Ghost, Demons & spirits

Ghosts Demons and Spirits

What is called an inner voice that stops us from doing anything untoward is presumably known as soul. We call is conscience. It is known to be superego for psychoanalysts. It is the awareness of a moral or ethical aspect to one's conduct together with the urge to prefer right over wrong

The Greek word for "conscience" literally means "co-knowledge, or knowledge with oneself." Unlike all other earthly creatures, we possess a God-given capacity to know ourselves. We can, in a sense, stand back and look at ourselves and make moral judgments. Acting as an internal witness bearer, or judge, our conscience can examine our actions, our attitudes, and our choices. It may guide us toward a good decision or warn us against a bad one. It may comfort us for choosing well or punish us with sharp pangs for choosing poorly. Call it by any name, it is not soul. In the world of science soul is no longer said to exist.

So it still remains to be a mystery for a majority of us what happens to the soul after the death. There are so many explanations that seek their source in ancient culture. Some say the souls turn into ghosts to trouble the world so in order to save themselves from the horrible impact of trouble and torments of ghosts, some particular rites and rituals are asked to be performed to appease the ghosts which the people in the ancient culture believed to have descended from the lower realm.

Though there are no hard and fast rules about the existence of this belief in ghosts and spirits, it gained more popularity in the places full of mysterious nooks and corners. People in the hilly areas are more gullible and are believers. This is because geographically placed they get more opportunities to come across the unexplored and strange places than people living in planes.

Seeing is believing. What cannot be seen is believed as part of some mysterious realm. Ghosts are mysteries and a product of mysterious environment. They do exist as part of such places as the imaginative thinking about the unknown contributes to the well being of this belief. Ghosts are more popular in China, US, UK and other European countries, than anywhere else. In the planes, people are able to see clearly all around and to a considerable distance so there are little chances of mysteries around them.

The darkness of night, when there is little or no light also helps in strengthening the belief in the existence of ghosts and spirits. An unknown pattern of sound is often attributed to some ghost or spirit. That is why people are frightened by darkness of night. They believe that evil spirits linger freely around in the cover darkness of night.

In China, there is a month in a calendar year known as the ghost month which occurs in August –September, during it is believed that the gates of hell and heaven are opened and the ghosts and spirits descend and walk back to their old dwelling places. After a month they are sent back by performing certain rituals to appease them. Those who happen to be evil spirits it is believed that they refuse to leave the earth so fire and fireworks is used to frighten away the ghosts and evil spirits. They have a ghost festival for the final adieu to the spirits.

Folklore is full of stories about ghosts and experience of spirits. Ghost and spirits are supposed to be the disembodied souls of dead people that sometimes appear among living persons as vague, shadowy or evanescent forms. However, the existence of ghosts has never been proved using the scientific method. According to science, ghosts simply do not exist, and people who claim to have experienced a ghost or spirit, are mistaken, mentally unbalanced, or simply charlatans.

There are making rounds around the world in the print or electronic media reports of ghosts along with photographs and videos, which they claim portray the presence of such things. But science always asks for objective evidence of such things. Only reproducible results can be validated by the scientific method. Science does not accept any individual picture as definitive proof because pictures or videos may be faked or the equipment may malfunction and produce images that can be misinterpreted. Many photographs of purported ghosts are taken with infrared cameras that are known to produce halos and other optical distortions.

Often textual references of religious scriptures is made wherein they validate the existence and working of ghosts and spirits in the name of Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit, Atman etc. but it is implored that such things should be believed simply because the scriptures say. They too were penned by human beings some centuries ago when the knowledge of man was limited and the experience was lopsided. To overcome this disparity, imagination is allowed to play and fool around in the make-believe stories. Finally when we have come in the direct contact of science and scientific thinking, with the props and gadgets, man is able to explore all the hidden and mysterious. Mysteries are no longer mysteries and science has helped us a quick and effective communication, we have no right to continue to pursue the texts of scriptures.

Science has penned its own voyage of success in its own way and it implores us to follow it to make our life easy, secure and trouble free. Medical Science has come up with the diagnosis of almost all the ailments and devised techniques and technology to alleviate them. Astronomical success has followed mankind in its efforts to reach the farthest ends of the universe. What is hidden from human eye has been brought under the eye of highly sophisticated cameras. A book of science is the only scripture of modern times. It keeps away the human fancy the mere idea of ghosts and spirits.