Macrobiotic News - Michio Kushi 80th Birthday Celebration

In 2006 people from all over the world will join
in the celebrations with Michio on 80th Birthday. He has been invited to
special gatherings in New York, Tokyo, Munich, Amsterdam and Lisbon.

Michio Kushi's has been a guest speaker at the American Holistic Medical Association, the International Physicians Conference on Cancer, The Worldwide Congress on Human Rights, Le Linge Blue, and the World Symposium of Humanity.

In 1985, he was named General President of the World Federation of Natural Alternative Medicine, an association of 300 natural medical health care organizations with international headquarters in Madrid.

Michio Kushi has written several dozen books including The Book of Macrobiotics (Japan Publications, revised edition, 1987), The Cancer-Prevention Diet (St. Martin's Press, 1983), Diet for a Strong Heart (St. Martin's, 1985), One Peaceful World (St. Martin's, 1987) and AIDS, Macrobiotics, and Natural Immunity (Japan Publications, 1990). He and his wife have five children and thirteen grandchildren.

Read below some of the wishes
and stories sent into us by his students.

Dearest Michio,

Your commitment to people's health and vitality and to peace on the planet has influenced my life profoundly since I studied with you and worked in the office at the K.I. in Brookline in 1986. I still teach people everyday what you taught me about the energetics of food and am sincerely grateful to be passing this information along.

Thank you so much for your dedication and inspiration all these years.

Wishing you a Happy 80th birthday and a wonderful year ahead filled with peace, joy, love and health.

Sincerely,
Linda Wemhoff

Two quick stories about Michio…one shows his mischievous and funny side and the other shows why we should listen when he tells us something.

Here goes…A bunch of us were all having dinner at a Chinese restaurant after a seminar and I was seated next to Michio. As the fortune cookies were passed around, Michio took one off the platter and said to me, ‘This one is yours…it’s special.’ The fortune read, ‘you will come into unexpected riches’ and we all laughed. As we walked to the parking garage with Michio, I found a $100 bill on the ground and Michio said, ‘See? Unexpected fortune. You must have dinner with Michio every night.’

A few years later, all gathered around the dinner table once again, we were discussing all the typical things we discuss when we are blessed to be with Michio. Suddenly, out of context, he points his finger at me, smiles and says, ‘In about 5 years, you will be cooking macrobiotic food on television.’ I laughed so hard I nearly peed my pants. That was in 1992…my national public television show premiered in 1997. The moral of these stories? Pay attention when Michio speaks…you never know where it will lead.

I owe Michio the deepest gratitude for helping me to find my path and for helping me to find the strength to walk it.

Love,

Christina Pirello

It's hard to imagine that Michio is celebrating his 80th year. I seem to remember him most in his 40's, it's the same with my parents who are just a little bit older than him. It is the time that I spent the most time with him traveling and working together.

I am sitting here with my favorite picture of him in front of me. He is wearing a floral Hawaiian shirt and is tipping a straw hat. He has a slightly goofy smile on his face. I think that Sandy Pukel talked him into it. When I look at his eyes I think he is wondering if this picture is a good idea. No black suit in sight.

I have had some hard times with Michio, we have both struggled with each other, but I have had some very good times too. I have learned much from his teaching and been inspired by his commitment to his mission. He has never wavered from his single minded goal of teaching macrobiotics to the world.

The challenges that he and Aveline had in coming to an alien culture (in every sense of the word) are beyond what most people could fathom. They did their work, raised a family and ended up changing the way that America looked at the power of food. Much of their work is still unacknowledged.

As much as I respect him as a philosopher it is when he is out of this teacher/leader mode that I appreciate him most. He operates on his own wave-length - which sometimes creates responses that are not at all what you expect. Like the time I took him to see the Jane Fonda movie "Barbarella" (at his request) in Chicago.

The movie was a weird science-fiction comedy and Michio was stony faced through the whole thing till right at the end. As Barbarella is being rescued by a blind angel she asks him a question and the angel replies, "Angels have no memory". Michio started laughing so hard tears were in his eyes. He was the only one in the cinema who got that joke.

Happy Birthday Michio - on your first eighty years..

Bill Tara

I had the good fortune to study and work with Michio and Aveline in Boston in the 1970s. During that time, there were countless experiences that demonstrated the scope of Michio's humanity and the practicality of his dream for a peaceful world. But Michio's biggest lesson for me came several years after I had moved to Japan to continue my studies.

It was the time when the HIV-AIDS virus was just beginning to make news in the United States. It is hard to imagine the paranoia that swept the country. There was talk of suspending civil liberties, of quarantine and interment camps. Health-care professionals were reluctant or actually refused to treat infected individuals. Many religious leaders labeled the
infection "God's judgment against the sinful."

In the midst of this fear, Michio & Aveline acted. They enlisted the help of doctors and organized an active educational program for those suffering from the disease. With warmth and kindness, insight and skill, Michio and Aveline gave hope to those abandoned by family, friends and society.

This was a forceful demonstration of the practicality of macrobiotics - replacing ignorance, and the fear it causes, with understanding and its resulting peace. For me it serves as a constant reminder that a macrobiotic lifestyle may start with personal well-being, yet cannot stop there. The wholesome influences radiate from the individual and family, to the
community and society at large. In this way, the arch of macrobiotic influence extends from personal peace to a peaceful world.

I was at Michio's 60th birthday, his recent 80th celebration at the Kushi Institute in Amsterdam, and look forward to his 100th.

Phil Jannetta

Happy Birthday Michio

I just wanted to thank you for the tiredless work that you do in support of all of us on this planet. Your large heart, kind message and big dream have inspired all of us to become the best that we can be. Wishing you much happiness, joy and adventure in the years to come.

Sheri-Lynn DeMaris
Tea With Sheri TV Show

"I met Michio in my hometown of New Orleans in the late 70's. A friend invited me to hear Michio speak on the 'Order of the Universe". - it was a truly inspiring evening which opened my mind to the possibilities of being a global citizen. Tasting the Kombu Dashi soup was a visceral experience which took me back to the wisdom of an ancient way of eating for self-healing and vitality. As a graduate of the Kushi Institute.

I've been privileged to work with great clients and teachers through The Macrobiotic Center of Louisiana and Nova Institute in Estes Park. Because of the difference Michio made in my life, I have been able to help thousands of other people help themselves. Recently I was in a near-fatal car accident in Colorado.

My sternum was cracked and I am in a neck brace, yet I am motivated daily by a very deep knowing that I can heal myself with vital food and movement that nourishes and listens to what the body needs. I am so grateful to Michio for giving me a priceless gift by reminding me to live in a way that serves all people everywhere. Happy Birthday, Michio,

x Wendy LeBlanc-Arbuckle

I do want to mention that over the years, I have heard my father say many humorous things and have them interpreted seriously, which then adds to the humour of the whole student/teacher paradigm.

There was one particular incident which comes to mind, where my dad
said in his lecture, that if you're really "yang," then you would shave your head. (This was back in the early '70s and yang was considered good, especially for a man and yin was considered, well, if you were a man and someone called you yin, that was the ultimate insult in the macro community.) Then my dad added, if you're really, really yang, then you would shave your cat.

Well after that lecture, some of the men went home and shaved their heads. Then there were a couple who not only shaved their heads, but then proceeded to hunt down the house cat.

Fortunately the house cat was smarter than us crazy humans and took off for a few days.
I told my dad about this and, although we felt sorry for the cat, got a big laugh out of this.

In the end, there is no guru or teacher which will lead anyone to real knowledge or enlightenment. Anyone claiming to know, you can be sure they don't, which doesn't mean we can't gain valuable insights from others, regardless of what title they may possess.

Norio Kushi

Although I have never met Michio, I feel as though I know him personally through macrobiotics. I thank him and Aveline for making macrobiotics their life's work. I am very thankful and grateful to be a second generation macro.

I am also glad to be part of the macrobiotic community, and am always willing to help others discover real nourishment and authentic quality foods.

-Bita Hunt
B.A. Philosophy/AADP Nutritionist/Chef

I lived at the Kushi house for a short while in 1996. I was having a hard time, fresh out of highschool, and confused about life. I was glad to be at the Kushi house, but I didn't know what to do with myself, and felt sad and depressed.

At meal times, I often sat across from Michio, and sometimes had the courage to ask him questions. He always gave me funny answers, which only raised more questions in my head for me to ponder.

One time, I was standing in the kitchen, not knowing what to do, or where to go, and feeling down. Michio walked up behind me, and must've sensed my despair. Without me seeing him, or him seeing my face, he put his hand on my shoulder for a moment. This was a very warm and caring gesture that immediately affected me. That was all. No words were exchanged but it was clear what had happened.

I have heard it said that Michio is not the most affectionate person. This gesture however, could not have been more affectionate, to me.

Thank You and Happy Birthday Michio.
Joe Waxman

I started macrobiotics in 1979 due to illness, a very bad scoliosis of the spine, when I was 20years old. As a child I was very weak after recovering from lungtuberculosis and being in hospital for two years, stuffed with cortison, antibiotics and painkillers .I experienced weakness, pain all over my body , was very depressed and lost in life. Thanks to macrobiotics, and Michio Kushi, I gained my strength back, got rid of the pain and could enjoy a very rich life.

Marijke De Coninck

This is a picture of Michio on the day that he awarded me my graduation certificate from Level IV studies.

It was the greatest honor of my life to learn at the feet of the great master of macrobiotics. This was so literally—we sat on the floor while Michio perched cross-legged on an armchair in front of us. He spoke day after day without notes, answering all of our endless questions and showing us with his life the meaning of macrobiotic thinking.

Here is a picture of me with Aveline several months before she made her transition to the non-physical.

She looked after us and even attended one class, truly the power (still) behind the throne. In a sense, Michio’s birthday is her birthday now, as she lives on in all of our thoughts.

Finally, a picture of Michio last year in Paris, assisted by the most capable Midori as he demonstrates his elasticity to us.

For me, this is the greatest lesson of all, and the one I strive most to learn—flexibility. It is the sixth level of consciousness: being available to life. It is the gift and the promise of macrobiotics.

Love,

Ginat Rice