“… for I may become a hungry ghost myself!”
It sounds morbid when Geoff Stamper (I think) jokes that he would try to be friendly to ghosts (in my article on hungry ghost festival) as he may become one himself! Hmmm… let me narrate a possible case here.
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“…mum, a motorist just hit me on my head with his helmet and tried to snatch away my laptop. He had driven away after failing to get my bag. I am bleeding a lot from my head, mum. Someone said he had called the ambulance. I am feeling thirsty and tired… very tired…” The boy, a one-week old college student, was lying on the roadside. He managed to make his last call to his mother who was in another state. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it.
His parents narrated his last call in the news. That was a decade ago.
Every time I drive past that same spot, and when I notice the shops nearby holding huge offerings and prayers during this festival, it reminds me of him.
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Taoists believe that hungry ghosts can arise from people whose deaths have been violent or unhappy. So does the beliefs in Buddhism. Both assert that hungry ghosts can also emerge from neglect or desertion of ancestors.
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Chen Song Ping 
Oh that is such a sad story. I do hope that hungry ghost in this case gets to feed off those that tore him away from this world and his family. 🙏
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Becoming revengeful ghost instead? Never thought of that. I don’t know if this happened in another country… anyway, the local district authority built a fence all the way along the sidewalk to protect people from potential snatch thieves on motorbikes.
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Hungry ghost! Great pic and story!
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Thank you, Vanya!
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Very interesting story. The hungry ghost concept is new to me. Love the picture.
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Some will bring Buddhist or Taoist monks to pray at the site of such accidents. I feel the pain of the parents.
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The Chinese overseas would also probably observe this.
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