Desire Realm

The desire realm (Sanskrit kāma-dhātu) is one of three realms (Sanskrit: dhātu, Tibetan: khams) or three worlds (S. triloka) in traditional Buddhist cosmology into which a being wandering in saṃsāra may be reborn. The other two are the form realm, (S. rupa-dhātu) and the formless realm (S. ārupa-dhatu).

Within the desire realm are either five or six domains (S.: gati, also sometimes translated as "realm"). In Indo-Tibetan Mahāyāna Buddhism there are six domains (Standard Tibetan: 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 devas. Taoism also features the five realms.

The Shurangama Sutra in Mahayana Buddhism regarded the 10 kinds of Xian (Taoism) as a separate Immortal realm between the Deva and Human realms.

The thirty-one realms are also known as the "thirty-one paths of rebirth", the "six paths of suffering", the "six planes", and the "six lower realms". They stand in contrast to the higher attainments of the Ten spiritual realms.

One's previous actions and thoughts determine which of the six domains one is reborn into.

The 8th century Buddhist monument Borobudur in Central Java, Indonesia, took the concept of this three realms. The stages of Kamadhatu, Rupadhatu, and Arupadhatu, are incorporated into the architectural design with plan of mandala that took form of stepped stone pyramid crowned with stupas.