet, Philippe; Burger, Maya (eds.) (2012): Religions in Play. Games, Rituals, and Virtual Worlds (CULTuREL 2). Zürich: Pano: 249-260, 2012

Introduction to the 4th section "Virtual Worlds and Games". It presents possible approaches to digital games for religious studies scholars, contributing to the new academic field of digital games and religion.