Philosophy and Rules

Life: The Four Stages of a Twice-born Man is an educational tool meant for the middle and senior years and could also be adapted to the adult classroom. The game focuses on the life of a twice-born male in the Hindu tradition, and takes the western player through the basic concepts of the four stages that every twice-born Hindu must go through in order to achieve a better rebirth, or to attain Moksa; liberation from the cycle of Samsara. The objective of the game from an educator’s point of view is to build an understanding of the concepts presented here as well as a tolerance for those different from us.

Why does it not cover the female perspective?

Hindu women play a more traditional role than Western women, and they do not go through the same stages as the twice-born men. Thus, because the women and men’s roles are so distinct from one another within Hindu society, I feel that the women’s perspective would be better represented in a game of its own. For this game then, all players take on a male persona.

Why a mat?

Woven mats have been integrated into Hindu society since the beginning of time and thus it is a part of its history. A mat signifies the woven tapestry of our lives and is associated with prayer, meditation and yoga. As well, the mat I chose was woven by a Hindu woman who told me that the patchwork signifies the overlapping of the cycles of life.

Why squares and not circles?

For the actual four stages, I needed to separate them into 4 different corners or realms. Circles have been part of the symbolism in Hindu society because circles have no beginning and they have no end; they are cyclical. However, it is important to stress to a western mind the idea of the stages. Yes, the stages are part of one’s cycle in life, but it is a cycle with rest stops. What is a circle with rest stops? A square. Thus, there are four large squares, each representing a stage in the life of a twice-born man.

Why are there no seams on the fabric?

I left the fabric seamless because I wanted the idea of the path of one’s life unraveling before them as they head towards the end of this life and move onto the next. The mat underneath has seams, so the mat almost represents the past. As the past is woven, but its completed. There is a sense of finalization to it. However, when you put the patches of broad cloth on top of the mat without seams, you can see the connection to the past as it is held onto the past with stitches, yet raised in a layer, starting another cycle. Thus is Samsara.

Why are the stitches uneven?

An important concept in Hindu tradition is the idea that one must be mindful of what one is doing. The actual thread represents the twice born men who go through the sacred thread ceremony and the uneven stitches represent the levels of mindfulness that are inherent in each individual. It’s the idea of plurality in some respects as the stitches are individual, yet they are connected to something bigger.

Why are there Yoga Squares?

Yoga is not a life stage in itself, but its expected to be practiced throughout one’s life. The Yoga gets back to the concept of mindfulness. The student must be focusing on the breath and not on the game at hand.

Why is there nothing except 3 spaces with stars on the Ascetic life square?

Asceticism brings to mind the idea of wandering with no specific destination besides attainment of Moksa. Thus, the empty square reflects this idea of wandering. Finally, if one is lucky, and one has done everything according to his caste duty in the utmost way, there is a mere possibility of getting to Moksa. However, most people are only reborn back into Samsara. Therefore, the game is made so that it is really difficult to get to Moksa. You not only have one chance to land on one of those 3 special spaces, but once you are on one of those spaces, you must roll double sixes. A player’s chances are thus slim, just like in real life. You never know, you can only hope that you are doing everything right. That is how much dedication and mindfulness is needed and how much importance must be placed on duty.

What about the other three stages?

The other three stages, the student; the householder and the forest dweller, are all self-explanatory. The tasks are set up based on what is most important in that stage. In the stage of studentship it is learning and studying; in the stage of the householder, it is marrying the right wife; in the stage of the forest dweller it is being a good person, living in the forest and performing all of the necessary rites asked of him.

Conclusion:

The game provides an enhanced learning opportunity for youth and adults to explore. It is important that people of the west come to understand eastern concepts and religions as the global village gets smaller and smaller. The game is to accompany lessons regarding Hindu culture and society and is to educate for the purpose of tolerance, understanding and peace.

LIFE: The Four Stages of a Twice-Born Man – Game Rules

Objective of the game: Unlike other games, the winner of the game is not necessarily the first one to finish his life. For we all know that to have a good life, one must experience it fully and be mindful of our actions. Thus, the objective of the game is to be an active and willing player who seeks liberation (Moksha) OR one who seeks a higher rebirth than all of the other players.

Players: 2-4

Basic Rules:

Place the men (candles) on Samsara.
Each player must roll the die. The player who rolls that highest number goes first.
After rolling the die, the player must move the candle accordingly to enter into the first stage of life of a twice-born man; the stage of studentship.
Each player must go through each stage’s square in a counter-clockwise direction.
To move around the board, each player must roll the die at the beginning of every turn.
Follow the rules for each separate section listed below.

Yoga Squares

When a player lands on a yoga space located on the path outside of the life stages, that player must do sun salutations until his next turn. (See appendix A )

Life Stage #1: Student

The first stage of a twice-born man is the stage of studentship. In this stage, a man must learn as much as he possibly can. Thus, the various squares within the student square all have one of two things written on them: Trivia, or Roll again.
If the student lands on a Trivia square, then the player to his right must pull out a Trivia card (pink) from inside the student pocket and read it aloud. If the student answers it correctly, then he keeps the Trivia card and gets to roll again. If the student answers incorrectly, the Trivia card must be placed back into the student pocket.
In order to be allowed to leave the student stage, the student must gain five Trivia cards. However, once the fifth Trivia card has been obtained, the student moves directly to the Final Task square where he must complete a brainteaser from a Final Task card also located in the student pocket (Green cards). The student loses two turns during which he must figure out the brainteaser. If he does not figure out the brainteaser in the amount of time given, he must give up one extra turn and sit in child’s pose until then. Brainteaser answers and Yoga positions are located on the appendix sheets.
Once all of the above has been completed, the student may leave the student stage via the final task square and follow the path to the stage of the householder.

Life Stage #2: Householder

When a twice-born man leaves the stage of studentship, he is ready to find himself a wife. However, according to the Hindu faith, one cannot just marry any girl, there are stipulations and rigid rules. For example, she must be of the same cast. It is thus, the householder’s job to choose the correct wife.
The player must enter the householder square at the ‘welcome’ sign. The goal in this stage is to pick a suitable wife. Therefore, the player cannot leave the stage of the householder until he has chosen one that is appropriate.
As the householder moves counter-clockwise around the square, he must try to land on a “date square”. When this happens, the player to his right picks up a Date card from inside the householder pocket.
Each Date card has a Hindu woman’s statistics. The player to the householder’s right must read aloud the statistics, but does not read anything below the dark line. The reader must then ask: “Do you accept this woman as your wife?” The householder can answer either yes or no.
Once the householder says yes or no, the reader (the player to the householder’s right) reads the comment below the dark line to determine if it is a good match or not. If the date is a good match, the card will read: “Yes, proceed to the marriage square”. If the date is not a good match, the card will read: “no…) and give an explanation.
If the householder, says yes AND the woman is a good choice, then the householder may move to the marriage square and upon his next turn, may roll the die and follow the path to the stage of the forest dweller.
If the householder says yes but the woman is not a good choice OR if the householder says no but the woman is a good choice for a mate, then the householder loses a turn and proceeds with his journey around the square until he finally finds a good wife.
If the householder says no, and he was right that the woman is not a good choice, he does not lose a turn, but must stay where he is until his following turn and continue his journey from there.

Stage #3: Forest Dweller

During the stage of a forest dweller, a man must leave his wife in the care of his sons, or bring her along with him. In either case, he must move to the forest and accomplish a variety of tasks, perform various rituals, and gain certain qualities. Therefore, on each square in the forest dweller’s domain, is something that the forest dweller must achieve.
In order to leave this stage, the forest dweller must travel around and around the square in a counter-clockwise direction until he lands on EVERY space.
For every square that the forest dweller lands on for the first time, he must collect the corresponding card from inside the forest dweller pocket. If there are instructions on it, then he must follow them.
Once the forest dweller has collected everything needed for his next stage, he may leave the domain, and follow the steps to the fourth stage of life.

Stage #4: Ascetic

During this stage, a man renounces all of his possessions. Therefore, upon entering this domain, the new ascetic must put all of his cards back in their corresponding pockets.
The ascetic must roll the die, going around the board in a counter-clockwise motion. Unlike the other stages however, the ascetic can only go around this square ONLY ONCE.
If the ascetic is lucky enough to land on a space with a gold star, the ascetic may retrieve the coloured dice located inside the ascetic pocket and roll them. If the ascetic rolls double sixes, then he may gain liberation in Moksha.
However, if he does not roll double sixes or does not land on a square with a gold star at all, then the ascetic must head towards Samsara and hope for a better rebirth.

Moksha

If one is lucky enough to gain liberation (Moksha), they ultimately win the game because they have freed themselves from the cycle of Samsara.

Samsara

Most likely, the player will be reborn and move to Samsara. Once the player has reached Samsara, then he must take one die and roll it.

1 = rebirth in god realm
2 = rebirth in human realm
3 = rebirth in anti-god realm
4 = rebirth in hell
5 = rebirth as an animal
6 = roll again.

The lower the number rolled, the better the rebirth.

The End

If the first player to go through all of the life stages gets to Moksha, then all of the others must immediately jump to Samsara. The players who go to Samsara must roll the dice and determine their rebirth. This will show the hierarchy of winners, however, the player who got to Moksha is the ultimate winner.

If the first player to go through all of the life stages gets to Samsara, the others can immediately jump to Samsara also. Every player must then roll the dice and whoever gets the lowest number – the better rebirth- wins the game. This means that no one ultimately wins the game, there are just levels of winning just like there are levels of rebirth. AND, the first player through all of the life stages has just as equal a chance to win or lose the game as everybody else.

Variation: If the first player to go through all of the life stages gets to Samsara, the others can finish the game, in hopes of gaining Moksha when they reach the stage of Asceticism and ultimately winning the game. The variation must be determined at the beginning of the game.

Appendix A: Yoga Positions and Sun Salutations

Child’s Pose: Sit with you knees underneath you. Have you heals together and your knees slightly apart. Sit tall and focus on the breath. As you inhale, bring the arms overhead. As you exhale, bend at the waist until your upper body meets the floor, hands above your head. Rest here. This is rest position is child’s pose.

Sun Salutations:

1.Begin in Tadasana, or Mountain Pose with palms together in Namaste
2. Inhale and sweep the arms out and up over your head so that the palms of your hands are together (Utkatasana).
3.Exhale, sweeping the arms down and bending your body forward into Forward Fold. Your hands should touch the ground. Knees may be bent here.
4.Inhale to a flat back, arms straight with fingertips touching the floor.
5.Exhale, let your body fall forward, place the palms of your hands on the ground and step your feet back into Plank position and. Lower the chest, hips and legs to the ground like a push-up, but do not come back up.
6.Inhale to Upward Facing Dog Position.
7.Exhale into Downward Facing Dog Position. Breathe here.
8.Inhale, walk your feet up to your hands and lift into Upward Forward Fold as in step 4.
9.Exhale into Forward Fold as you did in step 5, but do not place your hands on the ground and step out. Just fall forward with the upper body with a loose movement.
10.Inhale to Utkatasana. Sweep the arms out by your side to overhead and place palms together.
11. Exhale, sweep the arms from overhead to your side and bring hands into Namaste.

Appendix B : Brainteaser Answers:

6.1. a – If Reshma is Rajeev’s daughter, she is Rashmi’s sister.

6.2. 12 3/8 While striking the 9, the clock strikes 8 more at regular intervals. These 8 intervals take 9 seconds so that the interval between gongs is 9/8. However, to strike 12, there are 11 intervals, each taking 9/8 seconds for a total of 12 3/8 seconds.

6.3. X X X
X X X
X X X

6.4. 70 … 30 DIVIDED BY – IS 30 DIVIDED BY .5 NOT 2!

6.5. 7 children : 4 daughters and 3 sons

6.6. The poison was in the ice cubes. Because he only drank from the punch bowl at the beginning of the party the ice cubes had not yet melted. Thus, the ice cubes melted throughout the party, leaked the poison into the punch and made the other people sick.

6.7. 3 trips were taken( or 5: 3 there and 2 back). The two Brahmins weighing 100 lbs go across. One of them stays on the right bank. The second takes the boat back to the left bank, and stays there. The Brahmin weighing 200 lbs gets in the boat and takes it to the right bank. He gets out and the 100lb Brahmin gets back in and goes to the left bank. The other 100 lb Brahmin gets in with the 100lb man already in the boat and they sail across for the last time.

Brandon University