Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son, Lecture Record (210)

Segmented birth-and-death (pariccheda-maraṇa) and transformational birth-and-death (parināma-maraṇa)

Those who have not realized the first bhūmi are called ordinary beings (pṛthagjana); those who have attained the first bhūmi are noble ones, who have eliminated the nature of ordinary beings and no longer create evil karma of birth and death. All sentient beings who have not severed the karmic seeds stained by birth and death belong to the category of ordinary beings; when this lifespan ends, there will be another life, only born at another time and in another place—whether in the heavens, the human realm, hell, or among hungry ghosts—this is called birth at a different time and in a different place. Both first-bhūmi bodhisattvas and ordinary beings have segmented birth-and-death. For example, a person lives one lifetime of a hundred-odd years, or a thousand-odd years; when the lifespan ends, there is a next life—birth and death occur in segments, hence it is called segmented birth-and-death. If a first-bhūmi bodhisattva is reborn in the heavenly realms, the lifespan is extremely long; if reborn in the human world, the lifespan is the same as that of ordinary sentient beings, and there is still segmented birth-and-death; if reborn into the animal realm by the power of vows, the lifespan is also as brief as that of animals, and there is also segmented birth-and-death. Besides segmented birth-and-death, there is also transformational birth-and-death. Transformational birth-and-death means that although the lifespan is extremely long, the stained seeds of birth and death within the tathāgatagarbha mind have not all been eliminated, so it can still invite the karma of birth and death, and the false appearance of birth and death cannot be extinguished forever. Before reaching the stage of Buddhahood, the seeds of arising and ceasing within the mind cannot be eradicated, and therefore there is transformational birth-and-death.