The feelings at the time of approaching the end of life

The Śūraṅgama Sūtra says that in all worlds birth and death continue in succession: in birth one follows habitual inclinations, and in death one follows the flow of transformation. At the time of approaching the end of life, while the vital warmth and touch (of life) has not yet been relinquished, all the wholesome and unwholesome deeds of one's entire life suddenly appear all at once, and the two habits intermingle—the habit of death being adverse and the habit of birth being favorable. Here it says that at the time of approaching the end of life the vital warmth and touch has not yet been relinquished; "approaching" means close to but not yet past, that is, not yet dead. Since one has not yet died, at the very least the mind consciousness and the manas still exist. And since the Buddha said the vital warmth has not been relinquished, that means the vital warmth is still there, and there is the feeling of the vital warmth, so the body consciousness also exists. At this time the four great elements have not yet disintegrated, or have only just begun to disintegrate; all the feelings of the physical body still exist and can still be perceived, and the six consciousnesses are all present and have not yet ceased. What is the feeling at this time? The Buddha compared the disintegration of the four great elements of sentient beings to a live turtle being stripped of its shell—how much suffering and pain must that be?

Since there is perception at this time and the mind consciousness has not ceased, the solitary mental consciousness can also manifest. What does the solitary mental consciousness do at this time? It exclusively receives the information emitted by the tathāgatagarbha. The tathāgatagarbha broadcasts all the wholesome and unwholesome karmic actions one has performed in this life, like playing a movie—and it is played rapidly, at extremely fast speed, finished in an instant, for the tathāgatagarbha exports it at an extremely fast rate. For the mind consciousness it is like a rapid recollection; the solitary mental consciousness has no leeway to think anything—it only needs to receive. Then the mind consciousness immediately understands, knowing where it will go in accordance with these karmic actions, but it can no longer inform the people around it. At the time of approaching the end of life, although the mind consciousness is somewhat drowsy and muddled, it can still very clearly discern the video content that the tathāgatagarbha forcibly stuffs into it, with complete clarity, and it can even judge which realm it will go to in order to receive its retribution. There is no need for anyone to explain the principle of karmic cause and retribution to it—it is entirely unnecessary.

At the time of approaching the end of life, the mind consciousness and the manas have no choice but to accept the future retribution. This is the power of karma—the force of a lifetime's karmic actions. It allows no resistance from the mind consciousness, nor any resistance from the manas; both must submit to the arrangement and summons of karma, without complaint. Even if one is judged by Grandpa Yama in the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava), one will not argue, complain, or cry out grievances. Why? Because the facts are laid out right there, plainly visible to everyone; there is no need for King Yama to investigate and gather evidence. In the face of the facts, what more is there to say? One obediently submits to King Yama's arrangement, submits to the arrangement of destiny. How is destiny formed? Destiny is created by oneself. The karma one has created must of course be borne by oneself—what else could be done? Who would bear it in your place? Even your own father, mother, or son cannot bear it for you. Each person's karma is received by that person; no one can bear it in anyone's place.