Why Does the Tathāgatagarbha Withdraw from the Material Body Little by Little at the Time of Death?

The physical body is formed from the seeds of the four great elements—the seeds of the four great elements within the tathāgatagarbha. At death, the four great elements within the physical body must disperse, so that the body can cease and no longer continue to function. At the time of dying, the four great elements must decompose and disperse, and the seeds return to the tathāgatagarbha. This process is not completed all at once; the duration required varies, depending on wholesome and unwholesome karma. The decomposition of the four great elements means that the seeds of the four great elements within the physical body withdraw from the body bit by bit, the body's functions recede bit by bit, and it stiffens little by little. This process is expediently described as the tathāgatagarbha withdrawing from the physical body, no longer grasping and sustaining it, so that the body no longer possesses vitality.

The tathāgatagarbha is formless and without characteristics; no one can see Him entering or withdrawing from the physical body. The seeds of the four great elements are also formless and without characteristics; no one can see the seeds of the four great elements forming the physical body or the decomposition of their withdrawal from it. One can only observe the changes in the physical body, and from those changes infer the changing functions of the seeds and the functioning of the tathāgatagarbha. So long as the tathāgatagarbha operates within the physical body, there is lifespan, vital warmth, and consciousness; without the tathāgatagarbha, there is no lifespan, warmth, or consciousness. At the time of dying, lifespan fades away bit by bit, the body's temperature disappears little by little, growing ever colder, and the body grows increasingly stiff; consciousness gradually weakens and fades, the mind becomes more and more muddled, until there is no awareness at all, and one enters the antarā-bhava. The place where the tathāgatagarbha finally leaves the physical body is the place where the four great elements finally decompose, the place where lifespan finally comes to rest, and the place where body temperature finally disappears; this determines the karmic destiny of rebirth in the next life. The higher the final location on the body, the more wholesome the karmic destiny of the next life; conversely, the lower it is, the more unwholesome the karmic destiny.

The dharma that sentient beings cannot see is the true; the dharma they see is false. Seeing only the false and not the true is called ignorance (avidyā). If one could see the true at all times and in all places, then there would be nothing to the world at all—everything would be empty, not a single dharma to be emotionally entangled with; the world too would be nonexistent, the mind would fully return to self-nature, endowed with wisdom—this is called wisdom (jñāna). Wisdom is not sentiment; the sentient have no wisdom.