THE GAME OF LIFE
A friend of mine wrote a general announcement on her Facebook page that she was dropping out of all the games she’d been playing at the site. She wants to spend more time meditating and getting in touch with her life. One can sympathize with her ambition. Or is it arrogance to presume our lives have meaning?
Belief in a deity puts the question of purpose to rest, I suppose. The difficulty comes with trying to understand the contradictions inherent in the many religious texts. Truly, the mind of God is inscrutable.
Buddha encourages us to find our purpose by sitting in silence. I’ve tried meditation but with little success. A stone sits in silence with no thoughts. Do I wish to be like a stone?
At 75 I remain as ignorant of life’s goal as I was when I was 3… if I thought of such things at 3.
Unlike my friend on Facebook, I’m inclined to think that playing games may be as significant as any other use of time…if it makes one happy… if it does no harm… if it creates friendships… if it makes friends happy. What better goals are there for a life without permanence?
“Tis all a Chequer-board of Nights and Days
Where Destiny with Men for Pieces plays:
Hither and thither moves, mates and slays,
And one by one back in the Closet lays.”
(“The Rubayyat” by Omar Khayyam – stanza LVIII)