ghosts

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts is a book, by a medical doctor named Gabor Maté, written about addiction, addiction's roots in trauma, the profoundly different — different from conventional mainstream approaches — implications that has for healing and treating addiction, and more about addiction. It's a book about addiction.

What about ghosts?

You can't see them, typically, and there's not a single mention of them in Gabor's book.

The book's title draws from Buddhism for its metaphor.

Buddhism is an acceptable thing for a doctor to publically discuss because mindfulness and meditation, a watered-down portion of Buddhism, has been thoroughly validated by "western" science.

Ghosts, however, are not an acceptable topic for someone like Gabor to discuss without risk of loosing his license for quakery. Science has yet to believe in spirit.

Ok, so... about ghosts, then..?

Daniel Foor's book Ancestral Medicine: Rituals for Personal and Family Healing discusses, outside the context of any particular religion, a variety and spectrum of rituals that can be done for connecting with ancestors, including getting into the spectrum of ancestors spirits in such unhealthy states as to be considered ghosts.

Foor describes ghosts as being quite rare. I think it's quite important to avoid the rousing of fears, and certainly the rousing of mass hysteria, so given that, part of me indeed wants to say don't worry, it's rare.

But I can't honestly say that. I don't believe that's true. I believe it's pandemic.

The Endless Vortex of Death and all its Suffering

My great grandmother committed suicide, she hung herself around the time my father was born.

I've carried the burden of her ghost, the family ghost which she herself was most likely burdened by, my whole life.

In my early twenties I met a shaman who helped me, taught me a couple things, and gave me some instructions of what to do regarding the ghost.

The instructions and explanation weren't something I could comprehend at the time. It wasn't until the "portals" opened and schizophrenia began that I could understand.

Sharing my story

I'm interested in using my story as a tool for change. The systems are so bad, horrendous, really, and the solutions are so simple.

The journey's not over…

What I personally need in order to heal is so simple, yet unavailable, so my condition exacerbates and worsens, and has me in a bit of a crisis. I could certainly use some help.

Most upsetting is lacking ammenity to do my work.