Being IN the world is like playing a board game. I know the rules of the game and I know I am playing a game. The knowingness or awareness that I am only playing the game is being IN the game. The moment I forget that I am playing the game and I think the game is real, I become OF the game. When we are in the game we plan, strategize, and make our moves, yet all the while we are still very aware that we are only playing a game.
Think of chess. This is a game that can be played on many levels. As a player you are cognizant of the fact that you are only playing. You, as an intelligent being, plan and strategize the best you can with your understanding of the subtleties of the game. You know that you are only using the pieces and that you are not the pieces themselves.
Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, or sometimes you come to a stale mate. In any of these situations you still have learned something from the game itself. You learned how to watch the relationship between your actions and the re-actions of your opponent. You also realize that without the 8kbet opponent, there would not have been a game to play at all. So you are grateful for the opportunities that your opponent provided to you during your game.
Let’s say you win most of the time you play. You may begin to think you are pretty good at playing and have mastered the game. Then you find a new opponent, and this opponent has been playing for a much longer time. All of a sudden you feel like a beginner. All of the old strategies just don’t work anymore. So you observe, you learn from your defeats, and you get better. Pretty soon you are able to match wits equally with this partner. Once again you begin to feel pretty confident that you have mastered the game…until you find another new opponent and the process begins again! Each time yo