Satori defined and contrasted

"Satori may be defined as an intuitive looking into the nature of things in contradistinction to the analytical or logical understanding of it.  Practically, it means the unfolding of a new world hitherto unperceived in the confusion of a dualistically-trained mind.  Or we may say that with satori our entire surroundings are viewed from quite an unexpected angle of perception.  Whatever this is, the world for those who have gained a satori is no more the old world as it used to be; even with all its flowing streams and burning fires, it is never the same one again.  Logically stated, all its opposites and contradictions are united and harmonized into a consistent organic whole.  This is a mystery and a miracle, but according to the Zen masters such is being performed every day.  Satori can thus be had only through our once personally experiencing it."

"....In the psychology of religion this spiritual enhancement of one's whole life is called 'conversion.'  But as the term is generally used by Christian converts, it cannot be applied in its strict sense to the Buddhist experience, especially to that of the Zen followers; the term has too affective or emotional a shade to take the place of satori, which is above all noetic.  The general tendency of Buddhism is, as we know, more intellectual than emotional, and its doctrine of Enlightenment distinguishes it sharply from the Christian view of Salvation.  Zen, as one of the Mahayana schools naturally shares a large amount of what we may call transcendental intellectualism...."

D. T. Suzuki
Zen Buddhism

Both his recognition of some commonality with Christian 'conversion' and his emphasis on its differences puts me in mind of Thomas Merton's engagement with Buddhism - Zen in particular.  Merton was struck by so much that seemed common between the monastic disciplines and experiences of the two traditions, but also wondered about the differences.  One tool he used to explore that difference was reading and thinking about the experiences of Buddhist converts to Christianity.  He concluded that they were seeking a "personal element," the "personal revelation of God" that was "in Buddhism, but it was not explicit."

For those who need a definition of the term noetic:

"no•et•ic: From the Greek noēsis / noētikos, meaning inner wisdom, direct knowing, or subjective understanding"

"For centuries, philosophers from Plato forward have used the term noetic to refer to experiences that pioneering psychologist William James (1902) described as:

…states of insight into depths of truth unplumbed by the discursive intellect. They are illuminations, revelations, full of significance and importance, all inarticulate though they remain; and as a rule they carry with them a curious sense of authority."

This from the following website:
http://noetic.org/about/what-are-noetic-sciences

The website is owned by the Institute of Noetic Sciences,
founded by Astronaut Edgar Mitchell
who does not hesitate to describe his own experience during his return from the Moon by the Buddhist term Samadhi, though it includes feelings and insights that would be more at home in Merton's world than Suzuki's -

“The presence of divinity became almost palpable, and I knew that life in the universe was not just an accident based on random processes. . . .The knowledge came to me directly.”