When we clear the mind of obstacles, we gain a special skill in developing mental stillness and samadhi. Mindfulness is the gatekeeper enabling the burning away of the defilements. There in the clear, stilled, stabilized mind of unfabricated, primordial purity, the factors of awakening arise. No where else in the world but within this seclusion of mind can we find our true home and realize our Buddha nature. A talk given on a retreat at Insight Meditation Society, Barre, MA., USA, March, 2016