In Buddhist cosmology, six realms are included in the traditional six realms of rebirth. They are the realms of gods, demigods, humans, animals, hungry ghosts, and hell beings.
These realms are commonly shown around the bhavacakra, or Wheel of Life, a visual teaching tool in Tibetan Buddhism. Rebirth in one of them is linked to karma and mental tendencies, but none of the six realms is necessarily an eternal destination. Buddhist teachings generally treat existence in all conditioned realms as impermanent.
The god and demigod realms involve great pleasure or power, yet they remain within samsara. The human realm is especially valued because it combines suffering with the opportunity to encounter and practice the Dharma. The hungry-ghost and hell realms represent intense forms of deprivation and pain.
Different Buddhist schools vary in their presentation of cosmology. Some sources use five realms by grouping gods and demigods together, while six-realm presentations distinguish them. This is why both counts appear in Buddhist literature.