Recognising the Nature of a Thought

„When we look into the nature of thoughts, we see the union of luminosity and emptiness; in that way, thoughts are seen to be of the very nature of wisdom. (…) It is an emptiness that cannot be identified as this or that. Its nature cannot be fixed as this or that. The thought is vivid and clear, and the clarity of the thought is inseparable from its emptiness. (…) When this thought arises without any obstruction and the meditator does not become attached to it, that’s shamata. When the meditator sees that this thought has no nature of its own, that’s vipashyana. To accomplish the meditation fully, shamata and vipashyana must be completely integrated.“
Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, Essentials of Mahamudra – Looking Directly at the Mind, p. 159

Image: Gladiator at Schloss Charlottenburg, Berlin, 3/2017 GB