Talk:List of games that Buddha would not play

So... What Buddha WOULD play?

Some videogames maybe? Or not even that?

-kick the can 208.103.184.165 18:37, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

He must have been a fan of Tic-Tac-Toe 132.236.7.233 23:16, 15 July 2007 (UTC)

this is absourd — Preceding unsigned comment added by 181.168.52.138 (talk) 01:26, 19 July 2017 (UTC)

It's an interesting philosophical question. If it was meant like law, and one can do anything which is not forbidden, he would play any other game. Which is not probable, because by slight change of rules, a new game can be created, which he would consider forbidden as well. Or he might have thought any game, in this case it's strange he did do it this complicated and non-optimal way.. —Mykhal (talk) 17:07, 17 December 2017 (UTC)

Source?

Is this legit? What's the source of this? Rycanada 00:53, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

Reasoning For List?

Assuming this information is accurate there is no information in this article regarding why the list was created. Was it a protest? Did he not like games? Did he find these particular games offensive? Can someone please expand this article to include this information? Uniquenamessuck (talk) 16:10, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

Contesting Prod

The article is in slightly rough shape right now, but I think there's reason to believe that it can be improved. We've got one reference for the existence of the list (the in-text mention of Rhys David's translation, which mentions a specific sutra- finding a more up-to-date translation isn't a problem). I believe Maurice Walsh, who translated the Digha Nikaya, probably has some updated footnotes on this list of games. Second, we've got a mention in the text of a third-party mention- in the history book mentioned at the end of the article. The book is on Amazon, and is an Oxford University imprint, so it seems like a good, academic source; if someone can get a hold of that book, they can add what Murray says about it. The context clearly needs to be added, but it seems that reliable references exist. Another option if there isn't sufficient information to sustain an entire article would be to merge with the Brahmajala Sutta (Theravada) article. Since there are so few sources of information about everyday life in ancient India, I would think that this bears preserving in some form. --User:Spasemunki (talk) 11:23, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

Fair enough. I'll go along with you on that and am happy to have the prod withdrawn. --Orrelly Man (talk) 11:27, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

Where is the opposite list?

Did Buddha have a list of games he played, or is this a list of every game Buddha ever heard of?  Randall Bart   Talk  04:44, 16 May 2013 (UTC)

Breakdown and Interpretation

Here's a copy of the list, from what the Buddha allegedly said http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.01.0.bodh.html#fn-1

Fair breakdown, there of:

Well, why not look at what the actual sutta says? "It is, bhikkhus, only to trifling and insignificant matters, to the minor details of mere moral virtue, that a worldling would refer when speaking in praise of the Tathāgata. And what are those trifling and insignificant matters, those minor details of mere moral virtue, to which he would refer?" [...A list of activities to be abstained from follows, including said list of games. Note that this list also includes the non-taking of life...] "There are, bhikkhus, other dhammas, deep, difficult to see, difficult to understand, peaceful and sublime, beyond the sphere of reasoning, subtle, comprehensible only to the wise, which the Tathāgata, having realized for himself with direct knowledge, propounds to others; and it is concerning these that those who would rightly praise the Tathāgata in accordance with reality would speak. And what are these dhammas?" [A list of observations regarding right view follows.] A reasonable TL;DR interpretation being that if you're going to praise someone, it is wiser to do so on the basis of their understanding of reality rather than their superficial adherence to rules. The sutta criticizes the "common worldling" who sees that the Buddha abstains from taking life, calls this virtuous, and stops there. The common worldling is not wrong in noticing that this is virtuous, but they are missing the "why" in the equation. What is it about killing that is so misaligned with reality as it is? So this sutta doesn't say whether playing games is skillful or unskillful. It says that a particular way of talking about whether someone plays games is unskillful. (Note that abstaining from entertainments is certainly part of the vinaya, although probably less applicable to the layperson unless it's something they choose to explore.) Nor does the sutta say that virtue is unimportant. It says that a superficial way of thinking about virtue is unskillful. So the sutta criticizes mindless virtue and is a reminder that there are bigger proverbial fish to fry (views), which the Buddha goes on to describe in detail. https://www.reddit.com/r/Buddhism/comments/44l0q9/why_did_buddha_refuse_to_play_these_games/czrdkt0 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.124.152.55 (talk) 01:25, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

Needs some context, or should be deleted

At the very least, it should be moved to a more general article like "Buddha and games" or something, or be incorporated in the Buddha article. It certainly should not be a "List of..." article, unless it can point to a main article that provides context. This article lacks both such a pointer, and the context, and so I can't see the significance of the information. Ornilnas (talk) 12:58, 16 April 2016 (UTC)

Agreed. Propose to integrate in Bhikkhu or Vinaya.--Farang Rak Tham (talk) 17:56, 24 August 2017 (UTC)

In retrospect, I think integrating in Brahmajala Sutta (Theravada) would make better sense, as suggested above by Spasemunki.--Farang Rak Tham (talk) 08:07, 26 August 2017 (UTC)

The merger was proposed nearly a year ago now... I think preserving the sourced content in this article would swamp the material in the Majjhima Sila section of the Brahmajala Sutta article... moreover, this seems to be about a distinct topic from the sutta overall. At this point, I'd suggest maintaining a separate article and removing the merger tag. Agree with Ornilnas that the title is a bit awkward- I wonder if something like 'Pali Canon games list' or 'games in Pali literature' would be an improvement? --Spasemunki (talk) 07:17, 31 May 2018 (UTC)

Removed the merge template, given that there have been no objections to doing so. Klbrain (talk) 20:50, 16 December 2018 (UTC)