Miss Hart replies to Craig when he asked if she believes in ghosts, ‘I would never attend a séance or mess around with a Ouija board, trying to summon the dead… My grandma always used to say, “A person shouldn’t call out unless they want an answer because not all ghosts are holy.“‘ This is safe and sound advice, with 6 key issues to note, from the Buddhist perspective…
[1] Some ‘messages’ might arise from unmindful autosuggestion, thus not being actual messages from the deceased. This includes ‘messages’ in dream states, via message boards and such. Unless very specific and verifiable, without prior known facts, they might be self-concocted. [2] Even if some messages are ambiguously ‘true’, they might be from other ghosts and gods, trying to win trust by trying to be ‘helpful’, albeit with limitations, or from those who turn out to be malevolent.
[3] Some ghosts might impersonate loved ones, gods and even Bodhisattvas through various mediums, (although human mediums might also be autosuggested to think they can summon the unseen). [4] They seem ‘believable’ when they convey some facts about the past or present, which are essentially useless as these are what the enquirers already know. Anyway, ghosts and gods are able to read the enquirers’ minds for such facts, while the future remains unclear.
[5] If mediums are truly possessed by the deceased or divine, why do they not do more to fully prove they are who they claim to be? For example, why not literally ghostwrite entire verifiable books, or teach the Dharma to the masses in great detail (if there are ‘Bodhisattvas’ present)? [6] If truly wishing to know how the deceased is doing, who might be in states unable to communicate, we should be sincerely mindful of an actual Buddha or Bodhisattva with prayers for answers instead.
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