Volume 66. August 4, 2025
On July 22, 2025, the Prince of Darkness departed our world.
Alas, Ozzy Osbourne, lead singer of Black Sabbath, sings no more.
After an iconic career and a triumphant final performance in his hometown of Birmingham, England, Ozzy left behind six children, a grieving widow and legions of fans worldwide.
His passing calls to mind a little story.
One evening, a Buddhist priest meditated alone in a graveyard.
Bathed in moonlight, the priest smelled a malodorous breeze.
He opened his eyes, and there amidst the lonely tombstones he saw a hungry ghost savagely beating a corpse.
With hawk-like fury glowering in its eyes, the ghost thrashed the corpse mercilessly, its anger fomenting to a feverous pitch.
Trembling, the priest asked, “Who are you? Why do you act with such demonic passion? What grave injustice are you avenging?”
The ghost paused, burst into tears, and then told its bitter tale.
“I am a ghost in evil destiny. This corpse was my body.
In life, I was a man of considerable wealth and fame, a womanizer devoted to the pleasures of the flesh. Thinking only of myself and my immediate needs, I lied to people, ignored wisdom and never showed kindness to anyone, including my own mother.
When I died, I fell into this accursed form you see, doomed to walk endlessly in cavelike darkness, enduring frightful torments.
And all because of that stinking corpse rotting here before you.
Oh, those hateful bones!
They caused me such pain in life. My hatred for them is unceasing.
Every night I come here and thrash at them.”
Flushed with tears, choked with remorse, the ghost spoke no more.
It only uttered heart-rending cries.
“Woe! Woe! Woe!”
The End
In contrast to that hungry ghost, Ozzy Osbourne died a happy man.
In a 2023 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Ozzy explained that, despite the debilitating effects of his Parkinson’s disease, he longed to perform one more show to express his love and gratitude to his fans, who had supported him for decades.
Quoth the Prince of Darkness, “I just want to be well enough to do one show where I can say, ‘Hi guys, thanks so much for my life.’
And if I drop down dead at the end of it, I will die a happy man.”
Seventeen days after his final show in Birmingham, he did just that.
So, how can we too avoid an evil destiny and die a happy death, like Ozzy Osbourne?
Very easily.
Live the virtuous life. Do good. Avoid evil. Keep your mind pure.
This is the teaching of the Buddha.
The Buddha Times 