Is life a 'game'?

[Honza]

Is life a game which is being played by us and God, or is it much more serious than that - i.e. a matter of spiritual life and death?

In my life I have experienced 'very' serious spiritual events. It certainly seemed like a matter of my souls life or death. It certainly sobered me up.

With earth approaching a climatic catastrophe and nuclear war looming over our heads it strikes me that life is no 'game'. We are here to survive if we can.

[AngelBlue]

Hi Honza.
And in answer I believe NO, life is not a game between us and God. I do not believe that God would play games. He made his point clear right from the start and I believe he meant it !!!
I do believe that we are here to learn though and in the main life is not easy.

[Guillaume]

It's a game for those in control.

And control is an illusion, you control others until you don't control them anymore, they control you until they don't anymore. In this sense it's a game of influence.

Being in control is being in control of our body first.
Sometimes people break objects, other people, relationships etc unintentionally, meaning they had no control over their behavior.
Which interests are they serving then ? What movie is being played ?

So, yes to me life is a game, a theater that we all create.
We all participate in the co-creation. Some more than others, in the good or bad way!

When we are playing our own movie or when things go our way, we don't ask ourselves what life is, we enjoy and time passes.

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by Honza

Is life a game which is being played by us and God, or is it much more serious than that - i.e. a matter of spiritual life and death?

Well, first, I am not of the belief that there is any spiritual death.
We all do have an instinct to survive here, yes.

A game would not be by 'us' as a whole...maybe some individuals...but, the minute there would be pain
or death the 'Game' would no longer BE a game to them, imo.
(Unless an Enlightened person.)


A Game played by God? Well, now there IS a question.
A Guru once said God is like a little boy in a garden playing with a magnifying glass.
I agree with that. But He, this Brilliant Spiritual Being, is way more than THAT! Ha!
To stay on topic and not a tangent on what God is...as the Cosmic Observer...it 'could' be considered a Game, yes...
with the Player ---seeing the Bigger Picture, tho...and feeling all the pains and joys as we do when watching an epic 4 hour movie...
knowing it will end and IS only a projection on a screen...the actors
are playing a part in a stage...and go home afterwards.
My take

[FallingLeaves]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

Well, first, I am not of the belief that there is any spiritual death.

i kinda disagree, in fact I personally take the writings early in genesis to mean not only is there an actual spiritual death that can happen, but the entire reason for the 'why's of things in the present reality (such as but not limited to for example suffering) are a direct result of God's response to the fact adam and eve tried to choose that spiritual death despite being warned by God not to. And the fact that since then, the rest of us have done nothing but the same.

Basically, in my mind, the way it works is, 'freedom'/'life' is a matter of choice. If you can make at least some choices independently of any factors that would sway you to choose a specific alternative just because there is a somehow 'right' way that you 'must' choose, you have 'freedom' and you have 'life'.

But if you have life and freedom, there is always the temptation to choose the path of choosing to quit choosing. Just following the rules that have been placed in front of you down to the most minute possible degree, becoming like an automaton or like a computer and never deviating from the planned or desired. To give up your life and your freedom.

In my mind, to be 'dead' a la what is said early in genesis is to make that choice about the nature of choice in an irrevocable manner.

Don't get me wrong I like computers a lot, but there is something about 'live' people that transcends them. Maybe, being surprised every now and again isn't such a bad thing?
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you say but life isn't like that??? People seem to have real choices????

Well clearly it isn't but I say the only reason it isn't is because God intentionally muddled things up so badly that we can't like anything specific permanently... in my mind if we actually got the permanence we want, the end would be near...
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problem being we all want money, or agreement with other people
and other people are mostly agreeing that you should choose to do what
other people have chosen to do and not do what they have chosen
not to do... and we like the idea of being agreeable to that so things kinda compound on themselves...
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this is what eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil brought to adam and eve, and I think the bible might even say our whole reality was warped around us by god when they made that choice.
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in my mind to a very large degree we are deeply trapped in this... but we don't even know it because if we are getting what we want we have no reason to be other than complacent about the rest of life... our own life is fine why rock the boat? and if we aren't getting what we want we are told that well we should be trying to get what we want so that we can be happy too so we concentrate on that rather than stopping to listen to what God has been saying since the fall...

In my mind, if it weren't for the grace of god we wouldn't be finding our way out of a box we don't even want to know we are in.

[Podshell]

Is that how you see the apple story FallingLeaves? I saw it in that we already had everything we needed,we gave it up for the journey of knowledge so we could learn for ourselves-I think much would be pointless if the soul isn't permanent,what are the point of lessons otherwise,I treat life as a game makes things easier to take,keep hearing The Beatles Penny Lane lately on the radio'she thinks she's in a play,she is anyway'

[Podshell]

..What would you know just as I posted that The Beatles came on the radio 'Let it Be.'

Originally Posted by FallingLeaves

i kinda disagree,
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this is what eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil brought to adam and eve, and I think the bible might even say our whole reality was warped around us by god when they made that choice.
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In my mind, if it weren't for the grace of god we wouldn't be finding our way out of a box we don't even want to know we are in.

FallingLeaves,

Thanks for the post…..it is a good reminder for Christians. This is a case where there is truth to what both of you say.

Going back to the story in Genesis it can be said that neither the serpent or God lied. God said that you would die if you ate the fruit…..the serpent assured them that they would not die. Here is the thing: God can speak only of eternal life…..the serpent can only speak of mortal life. This is one reason it is the serpent not Satan…etc. Animals have souls but not spirit. In short, the wiggle room here hinges on the definition of life.

It was at this point that the Spirit was taken from man……John 7:39 speaks of the Spirit being given back by Jesus the Christ. The exceptions to this are covered in Romans 11:4-8. It is with the renewed access to the Spirit that Miss Hepburn can speak of spiritual life….but there had definitely been spiritual death and you have to accept that if you profess to be Christian. Without accepting this you demean the magnitude of the redemptive act of Christ.

[Miss Hepburn]

I think this is still on topic. Do others believe that God completely annihilates a soul from existence? Aka , spiritual death?
That idea is new to me.
(Since that premise is brought up in the op, I think its ok to talk about.)
I'm ok with Bible verses, tho, I don't believe everything that is said in there.
Thanks
Ha, and I'm no expert on this!

[Nikos1982]

Hi Honza,

you make the most beautiful posts here, like flowers...

A flower is not pretending to be anything more than it already is, just like the flame of a candle..

Life comes with many challenges but it can be seen as a game, as an adventure imo.

What I know is that we 're here to learn... this is I think the lot of man, of human.... sometimes we learn through a difficult pathway and we question what 'I have done wrong' , but there is always an assurance to proceed.

Much love friend