also: こんぜ · こんせい
Buddhist term contrasting the present existence with past or future lives; often used in religious or philosophical contexts.
See also: 現世
It is taught that if you accumulate good deeds in this life, you will be rewarded in the next.
this generation; present day
Only with reading こんせい
Obsolete term; in modern Japanese, 現代 or 今の時代 are used instead. Found only in historical texts.
彼は今世の苦しみから解脱することを願った。
He wished to be liberated from the suffering of this world.
In old documents, the expression 'the customs of this generation' can be found.
Standard kanji spelling for the Buddhist sense; also used for the obsolete sense with reading こんせい.
Rare voiced variant reading; lists it but it is not commonly encountered.
Obsolete reading for the 'this generation' sense; not used in modern Japanese.
Compound of 今 (kon, 'now, present') and 世 (se, 'world, generation'). The Buddhist sense is a direct borrowing from Chinese Buddhist terminology. The obsolete sense 'this generation' uses the reading こんせい, which is a variant of the same compound.