Selected Lectures on the 'Pitāputrasamāgama Sūtra' (86)

The Buddha said: "Great King, it is indeed so. Foolish ordinary beings, tormented by hunger in a dream, consume bitter food. Their minds generate anger and distress, thereby creating karmic actions: three bodily, four verbal, and three mental deeds. Once these actions are created, they immediately cease. After these karmic actions cease, they do not abide in the east, south, west, north, the four intermediate directions, above, below, or the center. Yet when the final moment arrives and the life faculty ceases, the karmic retribution of one’s own deeds fully manifests before them. It is like awakening from a dream and recollecting the events within it."

Explanation: The Buddha said: "Great King, it is indeed so. Foolish ordinary beings (prithagjana), tormented by hunger in a dream, consume bitter food and drink, whereupon their minds generate anger and distress. They thus create unwholesome karmic actions: three bodily, four verbal, and three mental deeds. From the very moment of creation, these karmic actions cease instantaneously as they are formed. After these actions cease, they do not abide in the east, south, west, north, the four intermediate directions, above, below, or the center. However, when life approaches its end, the karmic retribution of one’s deeds in this lifetime fully manifests before them, just as one awakens from a dream and still recalls the events within it."

The Buddha said: "Great King, consciousness (vijñāna) acts as the master, while karma serves as the conditioning factor. Through the mutual causation of these two, the initial consciousness of the next life arises. Beings may descend into hell, fall into the animal realm, enter Yama’s realm (preta), or be reborn among asuras, humans, or devas. Once this initial consciousness arises, each being receives its corresponding retribution. Homogeneous mental states continue uninterrupted within the same physical form. When the final consciousness ceases, it is called the 'aggregates of death' (maraṇa-skandha). When the initial consciousness arises, it is called the 'aggregates of birth' (upapatti-skandha)."

Explanation: Great King, the ālaya-vijñāna (storehouse consciousness) is the master that gives rise to the five aggregates of the next life. Karmic seeds serve as the conditioning object. Through the union of these two causes and conditions, the initial consciousness of the next life arises. Beings may descend into hell, fall among ghosts, or be reborn in the three evil destinies of animals; or they may be reborn in the three wholesome destinies: the asura realm, human realm, or deva realm. Once the initial consciousness arises, beings begin to receive their respective karmic retribution. Then, consciousness continues to operate uninterruptedly within the same physical body. When the consciousness at the end of life ceases, the physical body becomes a corpse, called the 'aggregates of death.' The initial consciousness arising in the physical body is called the 'initial consciousness,' and the five aggregates of the physical body are called the 'aggregates of birth.'"