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Top monk plays violent video games
The Karmapa Lama, Trinley Dorje:
'Video war games satiate my feelings of aggression'
Is that why you play war games on your play station because many might say it's inappropriate for a Buddhist monk dedicated to peace to play war games?
Well, I view video games as something of an emotional therapy, a mundane level of emotional therapy for me. We all have emotions whether we're Buddhist practitioners or not, all of us have emotions, happy emotions, sad emotions, displeased emotions and we need to figure out a way to deal with them when they arise.
So, for me sometimes it can be a relief, a kind of decompression to just play some video games. If I'm having some negative thoughts or negative feelings, video games are one way in which I can release that energy in the context of the illusion of the game. I feel better afterwards.
The aggression that comes out in the video game satiates whatever desire I might have to express that feeling. For me, that's very skilful because when I do that I don't have to go and hit anyone over the head.
But shouldn't meditation take care of that?
No, video games are just a skilful method.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/all-that-matters/Video-war-games-satiate-my-feelings-of-aggression/articleshow/5032672.cms
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I don't buy it.
I don't really care that he's a lama.
Even Gandhi admitted he might have been wrong, at times.
I would actually say that it's the person who rejects all fantasy violence who actually has more negative thoughts than the person who is humble about it and fine with it.
How did monks manage before video games to dissipate anger and the such?
I think anger has existed for a longer time than video games. :rolleyes:
But I do believe that my generation will still be playing and making video games in their senior years. How many senior citizens do you see playing video games now days lol?
Same goes for movies. Also, if you need a punching bag to handle emotion, there's something wrong. The moment you have to use something outside of yourself to handle what's going on within yourself is when something isn't right.
Again, I do this and I think everybody does it to some extent. Just have enough sense to distinguish between skilful ways to handle emotion and merely rationalising a basic desire to escape from the present moment.
Like I said, just a mask. as ShiftPlusOne so pertinently states, "an escape from the present moment and a waste of time."
This forum is an escape from the present moment if video games are considered such. The present moment is none other than a video game! If you are making love the present moment is making love. If you are dressing up dolls the present moment is dressing dolls. If you are gardening the present moment is gardening. If you are conducting business deals the present moment is conducting business deals.
I conclude that the posters have a wrong idea of what it means to be in the present moment.
Tge present moment is to realize that the past and future are constructs. They occur in thought. The present is dependent on the past and future. Therefore present is also meaningless. We are in timeless time and that is the present moment. There is something real that operates like time, but it is different from our constructs. Than
Playing video games (especially violent ones) just goes against Buddhist teachings/principles in so many ways.
I find the karmapas honesty refreshing rather than a dead facade
I don't know if this is skillful means for the Lama. He's a very high being, I've experienced him very deeply. So, who knows when it comes to beings on his level... ya know that you just don't know?
As the title of Jon Kabatt Zinn's book "Wherever You Go There You Are"
But video games and punching bags are fun. They can be used to blow off tension (different from anger) and just rid of stress in general. I personally find video games and punching bags fun, even if others think they're violent. I use the punching bag to test my strikes at full power and I also enjoy wrapping up my hands, putting on the punching gloves and then going at it. It's a fun exercise that's a lot like violent video games. I don't at all see them as "cultivating violence". I just see them as an activity to unwind. I bet this lama sees it the same way too. Not a big deal. Why should it be?
It is as much wasting time as posting on this forum is, or watching a movie, etc all waste of time lol. Moderation is key. What one person considers a waste of time, someone else will consider useful. Obviously video games are more fun than meditating. So variation is the spice of life.
I was a 'fishymancer' a build designed by 'nightfish' with skeletons in Diablo 2. I also played 1 as a rogue. It is a lot of fun. A lot of my creativity and hard working skill goes into video games now that I am mentally disabled.
What I see is a million ways of developing more awareness and space, and who are we to buy or not buy the methods others use to develop their awareness?
When I was in my teens, I was involved in making some violent and aggressive music. We played it for a shaman, and at the time I felt shame over bringing this obviously dark music to him. However, he just smiled and said he enjoyed it... he then played guitar for us as well, and was quite a potent singer! When I apologized for the aggression, he just said "your music will be angry until it isn't" and he was right!
With warmth,
Matt
Metta,
Guy
Its all about community and fun. To imagine that a 'dryad' or 'shadow warrior' chopping up kobolds is violence is kind of silly. Particularly for a person who is wearing leather shoes and living off imported goods from economically depressed developing nations.
The argument that they should be exercising is funny. I guess musicians, sculptors, movie goers, cafe goers, cooks, gardeners, readers, anal house cleaners, baby makers, car buffs, comic buffs, sports enthusiasts (watching), mechanics buffs, home crafts buffs....
All those people should be exercising.
My cousin is working on educational video games that teach kids algebra. To fight the wizard they have to go and learn how to solve algebra equations. For the battle.
Violent books/movies and porn are equivalent to 'questionable' video games. It is just a different media. I bet when moving pictures came out the elder generation looked down on that too. And we all know what happened when rock and roll and hair below the ears!
If you want to check out my community and see how friendly and creative everyone is:
http://darkmatters.org/forums/index.php?act=idx
I don't respect Buddhism for rules or precepts. I respect it for the science and psychology of the mind that helps to liberate from suffering and also helps cultivate compassion. The practical stuff. For Buddha to insist his monks not play board games is really silly to be an absolute rule and not practical in my opinion. I don't feel if he was still around that he'd be this extreme. If he was this extreme then he'd lose a lot of his wisdom that comes from tolerance.
The dalai lama constantly mentions tolerance as strength. To reject video games and board games as completely all negative is not being tolerant or compassionate. The dalai lama does seem to adapt with the times. So I do think Buddhism changes with time and it makes an effort to adapt to modern society. I do think the Buddha would too if he was still around.
But rather than focus on what the Buddha said, I feel Buddhism at its core is about compassion. When you start to be obsessed with enlightenment, and wisdom, and purity that is a type of pride that comes from fundamentalist religion that I don't think the Buddha would really stand behind. What the Buddha said really can't be confirmed and it really shouldn't be the main importance of Buddhism. The main importance is probably compassion in general, but there is that degree of "common sense" that needs to be taken into account for our modern lives.
"I like going to parties and enjoying life, doing surfing and so on and endeavour to maintain some sense of morality by not hurting others when engaged in such 'worldly activities'
When I come back to my practice what I am learning seems so clean and pure it is very refreshing however I do sometimes wonder whether I am ok having fun out there and also being a fledgling Buddhist type person."
Lama Shenpen:
I was interested in your question about enjoying your social life and other leisure pursuits.
There is no need to think in terms of there is Dharma practice and the rest of my life.
There is your life and that is it.
If you lead it with the intention of using all your experience to awaken to the true nature of reality then its a path of Awakening.
If you use some experience to just space out and not be truly aware of your experience then that bit where you deliberately blanked out is not the path to Awakening.
If your intention is to use every moment for awakening then that intention is somewhere in every moment even if not very evident - even if you forget that was your intention.
Some kind of practice is going on if that is your intention.
When you are enjoying yourself at a party there are so many ways that you can be practising to be more awake and aware of openness, clarity and sensitivity.
When talking to friends and acquaintances there are so many ways of practising, when singing, dancing, enjoying the sense pleasures, these are all activities that can wake us up to the nature of our experience if we put our mind to it, if we put our heart into it.
Dharma practice is about relaxation and many of the so called non-Dharma things we do actually help relaxation and so are more or less essential for us to have a good balance in our practice.
Not many people can be relaxed while just meditating all the time - most people have to vary their activities so that they exercise their body, speech and mind and find ways to keep the heart open and happy.
Also it is Dharma practice to talk to people to cheer them up, laugh and make a good atmosphere for others to enjoy themselves, giving in so many ways is Dharma practice.
Much of what we call leisure activity is a kind of giving isn't it?
And some of it where we practice a skill brings in clarity and letting go - openness - so its all useful.
The problem comes when we don't understand how to practice like this and so we use leisure activities and work and even meditation to kind of imprison ourselves and close down, fixate on our ego mandala.
That is what makes the 'world' an evil place to be avoided.
People often use the pleasures of the senses just to indulge themselves and to get more attached, grasping and greedy.
But it is not necessary to use them in that way.
Not at all.
Quite the contrary - they offer endless opportunities to practice generosity and patience.
It's easy to be mindful in the silence of your own home. try being mindful while playing video games. Haha
I like the notion that thoughts, feelings, and beliefs are just energy. Energy moves. If it doesn't it can cause problems.
The purpose of mindfulness is to allow a space to exist where there energies can exhaust themselves.
If we cannot do that we should exercise or do some other creative act.
Energy can be used negatively or creatively. Always take the creative route, which is using that energy (which can be both good and bad) and using it to create something or express it in a way that is not harming you or others.
Or if you want you can just choose to use that energy negatively. Suppress it. Cause it to become your karma. Treat others badly. BE chained to your desires and so on and so on.
Lol
You cannot apply Theravada precepts to Vajrayana Lamas, it just doesn't work that way, as the mind changes, so do the rules.
But HHDL has admitted to watching soap operas. He says it helps him understand samsara, that is, what average people go through in life. (His window on people's private lives viewed from his cloister.)
i seriously don't buy it. if you're talking about releasing "negativity" through a video game, you are talking about what most people refer to as "venting"
it reminded me a lot of this article i read on catharsis:
http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/08/11/catharsis/
basic premise:
"The Misconception: Venting your anger is an effective way to reduce stress and prevent lashing out at friends and family.
The Truth: Venting increases aggressive behavior over time."
Theres a build I made and it relieved stress and boredom for me to work on it. It was a happy time for me. If you look at my lamas response (scroll up) you will see that socializing is a form of giving and creativity or skill is a way to build clarity and patience. I also think it requires letting go. A video game is not fun when you get hooked on getting to the next level. You have to take it into your senses which stops the 'I' 7th manas consciousness from having control.
I think if he were brutally angry and he were drooling at the blood coming out of decapitated enemies that would be negative. But come on? Is that what anyone thinks is happening?
of course video games are fun, even violent ones... that's what they're made for. but i'm with federica, i think he's just trying to justify it.
Even in Shaivism... "Wherever I turn my head, may I enjoy Shivas play."
This can equally apply to Dzogchen, with a bit of a subtler view that makes all the difference, but still... same basic idea of experiential quality... still liberated no matter if it's high or low, there is benefit reaching much further than black/white paradox.
This is why I've always considered Buddhism to transcend paradox, even while it holds it lightly.
so now my question is, is my experience different than most people's when they play violent games?
Theres male and female homosexual romances too!
but about your game... you had me at female homosexual romance... where can i find this game of which you speak?
But remember it is trying to appeal to a broad audience so that some of the audience could care less about the romances and want the: story, be powerful as possible, or tactical combat or character design (my favorite I am a builder).
So some of the content might not be your favorite. If you don't enjoy the tactics etc you can set it to easy mode and just see the story romance and maybe you'll get into the more fighting side too you never know.
I haven't heard critical comments about the leliana lesbian romance or at least they are drowned out (on the bioware forum mind you) by fans.
Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 also by bioware as far as I know have homosexual romances but I am not positive. I know they broke new ground by having a human alien romance (space age).
Here you go its a love triangle and you'll see how it turns out but theres definitely lesbian choices too. Youtube was flooded with sex scenes so I couldn't find the right one but this one shows the level of writing etc..