84000 Glossary of Terms

Our trilingual glossary combining entries from all of our publications into one useful resource, giving translations and definitions of thousands of terms, people, places, and texts from the Buddhist canon.

འདོད་པའི་ཁམས། | Glossary of Terms

    འདོད་པའི་ཁམས།

    ’dod pa’i khams

    kāmadhātu

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Publications: 24

In Buddhist cosmology, this is our own realm, the lowest and most coarse of the three realms of saṃsāra. It is called this because beings here are characterized by their strong longing for and attachment to the pleasures of the senses. The desire realm includes hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, asuras, and the lowest six heavens of the gods‍—from the Heaven of the Four Great Kings (Cāturmahā­rājika) up to the Heaven of Making Use of Others’ Emanations (Para­nirmita­vaśa­vartin). Located above the desire realm is the form realm (rūpadhātu) and the formless realm (ārūpyadhātu).