Bhūta
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bhūta (部多). A living being or the ghost of a deceased person.
(1) Real, Reality. Thus Bhūtatā, Reality, Bhūtatathatā, ‘real suchness’.
(2) The ghost or shell of the dead which exists for a while after the death of the body. It is these ‘astral’ remains (called starry because faintly visible to some) which are contacted and often unnaturally used in spiritualistic practices, whether in the Shamanism of Mongolia, among the Dug-pas of Tibet or in Western séances. Hence the Eastern term ‘Bhūtaworship’ applied to those in the West who indulge in these practices.
(See Cremation.)
