If you continue down this path you will suddenly come to a crossroads marked by a rock. These “six roads” lead to the six different paths to reincarnation that living things can take after death. These six worlds are the celestial realm, the human realm, the asura realm or the realm of carnage, the animal realm, the preta realm or the hungry ghost realm, and the nakara realm or hell.

Simply explained, the celestial realm, like heaven, is a world with little to no suffering. The world of humans is the status quo with both suffering and happiness, though the former is more present. The world of the Asura realm is enveloped in a constant state of violence and war. The animal realm is a world of animals with no free will or consciousness, and those in the preta realm are forever stuck in a gut-wrenching state of hunger. And in the nakara realm lies every possible form of suffering imaginable.

This path leading to the burial grounds is actually thought to be the boundary between life and death, the separation between this world and the next. Are you brave enough to pass through the gates?