It is easy to imagine this mind through analogy. But it takes personal experience, in fact enlightenment, to truly understand it. In truth, there is no mind and there are no obstructions. Furthermore, you cannot have one without the other. If there is no mind, there will be no obstructions; and if there are no obstructions, there can be no mind.

Contemplation of Obstructions

As ordinary practitioners, we can only contemplate the mind with obstructions, since any thought associated with a self, or any attachment, or any vexation, is an obstruction. Whatever you cannot let go of is an obstruction to wisdom, the awakening of bodhi. The Chinese word for ‘obsturction’ also has the connotation of ‘illness.’ A mind that abides has many attachments and afflictions, and fundamentally cannot be at ease. As an analogy, when the body is healthy and working smoothly, most people are unaware of it. Only when the body aches or ails does one usually become aware of it. The same is true for the mind, but even more so. We are always involved with, or are at odds with, one thing or another, and never fully at ease. But when all attachments depart, we call that the mind without obstrucion.