HOLY Ghost!

[Govindaram 1]

<font color="red"> 'Ghosts In the Abandoned Hotel' </font color>

 

In Key West we stayed at Avirama's wife's fathers estate. We stayed in the guest house of an old hotel from the early part of the century. The hotel had been abandoned for quite a few years. Vipra Prabhu, the bus driver asked some of us if we wanted to check out some 'ghosts' in the hotel. Being 'new devotees' we were looking for all kinds of far out /images/graemlins/cool.gif experiences and followed him into the ballroom of the hotel. Upon entering we could hear voices coming from out of nowhere /images/graemlins/frown.gif in the middle of the room. It sounded like a party of 500 people all talking at once. Then Vipra started a tape of Srila Prabhupada chanting and the whole noise fell silent /images/graemlins/smile.gif. He turned off the tape and again it started up again. /images/graemlins/frown.gif That was enough for me. I left real fast. /images/graemlins/wink.gif It reminded me of another time when I got 'attacked' by a ghost three times in one night at the LA temple in 1974. I had just laid down to take rest after talking about ghosts during hot milk prasadam. I guess that attracted it. All of the sudden this spirit came over me as I lay just starting to drift off. I couldn't move any muscles. All I could move was my eyes so I looked at a picture of Krishna that was lit up enough to see and the ghost let go. /images/graemlins/shocked.gif Some time later the ghost came back. This time I thought I'd play with it a little bit. /images/graemlins/mad.gif I wanted to see how far it would/could go. It just froze up my nervous system as soon as I thought about the Hare Krishna Mahamantra it went away. This happened one more time. I was tired of the ghost so I chanted right away to be rid of it. When I told the Swami's about the visit in the morning T.K.G. said that he was also attacked twice.

 

LESSON: Never talk about ghosts before taking rest!

 

LESSON: The Holy Names of the Lord are more powerful than anything material, even ghosts! OM TAT SAT

Pastimes

[theist 1]

ghost stories. I never could understand why they can remain around temples.

 

I don't think that was the Holy Ghost Govindaram.

 

Anybody got any from the Berkeley temple?

 

 

[Krsnanatha 0]

Once back in '83 at the Laguna Beach temple a devotee arrived wanting to live in the temple. He seemed nice enough, he was initiated so he was allowed to stay. The next morning during japa there was alot of talking amongst the devotees. Since this was unusual I asked Agni Dev Prabhu the Temple President what was such a strong issue to intervene the Japa time. He said a couple of brahmacharis had been severely attacked by ghosts during the previous night.

During the day the "New Prabhu" was given some service which he set about engaging in but it was noticed that when ever he was alone or should I say thought he was alone he would be talking, long involved conversations with no one visibly present. When the devotees, myself included would make their presence know to him the conversation would abruptly stop.

That night the same two Brahmacharis were again roughly harrassed by ghosts.

By the next morning there was a theory going around the temple that this new fellow may might be the source of these disturbances.

The authorities contacted the temple from which he had come and were told "Oh yes, he is a nice boy but he has contact with some ghosts who he is convinced are his friends. We preached to him that it was unhealthy to maintain their association but he was resistant to the advice."

Hearing this the pujari and I went to the brahmachari ashrama and burning incense, tossing Ganges water and blowing a conch we recited the Narasingha Kauvacha several times.

That night I was in my sleeping bag preparing to take rest when "New Prabhu" came in and laid out his bedding.

Quite curious about how he might react to out ghost busting, I observed him to see if he would show any subtle hints that we had run off his buddies.

To my suprise it was not at all subtle.

He laid down briefly, looked around, sat up looked around again, laid down and then sat up again and blurted out "That funny I'm not recieving any messages."

I said "What?" having heard him but wanting him to repeat it for confirmation. He looked at me and said "Oh nothing, never mind."

When my alarm went off at three AM he was gone. Packed up in the middle of the night and vanished. Never came back. Never saw him again.

I have always imagined those ghost standing at the ashrama door whispering to him "Hey man come on, we gotta go, we can't go in there any more!"

It was one of my first experiences that this stuff is quite real.

 

[Krsnanatha 0]

Oddly enough you should ask, he was from the Berkeley Temple!

[theist 1]

"He was from the Berkeley temple"

[Krsnanatha 0]

Does it sound like someone you may have seen around there? I didn't mention his name in case he's solved this problem. No need to embarrass the poor chap.

[theist 1]

No I avoided the place in the eighties and only starting going back when i heard the maginificent 11 zonal scam had bit the dust. In the early 90"s many bramacari's were complaining of being harrassed by ghosts at night.

 

I was there late one night washing veggies for a certain festival. It was about 2 am and i was still washing spinach when i strongly sensed two subtle bodies walking down the hall towards the kitchen .I looked up and towards them and then one of then became aware of me and he was starteled too. They were both devotees, not ghosts, out for an astral stroll which took them back to familiar territory. I sensed the identity of one of them and if I said his name people would say i am just blowing some hot air. It was breif and I lost awarness of them as soon as they sensed me.

[Bhaktavasya 0]

I found it very strange that in 4 different temples (Gerrard Street and Avenue Road in Toronto, the Evanston temple aka the Chicago temple and in Durban, South Africa)there were incidents were ghosts were trying to smother and attack devotees. I myself was 'smothered', unable to breathe or move a muscle, at the Evanston temple. The 'spell' was only broken when I tried with all my mental strength to repeat the holy name. After much effort the name 'Krishna' formed and escaped from my mouth, making the ghost vanish. Other devotees were attacked in their sleep and in Gerrard Street case, a devotee's sister who was expert in such things sussed out that the ghost was trying to communicate something. A thorough search of the attic turned up old books that the ghost was attached to (apparently)and the devotee's sister had a talk with the ghosts, took the old books away and the ghost never returned. In Evanston we burned extra incense and had kirtan through the hallways of the women's and men's ashram. They eventually left. The temple pres. said that the building was formerly an old YMCA and that unhappy souls had probably lived there before it was renovated into a temple, so they were returning. There were stories of men standing in the shower and 'seeing' the ghosts (more than one)watching them.

The Durban ghost was the most intense 'almost suffocated' experience; each time, in each temple, I was only 'attacked' once, but the Durban ghost felt so heavy on my chest, it felt like it was going to collapse. Again, we had a giant kirtan that night, going out onto the grounds of the temple. The temple pres. there speculated that it was the doings of one of the women devotees who he didn't like (that she was a witch)but her husband discounted the idea and no-one else thought it was her fault. There was a lot of talk about offenses to devotees by the temple authorities, but in any case the maha-ghost vanished after the big kirtan and never returned.

 

Seeing as I have been in mode of ignorance situations in my life before coming to KC (and after)and only one other time did I have a ghost experience while sleeping as a child, I have always been curious as to why ghosts like to hang out in Hare Krishna temples. Could it be that they are attracted to devotees, albeit in a perverse way? Maybe they left after being purified by the extra incense offerings and loud chanting, perhaps released from their ghost bodies and allowed to reincarnate again? Just speculation, of course.

 

[Bhaktavasya 0]

 

Come on, Theist, who did you think the one ghost looked like? You can't tease with a bit of info then leave everyone hanging on in suspense! I, for one, will not accuse you of 'blowing hot air'.

[Guruvani 0]

I could tell some ghost tales myself, but I learned a long time ago that if you talk about ghosts you are inviting them and they come immediately.

 

I have had experience in the past that when I start telling ghost tales the hairs on arms start to rise and I immediatly feel the presence of ghosts.

 

Everybody has had some ghostly encounters whether they know it or not.

 

My advice is to not talk about ghosts at all. You are inviting ghostly haunting by doing so.

 

How about lets talk about our spiritual dreams of meeting Prabhupada or dancing in front of Lord Jagannatha or something?

 

Maybe I could tell my story about hearing Krishna play his flute all night when I was sleeping in the brahmachary ashram in L.A. right accross from the altar in the next building.

 

If you haven't heard the flute music of Krishna, you have missed something wonderful.

[Govindaram 1]

Hare Krishna

 

Bhuta preta pisacha nikat nahi avah mahavir

jaba nama sunava

 

Evil spirits Never dare approach a person who chants the name mahavir (hanuman)

 

I've been praying to Hanumanji all my life so evil spirits won't dare approach me, and I was saved once in my life by Hanumanji..but I won't go into that, all I can say is it was a miracle.

 

ps although chanting Hare_krishna is most effective in this age /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[theist 1]

Come on, Theist, who did you think the one ghost looked like? You can't tease with a bit of info then leave everyone hanging on in suspense! I, for one, will not accuse you of 'blowing hot air'. <<

 

Sorry. Didn't mean to do that. Let's put it this way it. The one in question held a strong sense that it was his territory and his initial reaction to me was one like "who is that and why is he in the kitchen."

 

I saw then only vagueley, the rest came as a strong menatal impression of some sort.

 

Like I said it was a very brief encounter.

 

Yes it was the person who you suspect I am talking about.

 

 

[Guest guest]

sri nrsma jay nrsmha jay jay nrsmha

prahladesha jaya padma

mukha padma brnga

[livingentity 0]

very very close ghost encounters but none in a temple situations so I am not sure the stories would belong here - briefly my mother removed me from my bedroom in Italy due to a ghost. That is only one story of my experience with them.

 

After talking with devotee friends and also reading their stories of ghost encounters I wonder if people who practice Krishna Consciousness are somehow more in tune to such things and that is why there are so many that experience this - even before coming to Krsna Consciousness.

[I_love_krishna_ 0]

In south Indian belief system it is said that only some people born at a specific cosmic time can see Ghosts, not others.

 

My grandfather was one of them, he used to travel to other towns on a bicycle (they were quite poor in india in 1950s). Anyway, one day he was going to sit at a near by tree and have his lunch some where in the forests of South India.

 

A spirit from the tree came down in a smokey way and started harrassing him. He said that it even talked to him saying " Look a brahmana is here, you know what I do to brahmanas".

 

Out of fear, he said "Jai Sriman Narayana" then something happened, it vanished out of site.

 

He said it ran away -- vanished samething...

 

 

 

[I_love_krishna_ 0]

There is a place called Laxithipet in the state called Andhra, over there there is a temple and after the evening puja on sundays... it is said that Lord Jagannath with laxmi dances around the temple.

 

The people say it because they hear the jingle of the deities footwear in the middle of the night.