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cartoon: the video game addict; been there, done that: evaṃ-nāmo evaṃ-gotto,



Excerpt from an old post of mine.

2nd story, the video game addict

When I was a kid, I loved video games. My mom was always complaining and preventing me from playing video games to my heart's content (maybe only satisfying 30-50% of the length of time I desired), resulting in building an even greater uncontrollable desire to play once I moved out and went to college, where I could play all I wanted as an independent adult.  You better believe countless hours were wasted.

When I was 25, I finally had an awakening. After playing one of the Nintendo Mario adventure games to it's conclusion, I reflected on my experience. This game was the state of the art, one of the masterpieces and critically acclaimed video game experiences of all time. Just to pick an even number, let's say it took 100 hours to complete. While it offered great joy in the realm of sensual pleasures via the stimulating visuals, sounds, music, interactive tactile control and immersive experience in a stunning alternate world, if I really took an accurate accounting, probably:
10% of that was really joyful time spent
50% of the time was kind of neutral, neither particularly pleasurable nor painful
40% of the time you're angry at the game designers for putting frustrating elements and wasting your time forcing you to do frivolous and dumb things just to provide an illusion that you 'earned' the story's conclusion by wasting countless hours doing arbitrary frivolous trivial inane mini quests.

Now keep in mind, this game was a masterpiece, and if the best game available can only offer me a pleasure ratio of only 10%, why am I wasting my time doing this stupidity?

In comparison, low quality and mediocre games, I could expect ratios of maybe 2-5% pleasure and well over 70% anger and frustration.

Upon that deep reflection, I stopped playing video games that day and never played again.

One final  remark on that Mario game. After I spent well over 100 hours completing that game, do you know what the ultimate reward was? Something like a short one minute animation of the princess I rescued giving me a cake or some cookies. 100 hours of sweat and tears for a box of cookies? Never again.

been there, done that: evaṃ-nāmo evaṃ-gotto, evaṃ-vaṇṇo evam-āhāro...

How many thousands of hours had I wasted in my 25 year old life on stupid video games?
I was such a dumb ass. 




2.  The standard formula on the power of recollection of past lives, 


6ab → 4♾️🏠 aneka-vihitaṃ pubbe-nivāsaṃ: many dwellings of previous lives

aneka-vihitaṃ pubbe-nivāsaṃ
many-instances (of) previous-abodes-[lives]
anus-sarati,
(he) recollects,
seyyathidaṃ –
like-this -
ekampi jātiṃ dvepi jātiyo tissopi jātiyo catassopi jātiyo pañcapi jātiyo
one birth, two births, three births, four births, five births,
dasapi jātiyo vīsampi jātiyo tiṃsampi jātiyo cattālīsampi jātiyo paññāsampi jātiyo
ten births, twenty births, thirty births, forty births, fifty births,
jāti-satampi jāti-sahassampi jāti-sata-sahassampi
one hundred births, one thousand births, one hundred thousand births,
anekepi saṃvaṭṭa-kappe
many contractions-(of cosmic)-aeons,
anekepi vivaṭṭa-kappe
many expansions-(of cosmic)-aeons,
anekepi saṃvaṭṭa-vivaṭṭa-kappe –
many contractions-&-expansions-(of cosmic)-aeons, [recollecting],
‘amutrāsiṃ
There
evaṃ-nāmo evaṃ-gotto
(I had) such-(a)-name, such-(a)-clan,
evaṃ-vaṇṇo evam-āhāro
such-(an)-appearance, such-(was my)-food,
evaṃ-sukha-dukkhap-paṭisaṃvedī
such-pleasure-(and)-pain-(I)-experienced,
evam-āyu-pariyanto,
such-(my)-age-limit [expired].
so tato cuto
he, (from) that-state, passed-away,
amutra udapādiṃ [uppādiṃ (sī.)];
there, (re)-arose.
tatrāpāsiṃ
There too
evaṃ-nāmo evaṃ-gotto
(I had) such-(a)-name, such-(a)-clan,
evaṃ-vaṇṇo evam-āhāro
such-(an)-appearance, such-(was my)-food,
evaṃ-sukha-dukkhap-paṭisaṃvedī
such-pleasure-(and)-pain-(I)-experienced,
evam-āyu-pariyanto,
such-(my)-age-limit [expired].
so tato cuto
he, (from) that-state, passed-away,
idhū-(u)papanno’ti.
here, (re)-arose
Iti sākāraṃ sa-uddesaṃ
thus (with its) characteristics (and) details
aneka-vihitaṃ pubbe-nivāsaṃ
many-instances (of) previous-abodes-[lives]
anus-sarati,
(he) recollects,














 


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