Goodbye Ghosts

Yes, that’s right.  After reading this piece you will have the key to taking out ghosts.  Floating sheets with eye holes, hunched, shadowy, slithering lost souls, you name it.  I was listening to an Alan Watts lecture yesterday and learned for the first time an old wives tale.  It is as follows (paraphrased).  If you come across a ghost, do not be afraid.  Do not run the opposite way.  Instead charge the would be haunting head on.  It will move out of YOUR way or cease to be.  However, if you turn and run, the ghost will capture the substance of your fear and take you down.

I liked that.  Another example with a similar lesson, perhaps more tangible…when aboard a ship on the sea challenged by wind and waves, never align your vessel parallel to the waves.  That is an almost guaranteed capsize.  The boat must face the waves head on because the stern has a greater likelihood of survival as it cuts through the waves. Steering into the storm and rushing straight for the ghosts seem counterintuitive. I know, but that’s just the way it is done.

I have never sailed or cruised on a ship in waters or conditions requiring these drastic measures, but I have stared down a ghost or two in my day.  Literally.  After the first few, it becomes barely a shock to see the shadowy figure (or figures) before or beside me.  The med’s help, a lot.  That being said, I have myself stared down visual hallucinations and have counseled other people with psychosis on how to get those things to go away.  It is pretty much a staring contest.  Rushing toward the spooky form isn’t always necessary.

With a solid, objective stare it is possible for the brain to be convinced that what we are seeing is just a misinterpretation of the image before us or a product of our own peculiarity.  Once you see that, the dreadful entity should disappear.  If it doesn’t you may need to talk to your doctor about getting on a psychotropic medication.  Refusing to run, staring down, or rushing the figure should take care of it though.  Also, before you decide you need to take pills to deal with something like this, make sure you are getting enough sleep. Extreme exhaustion can cause hallucinations.  It makes it harder to shake the ghostly images.  I don’t believe in ghosts, but I have seen some things.  

I hope that these suggestions are helpful to a few of you.  Those of you who have no frame of reference for this practice/experience, be thankful.  It sucks.  Having to question one’s perceptions and needing confirmation of reality sometimes can be embarrassing.