The Root Cause of Rebirth as a Hungry Ghost

The characteristic of ghosts is greed and stinginess. Therefore, those who harbor greed and stinginess will inevitably be reborn in the ghost realm upon death, regardless of what they covet. Hungry ghosts and malevolent spirits are both beings in the ghost realm. Hungry ghosts have a nature of extreme greed and miserliness, leaving them utterly destitute, unable to obtain food or drink; when they approach water, it turns into fire, causing them immense suffering. Malevolent spirits have an evil nature, frequently emerging to harm other beings, including humans. Most beings in the ghost realm are simply called ghosts, ordinary ghosts distinct from hungry ghosts and malevolent spirits. The greed of sentient beings is not limited to money and material possessions; within the five aggregates, greed towards any phenomenon constitutes greed. This includes thoughts, words, and deeds considered normal by most people—all are forms of greed and causes for rebirth as a ghost. The scope of greed is exceedingly broad.

My neighbor was an elderly woman who, during her life, often played mahjong with three old men in the courtyard. After the three old men died one after another, the old woman eventually passed away too. Some time after being reborn in the ghost realm, she appeared in a dream to her daughter asking for mahjong tiles. Her daughter then burned a paper-made mahjong set as an offering. Later, she dreamt again, telling her daughter she was still playing mahjong with the three deceased old men. They were relatively fortunate ghosts, having committed no major evil deeds in life but being quite fond of amusement; after death, they continued to play in the ghost realm. I have also encountered people who were involved in music, art, or other artistic pursuits during their lives. After death, they became ghosts, later encountered Buddhism, and then attached themselves to Buddhist devotees to visit temples, cultivate blessings, and perform meritorious deeds. These artists were also greedy, clinging to their art with emotional attachment and unwillingness to let go, which led them to become ghosts after death. Liking activities like music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and so forth, all fall under greed. Most literary figures, poets, writers, essayists, and the like from the past also became ghosts after death, as they all had habitual greed. Whatever one likes binds them, preventing liberation.

Another severe form of greed is greed for sensual pleasures, love, and emotional attachments. After death, such individuals become sentimental ghosts or lustful ghosts. Many people consider emotion to be something everyone should naturally have, even feeling proud of developing feelings for others and praising those who are sentimental, extolling concepts like love and affection. In reality, emotion is the most severe form of greed and the primary cause of the cycle of birth and death. The Buddha tells us in the Shurangama Sutra that heavy emotion inevitably leads to falling into the three evil destinies: "With nine parts emotion and one part thought, one sinks into the water element," which is hell; "With seven parts emotion and three parts thought, one is born in the ghost realm"; "With emotion and thought balanced, one is born in the human realm"; "With little emotion and much thought, the mind can soar and one is born in the heavens." Thought represents rationality; a light mind soars upwards, leading to rebirth in favorable realms. Emotion is heavy and turbid; a heavy mind inevitably falls into the three evil destinies.

Regardless of whether emotion is deemed reasonable or not from the perspective of human laws and morals, in terms of consequences and causality, it is fundamentally unreasonable and should not exist. Emotion is greed and attachment; where there is greed, there is water, and water inevitably flows downward. Many people, upon developing feelings, express and indulge their emotions through poetry and painting, considering it beautiful, sincere, romantic, and viewing sentimentality as good. In truth, sentimentality is not virtuous; it harms both self and others, causing them to fall together into the three wretched paths, suffering the pains of rebirth and the torments of excessive emotion. Many sufferings are incurred precisely because of emotional attachment; without emotion, there is no attachment, and thus no suffering arises.

Even so-called "proper" emotions bring negative karmic retribution and suffering. How much more so do improper emotions—emotions that should not arise, emotions that harm others' interests, immoral emotions, or emotions resented by others—bring even greater negative retribution and suffering. "Proper" here means permitted and protected by law and deemed acceptable by moral norms; "improper" is the opposite—not permitted or protected by law and condemned or forbidden by moral norms. After learning Buddhism, we must diligently guard our minds. We should subdue greed, attachment, and emotional clinging as much as possible and restrain them whenever we can. After all, greed and attachment are not wholesome dharmas; they belong to afflictions and are unwholesome dharmas. Many people think that frequently interacting with others creates karmic connections, enabling them to liberate others in future lives. Consequently, they interact frequently with the opposite sex without restraint, allowing improper emotions to develop unchecked, believing this creates good affinities for mutual liberation. They fail to realize that they may lack the capability to liberate that other person within a great kalpa. Emotional entanglements will cause both themselves and the other to fall into evil destinies, suffering for many kalpas. Even after emerging from the evil destinies countless kalpas later, they still lack the ability to liberate the other person because, without having eradicated the affliction of greed and attachment, they are bound to fall back into evil destinies due to that very greed and attachment.

The intention to liberate sentient beings is virtuous, but it must be coupled with understanding of principles and the Dharma. Otherwise, good intentions turn into evil, failing not only to liberate others but also being led astray by them, resulting in loss outweighing any gain. Those who use this as an excuse should rein in immediately at the brink of disaster; karma spares no one. To summarize, in the Saha World, whenever one develops greed, delight, joy, clinging, or unwillingness to let go towards any phenomenon or state, it all constitutes greed. Therefore, such greed generally leads to falling into the ghost realm to experience the karmic retribution, proving that cause and effect never fail.