Satori
Satori [ satoɽi ] ( Japanese 悟 り , literally: "understanding") describes the experience of enlightenment in Zen Buddhism .
Satori as an experience
Satori is the knowledge of the universal essence of existence, which is also called the primordial reason or Buddha- nature. It is the main theme of Zen Buddhism and can only be understood through personal experience. Even if, according to the prevailing doctrine of today, satori occurs suddenly and unexpectedly, the satori event is generally preceded by years of preparatory practice, mostly through zazen . According to some doctrines, satori is also equated with zazen (see #Ways to Satori below ). In the 7th century, the so-called “northern school” of Shenxius (606? –706), which could not prevail in this dispute, propagated a different view than the sudden satori taught by Huineng's “southern school” . However, different levels of enlightenment are often noted to this day.
In Zen, satori is conceptually explained as a consciousness that is not restricted by the intervention of the discriminating intellect or limited in its range of vision. Meditative experiences that come close to the satori and have been described by meditators tend to be experiences of delimitation, such as the beginning of liberation from the ego or from time. People who experience Satori speak of a positive "feeling of emptiness", of "unconditional happiness" and similar holistic experiences. The satori experience can thus be substantiated both specifically and metaphysically .
Satori is often described as a temporary state, but in the Pali canon it is stated as a basic state that is only obscured by "defilements of the mind" (Kilesa). The concept of nirvana , which is better known in the West , has occasionally been described as a counter-state to satori. The Pali word nibbana, which means "emptiness" or "absence of anything", was spread from there after its translation into Thai, where it simply means "coolness" or "absence of heat" in the sense of serenity. It was translated from Thai into English and from English into French, German, etc., and in many places incorrectly and distorting the meaning declared as “nothing” or “nothing”. In fact, even in profane language, Nibbana simply denotes the absence of something specific as emptiness. In the satori, emptiness refers to the absence of the discriminating intellect.
Sometimes the term Kenshō is understood synonymously or as "little satori".
Paths to the satori
The two main branches of Zen Buddhism each favor different approaches to achieving satori. Followers of the Sōtō school , whose most famous representative is Zen master Dōgen Kigen (1200-1253), practically equate zazen and satori. In the Rinzai school , achieving the satori is practiced through the meditation of paradoxical tenets ( kōans ).
Accordingly, Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki describes two ways to the satori:
- the immersion in zazen, whereby the mind is gradually freed from disturbing thoughts, sensations and emotions.
- the induction of a great mental crisis through preoccupation with kōans, from which the mind frees itself with a leap to satori.
literature
- Master Dōgen: Shobogenzo. The treasure trove of the true Dharma eye. 4 volumes. Kristkeitz, Heidelberg-Leimen 2001, ISBN 3-921508-90-8 .
- Master Rinzai: Rinzai Roku. Edited and translated into German by Sotetsu-Yuzen: The Zen of Master Rinzai . Kristkeitz, Heidelberg-Leimen 1995, ISBN 978-3-921508-39-8 .
- Huang-po: Mind is Buddha. Frankfurt 2015. ISBN 9783943839289 .
- Suzuki, DT: Mysticism, Christian and Buddhist. Greenwood Press, Westport 1975, ISBN 0-8371-8516-5 ; German translation by Lieselotte and Walter Hilsbecher: The western and the eastern way. Ullstein Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, 1995 ISBN 3-548-35505-6
- Fromm, Erich, DT Suzuki and Richard de Martino: Zen Buddhism and Psychoanalysis . 1st edition 1972, edition 2002 ISBN 3-518-36537-1
- Kwon, Jae-hwa: Zen art of self-defense. Otto Wilhelm Barth Verlag 1971, ISBN 3-870-41251-8