Vipassana

What is Lhaktong (ལྷག་མཐོང་།)? Lhaktong, or Vipassanā, is the wisdom that clearly sees the nature of phenomena.

As Je Tsongkhapa explains in the Lamrim Chenmo (Great Treaties on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment), Lhaktong is a wisdom that analyses reality and sees things as they truly are. In other words, Lhaktong is the wisdom that sees emptiness, selflessness, and impermanence.

In this session of Lhaktong meditation, we are not simply calming the mind but directly observing how thoughts arise, change, and disappear in the mind. Through this, we begin to develop the wisdom that recognises the impermanent nature of our thoughts and mental states.

Before cultivating Lhaktong, a foundation of calm-abiding meditation is needed. As Shantideva writes in the Bodhicharyavatara (Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life), “Vipassanā possessed of Shamatha removes the afflictive emotions. Knowing this, one should search for Shamatha at the outset.”

The reason is that a stable, focused mind allows us to observe clearly. Without mental stability, our mental analysis becomes scattered and distracted, and such a mind cannot see things on a deeper level.

Therefore, we first develop Shamatha, the mental stability, and then use that mental stability to investigate the nature of reality.