Kāma-Loka

A Sanskrit term meaning “desire-world,” from KĀMA and loka, “place,” “room,” “region,” etc. (cf. English “location,” “locus”). Sometimes loka is used to refer to a geographic unit, such as a state or country, and sometimes it refers to a plane or level of existence. As a theosophical term kāma-loka refers to the plane or level of reality on which emotions operate, sometimes called “astral,” which is co-existent with and interpenetrates the physical plane. After the death of the physical body the entity may become conscious on the kāma-loka plane where intelligence is in abeyance and the emotional self dominates. There the disembodied individual or KĀMA-RŪPA may relive all the desire, driven episodes of the former life until the energy inherent in them has been exhausted and the “astral shell” disintegrates and the entity is free to move in consciousness to the higher realm called DEVACHAN. The time spent in Kāma-Loka is said to vary according to the quality of the previous life. An individual who has lived a pure and altruistic life will not become conscious in Kāma-Loka, but emerge in consciousness in Devachan.

See also DEATH AND AFTER-DEATH STATES.

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