Point Nemo (The Project MIND)

"To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be awakened by all things."
— Eihei Dōgen (1200–1253)

A blizzard was blowing heavy snow across the mountainous field and peaks, blanketing the world white. The contours of rugged peaks and forests became whiter, fuzzy and blurred.

An old monk in a gray robe was trudging through the snowfield, with each step making a crunching sound but unwavering. His old robes were fluttering with a cold blizzard, and his gray winter beanie was covered with gathering flakes. He walked with his fogged breath in the air. The puff of breath faded away soon along with the footprints he left all the way behind.

The sound of howling wind through the pine trees made him aware of the white boundless world but him.

The monk slowed his walk and stopped. Then he turned his head and looked back at the trail behind him. His trail was fuzzily covered with snow, as if he had started a first step in reverse.

He grinned softly, and said.

"My mind was just like my traces behind, covered with white snow and leaves nothing. Where am I?"

The snow answered, embracing him only with more snow.

He turned and walked further into the boundless white.