An Explanation of the Mahāyāna Sūtra on the Revelation of Consciousness

Original text:贤护白佛言。世尊。众生虽知有识。如宝闭在箧中。不显不知。世尊。不知此识。作何形状。何故名识。众生死时。手足乱动。眼色变异。制不自由。诸根丧灭。诸大乖离。识迁于身。去至何所。自性如何。作何色相。云何舍离此身。更受余身。

So is the Ālayavijñāna the first to enter the material body? No, it is not. The Ālayavijñāna cannot hold onto the material body by itself, nor does It have any intention to hold onto the material body. It is influenced by the mental faculty's deliberation (manasikāra) and, following the mental faculty, enters the fertilized egg in an instant to hold onto it, entering the mother's womb simultaneously with the mental faculty. Because the mental faculty and the Ālayavijñāna are inseparable—like form and shadow—the Ālayavijñāna and the mental faculty cannot be apart even for an instant. Therefore, when the two enter the mother's womb, or when they leave the material body, there is no sequence of one before the other. If there were a sequence, it would mean the two could separate from each other; then the mental faculty could exist independently, and the Ālayavijñāna could also operate on its own, which would violate the intrinsic nature of both the Ālayavijñāna and the mental faculty.

The seeds of the four great elements come forth from the Ālayavijñāna. When the Ālayavijñāna is about to leave the material body, It certainly must withdraw all the seeds of the four great elements, so that the seeds within the Ālayavijñāna neither increase nor decrease, and can, upon encountering conditions, continue to be transmitted outward to give birth to all dharmas. Before a sentient being dies—even long before— the Ālayavijñāna already knows, because It can discern karmic seeds and knows the time of death, even the exact time. It will gradually alter the seeds of the four great elements, making the body emit an offensive odor and causing its bodily functions to weaken. Only when the person is about to breathe their last does the true dissolution of the four great elements begin, withdrawing the seeds of the four great elements. When they have all been withdrawn, the material body becomes a corpse.

The first five consciousnesses no longer arise and manifest, and the consciousness accompanied by the five senses (pañca-sahagata-mano-vijñāna) subsequently also ceases and disappears. Because the four great elements of the supreme faculty (indriya) dissolve, the solitary consciousness (mano-vijñāna-eka-citta) also gradually disappears; at this point one is in the stage of actual death. The process of death may be relatively short for those who performed wholesome karma, and without suffering; for those who committed unwholesome karma, the time of death may be longer, and they endure more death-agony. This process may take several hours—six or seven hours, eight hours—and for some people it takes more than ten hours.

The process by which the six consciousnesses disappear one after another is also the process of the four great elements gradually separating. At this time one feels extraordinary pain. The seeds of the four great elements separate one by one, and after separation they return to the Ālayavijñāna, while the Ālayavijñāna no longer outputs the seeds of the four great elements. The body gradually loses its warmth, because the fire element among the seeds of the four great elements has separated out, and the body slowly becomes ice-cold. The earth element, water element, and wind element also separate out one after another, returning into the Ālayavijñāna.

However, those who performed wholesome karma do not feel pain at this time; this is the retribution (vipāka) resulting from having done wholesome karma. Perhaps in the snap of a finger, they are already reborn in the heavenly realms. But when they have not yet eradicated the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), they still remain attached to the three realms; it is only because they performed wholesome karma and have wholesome retribution that they go to the heavenly realms to enjoy blessings. At this time celestial music may sound, and the parents in the heavenly realm are awaiting him. For those who attain wholesome retribution, the eight consciousnesses do not take so long to leave the material body—in the snap of a finger they ascend to heaven, so they do not experience suffering. For those reborn into the human realm, the time of their last breath is relatively longer, not so short, and the death process is not too brief either, but there is not much suffering.

Original text:贤护白佛言。世尊。众生虽知有识。如宝闭在箧中。不显不知。世尊。不知此识。作何形状。何故名识。众生死时。手足乱动。眼色变异。制不自由。诸根丧灭。诸大乖离。识迁于身。去至何所。自性如何。作何色相。云何舍离此身。更受余身。

The more unwholesome karma a person has committed, the more pain they feel when the four great elements dissolve at the end of life; at the time of approaching death, their hands and feet thrash about, showing that they are struggling in agony. But regarding these pains, they can no longer express them: the mouth cannot move; the tongue, mouth, and teeth all belong to the body faculty (kāya-indriya), and when the body faculty fails, they cannot speak. At this time, if someone touches them, they will feel extraordinary pain and soreness, and may give rise to a mind of anger and resentment (pratigha). Once the mind of resentment arises, they may perhaps descend into hell following that resentment. Therefore, during the period right after a person has just died, one must not touch them; at that time one cannot bathe them or change their clothes; one must wait until they are completely dead before handling these matters. How long does it take to be completely dead? Perhaps eight hours, perhaps more than ten hours; the time is not fixed. Generally, those bound for the three evil destinies have bodies that are stiff and cold after death, and their complexions do not look good. The complexion of hell beings is blackish, while that of hungry ghosts is bluish.

Finally, the six consciousnesses are entirely extinguished. When the six consciousnesses vanish, the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) no longer exist. The mental faculty can no longer make use of the body of the five aggregates; when He can no longer command or control anyone, He feels there is no hope left with the material body, and has no choice but to abandon it and go take rebirth again, to find Himself another body. Thus there arises the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava). This is the process of the extinction of the faculties (诸根丧灭).

There is also the "dissociation of the great elements" (诸大乖离), which refers to the dissolution of the four great elements of earth, water, fire, and wind (in fact there is also a space element). This is the process by which the seeds of the four great elements disperse individually. Originally, earth, water, fire, and wind were combined together to form the material body; now they have all separated, and the life function of the material body disappears. Although the flesh body still exists, it can no longer move; the material body is like a piece of wood.

After the four great elements of a sentient being's material body have dissolved, the Ālayavijñāna, together with the mental faculty, leaves the material body and goes on to take rebirth in the next material body. He will also manifest another material body; as for what kind of material body, that is determined by karmic seeds—karmic power has the final say. In most cases there is first the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava), and then one goes to the various other destinies. If one is reborn in the heavenly realm, there is no neutrino-body; if one descends into hell, there is also no neutrino-body. As to where the Ālayavijñāna will go, it depends on which karmic conditions ripen at the time of this person's death. For example, if we committed unwholesome karma in past lives, and in this life we do not study Buddhism or learn wholesome dharmas, then following the unwholesome karma we have created, we may descend into the three evil destinies. But if in this life we have created wholesome karma, and the conditions for this wholesome karma ripen, and the wholesome karma outweighs the unwholesome karma, then following the conditions of wholesome karma we are reborn into wholesome destinies. The Ālayavijñāna migrates in accordance with the karmic conditions of sentient beings. At the time of death, it depends on which karmic condition ripens first. If the wholesome karma we created in this life is small and cannot offset the conditions of that unwholesome karma, then even though we have studied Buddhism, when the conditions of unwholesome karma manifest, we will still go to the three evil destinies to undergo retribution.