Can the Physical Body Reach the Pure Land?

Question: When one is reborn in the Pure Land by reciting the Buddha's name, is it the physical body that sits on the lotus and goes there?

Answer: Being reborn by reciting the Buddha's name does involve sitting on a lotus to be reborn. This lotus is manifested by one's own Tathagatagarbha in accordance with the manas (the seventh consciousness), composed of the subtle four great elements. When the reciter single-mindedly aspires to the Pure Land and attains a purified mind, then makes the vow to be reborn, the Tathagatagarbha, based on the intention of the manas, creates a lotus pedestal belonging solely to that individual in the lotus pond of the Pure Land, corresponding to their level of cultivation. This lotus pedestal is composed of the four great elements as extremely subtle matter; our coarse, substantial physical body cannot sit upon it, as the substantial physical body cannot make contact with the subtle material form of the lotus pedestal.

At the time of rebirth at the moment of death, it is the intermediate state body (antarābhava) that sits on the lotus and is reborn in the Pure Land. Because the intermediate state body is also not a substantial, coarse material body, it corresponds precisely to the lotus pedestal, thus enabling the intermediate state body to enter the lotus. Once seated on the lotus, the lotus pedestal and the intermediate state body arrive in the Pure Land in the snap of a finger. The intermediate state body transforms into the heavenly material body of a being in the Pure Land, becomes enveloped by the lotus petals, and the material body dwells within the lotus palace manifested by one's own Tathagatagarbha. Why does the intermediate state body reach the Pure Land so quickly? Because the Pure Land is also a dharma within one's own mind's Tathagatagarbha. The Tathagatagarbha does not need to go to any location within the mind, and the manas, following the Tathagatagarbha, likewise does not traverse infinite distances. Thus, it arrives at the Pure Land within the Tathagatagarbha in the snap of a finger; in truth, it is faster than the snap of a finger. Even mentioning speed is already too slow, as within the Tathagatagarbha itself, no time or distance exists; therefore, there is no concept of speed.

Upon arriving in the Pure Land, the intermediate state body immediately vanishes and is replaced by the beautiful and majestic material body of a being in the Pure Land, without distinction of male or female gender. In the Pure Land, one remains eternally young and majestic, never aging, never dying, never sick, never suffering. Because the intermediate state body is a very subtle material body, it can instantly float to the Pure Land, which our physical body cannot do. The physical body is extremely coarse matter, incapable of floating; it cannot even rise a few meters into the air, let alone reach the distant Pure Land. This is precisely why humans with physical bodies lack supernatural powers, whereas ghosts, spirits, heavenly beings, and non-human beings possess material bodies composed of subtle matter, granting them supernatural powers, the ability to float, fly, and reach other worlds in the blink of an eye.