The Tibetan stick game is an ancient game played by Buddhist monks. The monks stand in a circle and pass around wooden sticks which are about the length of an arm. The aim is to pass the stick so that it spins the least number of times in the air and the receiver has an easy job of catching it.

The challenging part is when more than one stick is put into the game and you can have as many sticks as the number of participants.

After getting used to the sticks, they are replaced by knives and at the highest level of the game by flaming torches. The big challenge isn’t mastering the technique of throw and catch, it’s the concentration and peace that is required by the monks to play. It can be dangerous getting hit by a speeding wooden stick not to mention a knife or a torch. Concentration techniques are practiced before and during the game to create the level of inner calm required.

Throughout life we learn to receive messages from the people surrounding us and we try to pass on messages of our own. This is the process for all communication, verbal and non-verbal.

In the stick game each stick is like a message passing through the world and the receiver is supposed to be in a state of readiness and awareness to catch it. Different situations can occur during the game/life:

1. Two sticks clashing and falling mid-way (two messages getting mixed and not getting to the other side).

2. Receiving two sticks one after the other in a quick succession (two people sending two different messages to the same person).

3. A stick hitting you on the head or falling next to you (the person receiving the message isn’t aware to what is going around him so he misses a message).

An extra ounce of awareness would help all of us avoid getting knocked over when life piles a big bunch of messages on our brains.