Question: A friend says that because of her faith’s teachings, she did not believe in ghosts. This is while she believes in demons, whom she believes her faith in a diety can protect her from. Does this make her immune to ghostly encounters?
Answer: Unfortunately, one might not believe in ghosts at all, but ghosts can still ‘believe’ in one totally (你不信鬼,鬼却信你), thus giving rise to ghostly encounters when karmic conditions are ‘right.’ (Also, demons are just more malevolent ghosts.)
Question: She did have a ghostly encounter later though, which her faith in the diety did not seem to help in countering. How can we make sense of this?
Answer: This could be because [1] the diety does not exist at all, [2] the diety does exist but is not as protective as expected, and/or [3] faith in the diety was not strong enough to connect for protection. The encounter does prove the existence of ghosts to her though, while [1], [2] and/or [3] might have been proven too.
Question: Indeed. It was very humbling for her. She is now doing deeper self-reflection, having enquiries on her faith and exploring other faiths’ perspectives.