The only real escape from the vicissitudes and uncertainty of the Six Worlds – hell-dwellers, hungry ghosts, animals, fighting demons, humanity and heaven – is to move into the Four Higher Worlds through the practice of the Buddha’s teachings. These four worlds are not actually different worlds or forms of rebirth like the first six. Instead, they indicate different ways of relating to and living within the first six. These Four Higher Worlds consist of the voice ­hearers, the privately awakened ones who take up the path of individual liberation, the bodhisattvas who compassionately strive for Lhe awakening of all beings, and the buddhas who have perfect, unsurpassed wisdom and infinite compassion.

The Four Higher Worlds, however, can also indicate levels of insight or compassionate activities that are associated with these various types of Buddhist practitioners. This broader interpretation of the Four Higher Worlds can be applied to anyone and everyone, even those who may not know about Buddhism or identify themselves as Buddhists.