Metaphorically, this realm depicts addiction in all its forms. The rare times they get what they want, it causes them great agony. They hunger for food, but when they get it, it turns to ash or molten fire in their mouths. They run towards streams only to find them dry when they arrive. These ghosts are depicted with huge bellies and shrunken limbs. On the wheel, the “realm of hungry ghosts” (preta) is the realm just before “hell” (naraka). Specifically, it’s one of the six realms depicted in Tibetan Buddhism’s bhavacakra, or “Wheel of Life,” which illustrates the cyclical journey of reincarnation in Buddhist cosmology. The metaphor in the book’s title struck me: The “realm of hungry ghosts” comes from Buddhism. Psychologist Gabor Maté wrote a book called In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, where he describes his years working in a notorious neighborhood of Vancouver which has one of the highest concentrations of drug users not just in Canada but all of North America. I’m constantly amazed how certain religious myths map onto human psychology.
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