Enlightenment Cannot Be Attained After Death

Question: Some people believe that one can attain enlightenment after death. They say that after death, when the five aggregates disintegrate, the four great elements separate, and there is a gap before the intermediate state body is born—that gap is said to be tathatā (suchness). I feel like what they describe resembles the state of nirvana without residue. Master, could you explain in detail whether this person might actually be enlightened?

Answer: If it is said that the disintegration of the five aggregates, the separation of the four great elements, and the gap before the intermediate state body is born constitute tathatā, then at that moment, there should be nothing but tathatā—no manas, no six consciousnesses, no physical body, only tathatā. That would be the state of nirvana without residue, already liberated from the suffering of birth and death in the three realms. If everyone were to enter nirvana without residue after death, then what would be the point of our diligent practice of the four establishments of mindfulness, the study of the Four Noble Truths, and the effort to eradicate self-view to seek liberation? Would the Buddha’s coming to this world to expound the Āgama sūtras and teach sentient beings to attain liberation also be utterly meaningless? Clearly, this view is profoundly mistaken.

In the gap after death, before the intermediate state body arises, the physical body and the six consciousnesses have ceased. However, manas certainly cannot cease; otherwise, how could the intermediate state body appear shortly afterward? How could there be a future existence with its five aggregates? It is because manas requires an intermediate state body that the tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-nature) gives rise to the intermediate state body to fulfill manas’ need. Since the manas of ordinary beings and those below the third fruit (anāgāmin) does not cease, then within this gap, the seventh and eighth consciousnesses are present. How can it be claimed that this is solely tathatā? Even if, for argument’s sake, we assume that only tathatā exists at this moment—that it is tathatā, the state of nirvana without residue—then who is it that attains enlightenment? With the sixth and seventh consciousnesses gone, who realizes it? Could tathatā enlighten itself? Clearly not.

Since manas still exists within this gap after death, and the seventh and eighth consciousnesses coexist—inseparable from one another—could enlightenment occur at this time? Even if it were possible, it would be manas alone realizing it. Without the support of the sixth consciousness (mano-vijñāna), without the sixth consciousness guiding manas to recognize this as tathatā, would manas alone possess the wisdom to recognize tathatā? Obviously not. Otherwise, the probability of sentient beings attaining enlightenment after death would be exceedingly high, and many would eagerly anticipate early death to attain sainthood. Based on the above analysis, whether this person is enlightened or not—you may judge for yourself. I need not spell it out explicitly.