“I read Bhagavad-gītā and play Old School RuneScape,” says the aptly named Old School Monkand begins to casually recite verses from the core texts of the Hindu scriptures right up to the teachings of the Hare Krishna for hours.
This is perhaps the most extreme example of a time-honored MMO motto I’ve ever seen shining brightly in OSRS: you don’t quit, you just take long breaks. Old School Monk, or Ben Xi in the game, put OSRS aside for 19 years and spent six of those years “living as a Hare Krishna monk.” in Wales amidst a surprisingly busy scenebut inevitably came back to the timeless fun and satisfaction of the MMO.
“I stopped being a monk to play RuneScape,” said Ben Xi first YouTube video announced. “The idea is that you can leave the video playing in the background and learn a little spiritual wisdom against the backdrop of the hugely popular Old School RuneScape, a game that is close to all of our hearts!”
Ben Xi says his years at the temple were some of the best of his life, and since moving out he has more freedom and finds OSRS “like a trip down memory lane.” He says his “entire childhood” was consumed by the game – at least I can relate to that – and he created his first account at age 11. Now nearly 31, he’s just about to put the game’s legacy into perspective. “RuneScape is woven into my very being,” he says in the video.
“Some people in the spiritual community might feel like they’re saying, ‘OK, this guy has regressed a little bit,'” he argues. “‘He used to be a monk, now he’s back to playing video games. That’s a waste of time.’ That’s a common misconception about spirituality. A lot of people think that to be spiritual you have to go into a cave or a room and sit quietly, just be alone with your thoughts and meditate. That’s actually not the case.”
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Many OSRS players will tell you that the game can be quite meditative, especially during long grinds using relaxed skills like woodcutting, but this is a whole new level. OSRS is prime second monitor material, but of all the things you can tune in to – Netflix, Twitch, the ever-handy wiki – Hindu scriptures and teachings shared by an actual monk who is also a long-time player are perhaps the last thing I would ever consider. Still, I have also written about and talked to some die-hard OSRS players in my timeand I can really see the overlap between this kind of spiritual discipline and the sheer patience it takes to play this damn game.
Each of Ben Xi’s videos chronicles his OSRS journey, as many of the game’s content creators do in popular progress update videos, but uniquely mixed with Hare Krishna lessons and exercises. The August 22 upload focuses on how “what we hear influences our thoughts and actions. In today’s ramble, we discuss the power of choosing our own destiny by paying attention to the sound vibrations we expose ourselves to.”
It goes without saying that the comments on this channel are a goldmine the likes of which we may never see again, unless there’s another monk out there who yearns for a retro MMO. “My guy became a monk and still couldn’t quit,” reads one top comment. “Bro’s 99 Prayer IRL,” jokes another.
In a recent video, Ben Xi prepared supplies to obtain 99 prayers, maximizing a notoriously costly ability. At the time of writing He is 93 prayer on the highscores. You can’t make this stuff up, folks.
Legendary MMO speedrunner “can finally play the game again” after setting a record of 1,758 hours on one of Old School RuneScape’s most brutal challenges.
