Buddhism has many stories of “hungry ghosts” and spiritual beings that affect, for good or evil, one’s life. In Buddhist lore, the Buddha was tempted by an evil spirit named Mara, who created all manner of distractions to prevent the Buddha from achieving enlightenment. However, for many Zen Buddhists, stories of spirits are looked at as allegorical dharma teachings and any exorcism of spirits are only metaphorical.
We create our own demons by our delusions of reality and our rejection of life’s normal events such as death or adversity. It can be comforting to place our problems external to us as then we are not to blame for our perceived misfortunes, but this is unskillful thinking. Evil spirits are self-manufactured and any “exorcism” is merely the result of right thinking.
A small hummingbird
Accepts the world as it is.
Enjoy the nectar.
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