Lecture Notes on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (81)

At the time of death, one's own karmic retribution all manifests before one

But the Buddha said that at the time of death, when the life faculty ceases—that is, when our lifespan comes to an end, when we are about to die but have not yet died, which is called the time when the life faculty ceases—something appears: the Buddha said that one's own karmic retribution all manifests before one. What is one's own karmic retribution? It is the retribution of the karmic actions one has created oneself manifesting, just like waking up from a dream and knowing what one did in the dream. Before we die at the end of life, everything we have done in this lifetime, whether wholesome or unwholesome, flashes through the mind as swiftly as a movie being played, and we know everything we have done in this life, whether there was more wholesome or more unwholesome karma, what kind of retribution we should receive, and into which realm of saṃsāra we should be reborn.

Thinking it over and over, one feels it strange in the mind: when karma was being created, it was done without anyone knowing, and the karmic actions have already vanished, yet at death they all manifest. Why can they all manifest? Because when karmic actions are being performed, the actions, as seeds, are stored in the tathāgatagarbha moment by moment; the actions vanish, but the seeds remain. Actions have form and appearance and can vanish, but seeds are without form or appearance and do not vanish until the retribution has been received. It is only at the time of death that sentient beings know whether they have more wholesome or more unwholesome karma in their lifetime, into which realm they should go to receive retribution, and according to which karma they should receive retribution—the mind knows it all clearly, but by then one can no longer speak. The karmic actions of cause and effect are truly inconceivable.