Publisher's Synopsis
The Petavatthu ( "Stories of Hungry Ghost") is a Theravada Buddhist scripture, included in the Minor Collection (Khuddaka Nikaya) of the Pali Canon's Sutta Pitaka. It ostensibly reports stories about and conversations among the Buddha and his disciples.The path of Buddha is the path of compassion and harmony for all beings. It strives to make human consciousness evolve higher, however it does not forget those who have met the wrong end i.e. ghost(peta/peti). Buddha offers a way to harmonize with the realm of ghosts by helping them, since all creatures are related to each other, who have been one's ancestors/relatives in some previous lives. Buddha teaches to donate in the name of ghosts/ancestors, which would surely benefit them, as well as help the needy of the world, generating goodwill for all, and in turn help earn merit for the donor too, hence, it is three way beneficent. Petavatthu contains 51 stories, each explaining how unwholesome deeds led to the rebirth of a being into the miserable realm of the "hungry ghosts" (peta/peti) and how they were helped.
