Sincere Heart, Blazing Furnace.

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I was talking with some of the sangha after evening practice last night, and we were all still basking in the glow of last weekends sesshin which as you may be able to deduce from this pic happened in our family's living room this time around - but that's another story...

There is something both utterly mysterious and radically dependable in the practice of sesshin, and the rhythm of joining sesshin, re-emerging into the karmic unfoldings of my life's many up's and down's and then plunging back into sesshin again over and over has in many ways been the root of my spiritual path.

At once, it is the place of ease and repose, and it is a intentional holding oneself in what truly is the furnace of deep practice - melting us down over and over as David Sensei so perfectly put it.

But any form, any way of practice is no guarantee of anything in and of itself - not even my beloved sesshin retreats.

The whole thing, it seems to me, turns (or doesn't) on one's sincerity.

The Japanese word I learned from the practice of Aikido for this is"Makoto" and the meanings are subtle and deep, but the thrust is radical authenticity with clear intention, and for me without this heart, neither the joyful ease nor the melting furnace can really arise.  Now, I'm no fan of unnecessarily using a lot of unfamiliar words, but this particular "Makoto" shoe fits so well I like to wear it.

When I meet a practitioner with this kind of heart, it is nothing short of inspirational, regardless of whether they have had many years of training, or if it's their first time on the cushion.

And there is something very real to be said for an authentically mature practice, with both the makoto heart and the power of many years of refinement and depth.

And so we have teachers, and thus we have Sangha and further we have the many forms of practice and even this great universe itself all ganging up to help us wake up - even if they or we know nothing about it.

But at sesshin, we have a real chance, a true opportunity to find out for ourselves.

And for all of this, I am just so, so grateful.

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