Is what remains imperishable after death true suchness?

Question: Someone says that at the time of death, when the five aggregates (including the physical body and the deluded mind: namely feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness) have dissolved and vanished, but before the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava) has arisen, what remains is tathatā, and this is the original face one had before one's parents were born. In fact, this could also be changed to investigating "What is it after death?" or "What is the face after death?" Is this说法 correct?

Answer: This claim is of course incorrect. After death, when the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava) has not yet arisen, what remains is not tathatā, but the combined body of the seventh and eighth consciousnesses. The manas absolutely cannot cease and perish, except in the case of an arhat of the fourth fruit. At this time one cannot become enlightened, because there is no mind consciousness, and the manas is not powerful enough to become enlightened on its own; the mind consciousness and the manas must investigate together, and there must also be no obstruction by karmic obstructions, before there is even a slight hope of enlightenment.

Before the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava) is born, there are the seventh consciousness and the tathāgatagarbha; one must not think that at this time there is only tathatā. When the true and the deluded are combined together, one must not take the deluded as the true either; the combination of the true and the deluded is not tathatā. Such an enlightenment is an enlightenment based on guessing and imagination, no different from not being enlightened at all. Before the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava) is born, there are only the seventh consciousness and the tathāgatagarbha, and at this time there is no way to become enlightened, because the manas cannot discern the tathāgatagarbha on its own—it cannot even specifically discern the six sense objects, let alone the tathāgatagarbha, which is so hidden and secret? Even if the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava) appears and the mind consciousness appears, enlightenment is still very difficult, because the mind consciousness is extremely weak and its discerning capacity is very low—how could one become enlightened? Moreover, at this time the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava) is in an extremely special period, precisely the moment of transition between death and rebirth; karmic obstructions fully manifest and become the master of the five-aggregate body, and the destination of the next life is still unclear, so the mind is in extreme panic. Under such circumstances, how could one remain calm and attain enlightenment?

For a person who has not eradicated the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa), after death, when the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava) has not yet arisen, the manas is in great panic; fearing that the self is about to vanish and perish, it will try by every possible means to find a way out—where would it have the mind to pay attention to matters of whether something is tathatā or not? At this time the manas's mind of self is still very heavy, so how could it recognize the gap after the five aggregates and the six consciousnesses have perished as tathatā? It is simply impossible. This is actually not as good as the gap between the preceding thought not yet arising and the following thought not yet arising, which makes it easier for a person to become enlightened, because at that time there is after all the knowing of a清醒, calm mind consciousness, and one is still in meditative concentration. While alive, one can investigate the face after death, but this is also rather difficult, because after death it is still a combination of the true and the deluded, not the true alone. It would be better to investigate "Who is the one dragging this corpse around?"—this huatou is relatively easier. As for wanting to attain enlightenment after death, whether or not someone comes to guide one, it is extremely difficult to have one's wish fulfilled. Therefore, do not place your hopes on after death; while alive, one should devote oneself wholeheartedly and diligently to pursuing the Path.