Hungry Ghosts 2007

Six realms of existence are identified in Buddhism: gods, demigods, humans, animals, hungry ghosts, and hells. They are each the result of one of the six main negative emotions: pride, jealousy, desire, ignorance, greed, and anger.

Looking at the world around us, and into our own minds, we can see that the six realms definitely do exist. They exist in the way we unconsciously allow our negative emotions to project and crystallize entire realms around us, and to define the style, form, flavor, and context of our life in those realms. And they exist also inwardly as the different seeds and tendencies of the various negative emotions within our psychophysical system, always ready to germinate and grow, depending on what influences them and how we choose to live. -SR

This is a painting I made last year. At the time, I just thought 'Hungry Ghost' was a cool name for the painting. Now it occurs to me that what I was really expressing was a part of my greed. I was greedy for something but I did not know what...and now I know.

Love
Human Connection
Safety
Honesty

Greed gets a bad rap in the Buddhist tradition. At a point, greed can deteriorate our lives and leave us feeling empty. But there is a different kind of greed that I am willing to live with. One that is affirming and real.

I can accept that I desire and deserve all the above things and when I don't get them I feel very, very Hungry.