It’s almost that time of year again. The leaves are changing where I live.
Halloween is a popular modern holiday celebrated on October 31st, but it has ancient Celtic roots. Celtic peoples believed it was the night that the boundary between the living and the dead blurred. Decorations were put out to scare away evil spirits. This is where the modern idea of scary costumes comes from.
In this excellent video, Bhante Subhuti informs us of some of dangers we should be familiar with at this festive time.
2. The Hungry Ghost Festival (Zhongyuan Jie) — China & East Asia
3. Pchum Ben (Ancestors’ Day) — Cambodia
4. Pitru Paksha — India
Taboos and Respect: This is why proper burial rites, geomancy (Feng Shui), and ancestor worship remain incredibly important in Chinese culture today. There is a lingering, superstitious fear of improperly handled dead bodies, even if no one expects them to literally hop away. [1, 2]
Theravadin context:
1. Canonical Stories: The Petavatthu (The Pali Canon)
2. Cultural Folklore & Living Legends
Mae Nak Phra Khanong (Thailand) (I watch this film). The monks eventually tamed her and made her stop causing trouble.)
The Palm-Tree Prets (Southeast Asia) (I was explained that if you see a ghost that big, you are supposed to say it is not big, just a little one. I heard some stories regarding ghosts like that. A monk explained his mother appeared in his vision that she was reborn as a ghost like that, sitting in the field, just sitting.)
A harbinger of death, rather like the Black Dog of England or the Banshee of Ireland, Ma Phae Wah is a spirit known in Myanmar as a Nat. These spirits are an ancient mix of Hindu and local animist beliefs that are also became associated with Buddhism. [Started during Ari Buddhism]
We cannot say exactly what kamma will happen. In the talk, I explain how dangerous it was in Seoul because there was a stampede that happened and therefore with the terrible way to die, combined with wearing costumes, the conditions for rebirth do not look good. However, we never know what will happen.
I think modern society in general is bringing up kids with less morales than earlier times. There is less of a religious base these days (of any religion) and social media breeds anger, hate, division and lust. These have become habitual devices which probably have more power over a single night’s costume. However, people usually think about this 2-4 weeks prior.
As a computer programmer working with engineers. The engineers had a design meeting long before Halloween for the purpose of how to turn a house into a themed Halloween scene. A special thing was how to rig up the toilet to do something special like flicker the lights and play an audio recording related to the theme. The decoration was done every year. It was this one person’s favorite thing to do and he was “known for this.” This is where things become dangerous. As I said, if someone says, “Oh he is such an angel.” , then you have good odds. He is “known” for this. If the kid is known as “a little devil.” then this is not good odds.
That is why at the end, I tell people to embody the wholesome character in real life. For me… I’m very lucky to have ordained which allows me to live the life of a monk.
Indeed, that is very fortunate! Although, it also brings to mind the story of one Tissa from the Dhammapada Commentary (verse 240).
He was a monk who died while attached to some robes he had received. Because of that small attachment, he was reborn as a louse (a type of bug) in the folds of those robes. He began to cry out when the robes were about to be redistributed to the monks some days later.
This shows that we never know what will condition the last cittas of life, which will then go on to condition our next rebirth.
This is an example of how very strong our subtle attachments often areand. It is always helpful to reflect on such things. The defilements are so strong, and so deeply rooted.
Excellent comments. Thank you, Bhante.
By the way (for those who are not already familiar with the story), after his life as a louse, the bug went on to be reborn in the Tusita heaven!
