Explanation of the Mahayana Vijnana Sutra

Original Text: Xianhu, when consciousness abandons this body and receives another life, at the moment of sentient beings' death, consciousness is entangled by karmic obstructions. When the karmic retribution is exhausted and life ends, it is like the consciousness of an arhat entering nirodha-samāpatti. Just as the consciousness of an arhat, upon entering nirodha-samāpatti, ceases functioning within the body, so too does the consciousness of the deceased abandon the body and the eighteen realms. It acts propelled by the power of mental formations. Thus, the dying person knows: "Such is my situation. All deeds performed by me, [Name], in this life manifest clearly at the moment of death. Remembrance is lucid and complete. Both physical and mental sensations are intensely oppressive."

Explanation: The Buddha states, Xianhu, after the ālaya-vijñāna abandons the physical body of this life, it proceeds to the physical body of the next life, receiving another physical form ("another life" means the next existence). At the moment of sentient beings' death, the ālaya-vijñāna is enveloped by the karmic obstructions created by the activities of the seven consciousnesses. When this lifetime's karmic retribution is exhausted and life approaches its end, it is identical to the ālaya-vijñāna of an arhat entering nirodha-samāpatti. When an arhat enters nirodha-samāpatti to ultimately enter parinirvāṇa, their ālaya-vijñāna ceases functioning within the physical body and enters the state of cessation. Sentient beings at death are likewise: the ālaya-vijñāna abandons the sentient being's physical body and the eighteen realms. The ālaya-vijñāna abandons the body propelled by the mental formations (cetanā) of the manas (the seventh consciousness), cooperating with the function of the volition mental factor (cetanā) of the manas. At this moment, the dying person realizes their life is ending. All deeds performed in this lifetime manifest instantaneously in their mind at the moment of death, each recalled distinctly. Mental objects appear clearly, while both body and mind experience intense suffering.

Because the karmic actions created throughout the deceased's life leave karmic seeds, at the moment of death, the ālaya-vijñāna will flow to the next life according to these seeds. If they created animal karma, they are bound by animal karma, and the ālaya-vijñāna receives an animal body. If they created hungry ghost karma, they are bound by hungry ghost karma, and the ālaya-vijñāna goes to a hungry ghost body. The karmic retribution of this life thus concludes. At death, it is like the ālaya-vijñāna of a fourth-stage arhat in nirodha-samāpatti, which abandons the physical body and departs.

When an arhat completes the four dhyānas and eight samāpattis and enters nirodha-samāpatti, the first six consciousnesses cease. Only the seventh consciousness (manas) and the ālaya-vijñāna remain. The five universal mental factors (pañca sarvatraga) of the seventh consciousness cease the feeling (vedanā) and perception (saṃjñā) mental factors. Thus, the manas lacks the vedanā and saṃjñā mental factors and the function of cognition. It retains the mental factors of attention (manasikāra), contact (sparśa), and volition (cetanā). It can still direct attention (manasikāra) towards the physical body and environment (rūpa-kāya and bhājana-loka) manifested by the ālaya-vijñāna. It can be aware of the condition of the physical body through attention and contact, and then generate the volition mental factor (cetanā) to make decisions. For instance, it can generate the determination to manifest the six consciousnesses and emerge from samādhi, or it can decide to extinguish the physical body and enter nirvāṇa. These are all determined by the volition mental factor (cetanā) of the manas. The departure of the ālaya-vijñāna from the body at the death of a sentient being is identical to the situation when the manas and ālaya-vijñāna of an arhat in nirodha-samāpatti depart from the body to enter parinirvāṇa.