The Power of Attention

To purify the mind doesn't mean that you become holy or other than you are. It means to strip away that which keeps a person or a furnace from functioning best. The furnace functions best with hard coal, but unfortunately what we are full of is soft coal. To sit through sashin is to be in the middle of a refining fire. Ado Roshi said once, this Zendo is not a peaceful haven, but a furnace room for the combustion of our egoistic delusions.