Seeing spirits

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mr_caono/2468039019/

Question: (unedited)
I was wondering is it often buddihist see spirits? I met a buddihist he took me to a monks house. Now I see spirits did I recieve this gift from them. Also do monks keep around guardian angels? I think that is what took me over to this house in the first place. thanks Becki

My comment:
First, I must comment that Buddhism is about realising truth and understanding the true nature of this world. The Buddha taught that we faced a lot of problems in our lives. He showed us the way to reduce these problems so that we could have peace of mind. What you are experiencing is most probably your own hallucination. The mind can trick us to believe and experience things that we want to experience. Take for example, if we are fearful of ghosts and darkness; when darkness comes and if we are alone, we will immediately become fearful and all sorts of imaginations and hallucinations take control over us.

The Buddha revealed that the mind is the most powerful force that controls us. An untrained mind is an uncontrolled mind. We become slaves to this untrained mind and succumbed to all sorts of fear and superstitions. This is because we are ignorant of the real nature of this mind. Once we understand this mind and begin to cultivate it with real insight by calming the mind, we will begin to understand our lives and will be free from fear and superstition.

There are people who have the "ability" to feel the presence of spirits. In your case, it was only after the visit to this monk. I doubt what you have experienced is real. I wonder why should a monk be transferring this "gift" to you. But be careful if it is real, then I wouldn't treat this as a "gift". To be able to see "things" does not mean that you are lucky or have acquired certain power. You may see MORE than meets the eye; those things that you may not want to see.

What you are doing is not Buddhism. Buddhism is training oneself to be a good-hearted person and be able to live in peace with oneself as well as with others. If a person is pure and peaceful, "guardian angels" are all around. It is just like a beautiful garden, where colourful birds and beautiful butterflies hovering around the myriads of sweet-scented flowers. But if one is evil, it will be like a trash can (for non-U S, rubbish bin), where ants, cockcroaches, rats, worms, and other disgusting and smelly creatures make their home. Hope you are not offended by my comments; but it's the truth that I am sharing with you.