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三界

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: three realms

Senses:

  • (Skt. traidhātuka, trailokya) The three realms of saṃsāra; also 三有. This is the Buddhist metaphysical equivalent for the Brahmanic cosmological bhuvanatraya, or triple world of bhūr, bhuvaḥ, and svar—earth, atmosphere, and heaven. The Buddhist triad consists of:
    1. The desire realm 欲界 (kāma-dhātu), where one is preoccupied by desires for physical gratification. The desire realm consists of the four continents 四大洲, the eight burning hells 八熱地獄, and the beings of the six destinies 六趣.
    2. The form realm 色界 (rūpa-dhātu), where one is free from the desires for physical gratification and experiences subtle form. This is the locus of the four meditation heavens 四禪天, which are further broken down into the seventeen dhyāna heavens 色界十七天. Form implies 質礙 that which is substantial and resistant: it is above the desire realm and contains bodies, places, and things.
    3. The formless realm 無色界 (ārūpya-dhātu) is the most subtle realm ofsaṃsāra. It is of pure spirit, where there are nobodies, places, things—at any rate none to which human terms would apply, but where the mind dwells in mystic contemplation; its extent is indefinable, but it is conceived of in four stages, where one is free from material existence. This is the locus of the practice of the four formless concentrations 四無色定 (四空處, 四無色).
    (T 1558.29.40c-67a). [Charles Patton, Charles Muller; source(s): Ui, Nakamura, JEBD, Yokoi, Iwanami]
  • (Skt. trayodhātavaḥ, dhātu-traya, kāma-rūpârūpya-dhātu, kama-rūpârūpyâvacarin, jagat, tisra-loka, tri-dhātu, tri-dhātuka, tri-dhātu-saṃkleśa, tri-bhava, tri-bhuva, tri-bhuvana, tri-loka, triṣudhātuṣu) [Charles Muller; source(s): Hirakawa]
  • les trois mondes [Paul Swanson]
  • une terre pour l'ensemble du monde de désir, quatre terres pour le monde de la forme, correspondant aux quatre degrés de méditation, quatre pour le monde de l'absence de forme, correspondant aux quatre āyatana. [Paul Swanson]
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    [Dictionary References]

    Bukkyō jiten (Ui) 345

    Bulgyo sajeon 393a

    Zengaku daijiten (Komazawa U.) 388c

    Iwanami bukkyō jiten 309

    A Glossary of Zen Terms (Inagaki) 302

    Japanese-English Buddhist Dictionary (Daitō shuppansha) 252a/279

    Record of Linji: Rinzairoku (Yanagida) 74-9

    Japanese-English Zen Buddhist Dictionary (Yokoi) 577

    Zengo jiten (Iriya and Koga) 6-P13, 10-P47, 11-P88, 13-P313, 16-P103

    Bukkyōgo daijiten (Nakamura) 456d

    Fo Guang Dictionary 584

    Ding Fubao

    Buddhist Chinese-Sanskrit Dictionary (Hirakawa) 0023

    Bukkyō daijiten (Oda) 607-2

    Sanskrit-Tibetan Index for the Yogâcārabhūmi-śāstra (Yokoyama and Hirosawa)

    (Soothill's) Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms 70

    Copyright provisions

    The rights to textual segments (nodes) of the DDB are owned by the author indicated in the brackets next to each segment. For rights regarding the compilation as a whole, please contact Charles Muller. Please do not reproduce without permission. And please do not copy into Wikipedia without proper citation!

    Entry created: 1993-09-01

    Updated: 2023-05-24