The Less Attachment, the Closer to Liberation

Internal organs freshly removed from a living body are each vivid, fresh, and full of vitality—the nerve cells are still moving, and the signs of life are very evident. Why do the internal organs remain fresh and alive after being separated from the body? Because of the manas' grasping (upādāna), the tathāgatagarbha will output seeds to sustain the survival of the internal organs.

Looking at the degree to which each person's manas grasps the body at the time of death: the more one grasps at the body, the slower the death and the more numerous and severe the feelings of suffering; the lighter one's grasping at the body, the swifter the death and the fewer and milder the feelings of suffering. This excludes beings bound for the hells. Those who grasp severely at the body are all people with heavy afflictions. Such people have slight wholesome karma, and often at the time of death there are no auspicious signs; not knowing where they are going, they grasp severely at the body, and the more they grasp, the more they suffer. This is a vicious cycle that ordinary people without cultivation cannot break out of. Those with abundant and great wholesome karma often display some auspicious signs and good omens at the time of death, and thus do not grasp much at the body, so their death comes quickly.

Therefore, train yourself regularly to reduce as much as possible your attachment to people, affairs, things, and principles; then at the time of death there will be fewer feelings of suffering, and even in ordinary daily life, feelings of suffering will also be very few. The less one grasps, the closer one is to liberation, and the more lightly one lives. Whatever you grasp at is a burden and a weight. Grasping itself is a manifestation of foolishness. A person with wisdom can see this clearly and can let go; such a person will not grasp at people, affairs, things, or principles, adding to their own burden.