What’s so scary about ghosts?
I’m writing this from a farmhouse in Lamphun, surrounded by a huge plantation. No neighbors. No traffic. No people. Just a three-storey house sitting wide open in the landscape, surrounded by trees and stillness. You can see everything through the exposed full length windows instead of walls in my room, the clouds, the trees, the vastness of sky.
No, this isn’t a ghost story. I’m not writing about some eerie encounter or haunted experience. I’m writing about ghosts, how they have actually enlightened me. Strange as it sounds, they’ve helped me understand more about people, suffering, and even myself.
I posted a story on Instagram showing that house in the middle of nowhere.
One of my friends replied right away. Said it looked like a haunted house. “Aren’t you scared of ghosts out there?”
That made me laugh out loud.
No, I’m not afraid of ghosts.
It’s people I’m more afraid of.
From what I've gathered after watching hundreds of horror movies, and trust me, I've seen enough to last a lifetime. Ghosts usually have a reason for sticking around. They’re not just hanging around for fun. They want something. Closure, revenge, or peace. They’re usually grieving, confused, or holding onto something they couldn’t let go of when they were alive.
People on the other hand, hurt each other for less. For ego. For greed. For sport. For some pain they haven’t dealt with but expect others to carry. We damage people we love, and half the time we pretend it didn’t happen. Then we call it normal. That’s the part I don’t understand.
And here’s the thing. We act like there’s all the time in the world, then panic when life doesn’t turn out the way we hoped. That quiet kind of cruelty... that’s what really gets to me.
"Psychopath: people who watch horror movies and sleep just fine afterwards.” My sister sent the meme to me with a laughing emoji. “That’s definitely you,” she said. And she’s not wrong.
I’ve always loved horror movies. And since I’ve never actually seen a ghost myself, what I understand about them mostly comes from films, especially Asian horror, which has its own way of telling these stories.
What stands out to me is that most of these ghosts have unfinished business. They’re not random. They’re focused. A lot of the best ones revolve around revenge or betrayal, and often the leading role looks innocent at first — but isn’t.
Ghosts are usually wandering spirits, lost and unaware of what even happened to them. So the strange things they do, moving objects, showing up in reflections aren’t to be cruel. It’s more like confusion. But to us, it feels terrifying.
I feel for them.
Sometimes they don’t even know they’ve died. They’re still trying to live. Crying at night. Showing up where they used to belong. And somehow, we label that scary. But if you look closer, it’s just grief looking for somewhere to land.
Honestly, we’re not that different. Most of us walk around half-aware too. Scrolling through our phones like mindless wandering spirits. Distracting ourselves from feelings we haven’t named. Wandering minds that leads to nowhere.
And the loyalty, don’t even get me started. There’s a kind of ghost that waits. By a window, under a tree, at the edge of someone’s memory. Still believing someone will come back. Still holding onto that one promise. It's heartbreaking. But it’s also kind of beautiful.
I don’t want to meet a ghost. But if I did, I wouldn’t run. Not because I’m brave. Just because my Buddhist practices have shaped how I see things now.
In Buddhism, there’s something called a Hungry ghosts (pretas) — one of the six lower realms we can be reborn into. They’re beings that exist because of deep craving. They have tiny mouths and giant bellies, always starving, never satisfied. It’s said they were greedy in their past life, and this is the result of their greediness. That idea stuck with me. But let’s not confuse them with the hell beings, the ones receiving punishment in hell and returning during the seventh lunar month for their “vacation”. Hungry ghosts are different. They’re around us all the time, not just for a month.
I’ve wondered if I was one of them in my past life. I can’t eat like most people anymore. I’m tube-fed. And weirdly, I’m okay with that. I sometimes joke about it, maybe it’s a sign I should practice more Dāna, be more generous with my time, energy, and charity.
Joke aside, I remembered vividly during a retreat in Pathum Thani, my teacher Phra Ajahn Den told me that ghosts often linger around temples. Not to haunt. They’re listening. They’re drawn to Dharma (Buddhist Teachings). He said when we pour blessed water onto the roots of trees after getting blessed by the monks, it’s not just symbolic. The spirits are thirsty. They’re waiting for us to share whatever left overs we had.
My teacher also taught me that whenever I feel a strange energy, especially in unfamiliar places like hotel rooms, I shouldn’t respond with fear. Unlike what we see in ghost movies, monks aren’t meant to be exorcists or to destroy spirits. We don’t chant to chase them away or wipe them out. Instead, we send loving kindness. We try to offer them some sense of peace, a little comfort in their suffering.
So when I feel something unseen around me, I usually say, I see you. I don’t know how to help, but here’s my loving kindness. Take what you need, and I hope you’ll receive the Dharma teachings and be free from your suffering.
Maybe I sound strange. I’ve made peace with that. I would rather be someone who feels too much than someone who blocks it all out.
That changed something in me. How it resonates with my buddhist practices to the core even to ghosts.
I always find myself amazed by how my teacher teaches the Dharma, so simple, so real.
As the Buddha said, nothing can harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts. The mind, when unguarded, leads to great harm.
So, ghosts don’t scare me because they’re never just about fear. They’re about longing. They’re about spirits who weren’t ready to say goodbye. They’re about love that outlasted the body.
And maybe that’s the real haunting. Most of the fear we feel, especially when it comes to ghosts or the unknown, isn’t about what’s out there. It’s just our own fear running wild.
So no, I’m not afraid of ghosts.
I’m more afraid of forgetting who I am. Of closing my heart. Of letting this life slip through my fingers without understanding what it meant to really live.
3 Wise Steps
Live without regrets, so you won't return to haunt others.
Avoid allowing your mind to drift like wandering spirits and distract you.
Keep your unwholesome thoughts guided to prevent unnecessary fears from taking hold.
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