How does the tathāgatagarbha gradually withdraw from the physical body at the time of death?

The material body is formed from the seeds of the four great elements within the tathāgatagarbha. At death, the seeds of the four great elements within the material body must disperse and return, no longer needing to emerge for birth, and only then can the material body cease and no longer continue to function. At the time of the end of life, the seeds of the four great elements decompose and disperse, and the seeds return to their positions within the tathāgatagarbha. This process is not completed all at once; the length of time it takes to wait varies, determined by wholesome and unwholesome karma. The decomposition of the four great elements means that the seeds of the four great elements within the material body gradually withdraw from the body bit by bit, the body's functions gradually diminish bit by bit, and it stiffens bit by bit. This process is expediently described as the tathāgatagarbha withdrawing from the material body and no longer grasping and sustaining it, so that the material body no longer possesses vitality. In reality, it is not that the tathāgatagarbha withdraws or changes, but rather that the material body within the tathāgatagarbha undergoes change.

The tathāgatagarbha is formless and without marks; no one can see Him entering the material body or withdrawing from it. The seeds of the four great elements are likewise formless and without marks; no one can see the seeds of the four great elements forming the material body or their decomposition as they withdraw from it. One can only see the changes in the material body, and from the changes in the body one can observe the changing functions of the seeds and the functional operations of the tathāgatagarbha. When the material body is sustained by the tathāgatagarbha, there is lifespan, warmth, and consciousness; without the tathāgatagarbha's grasping and sustaining, there is no lifespan, warmth, or consciousness. At the time of the end of life, lifespan disappears bit by bit, the body's temperature disappears bit by bit, one feels colder and colder, stiffer and stiffer, the conscious mind gradually weakens and fades, the mind becomes more and more dull and sinking, until there is no awareness or perception, and finally one enters the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava). The place where the tathāgatagarbha finally leaves the material body is the place where the four great elements finally decompose, the place where lifespan finally comes to rest, and the place where body temperature finally disappears. This spot determines the karmic destiny of rebirth in the next life. This is the final place of the body's decomposition: the higher up it is, the more wholesome the karmic destiny of the next life's destination; conversely, the lower down, the more unwholesome the karmic destiny of the destination.

Only the dharma that sentient beings cannot see is real; the dharma they see is false. Seeing the false and not seeing the true is called ignorance (avidyā). If one could see the true at all times and in all places, then there would be nothing of worldly affairs; everything would be empty, not a single dharma could weigh upon the mind, the world would likewise not exist, the mind would fully return to self-nature, and wisdom would be complete—this is called wisdom (jñāna). Wisdom is not emotion; sentient beings with emotion have no wisdom.