Buddhist View of the cosmos – the triple realms

 

 

Desire world - Kama-dhatu: The world of sensuous desire or passion. The spheres of existence of hell beings, humans, animals, the six classes of gods, asuras, where all kinds of sensuous desire predominate. Cf. (Yukdo). The following is the pitiful dying scene of Macbeth.

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death.

--W. Shakespeare, Macbeth, V. v.--

Most humans continuously reincarnate in this world of desire due to their own karma.

 

The world of form - Rupa-dhatu: The world of form, or the world of any material qualities devoid of sensuous desires. One of the triple realm or spheres (the world of desires, the world of formlessness or conception, and the world of form) that constitutes samsara or transmigration, within which the cycle of existences of all beings in six modes of existence takes place.

 

In the form world, they are beings whose bodies are made of thin matter and whose bodies are made of luminous substances

 

The world of formlessness - The realm of formlessness, an immaterial realm, or a pure conceptual realm beyond the realm of the material world, consisting only of the mind in contemplation. It is also called the formless heaven.

There is no formless body and exists only as a spirit, not a material being.

In a narrow sense, people beings reincarnate in the world of desire, but even if they are Buddhist, they continue to reincarnate in the three worlds.

Only Buddhas and Arahan do not reincarnate in the Three Worlds.

Buddha exists in the dharma world, watches over living beings with tens of thousands of countless eyes, and wishes and helps living beings escape the darkness of ignorance and reach enlightenment.

Although sentient beings are currently living in darkness, if they know the way to infinite freedom, they can one day achieve that wish.

The formless realm was experienced by the Buddha during his training and is still often experienced by Buddhist practitioners.