Ghosts in Buddhism
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[post partially extracted from 2nd page of Q&A topic in ~ Buddhism: Wisdom & Bliss ~. please read Q&A topic for more replies about ghosts and other questions and doubts about Buddhism]
This post is originally from the Q&A topic, but I thought it would be interesting for some readers.
Have you ever seen a ghost before? I myself have a seen a ghost before, so I surely believe in the existence of ghosts… but I don’t feel like telling my ghost story to everyone in the world. Some of those who are “close” to me in IRC have heard about it.
Some of you do not believe in ghosts, some of you do believe in ghosts, whether you believe in it doesn't matter in your buddhadharma cultivation. However, those who were able to see them (i'm sure some of you have seen a ghost before), including saints and tathagathas who have opened their deva eye, described about the existence of ghost realm. And since IÂ’m sure some of you are interested to know more about the unseen, and I myself have given myself duty as a Buddhist to try to dispel the common misunderstandings of ghosts (or anything else actually) in Buddhism, I have posted this as a new topic in the forum.
The ghost is one out of the 3 Lower Realms (Animals, Ghosts, Hell), while the 3 Higher Realms consist of Asuras (jealous gods, demi-gods), Humans, Devas (heavenly beings). (also see topic: Different Realms & Existences in Buddhism)
The Ghost have many types. Just like an Animal have many types... many species. There are tens, or hundreds, of different types of ghosts, but here I'll only speak of the most commonly focused 2 types.
The most common one is called "Hungry Ghost". The "Hungry Ghost festival" have some links with this type of ghosts... But then, there is a great common misconception. Firstly, 7th month is NOT a festival! How can the sufferings of ghosts be celebrated? It is a folly of Chinese tradition. The 7th month originated from Buddhism 2,500 years ago, it's about the liberation of Petas (hungry ghosts), the practice of merits in order to save these pitiful beings.
http://www.jenchen.org.sg/vol5no1a.htmAmong the chief disciples of the Buddha was one named Maudgalyayana. He had immense supernatural powers: Deva-foot ubiquity which made it possible for him to appear at any place at will, the divine sight of Deva-eye to have unlimited vision of all things, large and small, near and distant; Deva-ear to hear all sounds regardless of the distance. Furthermore, he had the ability to read and understand whatever was in a person's mind. He also had the ability to see clearly the events that occurred in a person's many past lives aeons ago. Thus, Maudgalyayana is considered to be a Maha-Bodhisattva who is foremost in supernatural powers.
In Singapore, many people think that the Hell gates will open at the 7th Month. As you can see from the above article, this is untrue! Some people deviate the original Buddha's teachings and mislead people. Or, according to the superstitions from traditions, they will burn hell notes for these deceased and think that they will gain all the material wealths.
One day, his Deva-eye saw that his deceased mother had transmigrated to the realm of the hungry ghost. Her stomach was enlarged and she had tiny limbs. Her throat was as small as the eye of a needle, and as a result, it was impossible for her to eat any food or even to swallow a drop of water. Maudgalyayana could not bear the sight of his mother in such an extreme state of suffering. He immediately filled his alms bowl with food and with the immense power that he possessed, he sent it to his mother. However, she could not have the food because each time it turned into charcoal before she could put it in her mouth. It hurt Maudgalyayana to see what was happening and because of his strong emotion for his mother, it hindered his ability to see the karma that she had committed in her past lives. He went to Buddha for advice. The Buddha closed his eyes and entered into pure contemplation. With great compassion and gentleness, he said: "Maudgalyayana, your mother did not believe in the retributions arising from the law of cause and effect. She committed many evil deeds. She dishonoured the Buddha and insulted the Sangha [1], had no respect for the Three Treasures (Buddha, Dharma and Sangha), was greedy, filled with hatred, ignorant and arrogant. She was a wicked person who committed many evils, and she teased others giving them no peace. Therefore, she is suffering such a bitter consequence. Even though you are her son and your filial piety touches the heavens, these are still not able to save a person who had committed such serious evil karma." On hearing this, Maudgalyayana wept in pain.
The Buddha continued to console him, "It is impossible to rely solely on your own effort to save your mother from the realm of the hungry ghost. The only way is to use the combined merits of the Sangha. The 15th day of the 7th month of each year is designated "Buddha's Joy Day". This is the last day of the Sangha's summer retreat, and because of the purity with which the Sangha observed the precepts and practised cultivation, many attain the Bodhi [2]. The merits that they accumulate are immense beyond imagination, and the Buddha is most delighted. If you make an offering to these Sangha during this time, you can liberate your deceased parents and relatives from the suffering of the three evil realms (realms of animal, hungry ghost and hell) through their immense merits. If the parents are still living, then they shall be blessed with good health, happiness and a life of abundance. This is the truly marvellous method of giving salvation to the deceased." Maudgalyayana was delighted to hear this, and carried out the Buddha's advice accordingly. Thus, on the 15th of the 7th month after the offering to the Sangha, Maudgalyayana's mother was liberated from the suffering of the realm of the hungry ghost.
To give offering to the Sangha in this way is called the 'Ullambana' method. After Maudgalyayana received the benefits from this Dharma, he was very grateful to the Buddha and praised the merits of the Three Treasures. He advised people to promote the 'Ullambana Dharma'. This day, the 15th of the 7th month, can also be considered an occasion to express our gratitude and filial piety to our parents and ancestors. Unfortunately, the passage of time saw a gradual erosion in its understanding and purpose, so much so that this special occasion is not performed in accordance to the Dharma. Today, this auspicious celebration has become a day of widespread slaughter of animals to be used as offering to the hungry ghosts. The original act of performing offerings to the Sangha has become a day for feasting and making offerings to the hungry ghosts, often referred to as 'to invite the good brothers to a feast'. These practices are not only against the compassion of the Buddha, but also a let down to Maudgalyayana who had advised the world to be filial and to perform good deeds.
When we refrain from killing and protect all lives, we actually accumulate the merit of longevity and good health. It is meaningless to kill other living beings and offer them to the ghost, because they cannot benefit from these at all. Instead, those who kill shall have to repay for their action by suffering endlessly in hell. Unless we put an end to all forms of killing, the world forever shall not have peace. If the tradition of offering to the ghosts and the deceased on this day cannot be changed, the least we could do is to replace the slaughter and offer of meat with vegetarian food, flowers or fruits. It does not matter if we are not able to make offerings to the Sangha on this day, but at least we could invite them to chant the sutra for the purpose of liberating the deceased. In this way, it benefits both the living and the deceased.
Notes
1. Sangha
The corporate assembly of at least 3 monks; in general the term has come to mean a monk, or monks.
2. Bodhi
From budh; knowledge, understanding; perfect wisdom; the illuminated or enlightened mind.
Actually, you cannot bring material wealth to the ghosts in this manner, neither do the ghosts need money to live in the ghost realm. Have Buddha advised anyone to burn paper money for the ghosts in the 7th Month?
The other type of ghosts is the "Ghost-Gods", called "Gui-Shen" in Chinese. This type of gods or spirits are commonly worshipped or asked for divination and answers. Or, sometimes in temples, they summon the spirit-gods to possess the person and dance . I've yet to see one of those shows, my friend went and told me it's really horrible because the ghost cut up the body it possesed... I'm sure not all of them are like that, but anyway, I don't think I'll go and see one
Buddhism does not teach us to be superstitious about ghosts. We are advised not to create yuan with these type of beings.
The ghosts are very attached beings, this is one of the causes that led them to become a ghost.
Those "chosen" people were possessed by some other spirits who claimed that they were the Tua ya bei, Ji gong and many many other different types of gods, all these spirits were those human beings who were very superstitious when they were alive and like to go to all these superstitious places to learn these kind of teachings & practice them. However, they have some good karma, and turn into "ghost-gods" and are worshipped by humans.
These spirits would get angry & develop hatred easily when their wishes were not fulfilled. They would punish those "chosen" people, making them sick or worsen their living. There are dark consequences to those who practice superstitiously... So I always advise people to stay away from superstitions that have to do with the ghosts, but instead, cultivate in accordance to the Buddhadharma, teaching of bliss & wisdom. -
Can ghost hurt people?
How to know the existing of ghost? -
There are a few possibilities of encountering ghosts...
Firstly, tathagathas and saints who are well-cultivated developes the Deva-Eye to view what is unseen by our normal human eyes... of course, most or all of us do not have the deva-eye, we are no buddhist masters or monks cultivating in a cave
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Secondly, sometimes these ghosts, observing certain links with you this life or past life, may choose to appear to you... thats why there are certain ghostly encounters. I have, myself, encountered a ghost before, so do many others. Many people come to believe ghosts through this way. I believe the ghost I met was hinting that it wanted something... but I won't go into ghost-story telling here.
Thirdly, sometimes, temples offer divination practices, and asking spirit-gods for answers. The mediums would communicate with these beings to ask for answers. Sometimes, they will ask "Guan Yin Ma"... and there is communication. But, obviously, this is communication with the spirit world and not communication with Saints or Bodhisattvas, so these are definitely not Guan Yin Ma. The real Guan Yin would not promote such superstitions, but instead, preach dharma through speech and actions. Then, not only that, there are spirits which possess mediums or the chosen persons... all these happen in many temples, you can even see them if you want.. but don't know whether it is advisable to take part in any ways in these superstitions. One of my friends got into a lot of troubles because he acted as a medium to the spirit world before... Or, for example, you can play the Ouija game, and the spirit will possess your hands to provide you answers you ask. My mom have tried it before, before she became a Buddhist. Through this method, my mom was able to catch a thief by finding out the name...
Buddhism always emphasize not to do such communications with the spirits, as you may run into future with spirits in future. For example, some ouija game players may get possessed and go insane... it did happen. Fortunately Ouija Game is not really common in Singapores.. back in the 1980s it was more common, if I'm not wrong. -
Ghosts can cause harm, cause a person to fall extremely ill/disease and eventually die, and worsen one's living.
There are probably two reasons... firstly, he was a very superstitious person, and did not please what the spirits demand... as spoken earlier, spirits get angry very easily, they are very attached beings.
or, you could have past-life feuds, you murdered someone, and they are finding u.. I have heard too many stories about this sort... -
But the most important thing is... we all should not fear the ghosts. The ghosts are just a realm full of suffering, they themselves do not harm us unless we invoked them. Knowing the nature of the ghosts realm, we should never be superstitious about it, and fearing ghosts is a superstitious mentality itself.
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How about challenging them? Like purposely visit a haunted house....Originally posted by An Eternal Now:But the most important thing is... we all should not fear the ghosts. The ghosts are just a realm full of suffering, they themselves do not harm us unless we invoked them. Knowing the nature of the ghosts realm, we should never be superstitious about it, and fearing ghosts is a superstitious mentality itself.
Will they hurt us for no reason at all? like crazy ghost in the movie of 13 ghosts? -
contradicting
there is no ghost in buddhism
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there is no eternally unchanging "soul", but there are ghosts which are also sentient beings. Do not confuse the soul with ghosts.Originally posted by FireIce:contradicting
there is no ghost in buddhism -
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Depends loh, I've heard of people who really see them.Originally posted by burntan:How about challenging them? Like purposely visit a haunted house....
Will they hurt us for no reason at all? like crazy ghost in the movie of 13 ghosts?
Like I said, they won't bother, care less whether you want to challenge them. Unless you find trouble with them... or you have personal feud with them, it's ok.
I just hated when my mom restricts me from this and that places, I think she herself is misled by superstitions. And I don't give a damn on that.
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Buddhism has no ghosts.Originally posted by FireIce:contradicting
there is no ghost in buddhism
Buddhism is a religion, not a haunted mansion. -
simple, if u believe in god, then similarly there are devils and ghosts just like if u believe in beginning then must have an end.
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hehe.. not definitely. like i said earlier, there are many people which practice Buddhism without believing in ghosts and so on.
Buddhism isn't just about faith, the focus is on Practice and Cultivation. And we judge what we heard like judging and weighing gold.
In my case... I myself have seen a ghost, so even without Buddhism I already will believe they exist. -
Let's think about this.
Everyone has seen the color blue. It has multitudes of different shades. So let's assume that it has only one shade.
How would you know what you see is blue?
What you see as blue could be green to somebody else. All the blue you see is green to someone else. Becos the person tot the green he saw was blue. He sees a green sky but he thinks it's blue. You see the sky and everyone says it's blue. So your mind labels that color blue. Anything in that shade is blue. Another sees green but doesn't label it green cos he has nvr seen blue or green. Everyone tells him it's blue and he agrees even though he sees green cos now he labels it as blue.
Now, we all see things differently. Even hear or feel things differently. What u hear may not appear the same to me.
So, some may have seen ghost but dunno it's ghost. Just like a puppy won't know an oncoming car is danger. Ghosts are just existent in our life. What we cannot see or prove doesn't mean it doesn't exist. There are scientist who study paranormal. -
The reason why I wish to know if Ghosts really exist or not is because I'm afraid of ghost. I fee very insecure and at risk if ghost exist among us and can harm us without any reason at all.
BTW, A.E.N. do you mind to share your ghost sighting story? -
Why fear them? You're guilty of something? If you've not done anything wrong, chances are nothing will happen to you, so why worry? Even though I have seen a ghost, I do not fear ghosts. Having experienced, I would probably not fear so much during my first encounter if I were to see one again. The more you fear ghosts, the more thoughts about ghosts arises, then it is bad for your mind because it plants a mind-seed of the "ghost". Therefore, some dharma teachers do not advise watching horror movies, but nevertheless I do like to watch them.
Anyway, like I said, ghosts do not any how harm people. You are much more at risk of being harmed by a human than a ghost
. If ghosts are really this "lame" to go about bothering the human world often even though they have enough sufferings on their own... then, the human world will be in chaos. Usually, it is the superstitions of ghosts that Buddhists should avoid.
I've never heard of anyone who, because of Buddhist faith, become more afraid of ghosts than before. With the right understandings and very importantly, practice, Buddhists learn not to fear anything unseen and unknown, or even death. -
If ghost only harm those who did bad things, then I am not worry.
However, I don't know if this is the case or not? Because like you said, ghost is just another living thing in other realm, they can do what they want and they are powerful.
Since there are crazy people who can harm other without reason, there must be some crazy ghosts exist as well, isn't it? -
You said, when human die, they are not necessary become ghost....do you mean that they straight away rebirth or go to other realms like heaven?
If someone die, will he temporary become ghost while waiting for rebirth? -
Ghosts have their own "ghost-supernatural powers", but they also won't any how harm you. You think it is common in Singapore that such things happen? I do not think so.
If ghosts are powerful, then Devas (heavenly beings) are even more powerful. Why don't you not fear them? Actually, people do fear these beings. Buddha said... many people came to religion due to fear. This is unnecessary. Buddhism isn't the same.
These beings shouldn't be feared... as long as we're not involved, they won't be involved with us too. -
Good question.
There is an intermediate state between death and rebirth, in Chinese it is called "zhong-yin-shen", in sanskrit (indian) it is called Antara-bhava, in Tibetan it is called Bardo. It is the state that normally lasts 49-days, but attached beings last even longer than 49-days. These are the ones that become "ghosts". Beings reborn in ghosts for suffering due to bad karma, or simply are attached.
If you are interested to know about what happens after death, you can always borrow the Tibetan Book of The Dead. It explains it well.
Or for now, you can read this website for my Master's explanation... it's being featured in the latest Jen Chen Buddhist Digest.
http://www.jenchen.org.sg/vol8no1a.htm -
You mentioned the word "attached" many times, what actually ghost attach to?
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Anything! Anything in their (living) lives. If he has strong attachments and cannot bear to part them, insists on pursuing his false and useless desire on the worldly things which he will never get, then he may reborn as a ghost. Or there are those who are killed or murdered, they harbour extreme hatred and also become attachment. These type of ghosts can sometimes be dangerous, because their attachment for hatred is too strong.
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There is one house in my neigbourhood very spacious and selling very cheap, because it is haunted.
People said that the house belong to guy who lock his daughter there, because he don't like his daughter to marry a young boy. The girl eventually become crazy and end up kill herself in the kitchen. Ever since then, the family move away and left the house empty. Neighbor around there often hear the girl cry at night from the house and some even see a little girl comb her hair in the kitchen at night as well.
The property agent who show us the house, told the same story as well, he say he must be honest to me. My wife love the house and she didn't know the story. Do you think I should see the "emptiness" and buy the house without telling my wife about the haunted story or not? -
My only encounter with a ghost was in a house I rented for 8 months. It was a very old house, in an eerie street and nobody knows what happened before cos' it's been vacant for a long time. Glad I don't have to stay in it for too long..
Well, do you like the house? Is it really very nice? I don't see ghosts myself, I'm not wise like the monks, if the house is haunted you did better find a dharma centre/monastery and ask whether the monks can help you... Ask the monks for advise on what to do, maybe they are able to make the ghost leave the house in a friendly manner? Monks do offer such services I believe. It's better to listen to their advise in this matter...