Satori (Jap.; Chin., wu). Zen term for the experience of awakening or enlightenment. It is derived from satoru, ‘know’, but it has no connection with knowledge in any ordinary sense. Retrospectively, satori is the enlightenment experience of the Buddha (Chin., wu; Skt., bodhi), but in Zen it is more often used prospectively, of the enlightenment to which the disciple or pupil is now aspiring. A first enlightenment experience is known as kenshō, which may be followed by a small, then great, satori. The essence of satori remains the same, but the one who attains it gains in profundity within it.

sa·to·ri / səˈtôrē/ • n. Buddhism sudden enlightenment: the road that leads to satori.