Mahjong in India

Don’t underestimate the game of Mahjong. If you play this game, and play it well, you’ll have a better understanding of life and relationships. It is said that there is philosophy in Mahjong. Yes, there is… it’s a fact that the mahjong game actually reflects our day to day life. It teaches us, very subtly, some very important lessons of life…..the philosophy of life.  

Mahjong is played with 144 tiles which represent 12 x 12 zodiac signs.

The three dragons represent heaven (white dragon/ soap), earth (green dragon) and man (red dragon). Then there are the winds, the flowers, the seasons, and so on.

Have you ever groaned about life being unfair after being dealt a poor hand in a mahjong game? Life doesn’t seem to care much about fairness, does it? 

I have learnt a few of life’s lessons from playing mahjong.

Firstly, play the hand you are dealt with; that is actually the hardest part, to recover from your opening tiles if they are bad.  We cannot control what tiles we get, but we can control how skillfully we play the game. We can manipulate and rearrange these tiles to make a coherent hand. Life is the same, we may not be born with money, talent or beauty, but we must make the best of what we have and lead a happy life. If we live skillfully, we will have a happy, content and successful life. On the contrary, sometimes, we may be born with wealth and talent, but we may waste opportunities that come our way and end up miserably. Same is the case with mahjong, you may be dealt with beautiful tiles, but if you cannot understand the relation between them, you may lose.

Also, one pretty tile does not make a winning hand, just as in life, one latent ability may not make you successful in a particular career. We must take stock of our entire hand, our entire circumstances, and see how they fit together. Squaring up a hand that you wanted to play versus the hand you actually have, can be challenging both in Mahjong and in life, but it’s always important to work with what you have and not what you desire.

Mahjong also taught me that “it’s just a tile”. If I have a tile in my hand, but I don’t know what it is or how to use it, then I probably don’t need it. In life too, one needs to discover whether or not our possessions “spark a joy,” and if they don’t do anything for me, I can probably toss them away. De-cluttering in life is important, both in physical possessions as well as thoughts and relationships. 

Mahjong also teaches us to make decisions. Out of the scores of hands that you can make, you need to decide which hand to make; your decision may be right or wrong, but once that decision is made, you need to work towards it and make it better, unless of course it becomes hopeless and you need to reconsider your initial decision. It is important to re-evaluate goals from time to time. Based on the tiles being thrown out, you might need to re-evaluate and switch strategies. You need to be flexible when the spectacular combination that seemed possible just moments ago has now become highly improbable.

Life too poses situations where one needs to take decisions and remain committed towards them, but like in mahjong it is important to reconsider these decisions later in life if required, to remain happy and successful.

Moreover, you may not be dealt with good tiles but you don’t know what tiles you may draw from the wall which may ultimately help you make a beautiful hand. In life too, you never know what the future holds for you; even though you may not be born with wealth or talent, the future may hold something interesting for you, so, one must never give up, and one should keep working hard. Also, remember, like in Mahjong, with every round the wind changes, similarly, circumstances in life too keep changing. So, it’s not what you start out with that matter. What is important is how you played the game and how you tried your best to be successful.

Another very important thing Mahjong teaches us about life is that, whatever you may have in life, money and talent, but we have no control on what others have. You may have very good tiles but the others may have better. Who wins depends not only on your game, but also on how your opponents play the game. In life too, we do not live in isolation. We live in a society and we have to play the game of life with others around us. We must take into consideration not only our circumstances but theirs too. Our position in society is largely dependent on others too. At times we need to change the strategy of our life looking at what others around us are doing. An unskillful player may keep looking only at her own tiles, and remain oblivious to other players; 

Whereas a good player can read his opponents tiles and intent; she can anticipate their moves and adapt her own strategy accordingly. As in Mahjong, life too requires different strategies in different situations.

Mahjong's idea of heaven, earth and man too resonates with life.

Heaven is something that we cannot control. Here we must learn acceptance and resignation. It is not being a defeatist; acceptance and resignation in some situations allows us to carry on with our lives and move forward.

Conversely, when heaven blesses us, we should be thankful, and share the blessings with others.

Earth is our environment and the people around us. To a certain extent we can control this, but never fully. We should always aim to live in the right environment and surround ourselves with the right people.

Lastly, but most important is man – we ourselves – which we can control most. We should discipline ourselves to live a righteous, good and fulfilling life.

The game of Mahjong reminds us that only when all three, heaven, earth and man, are in harmony, that, good things will come our way.

Mahjong also teaches us to spread love and spread knowledge. Many times we want to keep many tricks of the trade to ourselves but mahjong teaches us not to do so, for the simple reason, if you don’t teach others, whom you will play with! With more people hosting, teaching, and playing, you will be adding more joy and connection to your circle. Same goes for life — pass it on! A rising tide, as they say, lifts all boats. Also, remember, you cannot win alone; others have to give you tiles to help you make your hand. In life too, you need others to be successful and you should always be grateful to people around and thank them for making you what you are. Flip side to this is that a new player may lose and may lose very often to old experienced players but they should consider this as paying a school fee. To learn anything in life one has to make sacrifices and a sacrifice of a little money to learn the game of life is nothing at all!