The pretas, or hungry ghosts, are probably the most vividly drawn metaphors in the Wheel of Life. Phantomlike creatures with withered limbs, grossly bloated bellies and long, narrow necks, the hungry ghosts demand impossible satisfactions; they are searching for gratification for old unfulfilled needs whose time has passed.

Their ghostlike state is representative of their attachment to the past… They remain obsessed with the fantasy of achieving complete release from the pain of their past, stubbornly unaware that this desire is fantasy. But it is crucial that their fantasy be owned as fantasy. The hungry ghosts must come in contact with the ghostlike nature of their own longings in order to be free.

Western feelings of unworthiness are rooted in just this kind of ‘hungry ghost’ scenario… Just as the hollowness of the hungry ghosts must be experienced in such a way that reparation is no longer sought from impossible sources, so the Western student afflicted with such feelings must make the hollowness itself the object of his or her meditation.

~t.r.

simple rules of the heart….

inquiry for today~ your kindreds know your truth….trust them….

higher ground…

In times of turmoil and danger,

gratitude helps to steady and ground us.

It brings us into presence, and our full presence

is perhaps the best offering we can make to our world.

~Joanna Macy