How Does the Tathāgatagarbha Gradually Withdraw from the Rūpakāya at the Moment of Death?

The physical body is formed by the seeds of the four elements within the Tathagatagarbha. At the time of death, the seeds of the four elements within the physical body disperse and return; they no longer need to emerge and give birth, so that the physical body can cease and no longer function. At the moment of death, the seeds of the four elements decompose and scatter, resetting within the Tathagatagarbha. This process is not instantaneous and requires varying durations of waiting, depending on the karma of good and evil deeds. The decomposition of the four elements refers to the gradual withdrawal of the seeds of the four elements from the physical body, causing the functions of the physical body to diminish step by step, and the body to stiffen progressively. This process is conventionally described as the Tathagatagarbha withdrawing from the physical body and no longer upholding it, causing the physical body to lose its vitality. In reality, it is not the Tathagatagarbha that withdraws or changes; rather, it is the physical body within the Tathagatagarbha that undergoes transformation.

The Tathagatagarbha is formless and without characteristics; no one can see how it enters or exits the physical body. Similarly, the seeds of the four elements are also formless and without characteristics; no one can see how they form the physical body or how they decompose upon withdrawing from it. One can only observe the changes in the physical body, and through these changes, perceive the transformative function of the seeds and the functional role of the Tathagatagarbha. When the physical body is upheld by the Tathagatagarbha, it possesses life, warmth, and consciousness; without the upholding of the Tathagatagarbha, it lacks life, warmth, and consciousness. At the moment of death, life gradually fades away, body temperature slowly diminishes, the sensation of cold intensifies, stiffness increases, consciousness gradually weakens and vanishes, the mind becomes increasingly dull, until it reaches a state of unconsciousness and insensibility, ultimately entering the intermediate state. The point where the Tathagatagarbha finally departs from the physical body is where the four elements decompose last, where life lingers for the final moment, and where body temperature disappears at last. This point determines the karmic path of rebirth in the next life. It is the last place where the body decomposes; the higher this point is, the more virtuous the karmic path of the next life, and conversely, the more unwholesome the karmic path.

The Dharma that sentient beings cannot perceive is true, while the Dharma they perceive is false. Perceiving the false but not the true is called ignorance. If one can perceive the true at all times and in all places, then there is no worldly affair to speak of; everything is empty, nothing can stir emotions, the world itself ceases to exist, the mind fully returns to its intrinsic nature, and one becomes endowed with wisdom, which is called wisdom. Wisdom is not emotion; where there is emotion, there is no wisdom.