“Hungry Ghosts”
In “The Legend of Mu-lien Entering the City and Seeing Five Hundred Hungry Ghosts,” five hundred sons of city elders denied food to begging monks, fearing they would exhaust their resources. Their afterlife fate was to be reborn as hungry ghosts, a consequence of their past stinginess.
"Encounter of Realms: A malevolent hungry ghost approaches a tranquil monk in deep meditation, capturing the essence of spiritual resilience in the face of supernatural challenges."
The concept of hungry ghosts traces back to ancient Indian culture, where they were known as Preta. However, the origin stories surrounding hungry ghosts vary across legends.
In the Buddhist tradition, particularly in the Chuan-chi po-yuan ching (“Sutra of One Hundred Selected Legends”) from the early third century, tales of hungry ghosts abound. One story recounts the misdeeds of a wealthy man who, while away, instructed his wife to offer sugar cane juice to a monk. Instead, she deceitfully mixed her urine with the juice, leading to her rebirth as a hungry ghost.
Another narrative tells of a generous man whose wife, driven by greed, locked a monk in an empty room without food. Her karmic consequence was to be reborn as a hungry ghost for countless lifetimes. Many legends in the Buddhist tradition involve greedy individuals, often women who hoarded food in a previous life.
Additional stories from Kuei wen mu-lien ching (“The Sutra on the Ghosts Questioning Mu-lien”) highlight the consequences of avarice. One tale features a diviner who, due to his own greed, misled people and is now condemned to life as a hungry ghost.
In “The Legend of Mu-lien Entering the City and Seeing Five Hundred Hungry Ghosts,” five hundred sons of city elders denied food to begging monks, fearing they would exhaust their resources. Their afterlife fate was to be reborn as hungry ghosts, a consequence of their past stinginess.
