I see dead people

Yay, its ghost month again!!! Chinese Halloween, except there's no trick or treat in this one. No this is deadly serious business if you believe in the woo-woo part of Taoism (not to be confused with Buddhism). Its that time of year when the gates of hell supposedly fling open and the dead visit the living unlike Qingming when the living visit the dead. Its when the living organize pantomimes, concerts and even karaokes to bring a bit of cheer to the dead. Yeah, ghosts love to party too. ^_^

There's one part of the belief that, to me, sounds kinda mixed up with Buddhism. Specifically how hungry ghosts - a Buddhist idea - have gotten dragged into the picture.

If you are a Buddhist, you'll know that hungry ghosts are said to be pitiful creatures living in limboland. They have very big bellies and a very tiny mouths, the size of a pin prick. They roam the earth looking for food, trying desperately to satisfy their hunger but are unable to because of their mouths. They are locked in a perpetual state of suffering.

I haven't seen one yet of these creatures yet but I seen better. I seen tons of 'em who are living.

Say what?? You may ask.

Well, I know someone who collects a mountain of porn. More than he can ever view in a lifetime but he keeps on collecting them. Why, I have no idea and as it turns out, neither does he. But he can't stop. He can't go through a day without doing that.

I also know many people who mindlessly chase after money, and I mean more money than they can ever use in their lifetime. I mean, what would anyone do with $30 billion dollars? That's a billion a year for 30 years, or $83 million a month, or $2.8 million a day, or $233,000 an hour of spending money 12 hours a day. But that's not enough - they continue to plough on, trying to get every deal they can get their hands on and drive everyone else out of business.

I can go on and on. These types of people aren't satisfied with what they have. They can never be. No matter how much porn or money or whatever they amass, as long as there's more out there, they'll go after it. Life is as constant stream of dissatisfaction. Forever hungry and thirsty and forever longing, they are condemned to a life of constant moving, swimming forever in search of something like a shark until they die.

So yeah. I see "dead" people. They're everywhere. And I don't need a ghost month to be able to see them.