Q
What
it's like being macrobiotic and how it has changed
you?
A
I
grew up macrobiotic so I don't know anything else.
When I was younger, I ate widely with my friends,
and ate macro at home.
I became
interested in the philosophy at a young age. I started
to go to my father's classes (Denny Waxman) at around
14. I also read many macro books, as well as various
other philosophies and religious teachings. Mainly
oriental ideologies, such as Taoism, Buddhism, and
Shinto I have studied. I have continued my quest for
true knowledge since then with macrobiotics and self-discovery.
I don't
know what it is like to be macrobiotic because I have
nothing to compare it with. I do know that I always
felt better when I ate macro food mainly. When I would
spend longer periods away from home, eating all kinds
of junk, I definitely felt weaker, depressed, and
irritable. I always knew that good food was the source
of my wellbeing. The backside of this for me was and
is relating to those that do not eat in this way.
It was never a choice for me to eat macrobiotically.
If I did not, then I was not happy. Because of this,
then I eat what I want. I do not practice in a rigid
way, or in a non-rigid way.
I've come
to experience macrobiotics as a great adventure. I
know that food has power, and often I have played
with it over periods of time to learn what food really
is. For instance, I have consciously made my diet
very imbalanced at times to experience what this was.
For that purpose, I used conceptual rules to accomplish
my experiment. I think that is the place for conceptuality
in macrobiotics. It serves as a guide to take us in
a certain direction, but it is not the core center.
If we are healthy, then we should have no need for
rigid conceptuality, except for shorter periods and
specific purposes.
I have
changed many times and in many ways over the years
of conscious eating. I guess then, you could say that
my macrobiotic practice started when I became conscious
of what food really was. That happened when I started
studying around the age of 14. Before then, I was
just eating food mechanically, sensorially and emotionally,
which for the most part, consisted of the macrobiotic
diet, but was limited by my consciousness of it.
Macrobiotics
has given me great power over my life. I know that
I can change myself. I know that I can make myself
into whatever I can imagine, and whatever I can eat.
It is like a car that I can drive in any direction.
I can take this car anywhere I want, and that is amazing
to me. It is always a mystery when people look at
macrobiotics and say that it is rigid and limited.
This is the opposite of my experience with it. I can
eat anything, just about, and still have my health.
Can they claim the same thing? I doubt it.
Over the
years, my realization of the power and dimension of
food continues to grow. The whole universe is in my
kitchen. All I need to do is cook it and chew it.I
can't say anything specific about how it has changed
me. What is important is that I change, consciously,
this way and that. I know how to change myself, and
my ability to change freely, grows every day. Barriers
get broken down and free movement takes it's place.
A macrobiotic
lifestyle, for me, means giving. This is the essence
of the direction for my life. This is because food
determines the direction of our life. Macrobiotic
food removes excess and nourishes depleted areas.
It restores a balanced flow of energy throughout the
body. True macrobiotic people then follow this example
by doing the same in society. This happens by giving
of ourselves, just like macrobiotic food gives of
itself and becomes empty. Macrobiotic food leaves
no residue in the body, and so macrobiotic people
then should leave no residue in society. If we give
away ourselves all our life, then we leave no residue
behind. Actually, this means no physical residue.
We can leave behind pure energy.
Ohsawa
left behind pure energy. This we call macrobiotics.
He was a grain of brown rice in society, but we need
many more, maybe 10,000. If we can discover the meaning
of our life, then we can become a grain of brown rice
too. This is possible through macrobiotics and a strong
desire to discover everything.
^
top
Q
What
would you say to youth starting macrobiotics?
A I
don't know what to say to the youth starting macrobiotics.
I wish I could give them inspiration to take their
lives into their own hands, and to master the art
of self-mastery. I do not boast to claim as much for
myself, but the inspiration is there. Definitely studying
can lead to this. I would say that all those young
and old should study macrobiotics. It is learning
how to unlearn, and it is the knowledge of the un-knowledge.
Once we have this, then we can think. Knowledge blocks
thinking ability. I try to forget information rather
than remember it. I would rather understand something
than just simply have the information concerning it.
Knowledge is limited, but understanding is infinite.
Studying macrobiotics and the order of the universe
leads to understanding.
If this
were taught in school, then in a very short period,
the whole world would change. Macro parents can supplement
this by teaching their kids about macrobiotics and
the order of the universe.
If kids were taught to think, then naturally they
would want to eat food that allowed them to think.
This is macrobiotic food. The problem is that most
macro youth grow up in society, and are educated with
modern knowledge. This becomes a predominant factor
in their mental constitutions and it doesn't align
with macro food. Naturally, they align with modern
food because of their stagnated education. Unless
they get a good dose of justice from the universe,
then they don't care for macrobiotics.
When young
people come to macrobiotics from a modern diet, then
it is great. They have tons of energy, and their whole
lives ahead of them. These are the people that really
do something with macrobiotics. They don't need to
be encouraged to study because they are hungry already.
They study and practice sincerely.
If the
youth starting macrobiotics can really understand
macrobiotics, then it is theirs for life. If they
don't, then they cannot continue indefinitely. This
depends on whether they understand that macrobiotics
is not something, it is nothing. There are no rules
and no gods. There is no blind faith in macrobiotics.
Macrobiotics is becoming whatever we are. Macrobiotic
food is what is left when all other food is gone.
It is food in its purest, emptiest state. It is just
food without anything added.
If the
youth can understand that macrobiotics is about freedom,
and not unnecessary restriction, then it is theirs.
If they can take responsibility for their actions,
then it is theirs. We can eat anything in this universe,
but to be responsible means that we have to discharge
it as well. What goes in must come out. This is just
order, plain and simple. After years of eating junk
food that has been lodged in our organs and tissues,
if we discover macrobiotics, then we should want to
discharge it happily. This is not unhappy as some
people see it. This is a great joy because if we can
give what we have taken, then we know true happiness.
If we can re-establish our own health, then we can
give and take freely. If we can re-establish our own
health, then we can live our life the way we want.
A happy person has a happy body and a happy life.
Joe Waxman
^
top
|
