For more than a thousand years, Tibet was a working theocracy that was fairly isolated from the rest of the world. The peasant and merchant classes supported an extensive system of Buddhist monasteries throughout the country. In such a stable society, the monks and nuns living in the monasteries were able to record the experiences of different Travelers over many generations.

There are several fragmentary accounts of different worlds created in the eighth and ninth century, but the first full summary of the six realms was written by Kunkyen Longchen Rabjam, a fourteenth century monk of the Nyingma order. Kunkyen is the author of The Six Realms of the Transcendental Journey and his followers compiled additional Traveler statements to produce A Description of the Six Realms.  

The Tibetans were the only group of people able to produce a systematic account of the Traveler experience. We are currently living in the fourth realm: our own reality. The other five realms are just as "real" and contain beings that have a human shape. Buddhist theologians believe each realm is dominated by a particular negative quality that is found within the human personality.

The sixth realm is called the "realm of the gods" by the Tibetans. It has been described a "gleaming white city." The dominant quality of the inhabitants is pride.

The fifth realm is the "realm of the half-gods." It's described as a shabby place where nothing seems to work. The dominant quality is jealousy.

The fourth realm is our human world. The dominant quality is desire. 

The third realm is a "beautiful forest with animals." No humans live in this world. Some researchers believe that Traveler visions of the third realm are reflected in the Biblical myth of Eden. The dominant quality is innocence.

The second realm is the city of the "hungry ghosts" – a place where the inhabitants are continually unsatisfied.

The first realm has all been called Hell or Hades. It's a place filled with violent souls where the dominant quality is anger.