Desire realm

Translations of kāmadhātu
Tibetan Bhavacakra or "Wheel of Life" in Sera, Lhasa
English	desire realm
Sanskrit	kāmadhātu (Dev: कामधातु)
Chinese	欲界 (Pinyin: yùjiè)
Japanese	欲界 (Rōmaji: Yokkai)
Korean	욕계
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The desire realm (Sanskrit: कामधातु, kāmadhātu) is one of the trailokya or three realms (Sanskrit: धातु, dhātu, Tibetan: khams) in Buddhist cosmology into which a being caught in saṃsāra may be reborn. The other two are the Form Realm (Sanskrit: rūpadhātu) and the Formless Realm (ārūpadhātu).^[1]

Within the desire realm are either five or six domains (Sanskrit: gati, also sometimes translated as "realm"). In Tibetan Buddhism, there are six domains (Wylie: rigs drug gi skye gnas), and in Theravada Buddhism there are only five, because the domain of the Asuras is not regarded as separate from that of the Nāgas. The concept of these five realms is also to be found in Taoism and Jainism.^[2][3][4][5]

The Śūraṅgama Sūtra in Mahayana Buddhism regarded the 10 kinds of Xian as separate immortal realms between the deva and human realms.^[6][7]

The six domains of the desire realm are also known as the "six paths of suffering", the "six planes", and the "six lower realms". In schools of thought that use the ten realms system, these six domains are often contrasted negatively with the "four higher realms" of Śrāvaka, Pratyekabuddha, Bodhisattva and full Buddha, which are considered to be the spiritual goals of the different Buddhist traditions.

A being's karma (previous actions and thoughts) determines which of the six domains it will be reborn into. A sentient being may also ascend to one of the higher realms beyond the six domains of the desire realm by practicing various types of meditation, specifically the Eight Dhyānas.

The 8th century Buddhist monument Borobudur in Central Java incorporated the trailokya into the architectural design with the plan of mandala that took the form of a stepped stone pyramid crowned with stupas.^[8]