Three Planes of Conditioned Existence

In Longchenpa (and broadly in Buddhism), “the three planes of conditioned existence” usually means the three “realms”

(Skt. dhātu) that make up samsāric experience:

1. The desire realm (kāma-dhātu): This is the realm where experience is strongly driven by sense-desire and aversion—human life, animals, hungry ghosts, hell beings, and also many gods (devas) who still have sensual desire.
2. The form realm (rūpa-dhātu): More subtle than the desire realm. Beings here have “form,” but experience is refined and mainly tied to meditative absorption (the dhyānas/jhānas). Desire for coarse sense-pleasures has dropped away, but there’s still subtle grasping and structure.
3. The formless realm (arūpya-dhātu): Even more subtle—no “form” body as such. Experience corresponds to very refined absorptions (like infinite space, infinite consciousness, nothingness, neither-perception-nor-nonperception). Still conditioned, still impermanent, still within samsara.