The Satori Generation

Wednesday, June 11, 2014 K.Z. Freeman 0 Comments

There exists a mistaken belief that a growing  human phenomena, the awareness of which is now blooming in Japan, is only centred in Japan. Japan may very well be its epicentre (but even that is doubtful), yet it has been happening since the birth of people from the middle 1980. In Japan they are referred to as satori sendai, The Satori Generation - kids that are now entering their twenties, or are in their twenties.

"They don’t want cars or brand name handbags or luxury boots. To many of them, travel beyond the known and local is expensive and potentially dangerous. They work part-time jobs—because that is what they’ve been offered—and live at home long after they graduate. They’re not getting married or having kids. They’re not even sure if they want to be in romantic relationships. Why? Too much hassle. Oh, and too expensive."

This seems to be the general description. One that is also quite mistaken, since it says nothing as to why this is the case and what other drive these kids truly possess, if any.

Instead of why they do not care about possessing cars or luxury, ask instead why they should? Why should anyone?
It has more to do with the fact that they care not about outer possessions due to either consciously or unconsciously realizing these bring only momentary satisfaction in a society where value comes from things that have none besides the value given by society.
Slowly and most predominately for those of the middle class (where such a thing still exists) any expense tends to bring for most a worry that, with the expense, the necessary survivalistic things that are actually needed for survival could, because of said expense, as a result not be bought in the very near future.

As such, a growing thought-pattern is emerging, suggesting a slow but collective realization of impermanence, a realization that such things can only ever bring momentary satisfaction. The generation in Japan is not referred to as satori, enlightened, for no reason.

When asked by elders of age 50+, "Don't you want a nice car when you get older?"
Their answer usually consist of, "Not really, no."
Or the simultaneously more and less expressive, "Meh."

At first sight such an individual may seem very resigned, without ideals or hopes. Critics of this generation say that it is a lazy generation, without willpower and drive. My favourite two-word description being: "decreased potency".
But a potency to achieve what, exactly? Self-reliance, certainly, but there's more to it today than 20 years ago. Today the failings of the system seem even more obvious to teenagers and young adults, because they are more immersed in its failings due to an increased global connectivity. So again, a potency to achieve what?

To aid a failing system by supplying more of those who are willing to assist in its failings?

For most a relatively mundane participation is all they can hope for at the moment. To go with how things are instead of how things could be... Most would seem resigned because of the futility in attempting to change any of their outer surroundings in a meaningful sense. This "lesser potency" may seem obvious to those not of this generation, because of the gap that has been occurring in the collective consciousness between the young and old. Because of this gap and the resulting change in belief system, it is difficult for older individuals to comprehend that the desire for things that were desirable for them no longer exist in the younger generation.

We were thought to be future orientated, yet what happens when that future is projected by the human mind, projected in the now, and one realizes that such a future is not something he or she wants or desires? Why work for such a future?

Relative excess and relative comfort have created this occurrence. It is the nature of humanity to want more, desire more - to expand in all aspects of consciousness. And that is actually not what is happening. We have become a material-expansive society. Where to can one expand when the subconscious feels all that it could ever want, has been given to it in a material sense? Food. Clothing. Kids that never had an excess of these but only a relative access predominated by necessity, tend to develop a mental pattern or conditioning where they no longer feel any need to have an excess. However this non-need manifests into a desperate need in another sense. Namely a more spiritual sense.

"You have all you ever need, yet you are still depressed?" It is not the unpossession that is the problem, it is the slow realization of the unimportance of possessing anything at all while everyone around you seems to be striving towards possessing more, always more.

When you have all you need and something is still lacking, when you can access more information you would ever need or be able to utilize via the internet, yet still feel a lacking of the most VITAL information, you begin to look elsewhere. Or are left with a feeling of lacking while not conscious enough to realize what it is that is lacking.

Outwardly, this state may even seem as depression, a lack of wanting in a world where you are bombarded by wanting people. It may indeed make some feel as though there is something vital which is missing within the generation, to not want what others say you should want, should have.
Perhaps that want, the desire to possess things, even shows up every once in a while, but does not last.

What is looked over is that this generation wants something very much different than what the previous generations wanted. This conflict between ideals results in mistaken interpretation of the state of these kids.

But what is it that they want, then?

The answer is simple, and as it usually is with these things, much too simple to be immediately apparent. They want Enlightenment. It is what they have always wanted, what we (humans) have always wanted, most not even realizing it. This wish for enlightenment often expresses itself in an intense desire for inner freedom. Freedom from one's Self in the sense that you are no longer barraged by what you consider to be outer influences and pressures. It is another reason why satori sendai are considered a low-risk populace. Low risk means low pressure. Often times this pressure comes from intrinsicaly knowing, realizing these are all in fact inner pressures and inner resistances to what is, and not knowing how to transcend, or transmute knowing it into living it.

In any regard, I do not think a generation of failed mystics is what we shall be seeing in the near future, but a paradigm shift more apparent than any we have seen since.