Satori as the Raison d'Être of Zen

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Satori is the raison d'être of Zen, without which Zen is not Zen. All the intellectual content of Zen, if there is any, comes from satori. Without satori there is no Zen, for the life of Zen begins with the opening of satori. It is the sudden flashing into consciousness of a new truth hitherto undreamed of. It is a sort of mental catastrophe taking place all at once, after much piling up of matters intellectual and demonstrative. The piling has reached a limit and the whole edifice has come tumbling to the ground, when behold, a new heaven is open to your full survey.

license: fair_use

Attribution

• Attributed To
  D.T. Suzuki

Lineage: Rinzai

By D.T. Suzuki

• Before and After Zenproverb
• God of Zenproverb
• Unless It Grows Out of Yourselfproverb
• On the Essence of Zensaying

From Essays in Zen Buddhism

• Before and After Zen
• Unless It Grows Out of Yourself
• On the Essence of Zen

Sources

• contentWikisource — English-language free library

  Essays in Zen Buddhism, First Series, on satori

  Essays in Zen Buddhism: Satori as the Raison d'Être of Zen