When we start the spiritual journey we see that our mind is filled with unskillful habits of thought, colored by attachment, aversion and confusion. The Buddha described the process of purification that enables us to purify and transform first our outward conduct, then our thoughts and finally our subtle spiritual aspirations. This purification process leads ultimately to full awakening. The talk includes the Buddha's teaching of how this process works through the simile of the "Refinement of Mind."