LET’S PLAY A BOARD-GAME! One of my earliest writings 2003)

The different roles and life plans are like a board game we have each pulled out from the universal playroom! Someone is playing president, someone businessman, someone spiritual teacher, someone aspirant, someone paan wala.... and in the larger picture none of these roles or what we ‘do’ in each life matter.
They are only means for Self to experience its different aspects, and just as we choose any board game when we want to play with friends, we choose different life plans! Itself.
Just as friends choose different boardgames when they want to expereince love & joyous play!

Yes conjure if you will, your perfect setting. I shall go with a rainy day perhaps, a crackling log fire and my most beloved of beloveds at a stunning resort! Wine glasses are being tinkled together and marshmallows are roasting... and as the music fills the spaces between us we all decide in this spirit of love, togetherness and bonhomie to enjoy a board game together …after all, this moment of togetherness feels so good ...that we desire to partake in it in as many ways as we can …extend it infinitely towards… enhancing the perfection of such a wondrous afternoon….

Yes, observe the many finer nuances- the game is entered only to enhance the perfection of what and where and how we already are together; and that we choose this creative activity to bring it alive so to say! We are indeed inspired by the fulfilling experience of our togetherness and love to further experience it in creative ways. There is no thought of passing the time, nor boredom, nor compulsion to ‘do something’ that prompts us into this board game…it is indeed a spontaneous extension of the joyous moment…!

And while our confidence is bursting forth in acknowledgement of ‘us’ together as a whole… we know each one closely and there is much appreciation for the very special person each one is and in this spirit do we look for an appropriate experience, where each can contribute in individual ways and yet together partake in the spirit of our Oneness….

And aha as we look through the options stacked on the shelf, we understand that snakes and ladders is too basic…what with only two ways to go…up or down! Dingbats is ummm good but we have done it all before…. we know the cards by rote so it has become a part of our memory banks…! Umm that tempting, new high-funda game called Self-realization looks tempting but the preface in the rule book tells us it needs some learning and practice before we can really enjoy it to its fullest…they suggest we first try the game called: the game of life!

So yes, even as we read the somewhat challenging ‘rules’ of the game of life… our adrenalin rushes, and we accept wholly to abide with them …understanding they are only incorporated to make the game optimally satisfying… and they worry us not …not in the least…as we know they are not valid in the larger picture of ‘real’ life…! And through them indeed do we look forward to a thoroughly challenging afternoon, an opportunity for us to enjoy and learn…because the way the game is set up we will get a chance to explore so many facets of life that we have perhaps only read about- we can try murder and priesthood with no strings attached…we can explore wealth and simplicity... without the fears of risking all…and what’s more… each one soon taps into and shares with the others their special skill and at the same time receives points (and learns) from every other… and…wow it will be done in mad bad glad ways…. we will have such fun!! “Wow”…learning and fun…togetherness and uniqueness…safe ‘at home’ yet an adventure… the only way we can ‘add’ to an already wholly beautiful afternoon!

Now as we would in any board game, quickly, we choose which colored ‘counter’ we each choose to be! Once chosen we will depict its essence for the remainder of this game: so we choose red for ‘will’ and pink for ‘love’ and blue for ‘wisdom’ and green for ‘creativity’ and yellow for ‘knowledge’ and violet for the ‘magic of manifesting’…and so forth…! There is no stress in this choosing, as we are wholly aware we can try another color/counter in the next round! And we also knowwww that whilst in the game I am blue…I am really that group who is enjoying being all the counters and all those experiences! Thus each of us willingly becomes a counter-an aspect- the game requires!

Partners are established with glee, as are opponents as through it all we know we are all beloved friends and these passionate ‘alignments’ are for the purpose of the game only! Thus they are made based solely on what would be best for the game to be played to the optimal!

The dice is flung!

And we enjoy leaping into the unknown, secure yet in the knowingness of this being a loving endeavor...! We know we meet nothing else but love and oneness on this board- no matter how disguised it may temporarily be! We know the only ‘people’ we will meet is 'us'- no matter what counters we may each represent!

And oh yes...i quite forgot to mention that some of the ‘old timers’ so to say, who have played this game before, have lovingly agreed to sit back and watch us from those plush sofa’s- so they may guide us if and when we get confused or lost or require a tip or two in this somewhat challenging game we have chosen! In this we rest even more, even as we leap!

Before we know it…the mad scramble is on full swing! There are arguments, there are sneaky maneuvers to dunk the other in ‘jail’;-))), some counters get stuck in a seemingly never-ending spiral on the board…others are making quicker passage across subtler pathways…! Every ‘round’ we get a ‘chance’ card allowing us to review the round and make changes in our plans for the next. Partnerships and teams are dismantled and new ones are heartily forged with much revelry, as the game continues- there is never any regret because the new teams/partners are taking each closer to that ummmm ‘winning’ ‘space’!! And indeed in the ‘coffee with marshmallow breaks’ we bond with them as the beloved friends they are…one and all...not even viewing them as opponents or partners…! Just enjoying being the one big group of love!

And the best part of the game? It has this stack of ‘bonus’ cards, which gives each of us, with every throw of the dice: some bonus points- points that add ‘up’ towards the completion of the game. So even those, in seeming ‘pitfalls’ or never-ending spirals, are actually collecting bonus points with every move they make…! …And while there is much competition and bonhomie no one is ever only losing…. indeed everyone cant help but move towards the winning space!

No matter which direction I may temporally be in - it is always towards the winning space- there is no ‘other’ place to go to on the board!!!

Yet no body wants to finish too fast either- it is fun to be ‘in’ the game- how boring to sit out ...and the goal is almost forgotten… a decoy only to ensure this fun and joy and learning and sharing…

‘Winners’ of each round are allowed re-entry at higher levels…! Their ‘rules’ seem simpler to those who are still in the earlier rounds- as they are allowed to fly across the board rather then traverse the roads like round one…! They can choose their own reality spaces to fall on, without the dice being randomly flung!! And sure when those still stuck in the sandpits of round one, feel frustrated, perhaps think its not fair…till they reach there and realize that the rules here may be less limiting sure, but the game has become far more expanded too…for they have to aid those on round one along with playing their own game and keep that fine balance too!

And as the game comes to an end…we real-ize…that while we have played actively … passionately and dynamically spent the afternoon, we feel so rested! Paradoxically much more than when we were doing nothing but lolling around…wondering how to enjoy all that potential we have! And hello…what’s with the ‘goal’ of the game? We have all forgotten! It mattered not…it was just so much fun!