So, recently I downloaded my first iphone game. It’s called “Doodle Jump.” What a revelation!

Confession: I haven’t played a video game, (if they are still even called “video games”) since Space Invaders came out on those arcade machines with the eerie green screens.

After just a couple of games, I realized that Doodle Jump is a perfect little microcosm of Nature, and a great mirror and teacher, for those on a spiritual path. If you approach it the right way, of course.

As with any game, there is a mixture of fate and free will. There are built in laws that govern the natural world of the game. Your best chance for survival is to learn the laws of gravity, acceleration, and so on and then adapt your behavior to take advantage of these. This requires  strategy, precision, agility, discernment and split second adaptability. Just like life.

But you can never master the laws totally. And they aren’t consistent in every situation. There are gap moments when you’re left asking: “What just happened?”

One thing you are reminded of (or learn for the first time) playing Doodle Jump is that sometimes you run out of options other than to die. You’re just hanging out in space on your one island of so-called safety, and there is no next step other than DOWN. That is so Tantrik. Who made this game, anyway?

Sometimes grace intervenes and you effortlessly zoom to a new level of awareness. On other occasions, you grab at an opportunity to advance, only to discover that if you had just waited a fraction of a second longer, a better opportunity would have come along. Drat!

You have some very karmic choices in Doodle Jump. When obstacles arise, you can choose aggressive (higher points/more dangerous) versus nonaggressive (lower points/safer) ways of advancing. Of course, if this really were a game of Self-realization, the nonaggressive routes would earn higher points. Note to Lima Sky, the game developers!

It’s also not possible to stand totally still in Doodle Jump. Your location and situation keep changing even if you do nothing.

But the thing I like most about playing Doodle Jump, other than the fact that it’s so utterly charming, is how it calls forth your fixations and presents them to you for reflection. Yes, just like a good teacher acting as a mirror, playing Doodle Jump can teach you a lot about your particular karmic flavor of relating to the world.

The central teaching in both Indian Tantrik and Buddhist traditions about human karmic vision is called “the Six Lokas” or Six Realms. These are the fundamental flavors of samsara – suffering. The six realms are humungous categories with tons of variety. So don’t take my realm tour of Doodle Jump too, too seriously.

The Six Realm Fixations a la Doodle Jump

God Realm – “I have transcended the desire to play Doodle Jump.” Real meaning: Won’t play Doodle Jump because too afraid to recognize the inevitability of death.

Titan Realm – “I will beat you, Doodle Jump, and your silly little laws. Ha!”

Human Realm – “Must understand how Doodle Jump works.”  See the fabulous human realm  “practical analysis” of Doodle Jump here.

Animal Realm – “It’s all going too fast. Wish there were a place to lie down and rest.”

Hungry Ghost Realm -  “I never get the rocket booster.”

Hell Realm – “What the fuck is wrong with this game, anyway? It’s so unfair!”

Someone on the Doodle Jump Facebook page asked if there was an end to the game, a Doodle Jump heaven. Well, the high scorer has already reached nearly 4 million points. Which reminds me of something Anandamayi Ma said: “Even Rishi is only a stage.”

In Ma’s love,
Shambhavi, whose highest score so far is 16,021

Posted by Shambhavi on February 7th, 2010 | Explore More! Tags: freedom, karma, Tantra