The Yoga of Snakes and Arrows: The Leela of Self-Knowledge

Excerpts & Samples

By Harish Johari

Publisher : Inner Traditions/Bear & Company

ABOUT Harish Johari

Harish Johari
Harish Johari (1934-1999) was a distinguished North Indian author, Tantric scholar, poet,musician, composer, artist, and gemologist who held degrees in philosophy and literature and made it his life's work to introduce the culture of his homeland to the West. Here is a hot link to a web si More...

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Description

A guide to observation of the inner self through the ancient Indian game of Leela

• Comes complete with foldout game board and commentary for the 72 spaces

• Mirrors the path of obstacles and insights one encounters in self-development

• Repeated play offers lessons in self-understanding

Chutes and Ladders, the popular children’s game, is derived from the ancient Hindu game Leela, or Snakes and Arrows, which charts the ups and downs of the soul’s path toward reunion with the Infinite. Snakes and Arrows was designed by the seers and saints of India as a tool for understanding the relationship of the individual self to the Absolute Self. For thousands of years the 72 spaces on this game board have enabled players to chart the paths that represent the course of their lives. Each space represents a virtue or a vice, an aspect of consciousness, or a plane of reality and is accompanied by a commentary explaining its meaning. The player’s progress on the board is dictated by the fall of a die corresponding to the forces of karma. Repeated encounters with the snakes and arrows on the board reveal the full meaning of the commentaries and can give shape to habitual patterns of the player, resulting in greater self-understanding and even a gradual detachment from the ego’s delusions.

The Yoga of Snakes and Arrows assists the seeker through the stages and trials of self-development, mirroring both the obstacles of karma and the rewards of self-obtained insight. There is really only one game in life and that is Leela, the game of self-knowledge and the universal play of cosmic energies.
"Leela is both a boardgame and practice on the spiritual path. The game is an analog to the spiritual journey. Following the roll of the die (which represents karma), the player advances along the path toward liberation of the soul."
Omega New Age Directory

"Without a doubt, many hours of enjoyment and learning for anyone on the path."
Light of Consciousness Magazine, Oct 2007

"The late master of Vajrayana and Ayurveda, Johari is yet again demonstrating his vast mastery of the manifolded arts that lead to the revelation of self and purpose."

O Caldeirao, Issue 14, Nov 2007