Vedic teachings on ghosts

The Vedas - ancient texts of India - over 6,000 years old - speak about ghosts. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami here describes their teachings.

Some people do at times see what we call ghosts and wonder what they are. They are astral beings without a physical body. Only rarely are they able to have any effect on anything in our world and are generally harmless. A ghost is a person, a soul, just like all of us, that has lived in a human body and died, and is now in the part of the astral plane called the Pretaloka (Pretaloka: (Sanskrit) "World of the departed." The realm of the earth-bound souls)

The word ghost generally has unfavorable connotations attached to it such as scary, haunting, perhaps even fear, for most people do not fully understand what a ghost is. From the ghost's point of view, he feels very much alive, living in the inner world which this outer world mirrors. Ghosts, more often than not, see us, but we don't see them, except very rarely, and they feel hurt when not included in family gatherings, and sad at being mourned for. Often the realization that they have "departed" comes to them slowly, but comes especially when they find they can now walk through closed doors, even walls.

There are certain astrological times, such as Halloween, when ghosts are most easily seen. I was in Singapore on one of those days when all the Chinese people were in the street sending prayers through fires to the inner world. The prayers were printed and purchased and then burned in piles on nearly every street. The astral doubles of the prayers were collected by astral helpers trained for the job, then given to the departed relatives to be read by them. When we asked about the event, we were told that this was the time of year when ghosts make their visitations. And actually, in the early morning, upon awakening in our hotel, the mathavasis and myself saw ghosts walk through the walls, stare at us in our beds, then pass on through a wall into another room to investigate the other guests. This was a shared experience, for we all saw the same ghosts. We talked about it at breakfast. Some found it a little bit scary, as the astral beings were all draped in white, which was, of course, their pranic body covering their astral body. They looked white because they still maintained an odic body made of ectoplasmic substance.

Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami

I wish this was an idea followed by more people in this world but unfortunately we have the sceptic who will not believe no matter how much proof they are given and then of course we have the believer to whom anything odd has just got to be a ghost. It would be wonderful for more people to accept the idea of the possibility of ghosts and then get people like us to come and check before they make a final decision. This is something that may make life easier for people as the presence of some spirits can of course cause feelings of depression and anxiety which is often taken out on innocent parties that "haunted" people come into contact with, which can then lead to problems with relationships and work which then just gets worse all round. I personally like to learn more about other cultures ideas on the paranormal and ghosts as many of the stricter religions have deep set beliefs which honour the departed instead of ridiculing the idea which tends to be favoured within the western civilisation.

Well said Simon how much ridiculing goes on in relation to an individual's personal belief. There is a common misconception that ghosts have only started to appear in recent times but even a brief glimpse into the ancient tribal and religious systems on our planet show deep held beliefs that have been passed down generation to generation through thousands of years.

We need to re-trace our steps, reversing the current trend of throwaway beliefs and media hype. Re-learn the ancient skills that viewed the unknown without bias. Re-engage with the ancestors that gave us life and get naturally intelligent once again.

oh bongo you have tweaked my curiosity i want to know more. i do agree we do not honour as we should and agree with both yours and simons comments on this. i go nuts when ppl disregard ppls burial places and walk over graves its one of my pet hates, not only is it disrespectful in my opinion but life and death seems to be valued less and less. we do need to go back and retrace our steps cos we have unlearnt a lot of skills we used to have in the name of so called progress.thanks for putting this up

Vedic Teachings on Possession and Mediumship

Ghosts are mysterious, unknown and not understood by most people and therefore feared. They usually stay close to a familiar place in the physical world and are occasionally seen or felt by people who knew them, especially if they have just recently passed on. At the time of passing, their astral body hovers over their physical body until they become aware that they have died. Inner-world helpers eventually explain to them the facts of death and take them deeper into the Devaloka (a plane of existence where gods and devas exist) to do what they have to do to prepare for another physical birth. In unusual cases, the astral person remains in a favorite area of the physical world for an extended length of time, making his presence felt by people in the Bhuloka or physical world. This is what is meant by the word haunting.

On rare occasions, we may experience one or more ghosts in our presence. When this happens, we must project love, while visualizing pink and light blue. This will help them, and they will eventually realize that all is well with the life they left, and be able to continue their evolution, released from the static state they have been experiencing. This is the great siddhi of love (Siddhi - a Sanskrit word that literally means perfection accomplishment or attainment. It is also used as a term for spiritual power or psychic ability). Everyone has this power. Few use it.

In one sense, we could say that the devas of the Devaloka are also ghosts, for they are discarnate entities, too, the difference being that they are fully functioning at their duties in-between physical births, completely aware of who and what they are.

Sometimes an Earth-bound soul may completely overshadow the body of an unsuspecting living person. In most cases that soul is very upset at not having a physical body because he has things to do and physical desires. Such a soul finds somebody who is susceptible, who is on drugs or half out of his body for some reason, overshadows that body and uses it for a while to satisfy his desires. In Asia they have dances, songs and temple rituals, and in America they have electrical shock treatment, to get rid of the unwanted astral entity. It's the same primitive process, sometimes called exorcism.

Mediumship is another matter. There is no conflict. It is communication by arrangement and can be accomplished on many different levels. One is clairvoyantly, where pictures and impressions are received. Another is clairaudiently, where actual words are heard. Still another is vocally, where the entity temporarily uses the voice of the medium to speak out a message. Mediumship is a temporary arrangement and, to be safe, it should be a definite arrangement. This is to protect the medium from astral Earth-bound entities who might do harm to him or, through him, to others. Even once that arrangement is set up and certain inner codes are established, communication does not happen all the time, or even at will. My advice for those who are intrigued with channeling is, if you want to channel something, channel your own superconsciousness. Any channeling without the code and the authorization from your teacher is a sure road to the asylum. Without such precautions, if some trauma were to come up in your personal life, some emotional disorientation, you could have lower-plane people talking to you twenty-four hours a day and not be able to turn it off. Precautions are always taken by psychically trained occultists to protect themselves and others from such intrusions.