How does the intermediate state arise and enter the womb?

Question: If an explosion or other sudden event causes the physical body to be blown to pieces, or to be instantly vaporized so that no bones or remains are left, will the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava) suddenly manifest or gradually manifest? How does the neutrino-body grasp the fertilized egg to enter the womb?

Answer: Each time a neutrino-body arises, it is because the previous physical body has broken down and can no longer be used, and the manas needs another physical body for its own use; there can be no gap in between, so the neutrino-body arises swiftly. The manas needs the activity of the five aggregates to deal with the myriad dharmas of the world, because the mind of the manas is not empty—it has the view of self and grasping at self, the view of dharmas and grasping at dharmas. Because of this grasping, it is unwilling to abandon the world and unwilling to abandon the five aggregates. While alive, one has accumulated karmic seeds for future lives; with these seeds, after a person dies there will be a future life, and there will be no annihilation. When experiencing a sudden event like a great explosion, the physical body is blown apart and can no longer be used; at this time, supported by karmic seeds, the manas wishes to have another physical body for its own use. The tathāgatagarbha, in response to this wish of the manas, according to the karmic seeds accumulated during life, manifests once again a temporary physical form called the neutrino-body, to temporarily satisfy the needs of the manas.

If a real, substantial physical body were to arise, it would take a long time for the four great elements to gradually gather together, but the manas cannot wait, so only a temporary, insubstantial body of the four great elements can manifest, and this is what distinguishes it from a human body. Because it is not a gathering of real seeds of the four great elements, it lacks the solid obstructive quality of a physical body formed by the gathering of real seeds of the four great elements; therefore the neutrino-body possesses the five minor superknowledges. Because the manas urgently needs it, the neutrino-body cannot arise slowly, but arises rapidly.

Because death from a sudden accident comes without psychological preparation, legend says that such a death leaves one unable to reincarnate; one can only exist in a spiritual form, drifting about everywhere like a ghost in the air, with no substantial physical body to rely on, which is very distressing. In order to reincarnate again, one can only seize another departed spirit, using it as a substitute, before one can enter the womb. So such a being will stay at the site of its death, waiting for a chance to create the same kind of sudden accident, causing others to die so that it can go on to reincarnate. Therefore, in the world we find that wherever an accidental death has occurred, the same kind of accident will occur again multiple times over the course of many years—this is the notion of "seizing a substitute."

If the death is a normal one, the neutrino-body exists for at most seven periods of seven days—forty-nine days. Generally, one goes on to reincarnate by the third seven-day period. The more distinct a person's wholesomeness or unwholesomeness was while alive, the more certain the result, and the earlier the reincarnation. For those whose good and evil are truly hard to distinguish, the limit is forty-nine days, and they too will go on to reincarnate. When the opportunity for reincarnation appears, the neutrino-body rushes to the parents of the next life and enters the womb along with the fertilized egg, and the neutrino-body immediately disappears. Because there is no manas, the neutrino-body disperses. Wherever the manas is, there will be a physical body.

How does the manas, within the neutrino-body, grasp the fertilized egg to enter the womb? Because the manas has not severed desire, when it encounters the conditions of the parents within the neutrino-body, it is attracted by the parents' sexual desire and participates in it. If the karmic force dictates that one should be male, lust arises toward the mother; if the karmic force dictates that one should be female, lust arises toward the father, taking the parents' sexual act as one's own sexual union with the parents. At the instant the parents' sperm and egg combine into a fertilized egg, one enters the mother's womb along with the fertilized egg. One who should have a male body faces the mother inside the womb; one who should have a female body has its back to the mother inside the womb. Thus, when the fetal body grows, a female fetus shows its pregnancy, while a male fetus does not.

When encountering a sudden accident, not only does the physical body fall apart, but the conscious mind, greatly frightened, is scared out of its wits—what scatters is the first six consciousnesses; without a physical body to rely on, they cease and disappear. Only the manas flies out of the physical body, separated from it, becoming all alone, with the tathāgatagarbha following behind—He is all of its treasures, yet it does not know this. At this point the manas has no choice but to wish for another physical body and five aggregates for its own use, once again pursuing worldly dharmas, while remaining oblivious to the wish-fulfilling jewel behind it. As long as one who studies Buddhism has grasped the manas, one has grasped all dharmas; not knowing there is a tathāgatagarbha is, for the time being, no problem. From this we can see: is it not childish and laughable for the mind consciousness to realize the fruits and to see the mind? Is it not foolish to place one's hopes on dharmas that can be reduced to ashes in an instant? What person of wisdom would place his treasures in an illusory city, in a castle in the air?

Rebirth in the land of bliss (sukhāvatī) also takes place from within the neutrino-body. So without extremely great superknowledge, who could see the neutrino-body mount a lotus flower and fly off to the land of bliss? What worldly people call rebirth in the Pure Land is all speculation and conjecture, not what is seen in direct perception.

Within the neutrino-body there are also gender differences, and gender differences are also karma. The manas, at all times and at all stages, always corresponds with karma, karmic seeds, and karmic force; as long as there is male or female karma, there will be male and female gender. The gender of the future life is not fixed and unchanging; it is determined by karmic seeds. Whether one performs the karmic actions of a man or of a woman in this life determines the gender of the next life. These karmic actions also include mental actions and mental disposition; karmic actions correspond with mental actions and mental disposition, changing in close accordance with mental disposition. Therefore, if a person has the mental disposition of a man, he will manifest a male body in the next life; if a person has the mental disposition of a woman, she will manifest a female body in the next life—except for those with the power of vows. In our monastic precepts, the restrictions on bhikṣuṇīs are many and heavy, precisely to restrain women's habits and tendencies, gradually distancing them from female habits and bringing them closer to male habits, in preparation for transforming the female body. In real life, we also find that some women are very bold and magnanimous, generous and broad-minded, with a manly spirit and a man's bearing—they were men in a previous life and may become men again in a future life. Conversely, it is the same: some men are born with women's habits; they were women in a previous life and may be transformed into female bodies again in a future life.

Gender is also determined by merit. From the form realm heavens upward there are no gender differences, no distinction between male and female; that is supported and determined by the merit of the four dhyānas and eight meditative absorptions—the merit of meditative concentration is very, very great, enabling sentient beings to temporarily leave the three evil paths, leave the human body, and leave the desire realm heavens. The state of the form realm heavens is simply too enjoyable; the desire realm heavens cannot compare. When I cultivated to the concentration of the first dhyāna, every day I was as happy as an immortal—a joy that cannot be described, that language cannot express, a happiness that worldly people cannot imagine; the joy of dhyāna is far higher than worldly happiness. Before I studied Buddhism, my mood was heavy every day, as if a big stone were pressing on my heart, weighing it down; from the age of thirteen I kept thinking of the word "death." After attaining the first dhyāna, it was like going from hell to heaven.

In the land of bliss there is also no distinction between male and female, and that too is supported and determined by great merit. Therefore, in studying Buddhism and engaging in recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti), if one has not developed merit, there are obstacles everywhere—how then could one be reborn in the land of bliss and gather together with all the superior good people?