Is What Remains Imperishable After Death the True Suchness (tathatā)?

Question: Someone says that at the time of approaching the end of life, when the five aggregates (including the physical body and the deluded mind: namely feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness) have dissolved in illusion, and before the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava) has arisen, what remains is true suchness—this is the original face before one's parents were born. In fact, this could also be changed to investigating "What is it after death?" or "What is the face after death?" Is this说法 correct?

Answer: This claim is of course incorrect. After death, when the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava) has not yet arisen, what remains is not true suchness, but the combined entity of the seventh and eighth consciousnesses. The manas absolutely cannot cease and perish—unless one is an arhat (the fourth fruit). At this time, awakening is impossible, because there is no mind consciousness; the manas is not strong enough to awaken on its own. Investigation must be carried out by both the mind consciousness and the manas together, and there must also be no obstruction by karmic obstacles; only then is there any hope of awakening.

Before the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava) is born, there exist the seventh consciousness and the tathāgatagarbha. One must not think that at this time there is only true suchness. When the true and the deluded are combined together, one must not take the deluded as the true; the coalescence of the real and the deluded is not true suchness. Such "awakening" is an awakening of guessing and imagination, no different from not awakening at all. Before the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava) is born, there are only the seventh consciousness and the tathāgatagarbha, and at this time there is no way to awaken, because the manas cannot by itself discern the tathāgatagarbha—it cannot even concretely discern the six sense objects, let alone the tathāgatagarbha, which is so hidden and secret? Even when the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava) appears and the mind consciousness appears, awakening is still very difficult, because the mind consciousness is extremely weak and its discernment is extremely low—how could one awaken? Moreover, the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava) at this time is in an extremely special period, precisely at the moment of transition between death and rebirth, when karmic obstacles fully manifest and become the master of the five-aggregate body, with the destination of the next life still unclear and the mind in a state of extreme panic. Under such circumstances, how could one remain calm and awaken to the Way?

For a person who has not achieved the elimination of self-view (ahaṃkāra-mamakāra-parityāga), after death, when the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava) has not yet arisen, the manas is in a state of great panic. Fearing that the self is about to vanish and perish, it will rack its brains to find a way out—how could it have any mind to attend to matters of whether something is true suchness or not? At this time, the manas's mind of self is still very heavy, so how could it recognize the gap after the five aggregates and the six consciousnesses have perished as true suchness? It is utterly impossible. This is actually not as good as the gap between the preceding thought not yet arising and the following thought not yet arising, which makes awakening easier for a person, because at that time there is, after all, the knowing of a clear and calm mind consciousness, still within samādhi. While alive, one can investigate the face after death, but this is also rather difficult, because after death it is still the coalescence of the real and the deluded, not the true alone. It would be better to investigate the huatou "Who drags this corpse around?"—this huatou is comparatively easier. As for wanting to awaken to the Way after death, whether or not anyone offers guidance, it is extremely difficult to have one's wish fulfilled. Therefore, do not pin your hopes on after death; while alive, one should strive with one's whole being to practice the Way.