Six Paths

Concept in Buddhist cosmology
Bhavacakra (Sanskrit, Devanagari: भवचक्र; Pali: bhavacakka) or the wheel of becoming is a symbolic representation of the continuity of the process of existence in the form of a circle, used in Tibetan Buddhism, here on a thangka
Six Paths
Chinese name
Chinese六道
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinliùdào
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingluk6dou6
Alternative Chinese name
Chinese六趣
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinliùqù
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabetSáu cõi luân hồi
Sáu đường
Lục đạo
Hán-Nôm𦒹𡎝輪迴
𦒹塘
六道
Korean name
Hangul육도
Hanja六道
Transcriptions
Revised RomanizationYukdo
Japanese name
Kanji六道
Kanaろくどう
Transcriptions
Romanizationrokudō
Filipino name
TagalogSadgati (ᜐᜀᜄᜀᜆᜒ)
Sanskrit name
Sanskritषड्गति (ṣaḍgati)

The Six Paths[1] in Buddhist cosmology[2] are the six worlds where sentient beings are reincarnated based on their karma, which is linked to their actions in previous lives. These paths are depicted in the Bhavacakra ("wheel of existence").[3] The six paths are:[4]

  1. the world of gods or celestial beings (deva) ;
  2. the world of warlike demigods (asura) ;
  3. the world of human beings (manushya) ;
  4. the world of animals (tiryagyoni) ;
  5. the world of hungry ghosts (preta) ;
  6. the world of Hell (naraka).

The first three paths are known as "the three benevolent destinies" (kuśalagati), where beings experience varying degrees of virtue, pleasure, and pain. The last three paths are referred to as the three unbenevolent destinies (akuśalagati), where beings lack virtue and suffer predominantly. Typically, we as human beings only perceive the animals around us. The first Buddhist texts mention only five paths without distinguishing between the paths of devas and asuras.[4] Moreover not all texts acknowledge the world of asura.[5] In Japan, the monk Genshin even inexplicably places the path of humans below that of the asuras.[6]

The elements forming karma are constituted in bodily, oral or mental volitional acts. The chain of transmigration due to the Three Poisons (hatred, greed, ignorance), of which ignorance (avidyā) of the ultimate truth (Sanskrit: paramārtha; Chinese: zhēndì 真谛) or the true law (Sanskrit: saddharma, सद्धर्म, correct law; Chinese: miàofǎ, 妙法, marvelous law) is generally presented as the source of reincarnation in the three non-benevolent destinies.[7]

Early Buddhist descriptions devided the psychocosmic universe into three "worlds": the Kāma-loka ("world of desire"), Rūpa-loka ("world of form") and Arūpa-loka (""world of non-form"). The Kāma-loka dealt with the daily psychological possibilities of humans and was devided into five above mentioned worlds with the exception of the asura realm.[8]

Early texts are not explicit about how these realms are to be interpreted, however, they can be seen as states of consciousness. The realm of deva symbolising the purer and spiritual stages of consciousness, humans relating to the abilities of reason and logic, animals and hunger ghosts especially can be seen as an image of instinct and Naraka would represent the accumulated dukkha from past actions. Humans can therefore easily move through different stages throughout their lifes.[8]

While it might be tempting to aspire a rebirth within the world of gods or celestial beings, the devas are so full of joy in this realm that are unable to understand the teaching about the permanent dukkha in samsara.[5] Furthermore, even a deva having consumed all the good karma within the pleasurable existence in this realm, can be reborn in Naraka.[9]

See also

  • Naraka (Buddhism)

References

  1. ^ Quentin Ludwig, Le grand livre du bouddhisme, p. 179
  2. ^ Robert E. Buswell Jr; Donald S. Lopez Jr (2013). The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton (N.J.): Princeton University Press. pp. 111–112. ISBN 978-0-691-15786-3..
  3. ^ Damien Keown; Charles S. Prebish (16 December 2013). Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Taylor & Francis. p. 340. ISBN 978-1-136-98595-9.
  4. ^ a b Buswell, Robert E. (2004). Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Vol. 2. Macmillan, Thomson, Gale. pp. 711–712. ISBN 978-0-02-865718-9.
  5. ^ a b Laut, Jens Peter (2013). "Hells in Central Asian Turkic Buddhism and Early Turkic Islam". Tra quattro paradisi: Esperienze, ideologie e riti relativi alla morte tra Oriente e Occidente: 20. ISBN 978-88-97735-10-7 – via Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia.
  6. ^ Erika Peschard-Erlih (1993). "La mort des dieux". Ebisu (in French) (1). Maison franco-japonaise [fr]: 71. ISBN 9782738420473.
  7. ^ Buswell, Robert E. (2004). Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Vol. 1. Macmillan, Thomson, Gale. pp. 185–186. ISBN 978-0-02-865719-6.
  8. ^ a b Matsunaga, Alicia; Matsunaga, Daigan (1971): The Buddhist concept of hell. New York: Philosophical Library. p. 40.
  9. ^ Braavig, Jens (2009). "The Buddhist: An Early Instance of the Idea?". Numen. 56 (2/3): 256 – via JSTOR.