What is satori?
Human cognition objectifies what is real, making people ignorant of what is actually real, itself. It creates the illusion of subject and object. So satori is when cognitive functions stop completely (temporarily), and what is actually real meow reveals itself clearly.
I write about satori knowing that you will try to imagine what it is based on what you read, and it might even lead you to contemplate. But I decided to write anyway because I also used to misunderstand satori, and there are many different understandings out there about what satori (enlightenment) is. I want you to know that I am talking about the same satori as Zen Master Dogen’s “forget the self” = cessation of cognition = the real thing itself. If you know this, you do not need to spend time on unnecessary efforts that come from misunderstanding what satori is.
The sooner you understand that satori is not an intellectual understanding or conviction that develops as a result of contemplation, the sooner your zazen will be real zazen, and the sooner you can enlighten. Also, if this is not what you are interested in, then you will not waste your time with me hoping to attain something else.
Sometimes people come to me thinking that satori is the cessation of thoughts. Satori is not the cessation of thoughts, and it is not a state of no thinking.
Satori is when cognition stops completely and what is real reveals itself to become clear as it actually is, itself. For what is real to be clear as itself as itself, cognition must completely stop momentarily. If cognition does not stop completely, the sense of separation and the reasons for pursuing Truth though mental processes continue, as I explained in the previous section on Delusion. Without a complete stop to cognition, people cannot help but think that they exist over here and “the real thing” exists over there, and mistake what they think to be true for what is real itself.
Of course, when cognition completely stops, we are not cognizant that it has stopped. It is also impossible to remember anything about how it was when it was stopped, even after it resumes functioning again. (Zen Master Dogen writes about the cessation of cognition at the beginning of Genjo Koan saying, “When the myriad things are without self, there is no delusion, no enlightenment, no Buddhas, no ordinary beings, no birth, no extinction.”
When cognition completely ceases, what is real makes itself clear, as itself. For example, clack. Clack reveals itself and it is clear that clack is clack itself. It becomes clear that it is only clack, and therefore it also becomes clear what “no-self” is, and what “no separation” actually is. Only afterwards is it understood that clack was the sound of a rock hitting bamboo.
Zen Master Kyogen Chikan’s satori was clack. He wrote a poem about it in which he said, “With one strike, all knowledge was forgotten.” He had been sweeping the garden when his broom swept up a rock, which then flew and hit a bamboo tree. When there was clack (sound of the rock hitting bamboo), there was no separation of self and clack, but only clack (“one strike”), as he expressed in his poem.
In explaining satori, there is always mention of the real thing itself, like clack. For Zen Master Dogen, it was whack. When Dogen was sitting in zazen under Zen Master Tendo Nyojo’s instruction, the novice sitting beside him was falling asleep. When Tendo Nyojo saw this, he took his straw sandal and hit the novice’s shoulder, making the sound, whack! Dogen’s enlightenment was whack.
The Buddha’s satori was shining (the shine of the morning star); for Reiun Shikin, it was a peach blossom; for Unmon Bun’en it was pain (his leg was broken when caught in a slamming door); for Mumon Ekai, it was boom! (a large drum sound). So, if you want to confirm if someone is really enlightened or not, you can ask the content of the person’s enlightenment.
Satori makes it clear that there is only what is real itself now (without self), so when Zen masters teach, they can only point out what is real. This is why Gutei Isshi always raised one finger as an answer to any question anyone would ask. Rinzai Giden shouted “kaatz!” There is only what is actually real now, so all that can be done is to point out what is real. It is impossible to convey Truth by explaining with concepts.
Before there is a complete stop to cognition, people think “I am over here and the sound clack happened over there.” But that’s concept. Once cognition stops, it becomes clear that in actual fact, it is only clack and there was never a self to see or be aware of clack.
This means there is no need to try to get rid of one’s self. Satori is clack. There is no sense of “I enlightened.” There is no “me” to decide that there was only clack. If there is a sense of existing and seeing/hearing clack, doubts will arise later. But with satori, there is no self, so there is no room for doubt about the absoluteness of clack. There is no questioning such as, “was it really only clack?”
With satori, there is no witnessing self. So the following are not descriptions of satori:
- “I disappeared”
- “The self fell away”
- “Insight showed me all is empty”
- “Truth revealed itself to me”
- “I became one with the universe”
- “There was only emptiness”
If such thoughts occur, it means cognition did not stop completely. Such thoughts are only possible when there is a thought or sense of being/existing.
No matter how incredible the experience, if cognition does not cease completely, cognition creates a sense of continuation of events, so the search for what is real does not end. With satori, cognition ceases completely. It does start up again, after what is real has made itself clear. If cognition did not resume, people would not be able to live regular lives.
Satori makes it clear that there is only what is actually real now (when facing forward, it’s the actual way it is facing forward). There is no room for doubt, so after satori, there is no need for “post-satori practice,” or continued spiritual training. There is no depth to satori, so there is no deepening of enlightenment. Enlightenment does not sink in over time. There is no disappearance of satori or return to an unenlightened state.
In my case, when what is actually real revealed itself with tick (sound of the second hand of a clock), my pursuit of Truth, satori, no self, what I am, etc was instantly resolved. Also, nothing was attained or gained with satori, so there is nothing that can be taken away, and no conviction to be shaken. ●▲■
When what is called satori happened, it was unlike anything I had known before. It was completely different from anything I had imagined when reading Mou Mayou Koto ha Nai and Gen Ni Bi. Because it is like nothing ever experienced before, when satori happens, you know it is clear beyond doubt.
Some people ask what is good about satori. Sometimes I say maybe it’s nice because there is no longer any need for a good state of mind. When I first started zazen, I was wanting to find a lasting sense of security, as opposed to the anxiety I often felt. But now there is no need for some certain, good, lasting state. Meow
