Can one attain enlightenment after death when there is no consciousness?

There are the following situations in which only the seventh consciousness and the eighth consciousness exist without the six consciousnesses: when one is unconscious, when one is asleep without dreaming, when one has entered the samādhi of no perception (asaṃjñā-samāpatti), when one has entered the samādhi of cessation (nirodha-samāpatti), and after death when the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava) has not yet arisen. In the last situation, not only are the six consciousnesses absent, but the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) are also absent; only the seventh and eighth consciousnesses remain, and these two mind-consciousnesses are formless and without mark. At this time, the ordinary person's seventh consciousness is in a dazed state, urgently seeking a new body of the five aggregates to rely upon. Can the Buddha discover the seventh and eighth consciousnesses at this time? It is not known. The seventh consciousness cannot exist alone without the eighth consciousness, and without the seventh consciousness the eighth consciousness cannot operate any dharma; it abides in a state of nirvāṇa, and even the Buddha cannot discover the eighth consciousness. Only when the two consciousnesses are conjoined and operating together can they be discovered by someone, but ordinary people cannot discover them.

So, in a situation where there are no five aggregates and no six consciousnesses, only the seventh and eighth consciousnesses, can enlightenment occur? That depends on clarifying who it is that awakens, and what is awakened to. Awakening, of course, is the deluded mind awakening, awakening to the eighth consciousness. With no six consciousnesses and no five aggregates, the only deluded mind at this time is the seventh consciousness. Can the seventh consciousness awaken on its own? Probably, apart from the Buddha having this ability, bodhisattvas at the eighth bhūmi and above might perhaps be able to awaken; for everyone else it is probably very difficult, and ordinary beings absolutely cannot. Because the manas' power of discernment is very low, without the assistance of the mind consciousness, the manas by itself cannot clearly discern the six sense objects, let alone the extremely subtle eighth consciousness.

In a situation where only the seventh and eighth consciousnesses exist without the six consciousnesses and five aggregates, the eighth consciousness merely sustains the existence of the seventh consciousness and cannot operate any dharma. Realizing the eighth consciousness must be accomplished on the basis of the eighth consciousness's functioning; if the eighth consciousness does not function, the eighth consciousness cannot be realized, and the eighth consciousness abiding in nirvāṇa cannot be realized even by the Buddha. In a situation where there are five aggregates but no six consciousnesses, only the seventh and eighth consciousnesses—can the eighth consciousness be realized then? Absolutely not.