六道

In Japanese Buddhist thought, people are reincarnated into one of the six realms of existence (六道 ろくどう), based on their level of karmic achievement. Generally, it is said that the people who have been moral and ethical during their human lives will go to heaven, and the people who have been immoral and unethical will be sent to hell. The six realms of existence holds the same concept, but subdivides into a more detailed six realms. The "Gaki" from The Hungry Ghost Scrolls falls into the realm of hungry ghosts, due to their immoral behaviors when they were humans. (Example can be seen in Passage 1 about 食水)

The six realms of existence are listed as follows:

• 極楽（ごくらく）heaven, paradise, pure land

• 人間道（にんげんどう）realm of humans

• 修羅道（しゅらどう）Demigods realm

• 畜生道（ちくしょうどう）realm of beasts

• 餓鬼道（がきどう）realm of hungry ghosts

• 地獄道（じごくどう）hell