Avacara
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avacara (T. spyod pa; C. jieji 界繫). When used at the end of compound words, means “sphere,” “domain,” or “realm of existence.”[1]
According to the Princeton Dictionary, "In Buddhist cosmology, the term refers to the things that “belong to the sphere” of the three realms of existence (traidhātukāvacara, see traidhātuka)."[1]
The traidhātukāvacara (traidhātuka) comprises the entire phenomenal universe, which consists of:
- kāmāvacara - the sensuous sphere (kāmadhātu)
- rūpāvacara - the fine-material sphere (rūpadhātu)
- arūpāvacara - the immaterial sphere (arūpadhātu)
The three realms (above) taken together comprise all of cyclic existence (samsara).[1]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Robert E. Buswell Jr., Donald S. Lopez Jr., The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (Princeton: 2014), s.v. avacara