SATORI, OR ACQUIRINGA NEW VIEWPOINT
textwithwhichyouareperfectlyfamiliarwhichfitlydescribes
theteachingofZen.DidnotConfuciusdeclare:'DoyouthinkIamhidingthingsfromyou,Omydisciples? Indeed,Ihave
nothingtohidefromyou.'"Kozankokutriedtoanswer, butKwaidoimmediatelycheckedhim bysaying,"No,no!"The
Confucian scholar felt troubled in mind but did not know
how toexpress himself. Some timelaterthey werehaving a
walkinthemountains;thewildlaurelwasinfullbloomandtheairwasredolentwithitsscent.AskedtheZenmaster,"Do
you smell it?" When the Confucian answered affirmatively,
Kwaidosaid,"There,Ihavenothingtohidefromyou."This
reminderat onceled Kozankoku'smind to theopeningofa
satori.Theseexampleswillsufficetoshowwhatsatoriisandhowit
unfoldsitself.Thereadermayask,however:"Aftertheperusalof
allyourexplanationsorindications,wearenotawhitwiser.
Canyounotdefinitelydescribethecontentofsatori,ifthereis
any?Yourexamplesandstatementsaretentativeenough,butwesimply knowhow theVkdndblow^;whereis theportthe
boatfinallymakesfor?"TothistheZendevoteemayanswer:
Asfarascontentgoes,thereisnoneineithersatoriorZenthat
canbedescribedorpresentedordemonstratedforyourintellec-tualappreciation.ForZenhasnobusinesswithideas,andsatori
isasortofinnerperception—nottheperception,indeed,ofa
single individual object but the perception ofReality itself,
so tospeak. Theultimate destinationofsatoriis towards the
Self;ithasnootherendbuttobebackwdthinoneself.There-fore,saidJoshu,"Haveacupoftea."Therefore,saidNansen,
"Thisissuchagoodsickle,itcutssowell."Thisisthewaythe
Selffunctions,anditmustbecaught,ifatallcatchable,inthe
midstofitsfunctioning.
Assatoristrikesattheprimaryrootofexistence,itsattain-
mentgenerallymarksaturningpointinone'slife.Theattain-
ment,however,mustbethoroughgoingand clear-cut;aluke-warm satori, ifthereis sucha thing, isworsethannosatori.
Seethefollowingexamples:WhenRinzai(Lin-chi)wasmeeklysubmittingtothethirty
blowsofObaku(Huang-po),hepresentedapitiablesight,but
assoonashehadattainedsatorihewasquiteadifferentper-