Some might hesitate, or at least pause before daring to explore consciousness, knowing we are using a culturally, ethnically and socially conditioned – and therefore restricted – mind to do so.
     For millennia, the endeavour was considered so preposterous that musings and insights into the essence of consciousness were hidden in metaphor and legend, most notably the story of the Hindu god Shiva and his consort Parvati.
     The wonderful and tantalising story has been studied for generations. It centres on a delightful and somewhat saucy game of dice between the almighty lord of the universe, Shiva – a God that “no living being can overcome” – and his consort who declares that only she can overcome the mighty Shiva.
     After a long battle with the dice, the beautiful Parvati wins and waltzes off with Shiva’s vestiges of office, leaving him with only a loincloth. At first blush this could be a story read in any supermarket-tabloid about a modern divorce settlement, but our story has a twist.
     The ancient legend recounts that the God quietly, and without complaint, withdraws and becomes an ascetic, meditating in solitary peace in the forest.
     Parvati is victorious yet very soon feels lonely and frustrated without him. She finds him alone in the forest and tries to win him back, and so begins the famous legend that continues to roll back and forth just like dice on a board.
     It is this ancient legend that forms the backbone of Richard Smoley’s latest book, and he uses this delightful story as a cipher to explore consciousness.
     Richard Smoley has over thirty years of experience studying and practicing esoteric traditions. Currently the editor of Quest Books and executive editor of Quest magazine, his other works include Hidden Wisdom: A Guide to the Western Inner Traditions (with Jay Kinney), Inner Christianity: A Guide to the Esoteric Tradition, The Essential Nostradamus, Forbidden Faith: The Secret History of Gnosticism, and Conscious Love: Insights from Mystical Christianity.
     A compelling parallel can be found between the dice game of Shiva and Albert Einstein’s quip, “God does not play dice with the universe.” As the author points out, it appears the myth is saying, “that God not only plays dice with the universe, but constantly loses.” Of course, this begs the question, why is Shiva lured into this seductive game? How could he lose? And perhaps more importantly, how does Parvati win?
     Shiva represents consciousness, in a more universal sense rather than simple human awareness. Parvati represents prakriti or the contents of consciousness experienced in its internal and external forms. Esoteric Christianity calls this the “world.”
     At the beginning of the story, Shiva and Parvati are locked in union; therefore, there is no distinction between consciousness and its contents, and there is no world. The dice game is introduced which symbolises the beginning of manifestation. It seems we cannot have manifestation or a reality without an element of discord.
     Consciousness – how to describe it or the way our minds interact with it – has long been debated, and many philosophers believe the question of truly understanding it is fundamentally insoluble. Richard Smoley ventures into this labyrinth and uncovers many hidden treasures secreted within this particular legend.
     After losing the game, and seemingly losing his powers, Shiva accepts the defeat with a mere shrug of his shoulders and then withdraws into the forest to meditate. This element of the story reveals that consciousness can detach itself from its experience, it can free itself from its own contents, withdrawing into a peaceful state.
     Generally, we do not experience this state as our individual ‘consciousness’ tends to be very narrow and fenced in with rigid distinctions. Richard Smoley points out that enlightenment, it would seem, “lies precisely in the recognition of this truth.”
     Hundreds of books describe or analyse the pathway to enlightenment, but few truly begin to unravel the inner mystery of consciousness itself, and of course there are many who declare it an impossible task.
     It seems that those of us with unenlightened consciousness, like Parvati, have won the dice and the spoils of the battle but have actually lost the bigger game.
     It is Parvati’s desire to return to her lord Shiva that inspires us all, but most importantly, reveals and defines our own inner longing. The hunger within cannot be assuaged, no matter how much we indulge in the desires of the body and the lures of the material world. This hunger is exemplified by the actions of Parvati in our story.
     Western religion is poorer for lacking such a legend, as the inner hunger for peace and the cessation of inner and outer war is something we are told can be overcome with prayer and other austerities. While the biblical story of Adam and Eve describes a fall from grace, the core issue of consciousness itself is unacknowledged.
     Richard Smoley believes that consciousness may become the focal point of civilisation in the third millennium because although we have gained a higher standard in material terms, the inner thirst remains unquenched.
     In the end, writes Richard Smoley, the quest to know ourselves outstrips any pragmatic applications. In the biblical story of Genesis, the serpent told Adam and Eve that the fruit of the tree of knowledge would ensure their godhood because they would know good and evil. That was not a lie, writes Smoley, although he “did not…. spell out all the consequences of this act.”
     This is why the ancient Gnostics saw the serpent as a figure of liberation. This is why Odysseus chose to know the Sirens’ song even though it caused him untold anguish, because he simply needed to know. It seems we need to also know darkness and pain and recognise we are still as Shiva, quietly meditating in the forest of inner peace.
     “I’ve often thought that the purpose of humanity is to collectively experience the full range of possibilities available on this earth,” writes Smoley, sounding a little reminiscent of the 60s Jim Morrison.
     He acknowledges there is something within us telling that no matter what the world thinks of our achievements, they inevitably amount to nothing more than illusions within a dream. In the midst of it all remains consciousness, “awake or asleep, enlightened or deluded, everywhere cramped and constrained yet also eternally infinite and unstained, just as Shiva perpetually loses the dice game, while actually losing nothing.”
     I highly recommend The Dice Game of Shiva to any serious student of conscious enlightenment as well as anyone who has acknowledged that inner longing.