Meeting The Needle
On tattooing as a participatory process with comparisons to acupuncture.
I.
Tattooing is not a form of masochism. No one enjoys the painful sensations of getting tattooed, but most are willing to endure the temporary pain for sake of permanence.
The only way to endure pain is to find acceptance, to be fully present with it, and to surrender all resistance. While laying on the table getting tattooed, I felt something like the archetype of the Hanged Man. I was already in a passive physical state, apparently lying down, yet an immense process is unfolding within. If my mind wanders, it becomes more difficult to meet the needle. In this sense, tattooing is an opportunity to cultivate one’s energy, to focus one’s consciousness, and allow the body-mind to feel without limitation. It seems as if there is no alternative to the confrontation. Indeed, the only alternative is transcending the sense of opposition that is confrontation itself. Thus, the needle becomes the mysterious instrument of peace, line by line.
After this session, I began to understand why Tatsutoshi considers tattooing a collaborative process. It is not really about “getting tattooed” but being tattooed and participating in the process of transformation, breath by breath. I also have Tatsutoshi’s very gentle hand and deep focus. He is just as present with it as I am and we meet in the threshold of the skin. The artist and the client become one in this juncture that transcends dualities, the only evidence a flow of ink. Tatsutoshi’s very gentle hand and deep focus. He is just as present with it as I am and we meet in the threshold of the skin.
It is unfortunate that many fail to participate in the process of tattooing. The common tattoo shop atmosphere that I see today are people scrolling on their phones and/or wearing headphones while getting tattooed. These are among the means for “checking out” of the process. There is little to no connection with the artist, the client lost in a black hole of their own anti-experience. I can only say that there is so much more to experience and gain by checking in and being present with the process, as opposed to merely focusing on the end result.
Tattooing is not something I merely “tolerate” for ultimate aesthetic reasons. Tattooing itself is the aesthetic I am existing in. I no longer think about “having tattoos”. My only acquisition is an ephemera, lost in consciousness.
II.
Tattoos and acupuncture both requires the use of needles. It may be hard to believe, but tattoos and acupuncture have the potential to be relatively painless. Traditional Japanese artists use the tattoo machine for outline, but shade entirely with tebori. Machine work is quite painful while my experience of tebori has been rather painless. Needles are used for different purposes in tattooing and acupuncture, but the needles themselves are not dissimilar. The needles used for the traditional tebori method have an average thickness of 30mm, which is the standard needle gauge used in Chinese acupuncture. The use of very thin needles (0.12mm - 0.18mm) is the unique development of Japanese acupuncturists.
In the 17th century, the blind acupuncturist, Sugiyama, struggled to master the Chinese rotation technique of needle insertion. The story goes that Sugiyama was walking home one day when he fell, accidentally grasping a pine needle. In that moment, he conceived of needles being inserted with the use of a tube, allowing for quick and painless insertion. The guide tube also allowed for thinner needles to be used, since they could be comfortably and stably inserted through the guide tube. The “guide tube” is now used by most acupuncturists worldwide.
The parallels between tattooing and acupuncture go beyond the use of needles. Tattooing and acupuncture are process-oriented arts that necessity the conscious participation of the recipient. According to Kodo Fukushuma, a blind acupuncturist and one of the grandfathers of Japanese Meridian Therapy, it is impossible for an acupuncturist to tonify a patient’s energy when they have caused pain upon needle insertion. Fukushima believed the experience of pain caused the energy in the meridian to disperse to the surface.
Patients who are afraid of acupuncture needles (even after several treatments) tend to “anticipate” the needling event. They visibly contract even before the needle has been inserted. No matter how painless the needling is about to be, in such cases, the outcome of tonification has been forfeited. It is a simple law of physics that contraction is process of reduction. Therefore, my advice to “meet the needle” applies to people getting tattooed and patients receiving acupuncture. First, it is essential to have an acupuncturist you trust. If they practice a classical Japanese style, then they will be versed in painless insertion. If they are Chinese-style practitioners, then I can guarantee a stronger hand and more dispersing treatment effect. Some may call it pain and others may simply feel intense sensations from needling such as dullness, aching, fullness, tingling, and warmth. In order for needling to be effect, the patient needs to relax and meet the needle. The practitioner also must meet the needle by keeping their attention on the tip of the needle as it is inserted. In order to do this, the practitioner needs to cultivate an appropriate posture and keep their energy centered in the hara, and then they must needle from the hara. When the qi is thus stable and clear, the needle flows into the skin like ink. As it sinks, the arrival of qi will be felt as a most subtle sensation, as if an invisible hand had pulled the needle into itself. When this happens, the patient becomes quiet or takes a deep breath. Even if there are no outer signs, we can sense the efficacy of needling as an energetic event, even felt spatially in the room, and within our body.
The efficacy of acupuncture has much to do with the practitioner’s sensitivities, but this is not all that is at play. I propose that the patient plays an equal part. A patient who is also a participant and not merely a recipient will derive much greater benefit than a patient who simply expects a procedure to be performed. The latter are constantly disappointed, as their expectations exist in the isolation of their own minds, and drift ever farther from reality. For them, nothing works. Those who participate gain entrance to a world of being, experience, and richness that surrenders all outcomes. The present abundance becomes the elegance they are amidst.