"His vision-as well as perhaps he himself- has changed" (Herrigel). This realization is called satori. "Satori is a sort of loner perception-not the perception, indeed, of a single individual object but the perception of Reality itself, so to speak" (Herrigel).
Niki goes through all of these stages throughout the novel as he eventually obtains satori. As the novel begins the reader meets Niki Jumpei, a school teacher on a holiday searching for a sand beetle to discover so his name will be put into an illustrated encyclopedia so that he might be remembered forever (Abe 10). This belief goes against the teaching of the Tao as well as Niki's view of the world. To reach enlightenment one should see reality not as a fixed point but as all of reality. Niki "paid almost no attention to the distance landscape" (Abe 15). .
Niki begins this quest for enlightenment, however unwillingly, by the realization that the rope ladder leading out of the sand pit was gone. Thus, the question was posed to the pupil, Niki. His confidence is still high at this point, believing that his intelligence will solve the problem because he is smarter than the villagers that have imprisoned him with this Koan. "He felt that his own personal concept of sand had been defiled by her ignorance" (Abe 27). Niki ignores the woman for a feeling of superiority due to his inflated ego. This ego that makes Niki believe he can escape from the sand pit is the same blockade keeping him in the pit. In his arrogance he immediately begins to think of ways out of the hole, or rather, ways to solve the Koan. His thought process was too mathematical however, using knowledge rather than wisdom. Niki, just like the pupil in Herrigel's article, feels he can see the solution clearly as he reaches his first solution. "Suddenly his mind cleared and he saw everything They had taken away the rope ladder- very well, he would make a ladder of wood" (Abe 62).