This was one of the best articles/stories I've ever read. My sincere thanks to the person who wrote this message. Regards, Vijay. --- vmadha@xxxx wrote: > Hinduism and Video Games (found in a web site- sent > by a friend of mine) > > "Hinduism is so complex. I do not understand it most > of the time", said > Eesha, a young girl to Uncle Ashok. Ashok had come > over half an hour ago > and Eesha was so engrossed in her video game then > that she mechanically > said "Hi" to Ashok, and continued with her game. > > Ashok watched Eesha play Super Mario Brothers (*). > He watched her move > Mario to the right, hit and get hidden mushrooms and > get bigger, or get > a fire flower or a cape, collect coins, punch his > way thru obstacles, > climb ladders and occasionally get chomped by > turtles. After the end of > a life Mario would start his next life, from where > he left off. Now that > Eesha had finished one level she noticed that uncle > Ashok, whom she met > every week when her parents took her to the temple, > was still there. > > "Eesha, you are really good at this video game!", > said Ashok. She nodded > and added "Yep! and I can even beat my brother at > it". > > "You know you can learn many ideas of Hinduism from > the video games", > said Ashok. > > "How ? uncle Ashok", Eesha asked. > > Let us say if you got a video game and it gave you > only one chance to > beat it, will that be fair ?", Ashok asked. > > "No, that is why they give you multiple lives. > Actually, with a new game > it is very difficult to advance much further. It > takes practice. When we > had just bought this game, I used to 'die' in just > ten seconds, every > time", said Eesha. > > "Hinduism is similar too. Most people do not lead a > perfect life. So > according to Hinduism, you get many chances to > improve your self. You > get many lives. This is called reincarnation". He > continued," and just > as in a video game, if one life ends, you start over > in the next life > where you left off". > > "Now what will happen if you do not go towards the > right in your video > game ?", asked uncle Ashok. > > "You will not move to the next level. You will not > make any progress and > time will run out", Eesha said > > "Exactly! if you do not move in the 'right' > direction, you will not make > progress. Thus YOU determine the right direction and > how far progress > you can make. 'What you do, determines the result' > this is called the > law of Karma. Your actions bear fruit accordingly. > Now what happens in a > video game if you keep making same mistakes ?", > Ashok asked. > > "You go back to the start of that level" Eesha > replied. > > "Law of Karma similarly tells you that if you keep > making same mistakes > over and over again, you will move backwards. Now in > a video game you > get rewards and receive set backs. In this video > game a mushroom will > make you grow bigger or an attack of a turtle will > make you smaller, in > real life too you may become rich or poor, but that > depends where you > start at and what actions you take. Yet getting big > or small in itself > does not mean progress. Does it ?", asked Uncle > Ashok. > > "You are right, being big or small does not > necessarily mean you will > move forward in the game or even to the next level", > Eesha replied. > > "Now tell me what happens when you go to the next > level ?" Ashok asked. > > "It gets tougher at the next level" Eesha said. > > "Same is true in spiritual practice as per > Hinduism", Ashok added. "Now > tell me what happens if you get stuck at a level, > what do you do ? and > why ?", he asked. > > "I ask my cousin Ojas. He knows what I should do. He > knows where to the > keys are hidden, where secret passages are. He has > beaten the game > already, Some times he even takes the controller to > help me", Eesha > said. > > "In Hinduism, similarly a Guru helps you move to > next level. A Guru or a > master has already 'beaten the game'. She or He > knows where the key is > hidden that will unlock the door. She or He knows > what where the secret > passages are. She or He can even show you a 'warp' > zone, to go to the > next level. But unlike a video game, in real life a > Guru cannot play for > you. You have to play it yourself", said Ashok. > > "Now tell me what happens when you beat the last > level ? " Ashok asked. > > "I have not beaten the game yet, but my cousin Ojas > says that you see > fire works, music plays for long time, and then you > see the name of the > programmer", Eesha said. > > "Interestingly, that is what Hinduism says also, > when you go beyond the > last hurdle you hear the music and you see THE > PROGRAMMER - that is God > and then you do not need to play the game again, > except to help others" > Ashok said. > > "Let me ask you one more question. You get so > absorbed playing a video > game that you feel that you are being Mario or Luigi > on the screen. But > are you really Mario or Luigi ? Who are You?", He > asked > > "I am Eesha, of course. But while playing the game I > forget that I am > Eesha and am only concerned about Mario or Luigi on > the screen", she > replied. > > "Exactly, Hinduism believes that we go thru > different lives believing we > are the body or the name in that life. But we are > not that body nor its > name. We are the Atman or soul which plays as a > character of Mario or > Luigi (or whatever). That is something we must never > forget. We are not > this body, but we are the Soul, or Atman". Ashok > continued. > > "Eesha have you noticed, that from video games you > just learnt Hindu > concepts of reincarnation, Karma, Guru and Atman." > He asked, "Was that > complex ? ". > > "Not complex at all!" Eesha smiled, Her face was > glowing by the > realization of Hindu concepts, a knowledge she > already had in the form > of video games. > ================ > Regards > Namo Narayana > aDiyEn > > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor > > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > Srirangasri-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxx > > > === message truncated === __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? HotJobs - Search Thousands of New Jobs http://www.hotjobs.com
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia |
srirangasri-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To subscribe to the list |