Satori, koan and aesthetic experience: Exploring the “realization of emptiness” in Buddhist enlightenment via an empirical study of modern art

Abstract

We compare the cognitive basis of satori, or the “realization of emptiness” at the heart of Zen Buddhist enlightenment, and with the mechanism whereby satori is most often evoked – a pedagogical relationship between master and student called “koan” – to modern artworks and the conception of aesthetic experience, noting structural and psychological similarity. Based on our previous work on this topic in art-perception (Pelowski & Akiba, 2011), we offer a cognitive model for satori’s consideration. We then discuss empirical evidence for art-induced satori, noting a correlation with a progression of cognitive and emotional factors suggesting a movement through all posited model stages and a major distinction from non-satori outcomes. We also note a positive correlation between satori and hedonic evaluations of beauty, art potency and importance, understanding of art and artist’s intention, change in subject self image and a fundamental shift in meaning analysis from a mimetic to an experience-based interpretation. This study, through the exploration of the underlying satori mechanism made explicit in the Zen koan and duplicated in modern art, suggests a universal nature to and means of exploring the insight underlying the satori phenomenon and opens a new avenue for cross-disciplinary/cross-cultural study of enlightenment.