Playing with karma: a buddhist board game
Religious games have inspired some of the most popular board games of the modern era, but they have only recently garnered the attention of scholars of religion. This article examines a seventeenth-century Buddhist board game called Selection of Buddhas that was originally designed in response to th...
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| Tipo di documento: | Elettronico Articolo |
| Lingua: | Inglese |
| Verificare la disponibilità: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Caricamento...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Pubblicazione: |
Taylor & Francis
[2014]
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| In: |
Material religion
Anno: 2014, Volume: 10, Fascicolo: 1, Pagine: 4-28 |
| Altre parole chiave: | B
Play
B Buddhism B Ouyi Zhixu B China B Games B Rituale B Karma B Seventeenth Century |
| Accesso online: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
| Riepilogo: | Religious games have inspired some of the most popular board games of the modern era, but they have only recently garnered the attention of scholars of religion. This article examines a seventeenth-century Buddhist board game called Selection of Buddhas that was originally designed in response to the popular Chinese board game Promotion of Officials. The Buddhist game oriented its players towards becoming a Buddha instead of a government official, and it was meant to appeal to a broad range of players, providing beginners a means of learning religious practices in a low-stakes environment and advanced practitioners an alternative form of entertainment to secular games focused on gambling, status, and fame. Because it embedded religious practices within a game, blurring the boundaries between ritual and play, Selection of Buddhas garnered both praise and criticism. The article focuses especially on the complex understanding of karma reflected in the Buddhist game: while the board suggests a mechanistic operation of karmic cause and effect as players progress from the first square to the ultimate attainment of Buddhahood, the roll of the dice inscribed with the name of Amitābha Buddha implies that karma can be miraculously transformed if one appeals to Buddhas and bodhisattvas with sincere devotion. |
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| ISSN: | 1751-8342 |
| Comprende: | Enthalten in: Material religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2752/175183414X13909887177466 |