Vertical Cosmology: 1 definition
Introduction:
Vertical Cosmology means something in Buddhism, Pali. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.
In Buddhism
General definition (in Buddhism)
Source: WikiPedia: BuddhismIn the vertical cosmology, the universe exists of many worlds (lokah) and – one might say "planes" and – stacked one upon the next in layers. Each world corresponds to a mental state or a state of being. A world is not, however, a location so much as it is the beings which compose it; it is sustained by their karma and if the beings in a world all die or disappear, the world disappears too. Likewise, a world comes into existence when the first being is born into it. The physical separation is not so important as the difference in mental state; humans and animals, though they partially share the same physical environments, still belong to different worlds because their minds perceive and react to those environments differently.
The vertical cosmology is divided into thirty one planes of existence and the planes into three realms, or dhatus, each corresponding to a different type of mentality. These three (Tridhatu) are the Arupyadhatu, the Rupadhatu, and the Kamadhatu. This technical division does not correspond to the more informal categorization of the "five or six realms". In the latter scheme, all of the beings born in the Arupyadhatu and the Rupadhatu may be classified as "gods" or "deities" (devah), as can a considerable fraction of the beings born in the Kamadhatu, even though the deities of the Kamadhatu differ more from those of the Arupyadhatu than they do from humans. It is to be understood that deva is an imprecise term referring to any being living in a longer lived and generally more blissful state than humans. Most of them are not "gods" in the common sense of the term, having little or no concern with the human world and rarely if ever interacting with it; only the lowest deities of the Kamadhatu correspond to the gods described in many polytheistic religions.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Partial matches: Cosmology.
Full-text: Spatial Cosmology, Samvartakalpa, Sahasra Cosmology.
Relevant text
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