Phobos And Deimos

After a long hiatus, I just randomly started drawing a face and finished it after a few minutes of scribbling (O.K., and then I worked on it some more on the computer).  As is usually the case, I started out without any particular ideas in mind as to what sort of expression it should bear, other than "big round eyes".  Now it reminds me of the preta (and also of Nosferatu, the Vampire...)

[In Buddhist cosmology the preta are the unfortunate beings who are reincarnated -- possibly from prior lives as human beings -- into a life of unrequited desire and longing, typically for nourishment (hence their other name of "hungry ghosts" and their depiction in art as having big bloated bellies and tiny thin throats through which food cannot pass), but more broadly, the objects of their desire can be anything, including such repellent things as corpses and feces]

"Hungry Ghost" In The Parking Lot

I was just walking out of the lobby when I noticed this image of a 'ghost' imprinted in the pavement.  And not just an ordinary ghost, but a 'Preta', or 'Hungry Ghost', judging by that hole in its belly.  In the Buddhist universe the preta (아귀 / 餓鬼) are the unfortunate denizens of a realm ranked well below the level of the human world -- that is, those who in their previous lifetimes were afflicted with powerful appetites or acquisitive desires that were unrequited at death, and as a result are reborn as beastly beings whose defining characteristic is overwhelming hunger (stereotypically but not necessarily for food) that is permanently unsatiated.  In art they are traditionally portrayed as fairly human-like, as monsters go, except they've got huge swollen bellies that cannot ever be filled through their tiny throats.

But I don't know, is not the an empty hole in the belly a better representation of a 'hungry ghost'?

Here is where it gets personal:  when I moved from Los Angeles to Seoul, I had to sell off all my belongings, including many rare books and some 900 movies on DVD.  I miss them dearly.  Very dearly.  So much so that if I cannot overcome this regret over my past possessions, I fear I may face a certain risk in my future incarnation.