Ghosts in Buddhism

1. Ghosts in Buddhism

2. Pre-Buddhist Afterlife • In pre-Buddhist ancient India there was a progression of ideas concerning the afterlife and rebirth. One of the oldest ideas was alternating system between this world and an underworld. • In the early Vedic period (ca. 1400-900 BCE) the afterlife was considered to be a dark and shadowy place. Burial was probably the common form of disposal of the dead. There was a desire to be reborn back into this world with one’s family. • In the later Vedic period (ca. 900-500) ideas about the afterlife were modelled reflecting positive aspects of this life and this world. Around this time cremation gained popularity. This resulted in a desire to stay in the afterlife rather to die once more and re-enter this world.

3. Cremation as a Sacrifice • The transition from this life to the afterlife is not automatic any more but is achieved by way of cremation. • In Brahmanism cremation was viewed as a form of sacrifice and still is to a degree in modern Hinduism • Necessary rituals to be performed in order to make the sacrifice a success and to aid the deceased. • Corpses are both highly venerated and highly polluted and have to be made fit for the sacrifice. • Corpses can not only cause problems for the living (in terms of pollution) but they are also in a vulnerable position themselves (evil spirits might try and enter corpses) and require protection through rituals performed by the living. • The soul or spirit of the newly dead is vulnerable, too and depends entirely on the living.

4. Cremation as a Sacrifice (cont.) The relatives of the deceased have a number of roles: • The son must release the soul of the deceased during the cremation rites, the family provide the newly dead (preta) with food (rice balls, piṇḍa) and clothing in the days following the death and pay the brahmins for their services. • After a fixed time span the newly dead (preta) is ready to join the ancestors which is achieved in a ceremony called sapiṇḍīkaraṇa. If this is not done correctly the dead can get stuck in the preta stage. • The ancestors (pitṛ), too, are in constant need care and constant sustenance from the living. • The roles of priests is not only to chant and fulfil the ritual duties of the cremation, they also act as a mediator and can accept goods on behalf of the dead.

5. Karma and Ethics • In the early Vedic period rebirth into one’s own family happened automatically. • Karma in the later Vedic period was understood as sacrificial acts which if performed correctly would lead to a desired result, if performed incorrectly would simply be ineffectual. • In the Upaniṣadskarma acquires an ethical dimension and is understood as ethically good and bad deeds which determine the quality of the next rebirth. • In Buddhism karma is understood as being good or bad actions performed in mind, body and speech and great emphasis is given on the intention behind the act.

6. Karma and Rebirth inBuddhism • Karmais the accumulation of morally good/bad intentional acts (merit and demerit) and determines the quality of rebirth • All beings want more pleasant forms of existence and avoid bad forms of existence and to achieve this they have to do more ethically good deeds than bad deeds • Existence in each realm is limited and even gods die and are rebornand hells are not “eternal damnation” • Rebirth can take a number of different forms. In Buddhist thought there are 5 or 6 rebirth destinations (gatis).

7. Types of Rebirth • The forms of existence (gati) are: god (deva), demi-god (or asura which do not feature in all lists), human, animal, ghost and hell being. • In systematic Buddhist thought, the Abhidharma we find thirty-one levels of existence all of which are linked to states of mind. The system of the thirty-one levels is an expansion of the six gatis. • The six gatisare often depicted in the The Wheel of Existence (bhavacakra) which is found within Tibetan art.

8. To explore this picture go to: http://www.cleo.net.uk/consultants_resources/re/wolNew/wolNew.html

9. Ghosts in Buddhist Doctrine? Within the frame work of Buddhist doctrine “ghosts” can be: • Hungry ghosts (peta) as one of the six forms of existence. There is a canonical book, the Petavatthu, which is a collection of ghost stories. • Hell beings as one of the six forms of existence. • Intermediate beings in between those six existences (Tibetan Buddhists for example teach that there is an in-between stage of up to 49 days between death and rebirth). The intermediate state is reminiscent of the transitional stage the pre-Buddhist newly dead, the preta, had to go through before joining his ancestors.

10. Buddhist Stories about Ghosts The ghost stories of the Petavatthu follow a similar pattern: • A hideous looking, hungry ghost approaches a human being. • He/she (peta/peti)reveals his/her identity as former relative of the human being. • The human relative is motivated by compassion or pity to help these ghostly former relative. • The human gives alms to Buddhist community and offers the resulting merit to the ghostly relative (peta/peti). • The situation of peta/peti improves dramatically as merit transforms into “divine” clothes and food in their realm.

11. Images of petas from a temple mural, Laos (2007).

12. Ghosts in Buddhist Practice Within the frame work of Buddhist practice “ghosts” can be: • The spirits of the (newly) dead who are still lingering near the corpse or their former home (like the pre-Buddhist preta) can be fed, invited to listen to preaching and given merit. Most TheravādaBuddhists, too, believe that the spirit of the deceased is still around for at least seven days even though Theravādadoctrine teaches that rebirth is instantaneous. • The ancestors (like the pre-Buddhist pitṛ) which are believed to look after family lineage and ancestors are still popular in many Buddhist countries such as Laos. • Any number of local spirits, too, came to be incorporated.

13. Preparing food for the spirit of the newly deceased, Sri Lanka (1998).

14. Summary • Vedic: alternating existence between this and the other world (steeped in sacrificial culture). • Upanishads/Buddhism/Jainism: ethicization of karma and rebirth had great influence on the doctrines, but did not make ghosts and ancestors redundant. • Caring for the dead, ancestors and ghosts has always had a place in Buddhist world view, cosmology and practice (and has been a source of income for monks). • Buddhist texts such as the Petavatthu provide a rationale, reference point and link between doctrine (rebirth, giving of merit) and practice (of caring for the dead) • The Buddhist concept of “ghost” is flexible enough to incorporate ancient categories (ancestors) as well as local variations (spirits, guardian deities, etc.).