How the Tathāgatagarbha Gradually Withdraws from the Physical Body at the Time of Death

The physical body is formed from the seeds of the four great elements within the tathāgatagarbha. At death, the seeds of the four great elements within the body must disperse and return, no longer being generated, so that the physical body can cease and no longer continue to function. At the time of dying, the seeds of the four great elements decompose and disperse, returning 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 gradually withdraw from the physical body, the body's functions gradually recede, and it becomes rigid little by little. This process is expediently described as the tathāgatagarbha withdrawing from the physical body and no longer upholding it, so that the body no longer possesses vitality. In reality, the tathāgatagarbha neither withdraws nor changes; it is the physical body within the tathāgatagarbha that undergoes change.

The tathāgatagarbha is formless and without appearance; no one can see it entering or withdrawing from the physical body. The seeds of the four great elements are also formless and without appearance; no one can see the seeds of the four great elements forming the physical body or their decomposition as they withdraw from it. One can only observe the changes in the physical body, and from the changes in the body observe the changing functions of the seeds and the functioning of the tathāgatagarbha. As long as the tathāgatagarbha functions within the physical body, there are 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 dissipates little by little, growing colder and colder, more and more rigid; consciousness gradually weakens and fades, the mind grows increasingly muddled, until there is no awareness at all, and one enters the neutrino-body (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 up the body this final place of decomposition is, 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 do see is false. Seeing the false but not the true is called ignorance (avidyā). If one could constantly and everywhere see the true, then there would be nothing to attend to in the world—everything would be empty, not a single dharma to be emotionally entangled with, and even the world would not exist. The mind would entirely return to self-nature, endowed with wisdom; this is called wisdom (jñāna). Wisdom is not sentiment; where there is sentiment, there is no wisdom.