When Sense Objects Turn with the Mind, It Is Turning with the Manas

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

Answer: Because after the mind becomes focused on contemplating the Buddha-dharma, attention is no longer on the surrounding sense objects. The mind consciousness's focused contemplation of the Dharma gives the manas a further impression of the Buddha-dharma, and inner joy arises, so one looks at everything with delight—somewhat similar to a samādhi state of pure meditative concentration appearing. When the mind can transform objects and circumstances follow the mind, this is a temporary fruit appearing in the course of practice, not the final result. The final result is quite sublime. Without these stages of cultivating the path and the accumulation of such stages, no one should talk about what fruits they have attained—a plastic fruit is nothing to boast about.