By Chris Suddeth
Satori can be defined as a glimpse of Nirvana. This glimpse of glory isn’t the calm before the storm, it’s the calming of the storm in our minds that most of us have lived with so long we don’t notice any longer.
For those thrill seekers out there, it’s the moment when you snatch life from the Grim Reaper’s boney grasp.
For the sports nuts out there, it’s the moment when you pull off the impossible golf shot to win the Green Jacket. Reference Bubba Watson’s satori on the 10th hole of the 2012 Masters as he banana-hooked his ball off the pine straw, out of the woods, and into golf immortality.
For the writers, it’s getting that 3 a.m. call of the pen.
For the searchers of Zen, it’s that moment when you’re truly in the now. When the five senses, in addition to that all-important sixth sense, culminate to shove aside the past victories and future defeats, and you hear God’s whisper clearly in a moment of stillness.
We all pursue it, whatever “it” is. We can all play these roles and more in any given day, or lifetime, for that matter.
Don’t get me wrong, I hear satori’s sweet siren song too. Seductive is she, sexy she is. (Insert Yoda voice in your head.) Come hither to Satori-Sun, she beckons.
Do you need to learn the ways of the Force to defeat Darth Vader’s mistress? It would certainly help, but since we live in a busy world and Dagobah is in a galaxy far, far away, we can start with meditation. Meditate on where you are, what you are doing, while you are doing it and what you are feeling and where you are feeling it in your body. Avoid the common misstep of judging your meditation when it goes awry. (Notice I said “when” and not “if” in the previous sentence.)
Please be gentle with yourself when you become distracted in your meditations so as not to create a noodle war. (Otherwise known as a war of the mind, that if left unchecked, will turn your mind into a wet noodle.) Seriously, we all battle this noodle war, especially as we strive for more and more satori just like the one we had when the skies cleared, it was easy like Sunday morning because you were a Commodore, and the pleasant breeze wouldn’t dare allow the no-see’ums to gnaw on exposed skin. Please remember, we need our minds, otherwise how do we know when to go to the bathroom, or how to drive home, or any other large or small action we need to complete our day?
Avoid judging missteps back into golf’s green glory and go cliff diving if you like, but dive into the abyss because you desire it, and not because you remember yesteryear’s bliss that will make you miss the Satori-Sun beaming in your face at this very moment.
You have my permission to go bear hunting with a buggy whip if you yearn to be YouTube’s next virus. Or you can find satori, and perhaps Nirvana, by paying attention to each instant the instant it arrives.
When Chris Suddeth (Sutty) isn’t being Mr. Mom to 5-year-old Emma Belle, he balances his time between writing, real estate and supporting other’s healing through his personal blend of Reiki, Theta Healing® as well as teaching three levels of Reiki attunement classes. Contact him at 843-263-2397 or chrissuddethccr@gmail.com.
