Stream entry (Nirvana-dhatu, literally “the Place of Extinction”) is the experience of reaching a certain threshold of insight into the nature of mind and reality that revolutionizes the contemplative life. It is a non-conceptual, nonverbal, direct experience of the selfless and impermanent nature of phenomena, accompanied by a sense of profound ease. Stream entry is the realization that all experience – in the past, present and future – is dependent, contingent and impermanent. It is the gateway to profound Buddhist insight and pathways to liberation.

See also: cessation experience, insight meditation, dependent origination, noble truth, awakening