Hungry Ghosts in the Attic

11 June 2025

Grudges are the hungry ghosts¹ we feed in the attic²,hoping their hunger will somehow starve our pain

Yet every grudge and every regretpushed us down the fateful path we are now,look around,are you not impressed?Do you not revel in life's splendor?

There are no mistakes³

Notes

By the editor.

Hungry ghosts (Sanskrit preta): in Buddhist cosmology, beings with swollen bellies on narrow necks, tormented by a hunger that cannot be filled; food or drink may wither or burst into flame as they reach it. They are one of the six forms of existence, beside gods, demigods, humans, animals and hell beings. source ↩
Feeding the hungry ghosts is a living rite. At the Yulanpen (Ullambana) festival, on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, families set out food and burn paper offerings for wandering spirits. The poem keeps the rite and changes the food: what we feed in the attic is a grudge. source ↩
You Touched the Flame gives the argument behind this line (“There is no regret”) and Flowers on the Grave gives its practice. If the whole road made you, no part of it can be struck out. ↩