About ghost part 4………,
II. Different Kinds of Ghosts and Their Appearances
How many kinds of ghosts are there and what do they look like? The Abhidharma-nyayanusara says there are three kinds of ghosts.
A. Wealthy Ghosts
Wealthy ghosts are something like wealthy human beings. They enjoy a lot of offerings and they are never in want for food or clothing. Examples of such ghosts include those honored in an ancestral shrine or those revered for their great powers and blessings.
B. Not-So-Wealthy GhostsThese ghosts are like most people in the world. Although they receive some offerings, they are less well-off as wealthy ghosts.
C. Poor Ghosts
These ghosts are much like homeless human beggars. They have no place to live.
Sometimes they eat and sometimes they do not. Their livelihood depends largely on handouts from others.
For the most part, these poor ghosts wander around alone in very remote parts of the world. Only when there is a special offering made for them in the temple can they get something to eat.
The Abhidharmamahavibhasa-sastra says that there are two kinds of ghosts.
A. Ghosts with Dignity and Prominence
These ghosts are strong and tall. They wear ornate headpieces, flower garlands, and beautiful clothing.
They eat delicacies and ride in carriages pulled by horses or elephants.
They have servants who care for them wherever they go and they live lives full of pleasure and amusement. They are much like royal people in the human realm. The Chinese folk god, Cheng Huang Lao Ye, is this kind of ghost.
B. Ghosts Lacking in Dignity and Prominence
These ghosts have messy hair that flies all over and covers their faces. Their clothing is ragged, at best, and often they are forced to go completely naked. Their faces are pale and ugly. They carry old broken, begging bowls. They are very similar to downtrodden beggars in the human realm.
Ghosts can also be divided into the general categories of large and small ghosts. Large ghosts are about one yojana tall, based on the Indian measurement units. One yojana is approximately seven miles. Imagine that! They are huge creatures. In Chinese, they are sometimes called "big-headed" ghosts because their heads are as big as mountains.
However, their long throats are as narrow as needles and, for the most part, they are unable to eat anything. For this reason, they are very weak and they have to use canes whenever they want to walk somewhere. Their hair is long and messy and dirty. In contrast, small ghosts are very tiny. They are about as big as newborn babies.
There also are beautiful ghosts and ugly ones. Beautiful ghosts are so beautiful they look like heavenly beings and are not in the least bit frightening. Ugly ghosts are remarkable especially for their runny noses and the sores all over their bodies, which constantly bleed and emit noxious pus. There are noble wealthy ghosts and lowly impoverished ones also. Noble ghosts, like the Ghost King of Great Strength, are venerated by people. Lowly ghosts are orphaned ones who wander from place to place.
Whether ghosts are wealthy or poor, beautiful or ugly, with or without dignity and prominence, large or small, they all are representative of human beings in some way, and they do not all live in hell. Have you not also seen signs of them in this world?
Zen Master Ju Man once had a friend named Wang. When Wang died, Master Ju Man held a special Dharma service chanting sutras to help him in the next rebirth. A year or so after Wang's death, Master Ju Man set out for Yangchou in Chiangsu Province. While he was on the road, Master Ju Man suddenly saw his old friend Wang standing in front of him. Master Ju Man was astonished at the sight of him and asked, "Did you not die already? How is possible that you are here now walking around?"
Wang quickly interrupted the Master. "Hush, do not talk so loudly. Come with me into the mountains and we will discuss everything in detail."
When the two at last got to a remote mountain gorge, Wang said, "Master Ju Man, let me tell you now. I am not a human being. I am a ghost. When I was a human, I never did anything bad and I often tried to help other people. In addition to that, there were all those sutras you chanted for me after I died. Now King Yama of Hell has appointed me to be an investigator for him in the human realm."
"Amazing! So, what do you do as a ghost investigator?"
"It is my job to make a detailed record of human acts of corruption, murder, theft, depravity and cruelty. I record everything I see and report all of it to King Yama. He keeps these records and makes sure that all transgressions are repaid in kind. People who murder will experience being murdered themselves. People who steal will someday have things stolen from them, and so on."
After Wang finished speaking, he reached into his clothing and pulled out a red flower to give to Master Ju Man as a token of payment for the kindness Master Ju Man had shown him when he was still a human being. When Master Ju Man saw the flower, he tried to refuse it. "I am just a monk," he said. "What do I need this flower for?"
"This flower is not like other flowers," Wang said. "If you carry it in your hand, it will allow you to tell if someone is a human being or a ghost."
"How will carrying a flower in my hand help me do that?" Master Ju Man asked.
"If you have this flower in your hand as you walk down the street, a righteous person will never look at it. Ghosts, however, will stare at the flower with great intensity. If an individual stares at the flower and then makes gestures to attract attention, then you will know that this individual is a show-off ghost. If a ghost looks at the flower and then looks at you, you will know that he is a lustful ghost. If the ghost looks at the flower and then looks at himself, then you will know that he is a greedy ghost. If a ghost looks at the flower and then starts rubbing his hands together, you will know that he is a cheating ghost."
After Master Ju Man and Wang had parted company, Master Ju Man walked into town carrying the red flower in his hand. The first person who came toward him sauntered along contentedly, never once glancing at the flower. "Good, that must be a righteous human being," Master Ju Man thought to himself.
He walked a little farther and saw a very fashionable woman dressed in beautiful clothes.
She stared directly at the flower, and patted her cheek.
"Oh no, that must be a show-off ghost," Master Ju Man thought.
After a while, a man, also dressed very well, walked toward Master Ju Man. He stared at the flower, turned his eyes to Master Ju Man, and said disappointedly, "This is only an old monk."
"Oh no, he is a lustful ghost!" the Master muttered to himself, somewhat displeased.
Master Ju Man kept walking and before long another person approached him. This one stared at the flower and then at himself. "Oh no," Master Ju Man thought. "He is a greedy ghost!"
Master Ju Man turned and started down another street. Far down the street someone started staring at the flower and rubbing his hands together. "Oh no, now I have run into a cheating ghost. This flower is really powerful. Look what it is showing me!"
Master Ju Man walked some more and thought about what he had just seen. Before long, he found himself at the gate of his temple. Thinking it would be inappropriate to bring the red flower into the temple, Master Ju Man threw it on the ground behind him and started to enter the temple gate. In seconds, he heard a lot of noise and arguing going on behind him.
He turned and saw that all the ghosts he had just seen in town had been following him. Now they were fighting over the flower he had thrown on the ground. At last, one of the ghosts prevailed in the fight and held the flower in his hand. As the other ghosts stopped to look at it, Master Ju Man saw that the beautiful red flower had turned into a mere bone from some dead body.
In this world, sometimes we try so hard to attain wealth, fame or power, but in the end what do we really get? Is it not just like that story? In the end, we are left holding nothing but a pile of old bones and a handful of dirt.
There is an old Buddhist saying, "Today I know nothing of tomorrow: Why should I waste my time on disputes and discords?" Therefore, we should not fight over the flowers of superficial glory and vanity in life. Rather, we should honestly and diligently work toward meaningful goals in life.
cont……
Source
http://tibetanbuddhistencyclopedia.com/en/index.php/A_discussion_on_Ghosts
Categories: Buddhist TermsGhosts
5 August 2023
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