Ever wondered why some can see ghosts and spirits and some cannot? For the ones who have seen one – is it just a figment of your imagination or the result of some recently watched horror film? Or is it a reality that is so real that the mind doesn’t want to accept it?
There is a 2-storeyed house in Delhi where a family resides. A few months ago, Aditi wakes up in the middle of the night to see a black-hooded figure looking at her. Not thinking much of it, she goes back to sleep. And never sees this figure again. Weeks later, in another room in the same house, Kaya is asleep, but wakes up to find the same hooded figure by her bed. This time, the figure touches her left knee. Kaya tries her best to move, but is unable to. It’s as if the figure is trying to communicate with her. Finally when she does manage to turn over, the figure disappears.
Neha returns home after a few days and is unaware of these sightings by the family members. While on the terrace one morning, she sees a black-hooded figure holding an axe in his hand. And between her and this figure, she sees the back of a woman with black shoulder length hair, in a green overcoat… Meanwhile, Manoj is out on the lawn one night and suddenly sees 4 hooded figures carrying away a body. As they walk by, one turns to look back at Manoj, with his red eyes…
Could all these people be hallucinating? It is too much of a coincidence to be accepted as imagination. What we perceive as real and final is the human form, which is just one of the 84 lakh dimensions of existence as described by our ancients. Just like the dimensions of spirits and ghosts (bhoot, pret, pisach etc.), which are essentially souls who could not find a body to fulfil their desires and are trapped in a bodiless existence, on the other end of the spectrum are subtler energies and divine beings which too exist and are experienced by people. While it is easy to communicate with the lower energy forms, it requires intense tapa and sadhna to interact with the subtler energies.
Ghosts are real and that’s a fact. They exist everywhere, not just in haunted houses and jungles. Seeing them depends on the level of awareness of the individual and at times, on the need of the spirits. It’s a common myth that all spirits are evil and out to harm you. While there are some that are hostile and will try to scare you or harm you, there are others who serve as messengers from the other dimensions – they reveal themselves to you to offer you help or convey a message. Some spirits are also known to have appeared to ask humans for help. Swami Vivekananda once saw a spirit who came to him for help. It requested him to chant a certain verse from the Gita so that his soul could rest in peace. Once he chanted the verse, the spirit disappeared. Interestingly, a hooded figure is the most common figure seen by the majority of people who see spirits. According to the Puranas, the description of ‘yamdoot’ is that of a hooded figure. And that’s what Manoj saw that night…
It may seem difficult in a situation like this when someone experiences spirits in such forms but the next time if something like this happens to you, try not to be afraid, may be someone’s trying to reach out for help or has a message for you. Yogi Ashwini says ghosts and such spirits exist all around us, and while they may seem to have supernatural powers, they are not more powerful than you. They can only harm you or affect you if you give them that power by getting scared or by disturbing them. For a spiritual practitioner they exist as just another being from one of the many dimensions which cannot be perceived by normal people. They need to be helped so that their souls can be released from the bondage that is holding them from crossing over to the other dimensions.
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