How did the mountains, rivers, and land come into being?

Question: Are the mountains, rivers, and earth also produced through the combined functioning of the eight consciousnesses?

Answer: Before sentient beings are born, the mountains, rivers, and earth already exist. These are manifested collectively by the Tathāgatagarbha of sentient beings sharing collective karma, unrelated to the six consciousnesses. They are manifested by the Tathāgatagarbha based on the collective karma of sentient beings and in accordance with the karmic seeds of sentient beings within the three realms. They are also illusions conjured by the Tathāgatagarbha prompted by the ignorance and deluded thoughts of the mental faculty (manas). However, these manifestations are not entirely unrelated to the six consciousnesses, because the karmic actions created by the six consciousnesses are stored as seeds, leading to the subsequent birth of the retributive environment of mountains, rivers, and earth in future lives. The magnitude of the good and evil karma created by the six consciousnesses determines the changes that occur in the mountains, rivers, and earth after they come into being.