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 I, 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, supramundane” 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 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 (supramundane right view)