The Impermanence of All Conditioned Things

We need to constantly practise the seal of “All conditioned things are impermanent”, which is an essential stage to study and practice the middle way and realize emptiness. Many people talk about emptiness and study emptiness, but can’t realize emptiness, because they haven’t truly meditated on impermanence and haven’t truly begun to practice. Truly meditating on impermanence is totally different from simply understanding its principles. When something undergoes quantitative change, the gross impermanence of its continuum doesn’t look obvious, but the subtle impermanence of its continuum is pretty evident, so ordinary people mistakenly believe that it’s permanent and unchanging. When something undergoes a qualitative change from quantitative change, the gross impermanence of its continuum becomes very apparent, so ordinary people believe that it has disappeared or transformed into something else. All phenomena in the world of sentient beings and the material world throughout the ten directions and three time periods are dependent arising and momentary. Based on dependent arising, we can gain insight into all phenomena in the universe, which are all conditioned things that arise from causes and conditions, arising and passing away in a moment. This is true for all things in the universe. In the interaction of causes and conditions, our thoughts are changing and flowing continuously. In reality, the entire universe is in a continuous cycle of day and night, fullness and emptiness, and arising and passing away. Conditioned things "can’t be grasped", which can be observed in two steps: First, observe the conditioned things in a single moment. Because conditioned things are momentary in nature, they arise and cease in a moment, making it impossible for us to grasp them even if we make every effort to do so. It’s like when you try to grasp something appearing in empty space, it disappears before you can even hold onto it. You can’t hold onto it even if you try. In the end, you are toiling in vain. This is observing that we can’t grasp anything in a single moment. Second, observe in the countless moments of the past, present, and future. Since we can’t grasp or seize even a single moment, then countless moments put together can’t be grasped or seized either. Realizing this, we can let go of our attachment to conditioned things. Understanding subtle impermanence is a crucial preliminary practice that allows us to renounce the world, follow the path of liberation, realize non-arising, and ultimately return to our true nature. With a firm understanding of subtle impermanence, we can shatter the illusory pursuit of all worldly things. For this reason, the Sutra says that meditating on impermanence is like a sharp sword, which can destroy all afflictions and negative actions at once, eliminate all desires, ignorance, and arrogance in the three realms, and is the gateway to all kinds of wonderful achievements.