What Determines Rebirth in a Good Realm or the Three Evil Realms after Death?

Some people say that when a person dies, the eighth consciousness naturally guides them into a wholesome destination. But if the eighth consciousness could naturally guide one into the wholesome destinies, then why is it that, since beginningless kalpas, all sentient beings have spent far more time in the three evil destinies than in the three wholesome destinies? On what basis would the eighth consciousness guide sentient beings' manas into the wholesome destinies? Some say that as long as one has been cultivated with wholesome dharmas, the eighth consciousness can guide one into a wholesome destination. But there are very many people who have been cultivated with wholesome dharmas, very many who have been cultivated with the Buddha-dharma, and very many who have been cultivated with correct dharmic principles—yet how many of them, at the time of death, can be guaranteed not to fall into the three evil destinies and be led by the eighth consciousness into the three wholesome destinies? On what basis does the eighth consciousness guide the manas into the wholesome destinies? It is only by relying on the seeds of wholesome karma stored in the eighth consciousness that one can be guided into the wholesome destinies. But the eighth consciousness also contains countless seeds of unwholesome karma—karmic seeds left over from the creation of unwholesome karma since beginningless kalpas that have not yet manifested. On exactly which karmic seeds will the eighth consciousness rely to guide the manas into rebirth? This question is extremely important and extremely crucial. The conditions that the Buddha, in the sūtras, guaranteed for sentient beings to avoid falling into the three evil destinies after death are: first, the eradication of the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) and the severing of the three fetters as taught in the Āgamas; second, seeing the mind and seeing the nature as taught in the Mahāyāna sūtras; third, the meditative concentration (samādhi) of recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti) with single-minded non-distraction at the time of death as taught in the Amitābha Sūtra; fourth, attaining the third contemplation or above among the sixteen contemplations taught in the Contemplation Sūtra, together with the karmic conditions required for each of the nine grades of rebirth; fifth, the conditions for rebirth taught in other Pure Land sūtras; and sixth, the seeds of wholesome karma required for non-Buddhists to be reborn in the heavens after death. 

These conditions show that it is not the case that merely having been cultivated with wholesome dharmas and the Buddha-dharma enables one to avoid the three evil destinies and be reborn in a wholesome destiny. Rather, it depends on whether the force of the wholesome karma created in this lifetime is greater or the force of the unwholesome karma is greater, and on whether the seeds of major unwholesome karma from beginningless kalpas have been eliminated, or whether the conditions for the manifestation of the seeds of major unwholesome karma are complete. At the time of death, whichever is stronger—the power of the wholesome karmic seeds or the power of the unwholesome karmic seeds—pulls first; the eighth consciousness draws sentient beings along according to the stronger karma. Where one goes after death is determined by the contest between the force of wholesome karma and the force of unwholesome karma, not by the eighth consciousness. The eighth consciousness merely follows the force of the karmic seeds; the eighth consciousness has no intention to guide the destinations of sentient beings. 

Countless people have had the affinity to be cultivated with the true Dharma and wholesome dharmas, yet their afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion remain fully intact—not eradicated in the least, nor even subdued. Clearly the force of their afflictive karma is still very strong, so at the time of death they are of course pulled by afflictive and unwholesome karma toward the three evil destinies. Countless people, although cultivated with wholesome dharmas, in the process of that cultivation also created the unwholesome karma of slandering the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha. This unwholesome karma is enormous; all the cultivation of wholesome karma cannot withstand the force of the unwholesome karma of slandering the Three Jewels. Therefore, at the time of death, the eighth consciousness will of course guide the manas into the three evil destinies following the karmic force of the seeds of slander. Even if in this life one has not created any particularly major unwholesome karma, the unwholesome karma from beginningless kalpas may ripen, while the wholesome karmic force of cultivating wholesome dharmas in this life is not strong enough and the conditions are not ripe, insufficient to alter the conditions of the unwholesome karma; then the eighth consciousness will guide the manas into the three evil destinies according to the powerful conditions of the unwholesome karmic seeds. 

If in this life the force of one's cultivation of wholesome dharmas is not strong enough but rather weak and inferior—such that only the mind consciousness understands and comprehends the wholesome dharmas, without the cultivation reaching the manas, so the manas has not realized the wholesome dharmas and thus they cannot become the driving force behind all bodily, verbal, and mental actions, and nothing in the dharmas of the five-aggregate body has changed, or the change is so slight that it is insufficient to counter afflictive and unwholesome karma—then such cultivation has no force. It either cannot be stored as seeds in the eighth consciousness, or only a tiny bit is stored, in which case it has no effect and is insufficient to counter the force of afflictive karma, and thus cannot change the destiny of the three evil destinies in future lives. All bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the five-aggregate body must be stored as seeds in the eighth consciousness. Countless people, although cultivated with wholesome dharmas, have not changed their bodily, verbal, and mental actions and still create unwholesome karma of greed, hatred, and delusion; what is stored in the eighth consciousness is therefore the karma of greed, hatred, and delusion. At the time of death, the force of this afflictive karma is very great and will pull the manas into the three evil destinies, unable to be reborn in a wholesome destiny.

Who is the master that creates and directs the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the five-aggregate body? Of course it is the manas that acts as master and creates them. If the wholesome dharmas a sentient being cultivates in this life do not enter the manas's mind, and the manas does not realize the Buddha-dharma, then the manas is not wholesome and will not act as master to create wholesome karma, and the seeds of wholesome karma will not be stored in the substance of the eighth consciousness. How, then, could the eighth consciousness guide the manas to be reborn in a wholesome destiny? To summarize: no matter what wholesome dharmas anyone has cultivated, if the cultivation does not permeate and mature the manas, cannot change the afflicted and defiled nature of the manas, and does not change the mental conduct of the manas, then the manas will continue to act as master and create defiled karma; the defiled karma will be stored in the substance of the eighth consciousness as seeds and produce the unwholesome karmic retribution of future lives, and such a person, at the end of life, cannot go to a wholesome destiny.