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Ghosts of Japanese Tsunami Victims Trying to Get to Destroyed Homes

buddhist

Well-Known Member
Thoughts on this and on ghosts in general?
A possibility. A car wreck is something else I consider as other accounts of phantom hitchhikers seemed to be associated with areas where a wreck occurred. Exactly why someone would be reborn as a ghost, I hesitate to say. The Buddha teaches the ghost realm is a possible destination for rebirth and considers it a bad birth. The Buddha typically uses the adjective "hungry" in connection with ghosts. They are driven by desires that they can never fulfill. They are not considered evil; but, they can be dangerous.
From my Buddhist understanding, some individuals who engaged in unvirtuous behavior or held wrong views can end up in the peta loka (hungry ghost realm).

In my understanding of samsaric cosmology, the continuum of life ranges from one "negative" end to the other "positive" end, with grades in between. The negative end being hellish realms of extremely low vibration, the other of extremely high vibration. A human might possess a middle-grade vibration (balanced, the middle-way being optimal for training for nibbana). Ghosts, animals, and demonic beings exist as and within realms of progressively lower energy vibrations. The lower the vibration, the slower they vibrate, and the colder they are ... I imagine that is the cause of certain haunted places feeling excessively cold. Conversely, devas and Brahmas with higher-grade vibrations, vibrate faster, and we perceive such vibrations as warmth or light (think halos or auras as often pictured around gurus, saints, angels, deities, etc.).

In persons who encounters sudden physical death, IMO certain kamma has not properly ripened yet (the kammic energy determining their physical lifespan has not been exhausted, having died before they were supposed to), so other kamma gain predominance (e.g. kamma associated with unwholesome behavior) which propels them to manifest in a slightly lower energy sphere/plane, with their unripened physical-lifespan-kammic-energy manifesting by providing them with an energy body similar to their former physical selves.

If such beings are made to understand and accept their physical death, their attachments to that unripened kamma exhausts itself, and they allow themselves to be properly reborn.
 

buddhist

Well-Known Member
Once upon a time, my wife and I were traveling along a highway, and we both clearly saw a somewhat transparent, ghostly, old-fashioned horse-carriage pass in front of us before it disappeared a few seconds later. We looked at each other, and confirmed what we both saw at the same time!
 

George-ananda

Advaita Vedanta, Theosophy, Spiritualism
Premium Member
From my Buddhist understanding, some individuals who engaged in unvirtuous behavior or held wrong views can end up in the peta loka (hungry ghost realm).

In my understanding of samsaric cosmology, the continuum of life ranges from one "negative" end to the other "positive" end, with grades in between. The negative end being hellish realms of extremely low vibration, the other of extremely high vibration. A human might possess a middle-grade vibration (balanced, the middle-way being optimal for training for nibbana). Ghosts, animals, and demonic beings exist as and within realms of progressively lower energy vibrations. The lower the vibration, the slower they vibrate, and the colder they are ... I imagine that is the cause of certain haunted places feeling excessively cold. Conversely, devas and Brahmas with higher-grade vibrations, vibrate faster, and we perceive such vibrations as warmth or light (think halos or auras as often pictured around gurus, saints, angels, deities, etc.).

In persons who encounters sudden physical death, IMO certain kamma has not properly ripened yet (the kammic energy determining their physical lifespan has not been exhausted, having died before they were supposed to), so other kamma gain predominance (e.g. kamma associated with unwholesome behavior) which propels them to manifest in a slightly lower energy sphere/plane, with their unripened physical-lifespan-kammic-energy manifesting by providing them with an energy body similar to their former physical selves.

If such beings are made to understand and accept their physical death, their attachments to that unripened kamma exhausts itself, and they allow themselves to be properly reborn.
This sounds about right to me and shows Hinduism and Buddhism are on the same train of thought. I get the impression that you know your stuff.

It's unfortunate to me that so many people in this thread and the world in general recoil with disdain at suggesting things beyond the physical plane (to which their minds are so tightly gripped).
 

George-ananda

Advaita Vedanta, Theosophy, Spiritualism
Premium Member
A bit south from Gabraltar i.e near north coast of Africa near Meditarranean sea.

You stimulated my curiosity so I went looking and came upon the following link which I found to be very interesting reading.

http://www.atlantisquest.com/Writings.html
It is interesting to me that so many independent sources including modern mystics see the same things. I wonder now about the size of the island and if modern geologists think that something of reasonable size and location did exist. I know modern geologists have ruled out a huge continent in the middle of the Atlantic.
 

buddhist

Well-Known Member
This sounds about right to me and shows Hinduism and Buddhism are on the same train of thought. I get the impression that you know your stuff.

It's unfortunate to me that so many people in this thread and the world in general recoil with disdain at suggesting things beyond the physical plane (to which their minds are so tightly gripped).
Yes, I see great similarities between our traditions. I think that any attachments to (only) the physical plane is akin to a fetus who refuses to leave the womb, thinking the womb is all there is to know.
 

Wirey

Fartist
Do you think the ghosts of the Japanese victims eat the ghosts of the fish who got washed up on shore?
 
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