Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra, Volume 34 (4)

Original text: 此中且依至教量理。如世尊说诸行无常。又此诸行略有二种。一有情世间。二器世间。世尊依彼有情世间说如是言。苾刍当知。我以过人清净天眼。观诸有情死时生时广说乃至身坏已后当生善趣天世界中。由此法门显示世尊以净天眼现见。一切有情世间是无常性。

Explanation: The contemplation of the truth of suffering must rely on the principle of the authoritative teaching (āgama) spoken by the World-Honored One, such as the principle of the impermanence of all formations taught by the World-Honored One. The impermanence of all formations is itself suffering; contemplating the impermanence of all formations is contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) on the truth of suffering and the truth of the arising of suffering. The Buddha said that the formations in the impermanence of all formations are of roughly two kinds: one is the sentient-being world (the world of sentient beings), and the second is the material (insentient) world. The Buddha said: "I, with a pure divine eye surpassing that of humans, observe sentient beings at the time of death and at the time of birth, and extensively teach that after the body breaks up they will be reborn in favorable destinies and heavenly worlds." By means of this teaching, it is shown that the World-Honored One, with the pure divine eye, directly perceives that the entire world of sentient beings is impermanent in nature.

From this passage onward, the World-Honored One specifically expounds the impermanence of all formations. "Formations" refers to dharmas that have arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing; whatever can arise, abide, change, and cease is a formation. All formations are called "all formations," and all formations are impermanent, because they exhibit the phenomena of arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing. The World-Honored One sees all these phenomena with His pure divine eye. Whenever the Buddha sees any dharma—whether worldly or supramundane, all dharmas are directly perceived; there is no inference or deliberation that is not directly perceived, nor any erroneous conjecture, because His wisdom is ultimately perfect. Sentient beings see dharmas in three ways: direct perception, inference, and erroneous cognition. The Buddha relies entirely on direct perception, whereas sentient beings are not like this. For the impermanence of the material world, one may refer to the arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing of the material world as described in the Qi Shi Yin Yuan Jing (Sūtra on the Causes and Conditions of the World's Arising) within the Dīrgha Āgama.