The Impermanence of Worldly Dharmas Is Not Impelled.

Someone asked what causes and drives the impermanence of all dharmas. The impermanence of all dharmas in the mundane world is not caused by anyone, nor is it driven by anything; it is a phenomenon and fact that is naturally so (dharmatā). Because mundane dharmas are all dharmas that are not autonomous and not self-mastered; they are dharmas that are born. Where there is birth, there is naturally cessation; there is the process of arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing. They do not arise without ceasing, therefore mundane dharmas are impermanent. Furthermore, because mundane dharmas are born due to various causes and conditions, if the causes and conditions change, mundane dharmas change accordingly, therefore mundane dharmas are subject to transformation. "Not autonomous" means unable to self-master, unable to self-control. "Not self-mastered" means unable to decide one's own existence or non-existence, unable to decide one's own birth and abiding. Therefore there is transformation and there is destruction. Not being autonomous and not being self-mastered determines that all dharmas are necessarily impermanent. Only what can be autonomous and self-mastered can endure eternally. The impermanence of all dharmas is not caused or driven by external forces, but is determined and manifested by the nature of the dharmas themselves.

Impermanence is a definition and supplementary explanation of all dharmas in the world. It is a qualitative and general descriptive term. It is not a really existing dharma, nor is it an entity composed of the actual four great seeds and seven great seeds. It is a provisional dharma. Therefore, one cannot say what causes impermanence or what drives impermanence; rather, one should ask why all dharmas are impermanent.

Why are all dharmas impermanent? Because they are dharmas born due to various causes and conditions. Where there is birth, there must be cessation; arising and ceasing are not different. They are uncertain and not eternal. They cannot master themselves, cannot control themselves, and cannot be their own masters. Therefore they are impermanent. There is no dharma that drives impermanence. If there were, it would be that the manas of sentient beings has attachments, continuously grasping and rejecting, creating karma, and the mind is not tranquil. Then all dharmas would continuously arise and cease, changing and impermanent.

Impermanence is the result of all dharmas, not the cause. The cause is the unborn and unceasing true mind, the tathāgatagarbha, which can give rise to all dharmas. Because the tathāgatagarbha gives rise to all dharmas under various causes and conditions, all dharmas are impermanent and non-self. For example, if I use soybeans to make tofu, the food item of tofu is impermanent, without autonomy and without self-mastery. Because tofu is produced through the combination of various causes and conditions. Originally it did not exist; now it appears. After it appears, when the causes and conditions change, tofu undergoes changes, such as becoming moldy, weathering and drying out, or even being eaten. Therefore tofu is impermanent, and also non-self and without a master. Similarly, the tathāgatagarbha produces all dharmas through various causes and conditions. When causes and conditions change, dharmas must change. Dharmas that can change are impermanent.