Hungry Ghosts and Spirited Away

Photo of the Hungry Ghost and Heroine from the movie Spirited Away

We have all met them. Folks who have to cut ahead of us -- on the roads, in the bank line, at the lunch counter. Folks who have to be first no matter who it hurts. Folks who have to have the best cars, the biggest houses, the most food to eat. Perhaps that accounts for the popularity of reality shows or who won the latest lottery or Entertainment Tonight. They are an expression of our deepseated wants and attachments. Wants and Thoughts. There is a character in the wonderful anime film "Spirited Away," who looks like a blob until it opens its mouth to swallow characters down whole. It is a hungry ghost and only when it finds love does it become un-hungry and kind. In my limited understanding of Buddhism -- desire/want is considered a hungry ghost -- and it is that attachment that I work on letting go. Work on reconciling. That is why I rescue -- to remind myself there are others and other things that are important in my life and to pay attention to the least of us or I neglect my soul's path.