The Realm Transforms with the Mind, i.e., the Manas

Question: Once, while I was driving, I was contemplating. At first my thinking was rather scattered, but suddenly I felt that all distracting thoughts had vanished, and the surrounding environment seemed especially unfamiliar—as if I could no longer recognize the road. Everything I saw felt fresh, and even the air felt especially clean and fresh. Then I got lost, even though I was actually very familiar with that road. Why did I have this kind of experience?

Answer: Because after the mind focused on contemplating the Buddha-dharma, attention was no longer on the surrounding sense objects. The mind consciousness's focused contemplation gave the manas a further impression of the Buddha-dharma, and inner joy arose, so everything looked pleasant. This is somewhat similar to a samādhi state of pure meditative concentration appearing. When the mind can transform objects, the environment changes along with the mind—this is a temporary result appearing in the course of cultivation, not the final result. The final result is quite sublime. Without these processes of cultivating the path and the accumulation of such processes, no one should talk about what fruits they have attained—a plastic fruit is nothing to boast about.