The Fear of Pain and the Path to Enlightenment

I have always thought of body piercing as a spiritual experience-something one endures in order to reach a state of higher consciousness. The immediacy of the moment of piercing has the power to physically reconnect the piercee with his or her body. Perhaps it's the pain of the moment that reawakens the dull mind to its surroundings. Or perhaps the piercee, in worrying about the pain, builds up the moment of piercing so much that when the needle finally goes through their skin, all their fears are allayed and they feel momentary euphoria. Either way, it is clear that there is something about the instantaneous action of piercing that can cause significant changes in a person's psyche. Take the following two experiences:

Septum piercing -- "PLOW!!! An intense searing, tearing sensation took over everything else, as all my consciousness became completely focused on the fierce pain in the center of my face...what a rush!"

Tongue piercing -- "The moment the metal entered my skin, I had entered upon this spiritual state of 'now'-ness. All of a sudden, in that moment, all my fears disappeared, my anxiety about the upcoming moment just flew away, and the sensation of this foreign piece of metal entering my body was all that I felt"

It seems that to many people, the pain of the piercing can serve as a wake up call. Our tendency to neglect the physical realm causes shock when essentially self-inflicted pain is felt. We spend most of our lives denying death and running from pain, but when we get pierced we make a conscious decision to accept pain into our lives. Furthermore, by wearing jewelry in our piercings, we show the world that we are able to not only endure the pain of piercing but to enjoy it. By this reasoning, then, the more painful the piercing, the more willing the piercee is to accept pain into his or her life. Some of the most painful piercings ever done, however, were often involuntarily and acted as a rite of passage.

Experiences such as the O-kee-pah ceremony -- where an initiate is pierced behind their nipples with a sharp knife, hung from hooks, and spun around until they lose consciousness -- were part of more elaborate rituals designed to harden the psyches of future warriors. Certainly, these experiences resulted in at least an altered state of consciousness if not a complete realization of enlightenment. Interestingly, this ritual was often combined with other forms of torture that were also designed to cause a loss of consciousness and, in turn, an altered sense of reality. But can the relatively painless process of piercing have a similar effect as these rituals?

It is clear from the experiences quoted above that the piercees believe their piercing was not just a physical event. And yet, both focus on the fact that pain was what spurred on their spiritual change. In order to transcend the physical, then, one must either experience a moment of extreme pain, or believe that they will experience great pain and then be proved incorrect. In this case, body piercing is a sort of o-kee-pah ceremony, albeit one in which the fear of pain is more important than the pain itself.

Misconceptions about piercing generate fear. When the actual piercing is performed people see that their fears were unfounded. The intense pain they were ready to endure turns out to be much less painful than originally thought -- they become dumbfounded. And, whenever someone's sense of truth is shattered, the doors of perception are creaked open just enough for some really exciting mental changes to take place.