CHAPTER IV - THE SATORI EXPERIENCE
[...] The element in Zen that has
achieved such an important influence in the molding of Japanese life is
what is known as "satori". Satori constitutes the essence of Zen, for
where there is no satori there cannot be any form of Zen. Zen resolves
around this axial experience.
What then is the satori-experience which has such a weight significance in Zen and char...acterized
the whole trend of Japanese culture? Satori is generally translated as
"enlightenment" but "awakening" may be a better term. It is both noetic
and affective. It is in fact to make an opening to our most fundamental
mental activity -the activity which has not yet differentiated itself
into anything to be definitively called this or that. When satori is
experienced, something far more basic than either intellect or feeling
is brought forward into the field of consciousness, though not in its
relative sense. The psychologist has not yet given it any specific name,
for this event transcends the psychology whose study does not go beyond
what can be intellectually handled or scientifically measured. If I say
that satori is the awakening of consciousness from the darkness of
blind strivings, the psychologist will not understand it.
But as long as satori explores and reveals the deepest and darkest recesses of consciousness which have hitherto escaped our ordinary inspections or introspections, it is "enlightenment". The reason why "awakening" is more appropriate than "enlightenment" to describe the nature of satori-experience, is that while enlightenment is a static state of consciousness, awakening is a process which instantly brightens up the field of consciousness like a flash or lightning, though this does not mean that the consciousness thus once illuminated goes back to its former drabness. If this is the case it will be like the door which closes as soon as it opens. The satori-experience is not of this kind. The door once opened remains open. The vista revealed to the person will not vanish away. But as it does not belong in the category of relativity, it is not at all communicable in any ordinary logical way.
In this connection, Sir Charles quotes William James: "This incommunicableness of the transport is the keynote of all mysticism". Satori is no doubt incommunicable, but it is not any sort of transport. If it is, it will be a mere psychological phenomenon and cannot have any deeper import. But it really is what stands at the basis of every philosophical system. It thus has a metaphysical connotation. "Satoru", which is the verbal form of "satori", is synonymous with "sameru", which means "to wake" from sleep or torpor. Satori in this sense is the act of awakening itself and not the state of consciousness satori makes one acquainted with. As to incommunicableness, nothing that enters into the very constitution of our being can be transmitted to others -which means that what is at all communicable is the result of intellection or conceptualization. We humans all aspire perfect communication, but every form of communication implies some kind of medium. And as soon as we appeal to a medium the original experience is lost or at least loses its personal value. The retention of this value, which makes up the reality or vitality or intimacy of the experience, is possible only where the recipient himself has the same experience. In fact, whatever communication at all effective takes place only between minds that share the same experience. Love is possible only among those who already have the sense for romance. Satori is not a feeling, but it has the quality of incommunicableness in the sense that where there is no mentality there is no understanding. Sir Charles is right when he goes on to say: "One gathers that satori is not a mystery or secret or anything intellectual which can be imparted. It is a new view of life and of the universe which must be felt" [...]
But as long as satori explores and reveals the deepest and darkest recesses of consciousness which have hitherto escaped our ordinary inspections or introspections, it is "enlightenment". The reason why "awakening" is more appropriate than "enlightenment" to describe the nature of satori-experience, is that while enlightenment is a static state of consciousness, awakening is a process which instantly brightens up the field of consciousness like a flash or lightning, though this does not mean that the consciousness thus once illuminated goes back to its former drabness. If this is the case it will be like the door which closes as soon as it opens. The satori-experience is not of this kind. The door once opened remains open. The vista revealed to the person will not vanish away. But as it does not belong in the category of relativity, it is not at all communicable in any ordinary logical way.
In this connection, Sir Charles quotes William James: "This incommunicableness of the transport is the keynote of all mysticism". Satori is no doubt incommunicable, but it is not any sort of transport. If it is, it will be a mere psychological phenomenon and cannot have any deeper import. But it really is what stands at the basis of every philosophical system. It thus has a metaphysical connotation. "Satoru", which is the verbal form of "satori", is synonymous with "sameru", which means "to wake" from sleep or torpor. Satori in this sense is the act of awakening itself and not the state of consciousness satori makes one acquainted with. As to incommunicableness, nothing that enters into the very constitution of our being can be transmitted to others -which means that what is at all communicable is the result of intellection or conceptualization. We humans all aspire perfect communication, but every form of communication implies some kind of medium. And as soon as we appeal to a medium the original experience is lost or at least loses its personal value. The retention of this value, which makes up the reality or vitality or intimacy of the experience, is possible only where the recipient himself has the same experience. In fact, whatever communication at all effective takes place only between minds that share the same experience. Love is possible only among those who already have the sense for romance. Satori is not a feeling, but it has the quality of incommunicableness in the sense that where there is no mentality there is no understanding. Sir Charles is right when he goes on to say: "One gathers that satori is not a mystery or secret or anything intellectual which can be imparted. It is a new view of life and of the universe which must be felt" [...]
[from the book ZEN AND JAPANESE BUDDHISM by Daisetz T Suzuki]
