satori

plural satoris · alternative Satori

1. uncountableusuallyZen BuddhismA sudden inexpressible feeling of spiritual awakening or enlightenment, the result of meditation and study.

   It was as if [Neal] Cassady […] was in a state of satori, as totally into this very moment, Now, as a being can get.

   1968, Tom Wolfe, chapter VIII, in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →OCLC, page 102

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   [B]y his ſublime underſtanding and reputed great knovvledge in divine myſteries he obtain'd, and ſtill keeps, the name and repute of a Godo, that is, a perſon bleſs'd vvith a divine and moſt accute underſtanding, vvhom they ſuppoſe to be able to find out by his Satori, or Enthuſiaſtic Speculations, ſuch miſterious truths, as are far beyond the reach of common knovvledge.

   1727, Engelbertus Kæmpfer [i.e., Engelbert Kaempfer], “Of the Temples and Clergy of this City”, in J. G. Scheuchzer [i.e., Johann Caspar Scheuchzer], transl., The History of Japan, […], volume I, London: […] [F]or the translator, →OCLC, book IV (Of Nagasacki, […]), page 308

   He [Darma or Bodhidharma] lived only upon vegetables, and thought this to be the higheſt degree of Holineſs, to paſs days and nights in an uninterrupted Satori, that is, a contemplation of the Divine Being.

   1727, Engelbertus Kæmpfer [i.e., Engelbert Kaempfer], “[The Appendix […].] I. The Natural History of the Japanese Tea; with an Accurate Description of that Plant, Its Culture, Growth, Preparation, and Uses.”, in J. G. Scheuchzer [i.e., Johann Caspar Scheuchzer], transl., The History of Japan, […], volume II, London: […] [F]or the translator, →OCLC, § 2, page 3

   "Slim your hips the Zen way," Juliana said. "Lose pounds through painless satori. I'm sorry, Miss Davis. I'm woolgathering."

   1962, Philip K[indred] Dick, chapter 3, in The Man in the High Castle, 1st Mariner Books edition, New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, published 2011, →ISBN, page 31

   Zen teaches that we are all already enlightened, some of us simply don't choose to realize it. If we choose to embrace Satori, then we are enlightened.

   1999, Scott Shaw, “Mushin”, in Samurai Zen, Boston, Mass.: Weiser Books, →ISBN, page 142

   Satori and Zen seem to have such an intimate relationship in Japan that when somebody says "satori," everybody immediately associates it with Zen, and vice versa. […] For Shakyamuni, satori wasn't something peculiar only to himself. His was the satori of life inclusive of himself and all things. That is something that truly goes beyond the discrimination of our minds.

   2004, Kōshō Uchiyama, “The World of Intensive Practice”, in Daitsu Tom [Thomas] Wright, Jisho Warner, Shohaku Okumura, transl., Opening the Hand of Thought: Foundations of Zen Buddhist Practice, Somerville, Mass.: Wisdom Publications, →ISBN, page 68

2. figurativelyuncountableusuallyEnlightenment, epiphany.

   What happened to the Merry Band on its trip during the summer of 1964 ranged from the cosmically sublime to the ridiculous, from peak ecstasy to full-tilt satori. To say that they were merely high would do a disservice to how stoned they really were, […]

   2004, Martin Torgoff, “Everybody Must Get Stoned”, in Can’t Find My Way Home: America in the Great Stoned Age, 1945–2000, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 115

3. countableusuallybiochemistryA mutant gene of Drosophila, a genus of fruit flies, that causes homosexual behaviour in males (specifically, courtship directed to other males).

   In Drosophila the satori (sat) mutants of males do not court or copulate with females but have sexual interest in males.

   1998, George P. Rédei, “HOMOSEXUAL”, in Genetics Manual: Current Theory, Concepts, Terms, Singapore; River Edge, N.J.: World Scientific, published 1999, →ISBN, page 484

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   We have isolated a new Drosophila mutant, satori (sat), the males of which do not court or copulate with female flies. […] We have screened about 2000 fly lines with single P-element insertions for altered sexual behavior, yielding a mutant named satori (sat; nirvana in Japanese), the males of which do not court or copulate with females. Instead, sat males exhibit homosexual courtship.

   1996 September, Hiroki Ito, Daisuke Yamamoto [et al.], “Sexual Orientation in Drosophila is Altered by the Satori Mutation in the Sex-determination Gene Fruitless that Encodes a Zinc Finger Protein with a BTB Domain”, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, volume 93, number 18, Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences, →DOI, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, →PMID, archived from the original on 30 Sep 2024, page 9687, column 1

   [T]he primary site of action of the fru gene should be in the neural cells. satori,^([sic]) one of the P-insertion alleles of fru which we isolated, carried the lacZ gene of E. coli as a reporter, and β-galactosidase expression was found in a subset of brain cells including those in the antennal lobe in the satori mutant.

   1996 October, Daisuke Yamamoto, Hiroki Ito, Kazuko Fujitani, “Genetic Dissection of Sexual Orientation: Behavioral, Cellular, and Molecular Approaches in Drosophila melanogaster”, in Neuroscience Research: The Official Journal of the Japan Neuroscience Society, volume 26, number 2, Amsterdam: Elsevier Science, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, abstract, page 95

   Synonyms: sat

plural satoris

1. Japanesehuman sciencesA yokai (“supernatural monster”) having the form of a mind-reading monkey-like creature said to dwell in the mountains of the historical Japanese provinces of Hida and Mino (present-day Gifu Prefecture).

   The Satori appears in [Toriyama] Sekien's Konjyaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki as a hairy, ape-like, mountain-dwelling creature that can read people's minds[…].

   2010, Zilia Papp, “Art History Meets Gegegeno Kitaro”, in Anime and Its Roots in Early Japanese Monster Art, Folkstone, Kent: Global Oriental, →ISBN, page 112

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   Satori is a ghost that can read people's thoughts and haunts the mountains. The hairy Satori appears in an Edo-period book titled Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki. According to the book, Satori can read people's minds, but will not harm them. Even if a frightened person plans to kill him or her, Satori reads his or her mind and simply runs away before he or she can do any harm.

   2023, Masami Kinoshita, “Super Scary Yokai”, in The Japanese Yokai Handbook: A Guide to the Spookiest Ghosts, Demons, Monsters and Evil Creatures from Japanese Folklore, Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, →ISBN, page 29

   This is most likely a type of Yokai called a Satori. They have the ability to read people's minds. And like with Satori, the only way to get rid of them is with a sudden, unexpected attack. […] The ability to read minds is dangerous, but it doesn't give the ability to predict sudden actions.

   2023, Kenji Murakami, “Yokai Countermeasures and Weaknesses”, in Zack Davisson, transl., Strange Japanese Yokai: A Guide to the Weird and Wonderful Monsters, Demons and Spirits, North Clarendon, Vt.: Tuttle Publishing, →ISBN, page 89

1. alternativeuncountableZen BuddhismAlternative form of satori.