Hungry Ghosts

Is pleasure happiness?

or is it just a distraction

form unhappiness?

Doesn't pleasure have

the tendency to destroy

it's own host,

when it is pushed too much?

and how much is too much?

Is excitement happiness?

Once we are used to it

we expect that all the time.

We feel uneasy and lacking

when we are not exuberant.

At which point the passion

for something or someone,

an obsession, compulsion,

becomes an addiction?

Aren't we all in the realm

of Hungry Ghosts, in a way?

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The Realm of Hungry Ghosts:

Hungry Ghosts have huge, empty stomachs, but their thin necks don't allow nourishment to pass. Food turns to fire and ash in their mouths. Psychologically, Hungry Ghosts are associated with addictions, compulsions and obsessions. People who have everything but always want more may be Hungry Ghosts. (Ref: The Tibetan Book of the Dead)