If a being that does not proceed to the next life has weak karma, then its activity will be limited. It will appear only at certain times and in certain places. Such a being is called a hungry ghost (preta). If the being's karma is stronger, then its activity will span a larger area and longer time. Such a being is called a deity (deva). However, nothing is eternal, and eventually these beings will be reborn in other realms. While they are ghosts or deities, these beings cannot practice. Like beings in the intermediate body stage, they can only receive the merits of living beings through services.

The second type of death involves saints. I sometimes speak of saints and sages. Saints are beings who have been liberated from samsara. Sages are sentient beings whose practice is much deeper than that of ordinary practitioners, but who have not yet attained liberation. Some of the patriarchs were sages. According to Hinayana Buddhism, a saint has reached at least the first fruit of arhatship. There are four levels of arhatship. After reaching the first level, the being will be reborn no more than seven additional times, before being forever liberated. For such an arhat, the stage after death is known as non-lingering nirvana. There is no lingering karma attached to the being, so it enters into nirvana.

According to Mahayana Buddhism, a being who is above the first bhumi level is a bodhisattva saint. For a bodhisattva, there is no such thing as birth and death. A bodhisattva, because of its great supernatural powers, can manifest in innumerable places and forms in the same instant.