The Ghost Within In Buddhist teaching, the hungry ghost  — preta  — is a being trapped in endless craving. Its mouth is tiny, its stomach vast, and nothing it consumes ever satisfies. But this image is not about some far-off realm; it is a mirror for the mind that has lost its center. Whenever we are ruled by wanting — more comfort, more attention, more escape — we are walking in the hungry-ghost world . The ghost hungers not only for food or pleasure, but for the feeling of