今こん世せ

also: こんぜ · こんせい

Meanings

Buddhist term contrasting the present existence with past or future lives; often used in religious or philosophical contexts.

Kanji

今now
世generation, world, society

Related words

現げん世せ
現世 also means 'this world' or 'the present life', but is more common and not restricted to Buddhist contexts; 今世 is specifically Buddhist and less frequent.
来らい世せ
来世 means 'the next world' or 'the afterlife', often contrasted with 今世 in Buddhist teachings.

Written forms

今世Usage100%
- こんせ
  Standard kanji spelling for the Buddhist sense; also used for the obsolete sense with reading こんせい.
- こんぜ
  Rare voiced variant reading; lists it but it is not commonly encountered.
- こんせい
  Obsolete reading for the 'this generation' sense; not used in modern Japanese.
こんぜ
こんせい

Etymology

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.