Yogācārabhūmi Śāstra, Volume 10: Explanation of the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination (1)

Original text:欲爱云何。谓欲界诸行为缘所生。于欲界行染污希求。由此能生欲界苦果。色爱云何。谓色界诸行为缘所生。于色界行染污希求。由此能生色界苦果。无色爱云何。谓无色界诸行为缘所生。于无色界行染污希求。由此能生无色界苦果。

Explanation: What is desire-craving? Desire-craving is the craving-attachment born conditioned upon all the volitional formations of the desire realm — the aggregate of form, feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness of the desire realm — the defiled longing, pursuit, thoughts, and wishes engaged in within the desire realm; from these longings and craving-attachments, the suffering-fruit of the desire realm can be born. What is craving for the form realm? Craving for the form realm is the craving-attachment born conditioned upon all the volitional formations of the form realm — the aggregate of form, feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness of the form realm — the defiled longings and wishes engaged in within the form realm; from these defiled longings, the suffering-fruit of the form realm can be born. What is craving for the formless realm? Craving for the formless realm is the craving-attachment born conditioned upon all the volitional formations of the formless realm — the aggregates of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness of the formless realm — the defiled longings and wishes engaged in within the formless realm; from these, the suffering-fruit of the formless realm can be born.

The volitional formations of the desire realm include all life activities within the desire realm, all the conditioning activities of the five aggregates, the contact arising from the conjunction of the faculties, sense objects, and consciousnesses, as well as feeling, perception, and volition, and the defiled mental activities such as greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance, doubt, and wrong views (mithyā-dṛṣṭi) that arise when the six consciousnesses perceive all dharmas. Defilement refers to the mind being impure, not tranquil, not relinquishing, having seeking and grasping, having self and what belongs to self, and so forth. Because sentient beings' minds constantly dwell in pits of defilement, and the defilement is so severe that they have become accustomed to it, it is very difficult for them to introspect and see the defilement of their own minds; they also do not know the boundary and standard between defilement and purity, believing that all their mental activities are normal, only natural, and just the way things are. Therefore, it is very difficult for sentient beings' practice to get on the right track. The path of cultivation and realization is indeed long and arduous; to be utterly transformed and to realize the first fruit (srotāpanna) or the direction toward the first fruit is by no means an easy matter.

The form realm and the formless realm have the four dhyānas and eight meditative absorptions (samādhi); why is there still longing, still defilement, still defiled activities? Those of the first and second fruits do not have the four dhyānas and eight absorptions; those who have attained the four dhyānas and eight absorptions are already of the third and fourth fruits. The four dhyānas and eight absorptions of ordinary sentient beings can only suppress and subdue afflictions, not eradicate them; they have not eradicated the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), and due to ignorance and the view of self, they have various kinds of inappropriate attention and defiled longings. For example, taking the physical body as self and longing for it never to perish; taking feeling as self and craving the bliss of meditative concentration; taking consciousness as self and dwelling in the realm of the aggregate of perception, and so on. The volitional formations of the form realm include feeling born from eye-contact, feeling born from ear-contact, feeling born from body-contact, and feeling born from mind-contact; afterwards, craving for the form realm arises, and there are defiled longings. The volitional formations of the formless realm consist only of feeling born from mind-contact; being attached to the states of meditative concentration, there are defiled longings.

By the same reasoning, the devas of the form realm and the formless realm have defiled longings and defiled activities; apart from anāgāmins of the third fruit and arhats of the fourth fruit, all other devas have defilements to varying degrees. Those of the first fruit, srotāpanna, and the second fruit, sakṛdāgāmin, do not have the dhyāna of the first dhyāna; if they are reborn in the heavens at the end of life, they can only go to the desire-realm heavens, not to the form-realm or formless-realm heavens. Those of the third fruit have meditative concentration at the level of the first dhyāna or above, and at the end of life they will be reborn among the five Pure Abodes (the five non-returner heavens); some will become fourth-fruit arhats in the antarā-bhava and enter nirvāṇa without remainder; fourth-fruit arhats who do not turn their minds toward the Great Vehicle directly enter nirvāṇa without remainder.

Therefore, the devas of the form-realm and formless-realm heavens are almost all ordinary beings possessing the four dhyānas and eight absorptions. Ordinary beings have not eradicated the view of self, and thus have not eradicated afflictions; relying on meditative concentration, they can only subdue the relatively coarse (dausthulya) afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion. Because ordinary devas have not eradicated the view of self, they take some dharma, multiple dharmas, or all dharmas among the five aggregates and eighteen realms as self, and grasp (upādāna) them; they almost always have defiled mental activities and inclinations, and almost always have defiled longings and wishes. For example, longing for eternal youth without aging, longing for immortality, craving the bliss of meditative concentration and the blessings of samādhi — these longings are desires and defilements, they are the karma of birth-and-death in saṃsāra, capable of summoning the suffering of birth and death, never escaping the cycle of rebirth. What suffering is there in the form realm and formless realm? Arising, ceasing, change, and mutation are suffering; death is suffering; knowing that after death there is still rebirth is suffering; knowing that after death one may take rebirth in the three evil destinies to receive retribution is suffering; that life cannot exist forever is suffering; that the body cannot remain eternally young without aging is suffering.