Thank you for the time and thought that went into this piece Phiya. I don’t have any deep thoughts but just wanted to offer thanks for your ‘voice’ on the macrobiotic lifestyle, sickness, but especially ‘love’
Thanks for this Phiya. I fall into the grateful and forgiving, and they're just one of us category. You made me see that in a different way! I wrote a letter to the editor that was printed in Macrobiotics Today in 2022 on this topic after a lot of criticism of teachers who had recently passed.
There is an economical dimension of life which is made of conservation and expense. The forces that push us into life push also towards death. There is one single path for life and death. If someone wants to get a longer life, he must take in account those forces in order to slow them down. When he eats simple foods, as grains and vegetables, he slows down his aging. When he takes a day off to rest, pray or meditate, he slows down his life. When he refrains himself from showing him up at each event or from wanting always more of anything, he makes space in his life and in his mind. The mind has to manage the internal pressures as well as the external excitations and for teachers and leaders the strong attraction of their goals and ideals. It is quite impossible to succeed completely at such huge tasks. According to psychoanalysis ( I'm not psychoanalyst), premature aging and death could be caused by the residue of pulsions that has not been minded as well as the residue of infantile desires.
Everybody dies. We come into this life with an inherited constitution and we all go in similar but different directions from our parents, some beneficial to health, others not so. Choice of lifestyle, activity, diet and environment all contribute to health and wellbeing. This being said, there is nothing in the macrobiotic approach to diet and lifestyle that contributes to an early unexpected demise. I am a healthy, active, disease-free, happy 79 year old who discovered Macrobiotics in 1969 through George Ohsawa, later with Michio and Herman. I read the literature, the periodicals, attended events, studied cooking and even ran a macrobiotic study house at the New Jersey shore. Yes, I too smoked, rolled my own, during this time. I easily and completely stopped 5 years ago. I pride myself in not taking drugs, medicines, vaccines, vitamins or supplements. It’s not that I never get sick or get under the weather but I accept the change and understand how the body is geared towards effective elimination and maintaining a healthy balance, in other words, the bodily homeostasis and metabolic functions. When not feeling well, it’s a time for self-reflection and paying attention to preceding events and eating history. I started out on a mostly strict adherence to macrobiotic diet. For me, it wasn’t for health reasons that I adopted the macrobiotic way of life. I found the philosophy and common sense of simplicity and harmony with nature as the attraction. My take, on why these early deaths of macrobiotic leaders, has more to do with their living an active, highly profiled and respected position of influence. This instills a strong sense of self that allows them to at times make poor choices in eating or drinking, thinking that these occasional binges can be balanced through their extensive knowledge and experience with macrobiotic principles and acquired perspective through doing consultations. Add to this an increasing frequency of opportunities to binge because of lecture schedules and travel.
My concern is what prescriptions, drugs, medicine, vaccines, blood infusions, surgery, medical or other approaches were applied at attempts to regain their health.
I appreciate your comment but must object to one point. I was studying with Ed Esko when the "pandemic" began, up until his death. He did not travel abroad during this time and was not vaccinated. This I am sure of. He strongly advised all of us students not to be vaccinated and gave many lectures via zoom about covid and the dangers of mRNA injections. I reply to your comment to ensure others don't believe this false statement and add it to their judgement of him dying.
Thanks for sharing what you know. I thought Ed traveled to Tokyo and Dubai to teach. I thought it was during this period, but I can’t find the exact dates. I will edit my comment to remove reference. Denny also traveled to Italy and Costa Rica during 2020 but this was also before Covid vaccines.
Ed had many students in Malaysia and Dubai, but after 2020 that was only online. I did not know Denny personally but after my comment yesterday I remembered seeing him lecture during the peak of pandemic fear and propaganda on an online mb forum all about vaccination, and his talk was titled something like, I Wear My Tinfoil Hat Proudly! I don't know the details of his life but he did speak out in favor of natural health.
"Do not forget that everything that is yang has a short life. We cannot run for very long without becoming tired. Courage which demonstrates your material and physical powers will soon exhaust your resources." M.K. on The Purpose of Life, in The Order of the Universe, volume1, number 6, p.7.
Macrobiotic cosmology puts the accent on Infinity rather than the actual life which is the way to reach it. It'not surprising that this vision of life associated with the hard work characteristic of Mcrobiotics has led many to neglect their own lives and to exceed their own limits.
What has been forgotten is the pleasure (yin) to cherish the present life as a fragile and precious treasury. More, to enjoy life (which is yang) without cherishing it may lead to stressful situations and to extreme expense of life.
merci pour votre longue explication Phiya cependant je n'ai pas la même vision que vous;
faisons un parallèle avec les enseignants en arts martiaux ou d'autes disciplines qui requièrent un entraînement quotidien et une auto-discipline inflexibles faute de quoi leurs élèves / disciples s'en vont; Le Maître doit représenter "ce qu'il enseigne" Que dire des parents "fais ce que je dis, pas ce que je fais" ! Nos amis animaux enseignent à leus petits uniquement par leur attitude; Que dire de l'évolution acquise par la pratique ?
That was absolutely brilliant. I agree thank you.
Thank you for the time and thought that went into this piece Phiya. I don’t have any deep thoughts but just wanted to offer thanks for your ‘voice’ on the macrobiotic lifestyle, sickness, but especially ‘love’
Thanks for this Phiya. I fall into the grateful and forgiving, and they're just one of us category. You made me see that in a different way! I wrote a letter to the editor that was printed in Macrobiotics Today in 2022 on this topic after a lot of criticism of teachers who had recently passed.
I've been fortunate because I had Alex and Michio and all the books they
wrote that I still refer to each day so I am still well at 85.
Gale Jack
There is an economical dimension of life which is made of conservation and expense. The forces that push us into life push also towards death. There is one single path for life and death. If someone wants to get a longer life, he must take in account those forces in order to slow them down. When he eats simple foods, as grains and vegetables, he slows down his aging. When he takes a day off to rest, pray or meditate, he slows down his life. When he refrains himself from showing him up at each event or from wanting always more of anything, he makes space in his life and in his mind. The mind has to manage the internal pressures as well as the external excitations and for teachers and leaders the strong attraction of their goals and ideals. It is quite impossible to succeed completely at such huge tasks. According to psychoanalysis ( I'm not psychoanalyst), premature aging and death could be caused by the residue of pulsions that has not been minded as well as the residue of infantile desires.
Everybody dies. We come into this life with an inherited constitution and we all go in similar but different directions from our parents, some beneficial to health, others not so. Choice of lifestyle, activity, diet and environment all contribute to health and wellbeing. This being said, there is nothing in the macrobiotic approach to diet and lifestyle that contributes to an early unexpected demise. I am a healthy, active, disease-free, happy 79 year old who discovered Macrobiotics in 1969 through George Ohsawa, later with Michio and Herman. I read the literature, the periodicals, attended events, studied cooking and even ran a macrobiotic study house at the New Jersey shore. Yes, I too smoked, rolled my own, during this time. I easily and completely stopped 5 years ago. I pride myself in not taking drugs, medicines, vaccines, vitamins or supplements. It’s not that I never get sick or get under the weather but I accept the change and understand how the body is geared towards effective elimination and maintaining a healthy balance, in other words, the bodily homeostasis and metabolic functions. When not feeling well, it’s a time for self-reflection and paying attention to preceding events and eating history. I started out on a mostly strict adherence to macrobiotic diet. For me, it wasn’t for health reasons that I adopted the macrobiotic way of life. I found the philosophy and common sense of simplicity and harmony with nature as the attraction. My take, on why these early deaths of macrobiotic leaders, has more to do with their living an active, highly profiled and respected position of influence. This instills a strong sense of self that allows them to at times make poor choices in eating or drinking, thinking that these occasional binges can be balanced through their extensive knowledge and experience with macrobiotic principles and acquired perspective through doing consultations. Add to this an increasing frequency of opportunities to binge because of lecture schedules and travel.
My concern is what prescriptions, drugs, medicine, vaccines, blood infusions, surgery, medical or other approaches were applied at attempts to regain their health.
I appreciate your comment but must object to one point. I was studying with Ed Esko when the "pandemic" began, up until his death. He did not travel abroad during this time and was not vaccinated. This I am sure of. He strongly advised all of us students not to be vaccinated and gave many lectures via zoom about covid and the dangers of mRNA injections. I reply to your comment to ensure others don't believe this false statement and add it to their judgement of him dying.
Thanks for sharing what you know. I thought Ed traveled to Tokyo and Dubai to teach. I thought it was during this period, but I can’t find the exact dates. I will edit my comment to remove reference. Denny also traveled to Italy and Costa Rica during 2020 but this was also before Covid vaccines.
Nice to meet you Ron!
Ed had many students in Malaysia and Dubai, but after 2020 that was only online. I did not know Denny personally but after my comment yesterday I remembered seeing him lecture during the peak of pandemic fear and propaganda on an online mb forum all about vaccination, and his talk was titled something like, I Wear My Tinfoil Hat Proudly! I don't know the details of his life but he did speak out in favor of natural health.
In our search for thruth, we must neglect any tracks. I submit 2 references if they can be helpful.
Tohoku J. Coffee consumption and Mortality for Prostate cancer in Exp. Med.,82, 218-223, 1964.
Also : Dr Philip Cole from Harvard School of Public Health, on Coffee and Bladder Cancer, in The Lancet, June 26, 1971.
"Do not forget that everything that is yang has a short life. We cannot run for very long without becoming tired. Courage which demonstrates your material and physical powers will soon exhaust your resources." M.K. on The Purpose of Life, in The Order of the Universe, volume1, number 6, p.7.
Macrobiotic cosmology puts the accent on Infinity rather than the actual life which is the way to reach it. It'not surprising that this vision of life associated with the hard work characteristic of Mcrobiotics has led many to neglect their own lives and to exceed their own limits.
What has been forgotten is the pleasure (yin) to cherish the present life as a fragile and precious treasury. More, to enjoy life (which is yang) without cherishing it may lead to stressful situations and to extreme expense of life.
merci pour votre longue explication Phiya cependant je n'ai pas la même vision que vous;
faisons un parallèle avec les enseignants en arts martiaux ou d'autes disciplines qui requièrent un entraînement quotidien et une auto-discipline inflexibles faute de quoi leurs élèves / disciples s'en vont; Le Maître doit représenter "ce qu'il enseigne" Que dire des parents "fais ce que je dis, pas ce que je fais" ! Nos amis animaux enseignent à leus petits uniquement par leur attitude; Que dire de l'évolution acquise par la pratique ?
I will add that I never eat animal food - not even fish though- I did
at one time eat fish but not since I was 70.