Customer Reviews

Leela: The Game of Self-Knowledge

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Every play a children's game called Chutes and Ladders? This is it's original metaphysical predecessor, played by saints and children in India. Each row of squares is a different chakra, and each square concerns a challenge or opportunity of that chakra. Instead of ladders you have arrows that raise your consciousness, instead of chutes you have snakes that lead you back downward. Your path through the game is your metaphysical path through life.

As someone who is not an expert in Indian philosophy, I found the book a bit challenging, especially when all I wanted to do was play the game, not get caught up in the detail of it. I am sure someone will or has created a more playable booklet with only a few lines for each square.

The board design is lovely, and the structure behind the game unique. A must for any spiritually oriented person's collection. The game also replays well, and even after having owned my copy since not long after it came out, it is still a game I come back to, think about and play.

I am buying this game after having played it at a friend's house. This game can spark much discussion, self-reflection, and interpersonal sharing at a deeper than usual level - and for this reason alone it is worth 'playing'. Also, I loved the detailed playbook - It is like a concise handbook of Indian spiritual metaphysics! A very worthwhile and handy item to have on your bookshelf.

Provides insight into our own consciousness and a key to divine knowledge. Four things are necessary for one or more to play: the book and game board, a die, and a significant object that belongs to the player, such as a ring, to serve as the player's symbol during the game. Each of the seventy-two squares on the board represents a virtue or vice, an aspect of consciousness or a plane of reality; the players' progress is dictated by the fall of a die corresponding to the forces of karma. Simultaneously a game and a serious method of enlightenment, Leela parallels the spiritual journey toward liberation, advancing the player along that path by means of the self-exploration that the game demands. Repeated playing of Leela will reveal past karmas, current concerns, and the cosmic patterns governing your life. 1st Row: The Fundamentals of Being. 2nd: The Realm of Fantasy. 3rd: The Theater of Karma 4th: Attaining Balance. 5th: Man Becomes Himself. 6th: The Time of Penance. 7th: The Plane of Reality. 8th: The Gods Themselves