Some suggestions on playing games through reading the 15th Assembly of the Prajñāpāramitā-sūtra

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the relation between meditative practices and games, and argues that it is reasonable to see meditative practices as games based on structural features they have in common as well as the text in the 15th Assembly of the Prajñāpāramitā-sūtra, which teaches the perfection of meditative absorption and compares meditative practices to playing games implicitly. This paper then puts meditative practices seen as games in the big picture of the Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, points out in contrast to meditative practices, playing games involves two problems people face nowadays, which I call the win–lose mindset and being too emotionally invested in playing games, and develops coping strategies to cope with these problems. These coping strategies are not constructed arbitrarily but of essential features of Bodhisattvas’ meditative practices, such as non-dualistic perspectives and non-obtainment, and these features lead to a path of cessation of both problems that afflict present-day game-playing. All in all, paying more attention to mental qualities that can be engendered and cultivated in playing games is suggested in this paper.