Buddhist view of ghosts

David_2009

I was wondering something, I know in Buddhism, there's the concept of No Self, which I'm still trying to understand, but, does Buddhism accept or have any view on the possibly of ghosts?, like, I mean, when you get a haunted house that's generally haunted, what would the Buddhist view be, if the ghost isn't the soul of a particular person, or being? (I hope that made some sense).

I know that might seem a kind of dumb question, but, it's something I'm interested in learning, as I also like learning about various paranormal subjects (just out of interest).

I've heard of the concept of Hungry Ghosts, but, I've been told there simply another type of being that someone can be reborn as, there another type of being, like humans, just with a different kind of body, but, would that be the same as the ghosts you find in haunted houses?.

Thanks for any help at all.

Also, again, I hope my post did make some kind of sense .

David.

hesyxia

David_2009 wrote: »

No Self, which I'm still trying to understand

FWIW, I found Thubten Chodron's Buddhism for Beginners a helpful place to start.

xabir

Based on Proper Dharma Mindfulness Sutra

1. Energy feeding ghost: if one's body is weak or seriously ill, unless look after by another person, and were to allow these ghosts to suck away one's energy, one will die.
2. Dharma feeding ghost: they get full when listening to people preaching good deeds or Dharma.
3. Water feeding ghost: live by drains or river side, water as their food. so infants and kids should not play near drains or river side.
4. Blood feeding ghost: often dwell at slaughtering house or wet market, meat selling store. Blood as their food. Love to go near women with menstruation. Hence women should be more careful when cleaning and disposing, so as to avoid affinity with them.
5. Vomit feeding ghost: often approach people who drink alcohol. Even more love those that are drunk, so as to feed on their vomits.
6. Dung (smell) feeding ghost: often hide near dark places where there are pile of excrement.
7. Spit feeding ghost: love to stay closed people who have the habits of spitting phlegm. Gets excited when people cough, gargle, or clearing throat.
8. Hair feeding ghost: Live around barber store, Love infant's hair, or hair of young ladies who are not married.
9. Can't feeding ghost: often look for things/food to feed, but don't know what to feed, hence often live in hunger.
10. Wicked hoping ghost: Hope that people can cultivate wicked deeds, and such spirit of wickedness is their satisfaction.
11. Meat feeding ghost: Love to feed on dead smelly animal carcasses, germ infection. Untie, unhygienic rubbish area, are also their favour place.
12. Child feeding ghost: They feed on children's energy/chi blood.
13. Infant feces examining ghost: peep on baby pass motion. Can get attached/affinity to the baby.
14. Dung examining ghost: Like to breath in the heatness of excrement. Avoid doing it outdoors.
15. Energy feeding ghost: Normal for those who are at their dead bed.
16. Fire stove roast feeding ghost: Dwell in places where there's BBQ, they love the smell of food being roosted.
17. Blazing ghost: Due to strong resentment when alive.
18. Perfume feeding ghost: Crowd around ladies wearing perfumes.
19. Underground ghost: dwell in dark damp caves, gradually can cause epidemic, plague.
20. Traveling ghost: At night, they will lean against the wall; feet don't touch the ground, and can move very fast.
21. Guardian hungry ghost: Body are as Black as charcoal. Love to go near losers and lazy women who seldom use cooking stove, so as to hide in the cold stove.
22. pinhole-sized mouths hungry ghost: Big tummy, eat but not able to swallow, experience great suffering of hunger.
23. Spiritual-powered ghost: Like to borrow people's spiritual energy to preach myths, do ghost matters, entice, mislead people, so that people avoid doing good and lead them to ghost realm instead.
24. Lust ghost: love to go near lascivious people, lead people to do lascivious things, wait to enter into the womb of pregnant women for rebirth. When born as human, they are also lustful, hence interfering the human realm.
25. Sea-shore residing ghost: live by the bank of sea, waiting for a body of substitute.
26. Ghost on mission: like ghost magistrate of hell realm, punish ghosts who commit offenses.
27. Dirty alley living ghost: as long as the alley is dirty, contaminated, filthy, they'll love it.
28. Charcoal soil feeding ghost: mostly living in grave yard, so as to feed on the warm of the charcoal soil.
29. Tree dwelling ghost: dwells within the tree or under the tree; sometimes manifest as tree spirits to confuse foolish people to worship.
30. Danger zone ghost: live in traffic bound area; distract people with evil thoughts into being lost on the road, leading to accidents.
31. Wilderness dwelling ghost: live in the wild, open field, countryside, jungles etc.
32. Wind feeding ghost: like to feed on odor of night dwelling people.
33. Charcoal feeding ghost: feed on charcoal essence.
34. Poisons feeding ghost: like to breath in the fume of different poisons.
35. Asura ghost: wicked ghost, dark complexion with greed eyes, the female of these ghosts often manifest into beautiful women.
36. Suicide feeding ghost: such ghosts usually became ghost after committing suicide; often look for opportunities to help foolish people commit suicide.

Note: Beings of Ghost realm are many (not just 36 kind), due to people's different obsessions.

dorje

Hungry Ghosts are the same ghosts that haunt houses.

federica

No.
They're not.

(Unless you'd care to elaborate).....