Preta

Preta (, ), also known as hungry ghost, is the Sanskrit name for a type of supernatural being described in Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Chinese folk religion as undergoing suffering greater than that of humans, particularly an extreme level of hunger and thirst.

Preta is often translated into English as "hungry ghost" from the Chinese and East Asian adaptations. In early sources such as the Petavatthu, they are much more varied. The descriptions below apply mainly in this narrower context.

The development of the concept of the preta started with just thinking that it was the soul and ghost of a person once they died, but later the concept developed into a transient state between death and obtaining karmic reincarnation in accordance with the person's fate. In order to pass into the cycle of karmic reincarnation, the deceased's family must engage in a variety of rituals and offerings to guide the suffering spirit into its next life. In addition to having insatiable hunger for an aversive item, pretas are said to have disturbing visions. Pretas and human beings occupy the same physical space and while humans looking at a river would see clear water, pretas see the same river flowing with an aversive substance; common examples of such visions include pus and filth.

The Sanskrit term was taken up in Buddhism to describe one of six possible states of rebirth.

The Chinese term egui (), is thus not a literal translation of the Sanskrit term.

Description

Pretas are invisible to the human eye, but some believe they can be discerned by humans in certain mental states. They are described as human-like, but with sunken, mummified skin, narrow limbs, enormously distended bellies and long, thin necks. This appearance is a metaphor for their mental situation: they have enormous appetites, signified by their gigantic bellies, but a very limited ability to satisfy those appetites, symbolised by their slender necks.

Pretas are often depicted in Japanese art (particularly that from the Heian period) of Gaki-Zoshi as emaciated human-like creatures with bulging stomachs with dependable size and rather thin throats. They are frequently shown licking up spilled water in temples, accompanied by demons (specifically oni), desperately begging to humans, and scavenging things, or winding up in severe pain representing their personal agony. Otherwise they may be shown as balls of smoke or fire. Often, pretas are usually depicted naked and while others wears fundoshi.

In Cambodia, a special female preta is known as a grák, a malevolent spirit believed to be the spirit of a corrupt old woman named Yey Plang () who was in charge of preparing food for the royal family and for monks in temples near the royal palace during the reign of King Monivong between 1927 and 1941.

Pretas dwell in the waste and desert places of the earth, and vary in situation according to their past karma. Some of them can eat a little, but find it very difficult to find food or drink. Others can find food and drink, but find it very difficult to swallow. Others find that the food they eat seems to burst into flames as they swallow it. Others see something edible or drinkable and desire it but it withers or dries up before their eyes. As a result, they are always hungry.

In addition to hunger, pretas suffer from immoderate heat and cold; they find that even the moon scorches them in the summer, while the sun freezes them in the winter.

The types of suffering are specified into two main types of pretas, those that live collectively, and those that travel through space. Of the former, there are three subtypes, the first being pretas who suffer from external obscurations. Countries such as China, Cambodia, Tibet, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, and Malaysia engage in hungry ghost festivals, and in China this is usually on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month according to their calendar. Many rituals involve burning symbolised material possessions, such as joss paper (in the form of money, clothes, gadgets, transportation, estates, accommodation, luxuries, etc.) thus linking the concept of the preta with the deceased's materialism in their lifetime. Rice balls, which are said to symbolise the body of the deceased, are offered from the mourning family to the preta These rice balls are offered in three sets of 16 over one year, which is the amount of time it takes for a preta to complete its transformation into its next phase of life. The three stages are the impure sixteen, the middle sixteen and the highest sixteen that occur over the course of the mourning period. Another key rite that is often performed is the Yujia Yankou ritual (), which is commonly performed during or at the end of regular religious temple events such as the Shuilu Fahui ceremony, repentance rites, Buddha recitation retreats, the dedication of a new monastic complex, gatherings for the transmission of monastic vows or the Yulanpen Festival.

In Japan, preta is translated as gaki (), a borrowing from Middle Chinese nga<sup>H</sup> kjwɨj<sup>X</sup> (). Since 657, various Japanese Buddhist traditions have observed a special day in mid-August to remember the gaki. Through such offerings and remembrances (segaki), it is believed that the hungry ghosts may be released from their torment. Variations in the ritual proceedings of segaki rites also exist between different Japanese Buddhist traditions. In the modern Japanese language, the word gaki is often used to mean spoiled child, or brat.

In Thailand, pret () are hungry ghosts of the Buddhist tradition that have become part of the Thai folklore. They are described as being abnormally tall with tiny mouths, able to emit a high-pitched sound that only by monks or shamans can hear. Elders often tell children not to swear or be rude to their parents, lest they become pret in the afterlife.

In Sri Lankan culture, like in other Asian cultures, people are reborn as preta (peréthaya) if they desired too much in life: their large stomachs can never be filled because they have small mouths.

References

External links

Firth, Shirley. "End of Life: A Hindu View". The Lancet, 2005, 366:682–86
Sharma, H. R. Funeral Pyres Report. Benares Hindu University 2009.
Garuda Purana (Ernest Wood, S.V. Subrahmanyam, 1911) abridged version
Funerals – assorted quotes

Description

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Further reading

External links