六道
Six Realms of Existence
Six Realms of Existence
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
An art piece depicting the Demigods realm, from Tokyo National Museum, accessible here: https://www.tnm.jp/modules/r_exhibition/index.php?controller=item&id=5712
The information above is derived from an episode from the NHK World-Japan Kyoto Series and is only used for academic purposes. Accessible here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If3avT7--iE