In Rebirth in the Pure Land a comment of “quite a caste system” was made. It was a very helpful comment since to those new to Pure Land Buddhism, it might well seem like there is a separation of beings in the Pure Land. With further study, we will better understand the nine levels and four lands.
Think of the levels and lands not as physical places but rather as mental states. This mental state is the land we dwell in.
The awakening beings in the Pure Land all practice and learn together even as they dwell in different lands, different mental states.
In a similar way, we also live in different lands in our world. Some people live in what might be called the "Land of Ceaseless Craving" or the "Land of Recurring Anger." But others standing next to them could be living in the "Land of Compassion" or the "Land of Patience."
The land we live in, our mental state, is entirely up to us for it depends on our thoughts.
One day, a student asked the Buddha about the land he dwelled in. The Buddha touched the ground with his foot. When he did so, the student saw the land the Buddha dwelled in, a land very different from the student's. But although the two lands were different, the Buddha and the student were together in the same place and talking with one another.
It is our practice and subsequent level of meditative concentration that determine the "land" we are reborn into and dwell in, not the determination of someone else or of a societal system. As our meditative concentration becomes higher, our mental state becomes higher. And since our environment is a reflection of our thoughts (why the Buddha saw things differently from the student) as our thoughts attain higher levels, our land will change to reflect our thoughts.
Once we are in the Western Pure Land, regardless of our mental state, our land, we will continue to practice and to interact with and learn from Amitabha Buddha and all the bodhisattvas who also dwell in the Pure Land.
“[O]nce reborn there, living in an auspicious and peaceful environment, always in the company of Buddha Amitabha and the Bodhisattvas, the practitioner will swiftly achieve success in whatever Dharma method he chooses. He is like a log rolling down a high mountain, which just keeps going and never stops, even for a moment.
“In summary, Buddha Recitation is easy for three reasons: easy practice, easy achievement of rebirth in the Pure Land, easy attainment of Buddhahood. Therefore, the results achieved through Buddha Recitation from time immemorial can be compared to the clear and limpid sound of precious stones striking against genuine gold, or the sight of “smiling lotus blossoms with their fresh and fragrant grades of rebirth.” Within these levels and grades, the path from sentient being to Buddhahood contains many ranks, yet is also without rank.
“This is because, once reborn in the Pure Land, the practitioner has transcended Birth and Death—and to recite the Buddha’s name is to become Buddha. This is like the silkworm, the chrysalis and the butterfly, which are inseparable; there is very little difference between saying that a butterfly is originally a worm or that the worm is the butterfly.” (Seeker’s Glossary, p 618)