On Acupuncture Needles:

“Use good needles.” “Handle your needles with care, ‘caressing’ them lovingly.”
These are the words of advice usually given by my acupuncture mentor, especially referring to the ancient needle (meaning the non-disposable contact needle).
On one occasion, I was told that each acupuncture point has an eye, and is likely to “react” quickly if a needle point is directly aimed at it, so I should hide the needle point within my hand. Although such a remark may sound somewhat singular in the medical world, the words of my mentor fascinate me all the time.

On Trainees:

The mentor is tremendously attentive to the attitude and behavior of each trainee, and gives proper advice. For instance, to a trainee who holds his/her head down, he says: “You have some useless thoughts in your mind. Don’t be bothered by them. Try to live straight without wavering!” He is watching how a trainee opens a door, how he/she walks, or what he/she leans against while having a rest. His words, uttered abruptly and unexpectedly, do have a surprisingly deep meaning to us, which we come to understand a little later.

On Patients:

As a patient arrives at the entrance of the clinic, the mentor catches the glimpse of the patient, and makes close analysis of the person’s handwriting used in the clinical chart. Not a few patients are moved to tears at the advice given in a few words given by him, whose piercing power of observation and intuition is extremely strong.

On My Mentor’s Blogging:

Every time I attend his workshop, I am impressed by his manner and thought of preparing his blogging, which he recently started. He selects the relevant photographs most carefully for each blog and makes painful efforts, asking the opinions of his trainees as well, to retain the interest of its readers. He says such considerations will never fail to strike the hearts and minds of readers. His words apply to all our relationships with the people we treat.

The Importance of one’s feelings toward others:

He attaches the highest importance to “thoughtfulness” toward people we meet. How thoughtful we are toward our patients when we provide acupuncture treatment to them, and how we face and listen to our mentor are the fundamental key that helps bring about the success of the treatment. It also helps us ascertain where the thought of the patient is, which also helps us harmonize with the patient. As a consequence, we are made to realize that all these considerations are mutually connected and lead us in the direction of profound optimism.

Transmission of One’s Feelings:

When my mother was fighting against her illness, another woman, who was a little older than my mother, was lying in the bed next to hers at the same hospital. One morning, as I went to the hospital, my mother, who was already in the terminal stage of cancer, was carrying a meal tray with a feeble step to the woman. Seeing my mother, I instinctively offered to take the tray from her hands, and carried it myself to the woman. Looking at me, my mother said: “What a tender-hearted voice you have! Such a compassionate voice will surely soothe the minds of many patients.” It was something unusual that my mother praised me by such words. If my voice really sounded so tender-hearted, it must have been evidence of my mother’s heart being transmitted to me.

The Reward of Bearing the Unbearable Grief:

The 7th anniversary of my mother’s death will come around this November. Her struggle with illness taught me the preciousness of each moment of a human life. The diminishing of her precious life helped me find and entertain profound love toward all forms of life. It is in the border between life and death that we realize the solemn truth of the value of feelings. My mentor lost his beloved daughter to an illness, too. No matter how much time has passed since, I still sense the grief he is still feeling, when I see him. Indeed, I can engage in this profession of mine thanks to the experience of bearing the unbearable grief, for which I always feel deep gratitude.