Trailokya, Trilokya: Spiritual Theosophical Dictionary on Trailokya, Trilokya

Trailokya, or Trilokya (Sanskrit). Lit., the "three regions" or worlds ; the complementary triad to the Brahmanical quaternary of worlds named Bhuvanatraya.A Buddhist profane layman will mention only three divisions of every world, while a non-initiated Brahman will maintain that there are four. The four divisions of the latter are purely physical and sensuous, the Trailokya of the Buddhist are purely spiritual and ethical. The Brahmanical division may be found fully described under the heading of Vyahritis, the difference being for the present sufficiently shown in the following parallel:

Brahmanical Division of the Worlds. Buddhist Division of the Regions.

1.     Bhur, earth.

2.     World of desire, Kamadhatu or Kamaloka.

3.     Bhuvah, heaven, firmament.

4.     World of form, Rupadhatu.

5.     Swar atmosphere the sky.

6.     Mahar, eternal luminous essence. }

7.     The formless world Arupadhatu.

All these are the worlds of post mortem states. For instance, Kamaloka or Kamadhatu, the region of Mara, is that which medieval and modern Kabalists call the world of astral light, and the "world of shells Kamaloka has, like every other region, its seven divisions, the lowest of which begins on earth or invisibly in its atmosphere; the six others ascend gradually, the highest being the abode of those who have died owing to accident, or suicide in a fit of temporary insanity, or were otherwise victims of external forces. It is a place where all those who have died before the end of the term allotted to them, and whose higher principles do not, therefore, go at once into Devachanic state - sleep a dreamless sweet sleep of oblivion, at the termination of which they are either reborn immediately, or pass gradually into the Devachanic state. Rupadhatu is the celestial world of form, or what we call Devachan.

With the uninitiated Brahmans, Chinese and other Buddhists, the Rupadhatu is divided into eighteen Brahma or Devalokas; the life of a soul therein lasts from half a Yuga up to 16,000 Yugas or Kalpas, and the height of the "Shades" is from half a Yojana up to 16,000 Yojanas (a Yojana measuring from five and a half to ten miles !), and such-like theological twaddle evolved from priestly brains. But the Esoteric Philosophy teaches that though for the Egos for the time being, everything or everyone preserves its form (as in a dream), yet as Rupadhatu is a purely mental region, and a state, the Egos themselves have no form outside their own consciousness. Esotericism divides this " region" into seven Dhyanas, "regions", or states of contemplation, which are not localities but mental representations of these.

Arupadhatu: this "region" is again divided into seven Dhyanas, still more abstract and formless, for this "World" is without any form or desire whatever. It is the highest region of the post mortem Trailokya; and as it is the abode of those who are almost ready for Nirvana and is, in fact, the very threshold of the Nirvanic state, it stands to reason that in Arupadhatu (or Arupavachara) there can be neither form nor sensation, nor any feeling connected with our three dimensional Universe.

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For articles related to Trailokya, Trilokya , see: Trailokya, Trilokya , Occultism, Occultism Dictionary, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul.

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Definition of  Trailokya, Trilokya is extracted from the home page of United Lodge of  Theosophists and THE THEOSOPHICAL GLOSSARY BY H. P. BLAVATSKY (Printed 1892).

PREFACE.

"The Theosophical Glossary purposes to give information on the principal Sanskrit, Pahlavi, Tibetan, Pâli, Chaldean, Persian, Scandinavian, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Kabalistic and Gnostic words, and Occult terms generally used in Theosophical literature, and principally to be found in Isis Unveiled, Esoteric Buddhism, The Secret Doctrine, The Key to Theosophy, etc.; and in the monthly magazines, The Theosophist, Lucifer and The Path, etc., and other publications of the Theosophical Society. The articles marked [w.w.w.] which explain words found in the Kabalah, or which illustrate Rosicrucian or Hermetic doctrines, were contributed at the special request of H.P.B. by Bro. W. W. Westcott, M.B., P.M. and P.Z., who is the Secretary General of the Rosicrucian Society, and Præmonstrator of the Kabalah to the Hermetic Order of the G.D."

G. R. S. MEAD.

LONDON, January, 1892

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