Knowledge and Vision of Things as They Really Are

The Phase of Insight in the Gradual Training

In the Tathagata’s teaching, the path to awakening unfolds step by step through what is called the gradual training (anupubbasikkhā). After cultivating moral discipline, restraint, mindfulness, and deep concentration, the disciple's mind becomes “purified, bright, unblemished, free of defilements, malleable, wieldy, steady, and imperturbable” (MN 27). At that point, the mind is ready to incline toward direct knowledge and vision of things as they really are (yathābhūtañāṇadassana).

This marks a pivotal transition in practice: from the calm stability of concentration (samādhi) into the penetrating clarity of wisdom (paññā).

What is “Knowledge and Vision of Things as They Really Are”?

In MN 27 (The Shorter Discourse on the Simile of the Elephant’s Footprint), the Tathagata describes how the disciple directs the concentrated mind:

In this way he develops knowledge and vision of things as they really are.

MN27

Thus, this phase is not about speculation or philosophy but direct seeing of phenomena in the light of the Four Noble Truths. The truths are not adopted as beliefs but discerned in lived experience.

The Core Practice: Seeing Impermanence, Suffering, and Not-self

The essence of this phase is to contemplate all conditioned phenomena as:

Impermanent (anicca): arising and passing away, unstable. Suffering (dukkha): unreliable, bound with stress. Not-self (anattā): not controllable, not who or what one is.

The Tathagata shows how impermanence naturally leads to the perception of suffering and, from there, to the perception of non-self. In SN 22.45 (Anicca Sutta):

Seeing thus, one becomes disenchanted … through dispassion, liberated.

SN22.45

And in SN 22.12:

With the perception of non-self, he becomes disenchanted. Through disenchantment, he becomes dispassionate. Through dispassion, his mind is liberated.

SN22.12

Thus, in this phase, the central practice is the steady contemplation of impermanence, suffering, and non-self in all phenomena that arise.

How the Practice Feels in Experience

For the disciple, this phase is not a matter of adopting views but of direct observation.

When a thought, feeling, or sensation arises, it is known: “This is impermanent.” When its instability is recognized, the stress bound up with it is felt: “This is suffering.” When its lack of ownership and control is realized, it is seen: “This is not mine, not me, not my self.”

Sometimes the mind lets go immediately. Other times it takes repeated observation for the insight to ripen. In both cases, the work of this phase is simply to keep seeing with clarity, again and again.

Why This Phase is Transitional

It is important to see that knowledge and vision of things as they really are is not yet the end of the path. It does not yet mean disenchantment (nibbidā) or liberation (vimutti). Instead, it is the indispensable pivot where the disciple begins to relate to experience in a radically new way: no longer by clinging, but by seeing.

From here, insight matures into disenchantment (the next phase of the gradual training), which naturally leads to dispassion and then liberation.

Summary

This phase arises when the concentrated mind is directed toward seeing reality. The core practice is to observe all experience through the lens of impermanence, suffering, and not-self.

Impermanence is often the most accessible doorway; it leads naturally to seeing suffering and non-self.

The mind’s release does not come by force but by the clear seeing that undermines clinging.

This “knowledge and vision of things as they really are” marks the transition from calm to wisdom, preparing the ground for full liberation.

Certainly, Henry! Here's a polished and structured article for your training manual, designed to clearly convey the depth and significance of “direct” and “irreversible” realization in the Dhamma:

Direct and Irreversible Realization in the Dhamma: Entering the Stream

Understanding the nature of realization is essential for any disciple on the path. In the Tathagata’s teachings, two qualities mark the true entry into the stream of the Dhamma: direct and irreversible. These terms distinguish profound insight from mere intellectual comprehension and define the transformation that occurs when a disciple truly sees the truth.

1. Direct Realization—Seeing the Truth for Oneself

In the early discourses, the Tathagata emphasizes that Right View becomes “noble, taintless, supra-mundane” only when the Four Noble Truths are not merely believed but directly seen.

In the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (SN 56.11), when Koṇḍañña attains the vision of the Dhamma, the text declares:

Whatever is subject to origination is all subject to cessation.”
“And as this was said, there arose in the Venerable Koṇḍañña the dust-free, stainless vision of the Dhamma.”

SN56.11

This moment marks the arising of the Dhamma-eye "dhammacakkhu", a form of direct knowledge that is independent of hearsay, memory, or logic. It is a personal, experiential realization of the impermanent nature of all conditioned phenomena.

The Tathagata often refers to this as “Dhamma seen with one’s own eyes,” a phrase that underscores the unshakable, experiential nature of true insight.

Irreversible Transformation—The Point of No Return

Once this direct seeing occurs, the disciple is said to have entered the stream (sotāpanna), initiating an irreversible shift in their relationship to delusion and wrong view.

And in the Sotāpanna Sutta, he elaborates:

The noble disciple who has seen the Dhamma … is no longer capable of doing six things:

taking another teacher, regarding anything as superior to the Buddha, or falling back to views that deny karma, rebirth, generosity, or the continuation of beings after death.

SN25.1

This is the essence of irreversibility: the vision of the Dhamma is so clear and deeply rooted that it cannot be undone. Just as one who has seen the sunrise cannot believe the world is forever dark, the disciple who has seen the truth cannot return to ignorance.

Though subtle defilements may remain, the foundational delusion has been permanently severed.

The Difference Between Conceptual and Direct Understanding

Many practitioners understand concepts like impermanence or not-self intellectually. However, until these truths are directly experienced in the stream of perception, they remain conceptual.

For example, one may believe “all things are impermanent,” yet still cling to them as if they were lasting. When the Dhamma-eye opens, perception itself changes; one sees that there is truly nothing to hold on to.

This marks the shift from conceptual understanding (mundane right view) to direct realization (supra-mundane right view)

Knowledge and Vision: For a Noble One

For a Noble One (specifically a stream-enterer or once-returner) who has already abandoned Identity View, the "Knowledge and Vision" phase following Right Concentration is not about finding the truth of non-self, but about direct, non-conceptual observation of the mechanics of the taints.

The practitioner has already seen the map (stream entry), but now they are looking at the actual terrain with a high-powered microscope (Right Concentration). They contemplate:

• The "Seepage" of the Taints: They observe how the Taint of Sensual Desire (kāmāsava) and the Taint of Existence (bhavāsava) actually "leak" or flow into the mind.

• They aren't looking to see if the aggregates are "self"—they already know they aren't. Instead, they are looking at the Nutriments (āhāra) that keep the process of becoming going.

The Direct Vision of Dependent Origination

While a Noble One has a "conceptual and intuitive" grasp of Dependent Origination, in this phase, they see it in real-time.

• They observe, "When this is, that is; with the arising of this, that arises."

• They specifically look at the link between Feeling (vedanā) and Craving (taṇhā). Even though they don't have Identity View, the mind still habitually reacts to pleasant feelings with a "pull" and unpleasant feelings with a "push."

• The Knowledge and Vision is the act of seeing that "pull" and "push" as impersonal "Dhammas" (mental qualities).

• The Review of the Factors (Paccavekkhaṇa)

The practitioner directs their vision back onto their own Seven Factors of Awakening and the Jhana factors.

• They look at the very "Joy" or "Equanimity" they are experiencing and see that even this is conditioned, constructed, and volitionally produced.

• This is the "Knowledge and Vision" of Cessation. They see that anything that has the nature to arise also has the nature to cease.

The Preparation for the Destruction of the Taints

For the Noble One, this phase is like a siege. They have surrounded the fortress of the taints with the "Army" of the Seven Factors.

• They use Knowledge and Vision to identify the "supply lines" of the taints.

• They see exactly how Ignorance (avijjāsava) subtly colors their perception of even the most refined meditative states.

The Difference in Experience

• For a worldling: Knowledge and Vision is a revelation (The "Aha!" moment where they realize: "Oh, I am not this body!").

• For a Noble One: Knowledge and Vision is surveillance. It is a cold, clinical observation of the remaining mental "leaks" (the taints) that haven't been plugged yet.

They are using the "immovable mind" of Right Concentration to watch the "movements" of the taints. This is why the discourses say they direct the mind to the "Destruction of the Taints" (āsavānaṃ khaya-ñāṇa). They are waiting for the moment when the taints, seen clearly with the eye of wisdom, simply wither away for lack of being ignored.