Vedic wisdom on Ghost entities Vedic wisdom can evaporate this haze of eeriness surrounding ghosts. It demystifies the nature of ghostly existence and helps us see ghosts not so much as malevolent beings as miserable beings. Of course, some ghosts may be malevolent, especially towards people who have wronged them in their past embodied existence. But in general ghosts are primarily miserable because of the unfulfillable cravings that are endemic to their disembodied existence. The pressure of these frustrations often turns them towards violence and sometimes malevolence. The Vedic triadic vision of reality – gross matter, subtle matter and spirit – helps us make sense of the mysterious-seeming behaviors of ghost that defy the laws of materialist science. These laws of materialist science have been postulated primarily on the basis of observing and analyzing the behavior of gross matter. As the mind is a subtle material element, it can act on the gross material level in ways that are not limited to these laws of materialist science. No wonder then that ghosts, existing as they do on the mental plane, can act in ways that baffle and unnerve people who have been taught to believe that everything in nature follows the laws of materialist science. The uncanny power of ghosts is indicated in the Srimad Bhagavatam (5.5.21-22), which places ghosts above humans in the universal hierarchy of living beings: “Superior to human beings are ghosts because they have no material bodies.” The Vedic texts explain that ghosts thrive in conditions of ignorance and illusion. So those people who habitually keep themselves in such conditions by, say, intoxication are more likely to have a weakened or crippled mind that can be easily attacked and possessed by ghosts. Srila Prabhupada states, “Being haunted by ghosts takes place in an unclean state of existence.” We can make ourselves largely invulnerable to such incorporeal attacks by adopting the enlightened mode of living. Vedic wisdom recommends such a mode of living primarily for the purpose of spiritual advancement, which is life’s foremost goal. Nonetheless, such a mode of living that steers clear of self-defeating indulgences like intoxication offers the fringe benefit of protection from attacks by ghostly creatures. For dealing with attacks by ghosts, Vedic wisdom equips us with not only preventive but also curative insights. Devotional activities like collective recitation of sacred mantras can exorcise both places that are haunted and people who are possessed. Srila Prabhupada endorses this in a letter while answering the question of a disciple: “The best way to remove them [ghosts] is to chant Hare Krishna very loudly and have jubilant kirtana until they leave. Chant and Be Happy!
Posted on: Thu, 04 Jul 2013 09:00:00 +0000
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