The Hungry Ghost

Some of our larger contractions can feel like carrying a “hungry ghost,” an energy of want that seems unquenchable. Almost like an energetic parasite.

The big ones can be collective, passed down in our family or community, our own resonant trauma added to the mix. Without that, we wouldn’t engage it.

Shared memes like patriarchy, for example. They drive social attitudes and behaviour. And they often drive addictions, especially the socially acceptable ones, like food and alcohol. 

We can’t resolve these kinds of things the same way we heal childhood trauma. But the principles remain the same.

If we can become conscious of the dynamics within ourselves and those around us, we can disengage. And then our own constrictions can surface and be healed. When we don’t contribute to or feed the beast, its power shrinks.

Woke culture, for example, originates from this process. However, social dynamics often get entangled with identity. Then it becomes us versus them. Awareness can turn into another contraction. This feeds rather than heals, like being anti-war versus pro-peace. (What we put our attention on grows.)

A lot of the drama playing out on the world stage these days originates in such unhealed collective constructs. Discrimination is key. Truth is the first leg of the bull of dharma. Without this, dharma is lost.
Davidya