The pathless path

These days there is a lot of talk in spiritual circles about “mindfulness.” While fundamentally sound as a component of compassion, mindfulness tends to be more about behavior modification rather than enlightenment. By contrast, the Taoist notion of “mindlessness” (wu-wei) suggests that cognition itself can be an obstacle to true understanding. Using the model care/careful/careless/carefree, I offer the adjective “mindfree” as an alternative gesture of non-attachment. The “gateless gate” (as a complement to a “pathless path”) refers to a 13th century collection of zen koans, The Mumonkan. Photo: the east gate of Sanjusangendo, Kyoto, at sundown.