Suzuki considered satori to be the essence of Zen, so that even if Zen texts, monasteries, and rituals all disappeared, Zen would endure as long as enlightenment could be found. 4 He also extended this rationale to claim that wherever such an enlightened awareness arises—even in the Transcendentalism of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)—Zen is present. 5 By defining Zen in this way, Suzuki detached it from its historical moorings and elevated it to a universal and ideal state of human consciousness.