It was almost 30 years ago when I was in military service. Being a new recruit, I was sent to a training base and had to stay on a remote island for 3 months. There were numerous story of ghostly encounters and after hearing many stories of haunting and ghost, I secretly wanted to see a ghost.

On my last day in camp, I mastered my courage and determination to experience something supernatural. Oh, I used to dedicate merits of my prayers exclusively to ghostly beings in my younger days. So I was kind of curious if they exist. Let’s get back to the story.

So, on the last day, I secretly wished to experience the supernatural. In the army, I did all my chanting mentally and on that day, I mentally wished thus, “May I see a ghost tonight if my mind is ready to receive the experience.” Yah, I was afraid but curios.

When it was about lights-off (the official bedtime), I started to get inspiration on what to do. Instead of sleeping with my head pointing towards the window, I was supposed to sleep on the opposite direction. In that manner, I had a clear view of the window after lying down. This time, my legs were pointing at the window instead.

As usual, I set the mosquito net around my bed. Instead of wearing my Buddha amulet, I hung it on the mosquitoes net facing towards the window. My barrack room was on the fourth storey. I said my refuge prayer and visualized the mosquitoes net turning into a diamond net. Then I wished, “may the entity who had benefited from my prayers appear tonight. But if I am not ready to perceive, please don’t appear.” Funny huh? Afraid but curios. Then I slept.

It was 3 a.m in the morning when I became wide awake. One moment I was asleep and the next, I was wide awake. My eyes were wide open and looking at the window and inside my mind, I knew what was coming next.

In a fleeting moment, I saw the silhouette of a women with long hair gliding past without a sound. I froze in my bed. Honestly I was terrified and I started saying my refuge prayer immediately. Shut my eyes and mentally said,”Thank you for showing up. Please don’t trouble me further, May you be well and happy. I need to go back to sleep.”

Surprisingly I manage to sleep soundly and woke up safely. The memory of the previous night still fresh in my mind until this day. It could be my imagination or my mind playing tricks but thinking back, that kind of reinforced my faith in Buddha.

All that, happened before I had the right understanding about Dharma. I was lucky I did not develop a craving for supernatural encounters. Nowadays, I no longer crave for supernatural encounters but aspire to develop wisdom to live happily.

Hope you enjoy my little story. May all be well and happy.