Explanation for ghosts????

In Hinduism, Buddhism and in some other cultures, Cremation is the preferred and recommended way of disposing of the dead. By accepting reincarnation, there is no need to bury the body so that it may be resurrected as per Christian/Catholic religion. Hindus believe that when the body is cremated the soul/atma is allowed to move on to the next janam (life) path, etc.

Now what does this have to do with ghosts???

well according to an enlightened Hindu elder, when a person dies, the soul/atma hangs around and is able to view their own funeral, family, friends etc....because the soul/atma is still connected to the mortal/physical body. A soul/atma will remain wandering in this dimension until the mortal body finally disintegrates and become ashes, only then will the soul/atma be completely free of the physical body. That is why Hindus cremate their dead, so that their atmas may be free of the physical world and body.

So back to ghosts... ghosts are the souls/atmas of people who were buried and bones have not turned to ashes as of yet.

Now if only someone could actually do a study on all ghost sightings and determine if they were buried or cremated, then we can see if this actually true or not.

So what do you think? Is it a good explanation for ghosts??? btw, all of the ghosts I have encountered were buried.



[Edited on 3-10-2004 by worldwatcher]

Personally, I believe ghosts are the souls of people with unfinished business here on earth. I dont think it matters whether they are cremated or not.

In Buddhism there is no atman...

It is customary, but not obligatory, for us to cremate our dead. We do so for social, economic, and hygienic reasons...

Aside from Buddhism being a no atman (no soul) religion, it was also the buddha himself who compared the bodies of the deceased as a "useless log".

The consciousness or mental energy of the departed person has no connection with the body left behind or his or her skeleton or ashes. A dead body is simply the rotten old empty house which the departed person�s life occupied. (WBB, 2nd edition, page 246)

I am only speaking from the view of a Theravadan Buddhist... I'm not sure what the hindi, or the Mahyana, Vajrahana buddhist do with their dead...

I do know that in Vajrahanan Buddhism, the after death state becomes very complex with different stages of the Bardo, and what not, but like I said... I'm only talking from my standpoint as a Theravadan... in the end what school you follow doesn't really matter anyhow.

***EDIT: This is from a previous post I wrote a while ago about ghosts in Buddhism, perhaps it will be of some interest to you.

Ghosts

Ghosts are humans reborn in Peta Loka, otherwise known as the realm, or plane of hungry ghosts. Peta Loka is but another of the 32 realms of existance in buddhist thought.

Anyhow, to get onto the actual subject of ghosts, they were humans that had strong attachment to human existance, or a particular place or time, allthough they are allready dead they can't leave. Sometimes people run across "friendly ghost", these are the ghost that have "lost their way", or died suddenly, and don't know they're dead yet, or have "unfinished bussiness" to do... such as pass on a message, or ease someone in pain.

According to Buddhist philosophy those on the Peta Loka cannot do good deeds, thus they cannot generate good karma, so they rely on reserve karma to determine their next life. You can help these ghost though... simply offering love, and kindness to these beings will help them on their way. You can also share, or transfer merit with them, which will help them generate some good karma for themselves... for this they will be thankful.

[b\]

keep in mind, I am sharing information that comes from my view point as a buddhist, and others explanations will vary depending on their spiritual, cultural, and lifes background

[Edited on 10-3-2004 by oui]

Interesting. Ever read the Book of the Dead? Enlightening text. But I agree with both you and Just, WW. People need phsyical links to the world in order to remain, but also won't stick aroudn for any ol' reason. Unfinished bussiness, regrets and things of that nature have an effect. In effect, they must cleanse their atma before rejoining brahman, aff?

DE

I've read the Bardo Thodol (Tiberan book of the dead), but have not had time to read the egyptian book of the dead yet.

They both basically have the same precept- they are guides to what goes on in the afterlife. Very good reads. How true do you think they are?

DE

thanks oui for the info on the buddhism aspect. I didn't realize there were different types of buddhism, my ignorance..I always thought they all believe and followed the exact same customs, but I can see how and why depending on the areas in which they live, their views and customs differ.

I have read some of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, not the Egyptian one yet, but the Bardo Thodol is very fascinating and also very logical, (well at least to me) chain of events surrounding the dead. I can't judge on the validity of the book of the dead, since I still feel that whatever the mind perceives will happen in the afterlife will become the afterlife of that soul.

My personal view is that there is no afterlife, only an eternal void. However, circumstances may dictate that a person's essence, spirit, what have you stays behind to finish a task, fix an injustice or fufill a regret. Perhaps my learning has corrupted me into the ways of science, but I still believe in the paranormal.

DE

Originally posted by DeusEx
My personal view is that there is no afterlife, only an eternal void. However, circumstances may dictate that a person's essence, spirit, what have you stays behind to finish a task, fix an injustice or fufill a regret. Perhaps my learning has corrupted me into the ways of science, but I still believe in the paranormal.

DE

forgive me for not understanding...

But I'm equating "eternal void" with eternal emptiness, or an end. So your belief would be that after death... its over, finito, done, emptiness, extinguish the flame? Unless you have something that needs to be taking care of such as finish a task, righting a wrong, etc.

I'm not arguing your point, or trying to prove anything, I just wanna make sure I interpretted what you said the correct way.

`Peace, Love, and Happiness to all beings.

[Edited on 10-3-2004 by oui]

That is my belief, as such. It seems a little nonsensical, but I see little problem with it. I am a determinist - nearly a nihilist, according to my friends- and a bit fo an existentialist. However, I do recognize that paranormal events happen for which there are no explination other than the actions of the supernatural. Oh, I am quite sure the supernatural exists, and we know little to nothing of it. Ghosts are one facet of this. Perhaps the suffering of these poor souls transcends the diminished brain activity, creating a new, non-corporeal entity. This, of course, isn't a pleasant experience. Perhaps a land of the dead awaits us - neither heaven nor hell, but an endless purgatory awaiting a second death before the void. I haven't been there, so I have no inclination to guess.

In every culture, there are three basic reactions or comprimises to death to be able to cope with the end of a person's existence:

1. There is an afterlife, wherein we are rewarded for X action/inaction. w00t for heaven/paradise/whatever.

2. there is no afterlife, but there is reincarnation. I'm comin' back!

3. There is no self to be dead, so I guess I'm okay. Here, hit me with some more 'cid.


I choose my own poison, I suppose.

DE

I understand now.

lol, I find it funny that Buddhism falls inbetween 2, and 3, yet is a totally different number, lol.

As the resident Buddhist in this discussion, can I ask you what you know about Zen beliefs of death and reincarnation?

DE

I'm sorry friend, but I'm not that knowledgable in zen buddhism... I can definitly find someone that knows though, if you like...

Sorry to burst your bubble, but the ghost who died in my house burned to death...(or so the reports go), so maybe not... Good theory though, and an interesting angle...

I'll have to dig and see if the victim actually had any part of the body left and see if it was buried.... I don't have much to go on though, he died early in the 40's I believe (the house has existed since the 20's)....

[edit on 23-12-2009 by DreamerOracle]

As human beings, we compare and contrast all that we encounter with how it relates to us (like us, unlike us) and if it is anything at all like us, we personify it - "smile on a dog". Ghosts are energy. They are a manifestation of a form of energy that we haven't quite discovered yet, but it's become evident that we can't dismiss this form of energy as imagination or "a undercooked potato" anymore. This is due to technologies that are making the presence of this form of energy become more and more apparent, even if only in the sense of detailing the impact that this energy has on other forms of energy that we have discovered - such as EMF. So, as it sits, we know that there is "something" that exists, that seems intelligent (if by intelligent we mean interactive and deliberative), and that seems also interested in our existence as a form of dynamic intelligence.

As to what this dynamic intelligence is, we really don't know yet. In effect, we are like extremely primitive people studying a digital wristwatch and inventing reasons why the designs keep repeating themselves on the face at regular intervals. We have yet to understand measured time intervals, electricity, mechanical functionality, metallurgy, western language, the notion of numbers as representative of quantities, and a whole slew of other foundational concepts, that we'll need to have together before we can actually conquer the question of why the designs shift and morph across the face of that watch.

Of course, that doesn't stop some self-assured genius from declaring that the designs are tiny servant demi-gods that are dancing to silent music, entertaining us because we are the sole heirs to the paradise of the greater god of ultimate reality. And it certainly wouldn't stop plenty of other qualified professionals from agreeing that, since we are heirs to such a wondrous inheritance, it is very likely that what their favorite genius has proclaimed is the truth of these dancing demi-gods, and that he gained his wisdom by virtue of his unique capacity to discern the unknowable.

In the end, it's still a digital wristwatch that someone from National Geographic lost while they were in the forest shooting clips of junglebirds and other crap. Not that it'll kill us to worship the damn thing anyway.

[edit on 23-12-2009 by NorEaster]

Regardless of religious aspects, this is an intriguing idea WorldWatcher....that ghosts occur due to lack of cremation.


My only problem with it is my own experience...

It's actually kind of funny really....

My wife's late husband died very young (in his 20's)...and he was my best friend at the time (no, this isn't the funny part)...

Anyhoo, years later, we hooked up, eventually married, etc., as there was always kind of a bond there. Well, we kept his ashes in a nice decorative box in the upstairs hallway, until we found a proper urn...(and we didn't think much more on it)...

After a small amount of time, we had some ghostly phenomena happen in the hallway. Usually minor, like a shadow in the corner of your eye...phantom footsteps coming down the stairs, etc. (yep, that's minor)... If anyone stayed the night and slept on the couch downstairs (from the hall), they got a little freaked by what they described as light moaning, etc. (and it wasn't us in the bedroom, hehe..)... One time, a dark shape physically manifested enough to freak out even one of my buds who (until then) had been a confirmed non-believer in such things... There were other happenings too, but they were all spread out (one time, it mimicked the sound of the dogs coming down the stairs, when all of them were shut up in the kitchen...that was freaky)....

In all this time though, we never even thought about the fact that we had human remains in the damn hallway!!! We mentioned it to a friend once, and he just off-handedly mentioned, "Hey, don't you actually have a dead guy in your hallway?"...

My wife and I looked at each other with big "DUH" faces... We got a nice urn very soon after that, and since then, we haven't experienced any of the ghostly phenomena anymore.... (that's the funny part, that for years, this simple thought didn't even occur to us...)

So, my own experience has me doubting the theory, but it is an interesting one. Perhaps the amount of the body present relates to the strength of the spirit's ability to manifest, etc.?

ghosts could just be the spirit of someones past? like their energy is still there but themselves are gone.

I've been toying with how some areas of physics may tie into paranormal phenomena. I think this may be one such area.

Consider this: Any particle, no matter how small, has some interaction with other particles around it within a reasonable distance. Cohesive groups of particles form patterns, which in turn form things like solid objects, bolts of lightning, and so on.

Consciousness is for the most part patterns of organized energy, and many ghosts seem to be related to events that involve high-stress situations, which would naturally leave our thought patterns more energetic than they normally would.

Perhaps it's possible that these patterns are being 'imprinted' onto the particles that make up a certain volume of space, maybe even down to the quantum level where things get a little strange and they could conceiveably hang around for awhile, dormant, until something sets them off.

Anyway, just tossing an idea out there.