33 On the Levels of Awareness IV
Beloveds,
Love.
The third realm is the realm of phantoms.
This is also called the "realm of hungry ghosts".
The majority of humanity operates day to day in this realm.
First of all, they are not in the present.
Like ghosts, they operate with the mind but not based on what is really
in front of them, they only repeat patterns, and are trapped in their
own minds.
They do not have centeredness.
They cannot see their individuality.
They are called "hungry" ghosts because they do not know how
to fulfill themselves.
They know they are suffering, but they do not know why.
They seek reasons, and they seek solutions, but wander blindly.
Like a spirit whose descendants do not offer food for, the "hungry
ghosts" cannot find nourishment in anything they do, so they wander
about in desperation.
People in this condition know they are missing something, know deep down
that they are not being human, but cannot figure out what they need.
They are also trapped in the ghost-world of their own conditionings and
patterns.
They are incapable of original action, only reaction.
People can move up easily from this realm, if they meet two circumstances: they must find someone who can show them meditation, and they must be in a critical moment where they can be lifted out of their conditioning and patterns long enough to realize that this meditation is what can fill them, is what they have been looking for.
Then they will become meditators, and begin to be human.
However, it is easy too for people on the human realm of meditation to
slip back into this state of "ghosthood", to forget their work,
when they forget meditation and make the ritual of meditation into just
another programmed pattern.
Then what they are doing is just going through motions, and it ceases
to satisfy.
For this reason it is important to remember to keep meditation fresh,
to realize what you do meditation for, and to realize that it is the state
of meditation, and not the ritual, that is most important.
Love
Swami
