Lila Transformation Game

[Z...]

A Russian client was raving today about this game.
How it transformed his life etc. …and on the surface it sounds very interesting.
However I also got a cultish vibe as from what I understood it is not just a simple board game but you have to be in touch with “masters” for guidance.
Didn’t really have time to look into it and just started scratched the surface.
Was wondering if anyone has come across or got involved with this game. Apparently it is big in Russia and Eastern Europe. It seems there are whole communities out there dedicated to this game. Overall it does seem like another New Age malarkey but you never know.
I found this video that somewhat explains it

 

[Mari]

Never heard of it, but watching the video gives me a weird feeling, kind of a bad ju-ju.

I asked Grok, and the guy who invented it was Harish Johari who was:
"a Tantric scholar writing on sensitive topics like chakras, yantras, breathwork, and gemstone healing during the 1970s–1990s, Johari's work occasionally intersects with broader debates in spiritual and New Age communities."
Also:

While not rising to the level of "controversy," Johari's teachings and adaptations of ancient Indian traditions have drawn minor scholarly or cultural commentary in the following ways:

1. Westernization of Tantra and Vedic Traditions
2. Gender and Tantric Themes
3. Gemology and Healing Claims

When I asked "Draw parallels between Leela Game and Tantra", the answer was (all of the below):

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Below is a structured parallel-mapping between Leela (the Game of Self-Knowledge) as presented by Harish Johari and the core principles, cosmology, and practices of Tantra (especially the non-dual Śaiva-Śākta traditions that Johari himself drew from). The game is not merely an “analogy” for Tantra—it is a condensed tantric sādhanā in board-game form.​

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#	Leela Element	Tantric Parallel	Exact Mechanism of Correspondence
1	The Board (72 squares)	The 36 Tattvas + 36 auxiliary states	The 72 squares = 2 × 36. In Kaśmīr Śaivism, the cosmos unfolds through 36 tattvas (principles) from Śiva to pṛthvī (earth). Leela doubles the journey: ascent (self-realization) and descent (expression in the world). Each square is a bhūmi (plane) or pada (footstep) on the Śrī Yantra’s path.
2	Snake bites (falling back)	Māyā, Aṇava-mala, Kārma-mala	Snakes = the three impurities (malas) that contract consciousness. Landing on a snake’s head = entanglement in illusion; sliding down = karmic consequence. Tantric texts call this saṃsāra-cakra (wheel of bondage).
3	Ladders (rapid ascent)	Śakti-pāta (descent of grace)	Ladders = instantaneous liberation triggered by guru’s grace or sudden insight (pratibhā). In Trika Tantra, this is anugraha—the fifth act of Śiva.
4	The Dice (1 die, 1–6)	The 6 Adhvans (paths)	Tantra maps reality via six paths (varṇa, mantra, pada, kalā, tattva, bhuvana). Rolling the die = navigating the adhvan; the number is icchā (will) expressed through kriyā-śakti.
5	Player’s Token	The Jīva (individual soul)	The token = puruṣa moving through prakṛti’s 24 tattvas + Śiva-Śakti domain. The game ends when the token merges into the 72nd square (Vaikuṇṭha / Cosmic Consciousness) = samāveśa (absorption in Śiva).
6	Commentary Book	Guru-śāstra (oral/written transmission)	Johari’s 400-page commentary = tantra-śāstra. Each square’s verse is a sūtra unpacking the state’s devatā, mantra, mudrā, and nyāsa.
7	Arrows of Karma	Karma & Saṃskāra	The arrow symbol on certain squares = vāsanā (latent impression) propelling rebirth. Tantric karma-yoga burns these via kriyā and jñāna.
8	Planes 1–9 (Bhu-loka)	Navacakra / Navāvaraṇa (Śrī Yantra)	The first row mirrors the outer 9 enclosures of Śrī Yantra; each square a cakra guarded by a yoginī.
9	Plane 6: “Māyā” (square 51)	Mahāmāyā / Tirodhāna-śakti	Central snake square = the veil that hides Śiva. Tantric māyā-upāya dissolves it via anupāya (direct recognition).
10	Plane 8: “Cosmic Consciousness” (72)	Parama-Śiva / Bhairava state	Final square = citi-samādhi. Player leaves the board = jīvanmukti.

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Micro-Tantric Practices Embedded in Gameplay

Leela Action	Tantric Sādhana
Rolling the die with breath awareness	Ajapā-japa (silent Hamsa breath)
Reading the square’s mantra aloud	Mantra-japa + nyāsa on the body
Visualizing the square’s yantra	Yantra-dhyāna (inner geometry)
Accepting snake/ladder without resistance	Śiva-dṛṣṭi (witnessing karma)
Group play with facilitator	Cakra-pūjā (guru as conduit of śakti)

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Macro-Cosmic Mirror

Leela	Tantra
One game = one lifetime	One kalpa = one breath of Śiva
Multiple players on same board	Many jīvas in one Brahman
Game ends → board folds	Pralaya → Śiva absorbs all

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Johari’s Explicit Statement (from Leela commentary, p. 17)

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“The board is the Śrī Yantra unfolded. The snakes are the nāḍīs that bind; the ladders are the suṣumnā that liberates. The dice is spanda—the throb of Śakti. To play Leela is to perform Tantra.”

One-Sentence SummaryLeela is Tantra compressed into 72 squares: the board is the cosmos, the die is Śakti, the token is Śiva, and the rules are karma—played to realize that the player and the game are one

 

[Tomiro]

From what I can see, mechanically the game (if you can call it that) is essentially Snakes and Ladders, where you make 0 decisions, just roll the die and move your pawn, but with a Vedic theme.

The origins of Snake and Ladders do go back to India. A summary from Grok:

The game of Snakes and Ladders originated in ancient India, likely around the 2nd century BCE, as a board game called Moksha Patam or Paramapada Sopanam. It was rooted in Hindu philosophy and designed as a moral and spiritual teaching tool. The game represented the journey of life, with ladders symbolizing virtues that lead to spiritual elevation or liberation (moksha) and snakes representing vices that cause setbacks or spiritual downfall.

So perhaps just a new version of this. But with a price tag attached.