Hungry ghost
Hungry ghost is a term in Buddhism and Chinese traditional religion, representing beings who are driven by intense emotional needs in an animalistic way.
The term p=èguǐ is the Chinese translation of the Sanskrit term preta in Buddhism.
"Hungry ghosts" play a role in Chinese Buddhism, Japanese Buddhism, Taoism, and in Chinese folk religion.
The term is not to be confused with the generic term for "ghost" or damnation, . The understanding is that people first become a regular ghost when they die and then slowly weaken and eventually die a second time. The hungry ghosts, along with animals and hell beings, consists of the three realms of existence no one desires. In these realms it is extremely difficult to be reborn in a better realm because it is nearly impossible to perform deeds that cultivate good karma.
With the rise in popularity of Buddhism, the idea that souls would live in space until reincarnation became popular. In the Taoist tradition, it is believed that hungry ghosts can arise from people whose deaths have been violent or unhappy. Both Buddhism and Taoism share the idea that hungry ghosts can emerge from neglect or desertion of ancestors. According to the Huayen Sutra evil deeds will cause a soul to be reborn in one of six different realms. The highest degree of evil deed will cause a soul to be reborn as a denizen of hell, a lower degree of evil will cause a soul to be reborn as an animal, and the lowest degree will cause a soul to be reborn as a hungry ghost. According to the tradition, evil deeds that lead to becoming a hungry ghost are killing, stealing and sexual misconduct. Desire, greed, anger and ignorance are all factors in causing a soul to be reborn as a hungry ghost because they are motives for people to perform evil deeds. The biggest factor is greed as hungry ghosts are ever discontent and anguished because they are unable to satisfy their feelings of greed.
Some traditions imagine hungry ghosts living inside the bowels of earth or they live in the midst of humans but go unnoticed by those around them or they choose to distance themselves.
Myths of origin
There are many legends regarding the origin of hungry ghosts. It is likely that the idea of hungry ghosts originated from ancient Indian culture, where they were referred to as Preta.In the Buddhist tradition, hungry ghosts appear in stories from the from the early third century. Some examples of these stories are as follows:
Once, a rich man who travelled was selling sugar-cane juice. One day, a monk came to his house in search of some juice to cure an illness. The man had to leave, so he instructed his wife to give the monk the drink in his absence. Instead of doing this, she secretly urinated in the monk's bowl, added sugar cane juice to it and gave it to the monk. The monk was not deceived; he poured out the bowl and left. When the wife died, she was reborn as a hungry ghost.
Another such tale is of a man who was giving and kind. One day, he was about to leave his house when a monk came by begging. The man instructed his wife to give the monk some food. After the man left his house, his wife was overcome with greed. She took it upon herself to teach the monk a lesson, so she locked the monk in an empty room all day with no food. She was reborn as a hungry ghost for innumerable lifetimes.
The legends often speak of hungry ghosts who, in a previous lifetime, were greedy women who refused to give away food. Other stories in the Buddhist tradition come from the. One of the stories tells of a diviner who constantly misled people due to his own avarice, and thus, he was reborn as a hungry ghost. Another story in "The Legend of Mu-lien Entering the City and Seeing Five Hundred Hungry Ghosts" is about five hundred men that were sons of elders of the city they lived in. When monks came begging to the city for food, the sons denied them because they thought the monks would keep coming back and eventually take all their food. After the sons died, they were reborn as hungry ghosts.
"One Hundred Stories"
The is one of the earliest collections of stories about hungry ghosts and was compiled by a Buddhist monk from northwest India between the second and fourth centuries CE. The stories in this work may have functioned as a prescription for appropriate behaviour. The text is divided into ten "decades", the fifth decade being stories that concern hungry ghosts. This part of the recounts the bad thoughts and behavior the hungry ghosts have cultivated in their human existence which led them to the hungry ghost realm. The accumulation of malignancy or meanness is called.The notion of in this volume is explained to understand the logic of mātsarya's development, the actions it evokes, the suffering it causes and in which ways it can be eradicated. Therefore, it describes the causal chain that leads to the existence of a hungry ghost. At the end of nearly every story the phrase "Work hard to get rid of your !" is repeated.
In China
In China, Taiwan and other overseas Chinese communities, preta is translated as egui, which descends from the Middle Chinese pronunciation of ngaH kjwɨjX. In Chinese Buddhism, the egui dao is one of the six domains of the desire realm of Buddhism. Many Chinese Buddhist rituals performed throughout the year typically contain sections where the various types of egui and spirits are summoned and provided nourishment in the form of food offerings and Buddhist teachings and precepts. The oral tradition of Chinese ancestral worship believes that the ghosts of the ancestors may be granted permission to return to the world of the living at a certain time of the year. If the spirits are hungry and not given sufficient offerings by their living relatives, they take what they can from the world.Yulanpen Festival
A festival called the Yulanpen Festival is held to honor the egui and food and drink is put out to satisfy their needs. The festival is celebrated during the seventh month of the Chinese calendar. It also falls at the same time as a full moon, the new season, the fall harvest, the peak of monastic asceticism, the rebirth of ancestors, and the assembly of the local community. According to tradition, during this month, the gates of Diyu are opened up and the egui are free to roam the earth where they seek food and entertainment. These egui are believed to be ancestors of those who have forgotten to pay tribute to them after they died. They have long thin necks because they have not been fed by their families. Tradition states that families should offer prayers to their deceased relatives and burn "hell money". It is believed that "hell money" is a valid currency in the underworld and helps ghosts to live comfortably in the afterlife. People also burn other forms of joss paper such as paper houses, cars and televisions to please the ghosts.Families also pay tribute to other unknown wandering egui so that these homeless souls do not intrude on their lives and bring misfortune. A big feast is held for the egui on the 15th day of the seventh month, where people bring samples of food and place them on the offering table to please the egui and ward off bad luck. Live shows are also put on and everyone is invited to attend. The first row of seats is always empty as this is where the ghosts are supposed to sit to better enjoy the live entertainment. The shows are always put on at night and at high volumes, so that the sound attracts and pleases the egui. These acts were better known as "Merry-making".
Chinese Buddhist practices
rituals that feature the feeding of egui are commonly performed as part of regular temple services. A key example is the Mengshan Shishi rite, which is commonly performed as part of the daily evening liturgy in most Chinese Buddhist temples.Another key rite that is often performed is the Yujia Yankou ritual, also known as the Yuqie Yankou ritual. It is commonly performed during or at the end of regular religious temple events such as repentance rites, Buddha recitation retreats, the dedication of a new monastic complex, gatherings for the transmission of monastic vows or the Yulanpen Festival. During the ritual, one or more monks execute various esoteric and tantric practices, including maṇḍala offerings, recitation of esoteric mantras, execution of mudrās and visualization practices to deliver both physical nourishment as well as spiritual nourishment on egui and other hell-beings. The ritual also combines features of Chinese operatic tradition as well as the recitation of sūtras similar to other exoteric Mahāyāna rituals. The ritual is typically open for attendance to the public, and especially lay people, who participate as the audience and spectators.
During the ritual, various Buddhist figures such as the Five Tathāgatas, Guanyin, Zhunti and Dizang are invoked to help empower the ritual space and offerings as well as other ritual functions. Another key figure in the ritual is the egui king Mianran Dashi, who is commonly regarded as a manifestation of the Bodhisattva Guanyin and who features prominently in the sūtra upon which the ritual was based on. During the climax of the ritual, the main performers of the rite toss the offerings into the ritual space before the main altar for the spirits, as well as to the audience of the rite. Only vegetarian food offerings are allowed as Buddhist precepts promote compassion for all sentient beings and forbid the taking of any life. The Buddhist refuge vows as well as precepts are also conferred upon the spirits present at the ritual, and all merits generated from the rite are usually dedicated to all sentient beings at the end of the rite.