Dharma as a realm. AI

Perplexity

Dharma as a realm

In Buddhist thought, “dharma as a realm” usually refers to the Dharma Realm (Skt. dharmadhātu), the all‑encompassing field of reality in which all phenomena and all states of existence appear.

Dharma realm in Mahāyāna

The Dharma Realm is the totality of existence: all phenomena, all beings, and all possible states (samsaric and enlightened) are included within it as interdependent manifestations. ​

It is often identified with ultimate truth or suchness (tathatā), where distinctions of subject–object and separate “worlds” are seen as constructions of mind.

Realms within the Dharma realm

Mahāyāna and later East Asian systems speak of multiple “realms” (e.g., the ten Dharma realms: Buddhas, bodhisattvas, śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, gods, asuras, humans, animals, hungry ghosts, hell beings), but these are all modes within the one Dharma Realm.

The claim “the ten Dharma realms are not beyond a single thought” means each realm is fundamentally a mental configuration, and the mind’s single moment of thought can open into any of them.

Dharma as teaching and its “realm”

In another register, dharma means the Buddha’s teaching, so “realm of the dharma” can mean the lived domain of practice in which those teachings are embodied (sometimes called the “dharma body” or practice-body).

Here, the realm is not a separate world but the practitioner’s experiential field when perception and conduct are structured by the Buddha’s teaching rather than by ignorance.

Dharma as cosmic order (Hindu background)

In Hindu traditions, dharma names the order that makes cosmos, society, and moral life possible, sometimes spoken of as a pervasive principle that structures all realms of being.

In this sense, dharma is not one realm among others but the underlying law that shapes and sustains every realm—physical, social, and moral.

Realm versus law

Philosophically, treating dharma “as a realm” emphasizes its aspect as a holistic field or universe of experience, while treating it as “law” emphasizes the normative and structural principle that pervades that field.

Many Mahāyāna expositions deliberately fuse these: the Dharma Realm is the universal law of dependent origination and emptiness, seen as a single, boundless, realizable domain.

Samsara

Samsara denotes the cyclical process of birth, death, and rebirth driven by karma, ignorance, and craving, encompassing all unenlightened existence marked by suffering. In Buddhism, it contrasts with nirvana, the liberation from this endless wandering through conditioned phenomena.

Core Definition

Samsara, from Sanskrit "saṃsāra" meaning "wandering" or "cyclic change," describes the perpetual motion of sentient beings across realms due to unskillful actions and delusions about self and impermanence. It lacks a beginning, perpetuated by avidyā (ignorance) leading to attachment, which generates karma and further rebirths.

Six Realms

Buddhist cosmology maps samsara into six interconnected realms, traversed based on karma:

Deva (gods): Long-lived bliss, yet impermanent.

Asura (demi-gods): Jealousy-fueled strife.

Human: Balanced suffering and opportunity for practice.

Animal: Instinct-driven ignorance.

Preta (hungry ghosts): Tormented by unfulfilled desires.

Naraka (hells): Intense suffering from grave misdeeds.

Relation to Dharma Realm

Within the Dharma Realm—the totality of phenomena—samsara appears as the deluded perception of separate realms and selves, while enlightenment reveals their empty, interdependent nature as one seamless reality. Samsara thus operates as mental constructs within the undivided Dharma Realm, escapable through insight into emptiness and cessation of craving.