The Delusion of the Intermediate State and the Recollection of Past Lives

The mind consciousness has the mystery of the intervening aggregates. The so-called "intervening aggregates" refers to the separation of the five aggregates — they are not the same five aggregates of one lifetime. The five aggregates of this present life cease, and the five aggregates of the next life are born anew; the body and the six consciousnesses are all replaced with new ones, and the six consciousnesses do not know the affairs of the previous life, having lost the ability to remember past lives. This is called the mystery of the intervening aggregates. If one has not additionally cultivated the four dhyānas and eight samādhis, does not possess the recollection of past lives (pūrvanivāsānusmṛti), and was also not born with it as karmic retribution, then the six consciousnesses know nothing of the experiences of past lives. Without the recollection of past lives, one does not know the affairs of past and future lives; with the recollection of past lives, one can know everything about one's own and others' past and future lives.

After sentient beings die at the end of a previous life, the five aggregates of this life become new ones, and the six consciousnesses are also new — they are no longer the six consciousnesses of the previous life — so they certainly do not know the people, things, and events of the previous life. Because the six consciousnesses of this life remember and discern all people, things, and events upon the five aggregates of this life, they only remember the affairs of this life, and therefore can only know all the dharmas remembered in this life. And the five aggregates of this life are not the original five aggregates of the previous life, so the six consciousnesses naturally cannot have any memory of the deeds done by the five aggregates of the previous life.

However, the manas has existed continuously without ceasing since beginningless kalpas; He Himself has accumulated the afflictive habits of lifetime after lifetime. Therefore, the five aggregates of this life and the five aggregates of the previous life are continuous with respect to habitual tendencies and afflictions; if one does not study Buddhism and cultivate practice, these habitual tendencies will grow heavier and heavier. The eighth consciousness has also continued uninterruptedly since beginningless kalpas; thus the five aggregates of this life and the five aggregates of the previous life have a connected relationship — they are not two mutually unrelated living beings. Therefore, when we study Buddhism and cultivate practice, we must think of our future selves in later lives; we cannot live only in this present life while ignoring our own next life. If one does not wish to have the mystery of the intervening aggregates, one must cultivate and learn the recollection of past lives; by cultivating meditative concentration to the fourth dhyāna and beyond, one can accomplish the recollection of past lives, but the recollection of past lives has little to do with liberation and wisdom. Before attaining bodhi, there is no need to cultivate supernatural powers; otherwise, they become a condition that obstructs the Path.