The Game of Peace, Rev. 2

(rev. 2)So, a rational person (the player, I guess) has, in relation to whathe experiences, generally one of 3 feelings about those experiences: the experience is pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. Most people want to avoid unpleasant and gain pleasant. This, however is a no-win, endless situation, as one has no control over whether the next experience in any given moment will be pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. They can only hope that something will change in regards to the mode of the game so that they won't feel unpleasant and neutral any more, and feel only pleasant.

However, if a person is aware and at ease with the experience being pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral, then it's pretty much good for that round because they don't experience any problems. So, once the person understands that, it's just a matter of being aware of whether there is a state of peace or not. If there is a state of peace, things are fine, move to the next experience. If there is not a state of peace, then one applies the necessary and sufficient conditions to bring themto a state of peace, which may take one moment or several, depending on how far away (how severe the affliction) the person is from the state of peace. Any path that brings them to a state of peace is a valid one.

If the person does not apply, or does not know how to apply, the necessary and sufficient means to arrive at a state of peace, they won't arrive at a state of peace. The key then is to learn the means and methods, and to know what a state of peace is.

So the strategy is to a) be aware of the state of being; b) understand the means and methods; c) put them into place.

Basically, if you're in NY and you know you're in NY, you're in NY. If you're not in NY, and know you aren't in NY, then do whatever it takes to get to NY, and you'll get to NY. Apply, rinse, and repeat. As one gets more familiar with the awareness of being in NY or not, and has moremeans, and uses them more and more effectively, they're in NY more andmore consistently until they never leave NY and know they never leaveNY.

The means and methods are, of course, one's ethical behavior. They are not rooted in morals being objectively good or bad, but as methods applied in the game.

So, after peace has been realized and stabilized, that particular game is over, as there's no more reactivity to arisings; all arisings are simply seen as such. From there the game might take different forms, such as finding ways to help other players view the game in this same way and master ways of stabilizing peace (which might actually be a method used by a non-master player to achieve peace).

The game of peace

So, a rational person (the player, I guess) has, in relation to what
he experiences, generally one of 3 feelings about those experiences:
the experience is pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. Most people want
to avoid unpleasant and gain pleasant. This, however is a no-win,
endless situation, as one has no control over whether the next
experience in any given moment will be pleasant, unpleasant, or
neutral. They can only hope that something will change in regards to
the mode of the game so that they won't feel unpleasant and neutral
any more, and feel only pleasant.

However, if a person is aware and at ease with the experience being
pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral, then it's pretty much good for that
round because they don't experience any problems. So, once the person
understands that, it's just a matter of being aware of whether there
is a state of peace or not. If there is a state of peace, things are
fine, move to the next experience. If there is not a state of peace,
then one applies the necessary and sufficient conditions to bring them
to a state of peace, which may take one moment or several, depending
on how far away (how severe the affliction) the person is from the
state of peace. Any path that brings them to a state of peace is a
valid one.

If the person does not apply, or does not know how to apply, the
necessary and sufficient means to arrive at a state of peace, they
won't arrive at a state of peace. The key then is to learn the means
and methods, and to know what a state of peace is.

So the strategy is to a) be aware of the state of being; b) understand
the means and methods; c) put them into place.

Basically, if you're in NY and you know you're in NY, you're in NY. If
you're not in NY, know you aren't in NY, do whatever it takes to get
to NY, and you'll get to NY. Apply, rinse, and repeat. As one gets
more familiar with the awareness of being in NY or not, and has more
means, and uses them more and more effectively, they're in NY more and
more consistently until they never leave NY and know they never leave
NY.

Did I pretty much state it the way it should be stated, or is there a
different way to put it? The means and methods are, of course, one's
ethical behavior. They are not rooted in morals being objectively good
or bad, but as methods applied in the game.

Just kind of a fun exercise, hope I'm not sounding too silly! ;-p But
kind of relevant as it's the game we're all playing.