Chilling encounters and hungry ghosts

"The night was still. The moon was full, its light shining through the small window of the ‘kuti' (hut). Upon entering the hut, I saw a white figure lying on my mattress. The moonlight gently illuminated her face, long dark hair and flowing white dress. For a second, I thought it was an apparition but whatever it was, it floated upwards, moved to the corner of the room and vanished. That was when fear overwhelmed me."

This is the chilling encounter a Malaysian had with a female ghost when he was a Buddhist monk at the Wat Kiriwong Thai monastery, on the 15th day of the Chinese 7th lunar month in 1977. Studying meditation under spiritual guidance, he had spent two years in a hut located next to a cemetery.

This is not an isolated case. All over the world, within different cultures and religious faiths, there have been countless well-documented ghostly encounters. Yet, many people are still sceptical of the existence of ghosts. Some even consider supernatural matters taboo.

For thousands of years, the subject of life after death and related experiences of the human spirit continue to fascinate even the most sceptical of nay-sayers. Do ghosts really exist? Is there life after death? Why do they exist and where do they come from?

"As dusk fell, I was driving through a rubber estate and felt the need to relieve myself. I stopped my car and as I was doing what I needed to do, I saw a white apparition. A woman with a white dress floating from one tree to another. Instinctively, I fumbled in my pocket for my cell phone and snapped a shot as the white figure floated upwards and disappeared," narrated another man of his recent experience.

Last Friday, a Chinese mainstream newspaper highlighted an accident in Taman Connaught, saying the tragedy occurred on the first day of the Hungry Ghosts Festival.

The three-day "Yee Lan Seng Hui" (Hungry Ghosts Festival ceremony) is an annual event in which people make offerings to receive blessings of health and good luck throughout the year.

Pudu Traders and Hawkers Association President, Jeff Tan, who is also organising chairman of the event in Pudu this year said, "From years of participating in this ceremony, I find that those who are honest in their business dealings, always find that their lives are smooth throughout the year after participating in the ceremony.

"Believe it or not, I know of people who are dishonest in their businesses, finding themselves in deep trouble, encountering misfortune and even bankruptcy," Tan said.

Margaret Soong who is deputy treasurer of the association, agreed with Tan. "Life is smoother and business can be better despite an economic downturn. I've been participating in this ritual for more than 50 years."

The ceremony includes offering of food, burning of paper money and entertainment for ancestors and wandering souls who have no descendants to appease them. The event is also a demonstration of filial piety and compassion towards those in the nether world.

Appeasing wandering souls

"Zhong Yuan Jie," (Feast for the Wandering Souls) has roots in the Buddhist festival of "Ullambana" and Daoist culture.

The Buddhist text, Ullamabana Sutra tells the story of Mahamaudgalyayana, chief disciple Gautama Buddha, who searched for his deceased mother during one of his meditation session after discovering she had been reborn in the realm of the hungry ghosts.

Despite being famous for his psychic powers, Mahamaudgalyayana could not feed his mother in hell and sought the Buddha's help. Buddha advised his chief disciple to gather monks from 10 directions to take part in a ritual. After offering food and other items to ancestors of 7 generations on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month, Mahamaudgalyayana's mother ended her suffering and was reborn as a human being.

Today, this story is often performed as a Chinese opera stage-show during the festival. According to ChinaExpat.com, such ghost-related festivals are also being celebrated in other parts of the world - such as the ‘El Dia de los Muertos' festival in Mexico, the ‘Chugen' and ‘O-Bon' festivals in Japan and the ‘Vu Lan' festival in Vietnam.

According to the website, in Southern China, village folks put cooked chicken, meat and vegetables, rice, tea and fruits on their doorsteps during the Hungry Ghosts Festival. They also burn pieces of paper resembling currency notes in larger cities in eastern China, such as Shanghai and Hangzhou. Candles are lit along streets, and miniature paper boats and lanterns are released in rivers to direct wandering spirits.

During the 30-day festival, no auspicious events such as weddings, the launching of new businesses or moving house are carried out. Even today, parents advise their children against going out late at night, to avoid swimming and water sports and to drive carefully for fear of malicious spirits.

Streets in China are often deserted at night during the festival, as few dare leave their homes for fear of ghosts following them home.

Former Buddhist monk Sirinanda, who is well versed in Buddhism and Daoism explained, "People are so engrossed in their physical existence and material well-being that they either forget or become too comfortable, short-sighted or sceptical about everything else, particularly the other dimensions or realms of existence. They ignore the connectivity between ancestors and descendants, between the living and dead, between heaven and earth and the physical body and spirit.

"Most importantly, these people, especially unscrupulous politicians, forget that their existence is governed by divine or spiritual laws and morals and they spend their lives plundering and abusing their power without any moral investment in the spiritual bank," Sirinanda said. "Often, they will pay a heavy karmic price for their actions, and not necessarily after death."

It is pure coincidence that both the nomination and polling day for the Permatang Pauh by-election should fall within the period of the Hungry Ghosts Festival. Nomination day is on the 16th of August, a day after the full moon and polling day is on the 26th of August, the right time for ‘Yin Guo Bao Ying', or ‘retribution of cause and effect of punitive justice'.