Q How
did you start with macrobiotics?
A I
started to study Zen macrobiotics in the Indian Summer
of 1969, Tom Hall, the owner of Lantern Bookshop showed
me the book, "You are all Sanpaku", and
that was the first book I saw on macrobiotics.
I bought a copy of D.T. Suzuki's book Zen Buddhism
that day instead of that soft back edition of "You
are all Sanpaku" by Dufty and Sakurazawa/Ohsawa.
In the fall of 69 I went to Rincon, Puerto Rico and
in Mark Brownell's Surf Shop I noticed a "List"
hanging on the wall, it was the "Macrobiotic
Table of Foods and Beverages (Listed within each category
in order from Yin to Yang".
I had read the classics on Inyology already, the I
Ching, and the Tao Teh Ching, so the idea of categorizing
foods according to yin and yang really impressed me,
I thought it was a practical theory and a brilliant
ideology. So I asked Mark about it and he showed me
his copy of Zen Macrobiotics by George Ohsawa. It
had a blue cover and was revised, edited and annotated
by Lou Oles and published by the Ohsawa Foundation,
inc. Los Angeles, New York, Wellesley, Paris, Tokyo.
!965. I sat there in the Surf Shop and read forhours
Vol 1.
The
Philosophy of Oriental Medicine. I was into Zen Buddhism
and Taoism and macrobiotics obviously was a upaya
or skillfull means,aimed towards the target, Satori.
Like Zen and the Art of Archerytheir is Zen and the
Art of Cookery which is called Shoizen Ryori, and
a way of eating Shoku-yo Do. Za Zen meditation is
also a upaya and so is Aikido and Judo.
With, Chan meditation do Tai Chi Chuan & Pa Kua
Chuan & Hsing I Chuan and Taoist & Tantric
Yoga. So I says to myself, "Thats the Way of
Eating, for me." That December I returned to
Pompano Beach, Florida and bought Zen Macrobiotics,
The Book of Judgement,
The Macrobiotic Guidebook for Living" Volumes
I,II & III of The Philosophy of Oriental Medicine
by George Ohsawa and Zen Cookery.
Then I started to practice Zen macrobiotics.
Q
How
has macrobiotics helped you?
A Macrobiotic
has helped me in many ways and I would say it has
physical and mental benefits for anyone who wants
to understand it and who trys to practice it.
Macrobiotics helped me maintain my health and recover
from injuries I got when I strayed from the path.
It has also already helped prolong my life and raised
my level of judgement.
Q
What
do you offer and specialise in?
A
I
offer all that I am into and I agree with Ohsawa who
said, Give Give Give and give the greatest gift, the
key to the kingdom of heaven, the unique principle.
I study art, religion, philosophy and science, of
medicine, from myth to math. I have the Nei Ching,
the Pen Tsao and the Charak Samhita so I teach Ayurveda
and Chinese Traditional Medicine. I also teach Japanese
I Do and I got Yojukun by Kaibara and Food Governs
your Health, by Namboku Mizuno. I do Hatha Yoga, Do-In,
Tai Chi, Pa Kua & Hsing.
I teach Zen and the art of surfing. I am more
into preventative than curative medicine and I favor
the art of health, longevity & rejuvenation. I
have studied in deepth the teachings of Christoph
Wilhelm Hufeland who was the founder of macrobiotics
in 1796.
I also study Francis Bacon, On the Prolongation
of Life and Luigi Cornaro, La Vita Sobria and combine
them with the Greek, Latin and Arabic classics of
Hippocrates, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Celsus, Plutarch,
Lucian and Galen.
Jabir, Rhazes, Avicenna and Constantinus Africanus
and the Salerno School. Roger Bacon transmitted the
Arabic version of Taoist macrobiotic alchemy to the
west so I add him and Ficino, Leonardo da Vinci, Rabelais,
Paracelsus and Cardano, plus Thomas Tryon, John Wesely,
Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Rush, Sylvestor Graham,
Ellen White, Benjamin W. Richardson M.D., John H.
Kellogg M.D., Jethro Kloss, Paul Bragg, Alexis Carrel,
Walter Russell, Joseph Needham, Edmond B. Szekely,
Paavo Airola & Gabriel Cousens, M.D..
This gives me a western version of macrobiotics.
To
this I add modern classics of western medicine like
the Merk Manuel, De Gowen & De Gowen Bedside Diagnostic,
Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine and Guyton's
Textbook of Medical Physiology. Principles of Anatomy
and Physiology by Tortora and Angnostakos. Nutrition
Concepts and Controversies by Hamilton, Whitney and
Sizer and Nutrition in Perspective by Patricia A Kreutler
and the Rodales provide me with dietary ideas that
I combine with what I learn from Ohsawa, Aihara, Muramoto
and Kushi. I am into physiognomy as well. So that
is some of what I specialise in.
Q
What one piece of advice would you give to
someone trying macrobiotics for the first time?
A My advice is
study, exercise, eat well, don't worry, be happy,
have lots of friends, a loving family, try to help
this world be a better place for everyone, and above
all search for truth and love wisdom. Realize you
Oneness with All.
David Johnathan Kerr
e-mail BodhiKerr@webtv.net
Writings
of David J.Kerr
| David
Kerr favourite
macrobiotic recipes |
| British
Breakfast, Avena con Miso and Cinnamon Toast |
| Ingredients: |
Method:
|
|
1
cup Organic Whole Oat Groats
2 cups Spring Water
A couple pinches of Celtic Sea Salt
|
Add
Miso, Miso Tahini Cream, & or Tekka I use
a teaspoon or two of the miso after I put the
oats in my bowl and
then mix it up with my spoon. You can use oatmeal
also and sprinkle the
tekka on the miso cream.
|
| Serve
with |
| Cinnamon
Toast
Organic
Toasted Whole Wheat Bread.
Sweet Almond Butter or Oil or Olive Oil.
Rice Syrup and Cinnamon
Serve
with
Mugi
Cha or Kome Cha for tea time
|
