Can human be possessed by another spirit?

I once had somethings sort of ‘appear’ right next to me. :flushed:

With metta

How about living with the dead?

this is always happened in Indonesia… :smile: When you come to sacred places, forests, or cemeteries:

  1. dont talk about the bad things (like “who is the ruler here?”, harsh, or dirty speech).
  2. dont do anything bad (like spitting in any place without say permission).
  3. dont take anything there without say permission.

if you want to see a possessed (kesurupan) video that often happens in Indonesia, here the video. The description in this video tell some students in one class got possesed because a student took a rock in Borobudur temple… :no_mouth:

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It is the biggest jock I ever have seen!!

My niece was possessed (many times), every time I ask about this possessed phenomena, my Buddhist friends just deny Believe it or not, it is true. Eventhough i do not believe that because of a spirit.

There is one about possessed in the sutta
Now at that time a certain lay woman had a son named Sānu who had been possessed by a native spirit.
Tena kho pana samayena aññatarissā upāsikāya sānu nāma putto yakkhena gahito hoti.

https://suttacentral.net/sn10.5/en/sujato

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Suppose a monastic was injected maliciously or accidentally with a drug or forced to drink alcohol. Alcohol is also referred to as … spirits. The monastic’s sati/mindfulness would be severely compromised and the mind would become “possessed”.

The same holds for any music with a beat. Hearing a beat, one is possessed to walk with that beat.

The same holds for any spectacle or show that draws us in. We become possessed by that show or spectacle.

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There is the Atanatiya Sutta: Discourse on Atanatiya tho;

"Happy One, if any non-human — male or female Yakkha, youth or maiden Yakkha, yakkha minister or any Yakkha, or Yakkha attendant; male or female Gandhabba… (as before); male or female Kumbhanda… male or female Naga… were to walk with a monk or nun, or a layman or laywoman, or stand, or sit, or lie down with him or her with malevolent intent, then should (the molested one) inform, cry aloud and shout to those Yakkhas, to the mighty Yakkhas, their commanders and chief commanders saying: ‘This Yakkha is seizing me, takes possession of me, is harassing me, assailing me, is harming me, harming me intensely and would not let me go!’

Seems to be as clear as clear can be. As i see it there are classes of beings who hate the Buddhist training and they really hate it if humans are practicing correctly and might for that reason attack and harass a person. However if the person is strong in faculties they hardly weild any power over him if any and this probably pisses them off even more.

I personally think that it makes no sense for them to reveal themselves because that in itself might rouse one’s effort, therefore it is probably a very tactical approach for suppression of attainments and only select people are targeted.

I think that if one runs into a Yakkha it is likely some sort of a deviant spirit who might for example live in a monastery where monks have wrong views and is there interacting with some of the monks. This is just an example but such Yakkha might then attack a person who is likely to compromise the good thing the Mara’s have going at that temple and to otherwise meddle in his stay & relations whenever there is an opening to get rid of him.

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So.
When I listen to Michael Jackson, he posses my body?
Can you possess my body too?

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I think Michael’s spirit would have greater luck at possessing you to moonwalk than I would :rofl:

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What is the Pali word for “Possessed”?

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Michael Jackson pariyuṭṭhitacitto

Because…

mārena pariyuṭṭhitacitto.

…is possessed by Mara

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Michael Jackson-ena*

:joy: You forgot to add the instrumental ending! :joy:

And, really, what is Michael Jackson without the instrumentals? :joy: :man_dancing:

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Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu!

-:drum: :tada:

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image

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Is it possible for Buddha or Arahant to possess someone?

We haven’t heard of that happen in the suttas. But what does possession mean when everyone is without self?

That is exactly what I like to know.:laughing:

It’s a bit like saying ‘how can rebirth be explained without a Self’, right?!

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Perhaps the possessed means “influenced”

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It’s more about a different ‘personality’ taking over, isn’t it? Thought, speech and behaviour is said to suddenly change.

I once saw a woman start shaking when some pirit was being chanted, and go berserk! Don’t know for certain if it was a spirit or some kind of neurological anomaly, like the effect of flashing light on people sensitive to it!

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