The Three Stages of Satori: How Zen Buddhism Transforms Reality from "Mountains are Mountains" and Back Again

The Unfolding Path of Zen Satori

The Master's Promise

The Tang dynasty Zen master Qingyuan Weixin left a famous saying. It shows us the entire journey in a simple way.

"Before I studied Zen, mountains were mountains and waters were waters. After I had a glimpse into the truth of Zen, mountains were no longer mountains and waters were no longer waters. Now that I have found its essence, mountains are once again mountains and waters are once again waters."

This is not a riddle or puzzle. These words map out the shifts in how we see the world on the path to Zen Buddhism Satori.

This guide explains these three stages of seeing. We will explore the journey toward, through, and beyond the deep awakening known as Satori.

What is Satori?

Satori vs. Kensho

Satori is a direct awakening that comes from deep insight. It happens when we see our true nature and the real nature of everything.

People often compare it to Kensho. Kensho means "seeing one's true nature" and is usually just the first glimpse or crack in the ego's wall. Satori is deeper and becomes part of who you are.

Beyond the "Flash"

Many people think Satori is just one big moment of enlightenment like a flash of lightning. The breakthrough can indeed be sudden.

But this is not the end of the journey. It's actually the beginning of bringing this new vision into your daily life. Scholar D.T. Suzuki said this experience has several key features:

• It can't be reached through logic
• It comes from deep insight
• It feels absolutely certain
• It feels universal, not personal

Stage 1: Before Satori

The World of Duality

This is how most people see the world. When we see a mountain, our mind quickly labels it: 'mountain,' 'large,' 'rocky,' 'beautiful,' 'something to climb.'

We don't really experience the mountain itself. Instead, we experience our thoughts about the mountain.

In this stage, we feel like separate observers looking at the world. This creates a split between subject and object, me and not-me. The world seems like a collection of separate things, and we're just one of those things.

A Solid Self

At this stage, our sense of self feels real and unchanging. "I" am my history, my personality, my beliefs, and my body. This identity seems solid and real.

From the Zen view, this solid self is not real. It's made up of passing thoughts, memories, and feelings that the mind puts together.

Believing in this separate self causes our suffering. We get attached to what "I" want and try to avoid what "I" don't want, creating constant friction with reality.

"Un-awakened" Perception

This first stage means living in a world built by words and labels. We live in our mental story about reality, not in reality itself.

We mistake the map for the actual territory. The names we give things become more real to us than the things themselves. The word "mountain" hides the real mountain.

Stage 2: The Great Doubting

Tools of Deconstruction

The journey to the second stage starts with practice. Zen practices like Zazen and koan study are not just for relaxing; they are tools designed to take apart our concept-based world.

Zazen, especially "just sitting," is the foundation. By sitting still and watching, we begin to see thoughts and feelings for what they are: things that come and go.

They rise and fall on their own. They are not "me." Watching this flow without grabbing or pushing away starts to wear down the idea of a solid self.

Koans directly challenge the thinking mind. A koan, like "What is the sound of one hand clapping?", is a question that logic cannot answer.

The thinking mind tries to find a logical answer but fails. This failure is the point. It wears out the thinking mind, forcing a shift to a deeper way of knowing.

Reality Unraveling

As practice deepens, the world starts to lose its sharp edges. The labels we once used feel small and not enough. A mountain is no longer just a "mountain." We see it as a vast, changing process of rock, weather, and life. No label can contain what it really is.

This is when we stop identifying with everything. We might feel angry and clearly see: "This is not my anger. This is just anger arising in this body-mind." We stop feeling like we own our experiences.

This can be confusing or even scary. The solid ground of self and world melts away, leaving a feeling of floating. Yet within this confusion grows a sense of freedom.

Seeing Emptiness

This is directly seeing what Buddhism calls Emptiness. Many people misunderstand this idea.

Emptiness doesn't mean nothingness or a blank void. It means that nothing exists on its own, separate from everything else.

The mountain is empty of being just a "mountain." It exists only through its connections with the sun, rain, earth, and the eye that sees it. It has no fixed, separate identity.

In this stage, the person sees these connections directly. The world is no longer a collection of separate objects but one flowing reality. This is why "mountains are no longer mountains."

The Breakthrough

The Bucket's Bottom

The peak of this breaking-down process is Satori. A Zen story describes it as the moment "the bottom of the bucket falls out."

All the water—the concepts, beliefs, the sense of a separate self—suddenly drops away. The view that splits the world in two collapses.

It's important to understand that Satori is not gaining something new. It's seeing what has always been true but was hidden by the thinking mind.

History has many stories of these moments. Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch of Zen in China, was an illiterate woodcutter who had a deep awakening just from hearing someone recite: "Let your mind arise without abiding anywhere."

Experience Characteristics

Though it's hard to describe, people who experience it report common features. There is a feeling of deep unity; the division between self and world disappears.

Everything becomes clear and peaceful. The heavy weight of the personal ego, with all its fears and wants, lifts away.

The experience is direct and certain. It's not a belief or idea, but a direct seeing that needs no proof. It is reality revealing itself, to itself.

Stage 3: After Satori

The Great Re-Integration

This final stage is the most subtle and often misunderstood. The mountain is a mountain again, and the water is water again. But they are seen with new eyes.

This is not going back to the "normal" view of Stage 1. It combines the absolute truth of Emptiness with the everyday truth of the world we see.

The mountain is now seen in its "suchness." It is seen directly, as it is, without the heavy filter of concepts, yet the mind can still use the word "mountain" to function in daily life.

The person now sees both truths at once without conflict. It is a mountain (everyday truth), and it is an expression of boundless, connected reality (absolute truth).

The End of Seeking

The anxious search for something else—for future happiness or spiritual escape—ends. The seeking mind, which is based on feeling that something is missing, dissolves.

Peace is no longer sought "out there." It is found in being fully present with the world just as it is, right now.

The ego isn't destroyed. Instead, it is demoted. It's no longer the boss of one's life but becomes a useful tool for navigating the world.

Chop Wood, Carry Water

This stage is perfectly captured by another famous Zen saying: "Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water."

The outer activities of life may not change. You still work, eat, and talk with others. But how you experience these activities is completely transformed.

Every ordinary act becomes an expression of your true nature. Chopping wood is no longer a chore done by a "me" to get firewood. It is simply the universe chopping wood. Each act is complete in itself, sacred and meaningful.

Conclusion: The Pathless Path

The Journey's End

The journey through these three stages deeply transforms how we see the world. It moves from a world of separate things (Stage 1), through its complete breaking down (Stage 2), to a new reality where the absolute and everyday truths exist perfectly together (Stage 3).

The path of Zen Buddhism Satori does not lead to an escape from this world. It doesn't offer a separate realm beyond our daily lives.

Its promise is much deeper. It is the promise of learning to live this very life, in this very world, with endless wisdom, compassion, and freedom. The goal is not to stop seeing the mountains, but to finally see them for the first time.