Hi all,

 In a different group that people are no longer posting in: mhjforum · Macrobiotic Heart Journal Forum ,
Don Becket   wrote   about 6 years ago, that Keith Varnum stated in his book Inner Coach: Outer Power that he spent 10 years with Michio engaged in many adventures including Michio's East-West Institute in L.A. and time in Boston, that included seeing Michio demonstrating levitation to lecture audiences ("seeing him demonstrate
levitation [of his own body] on 4 different occasions, in front of lecture audiences......and says that many of the people watching did not see Michio levitate [because it was too unacceptable to their belief systems]......and the few who did admit seeing it, denied it the next day!") , being taught by Michio to communicate with vegetables in gardens ("He talked the crops and the weeds into growing harmoniously with each other, so it was not necessary to pull weeds.......and the plants began speaking to him, and told him they could grow perfectly well without water or food or even soil, as long as they had the support of human consciousness. So he
stopped watering them......and they kept growing just the same. But they required that he still go to the garden for 3 hours every day [the amount of time he had been spending watering] and just be with them and talk to them......so he lay there in a hammock for 3 hours a day and communicated with them! Michio was the only one who knew he had stopped watering them......and the plants said, if anyone else knew [who did not accept that such a thing was possible], the plants would be obliged to die, because they would have to conform
to the prevailing human beliefs."), and eating many gourmet meals in public restaurants with Michio ("he and Michio sneaking away, for years, after Michio's lectures, to indulge in "forbidden" foods:

'In Los Angeles and later in Boston, Michio and I would often sneak
off together after his lectures to quiet, secluded French cafes
where his fanatical disciples would never think to look for him.
These quaint bistros served all the foods Michio warned against in
his lectures, which focused primarily on how various foods affected
one's health and spirituality. In his talks, he advised eating a
main diet of natural whole grains, fruits and vegetables. He spoke
adamantly about avoiding alcohol, drugs, coffee, sugar, dairy,
animal fats, red meat, white flour, white rice and all chemicalized.
processed foods.

"Yet on these frequent outings, Michio ordered buttery French
croissants, eclairs and every other sugary delight available.
......................................................
On other evenings, we went to Italian eateries in Los Angeles and
Boston. Consuming huge meals of white flour pasta with tomato sauce
and meatballs, we'd sip red wine and enjoy sweet dessert cannolis --
all foods on the absolute "Never Eat" list from Michio's lectures on
macrobiotic philosophy.

"Michio and I dined out like this for years. We never spoke to
anyone about our excursions. And we never discussed between
ourselves the seeming discrepancies between his words and his
actions, between his recommended diet and his savored delicacies.
Yet in his own experiential, paradoxical ways, he was teaching me
the life lessons I needed to learn: the importance of enjoying food
and celebrating life with gusto, flexibility, intuitiveness and,
especially, freedom.

"As we sat eating pastries, Michio would lean toward me and speak
with great earnestness, 'Keit, you must be free man.' Very
endearingly, he always pronounced 'th' as a "t" in my name.

"'You must be free to do anything you want. You must be free to eat
anything you want. You must be free to be anything you want.'
..................................................................
"Michio's lectures focused on the exhaustive presentation of
information, principles and universal laws concerning the best ways
to eat and live. I asked him why he didn't emphasize the primacy of
intuition in his lectures to the degree he did in our cafe
discussions.

"'Oh, but I do,' he replied. 'But not many people hear. At the very
end of all my talks, I always say that to be happy and healthy, you
must live intuitively. But few hear me.' ").

What do you think about that?

Thank you, very much.

Love,

Bruce






phiyak wrote:

Hi Simon,

I understand what you're saying here. I think, when looking back, it
might be helpful to distinguish between the shortcomings (intentional or
not) on the part of some individuals promoting macrobiotics versus the
teachings themselves. I don't believe there ever was any intentional
dishonesty. If there was any intentional deceit, which I am unaware of,
then I think it is more a reflection on person then on whether they
promoted macrobiotics or not. I don't have any answers to this right
now, other than just expressing a concern that present and future
macrobiotic promoters not create a future based on incorrect assumptions
of the past and an attempt to correct them, change things that may or
may not have any bearing on it at all.

Phiya

--- In moderndaymacrobioti cs@yahoogroups. com, Simon G Brown <simon@...>
wrote:
>
> Hi Phiya,
>
> I do think there was a period when macrobiotics was taught as a diet
> and many of the people teaching it or prescribing it did not follow it
> and ate many of the foods they were suggesting people should avoid in
> the classes.
>
> There was a period of dishonesty and perhaps delusion where
> macrobiotics became a very strict, narrow diet that very few people
> could follow for more than a few months.
>
> Personally I do not think we have anything to lose by acknowledging
> this and letting people know we have moved on. If anything it just
> makes us more human and perhaps appealing.
>
> Love,
>
> Simon
>
>
>
> On 30 Sep 2008, at 16:33, phiyak wrote:
>
> > Hi Andy,
> >
> > You wrote:
> >
> > "Truth is, the great majority of the mb masters don't even have the
> > will-power to follow what they preach, how much less so can a guy
who
> > goes out on Sunday's and tries to take the heads off their opponents
> > on
> > a gridiron."
> >
> > Who or what "mb masters" are you talking about? I have not met
anyone
> > who claims the title of "mb master". However, I have met many like
you
> > that like to point fingers and call others "mb masters" and speak of
> > them either in great reverence or in great disappointment. The label
> > seems to me to be used more for the purpose of distancing oneself
from
> > such a person (or persons) and has no semblance to the truth. It is
a
> > convenient way for one to say that "I am not like them" for whatever
> > self-purpose one has.
> >
> > Also what is it that they preach they don't have the will-power to
> > follow? In all my years of being involved with macrobiotic
> > education, I
> > can't recall anyone who has not practiced what they preach - since I
> > always understood macrobiotic teaching to be based on understanding
> > the
> > order of the universe, individual free choice and non-credo. Indeed,
> > when one teaches the order of the universe then to me, it is
logically
> > impossible to not practice what one preaches even if one ate meat,
> > sugar, did drugs, became ill and lived a short life.
> >
> > But then again, if we define a macrobiotic person (or "master" - as
> > you
> > call them) as someone who takes care of their health and lives to a
> > ripe
> > old age, then the only ones qualified to call themselves as such -
are
> > those that actually live to a ripe old age. But just how old? 80?
90?
> > 100? more? When is the cutoff age? Also, at those older ages, does
it
> > really matter what one ate or how well disciplined they were? Just
the
> > fact they lived so long is a testament enough of their macrobiotic
> > "mastery". Also and indeed, living a life without discipline might
> > even
> > be preferred and desireable over following a rigid routine - it
might
> > even be necessary in order to live so long. Maybe, the best solution
> > lies somewhere in the middle oscillating back and forth between
> > following a dsiciplined routine and living a wild and care-free
life.
> > Who really knows? I'll let you know if I ever reach such a ripe old
> > age
> > and along the way I am certainly going to do whatever I like or
please
> > regardless of what anyone calls me or thinks of me.
> >
> > Also, I always have been under the impression that professional
> > athletes
> > maintain a tremendous amount of discipline, especially those who are
> > successful and command high salaries. They would need to be in order
> > to
> > be so successful. For that matter, doesn't anyone successful
> > maintain a
> > certain level of discipline in their life which then correlates to
the
> > level of success that they attain?
> >
> > Respectfully,
> > Phiya
> >
> > --- In moderndaymacrobioti cs@yahoogroups. com, "andyboyshao"
> > andyboyshao@ wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi Melanie -
> > >
> > > If an N.F.L. player was on a genuine mb diet (i.e. like one Kushi
> > > describes in his books) I would be very shocked. I suppose
anything
> > is
> > > possible. My guess is that if one was a fly and followed the
> > player's
> > > every move, one would see some very interesting things. This is
not
> > to
> > > say that your friend was not following mb principles, he very well
> > > could have been. Truth is, the great majority of the mb masters
> > don't
> > > even have the will-power to follow what they preach, how much less
> > so
> > > can a guy who goes out on Sunday's and tries to take the heads off
> > > their opponents on a gridiron. Anyways, I do applaud your
> > friend...he
> > > has accomplished more than the masters. If you do find out the
names
> > > of the mb NFL players perhaps you can share it with us. I used to
be
> > > very interested in the NFL (although today it totally bores me)
and
> > I'm
> > > hoping the player was one I was fond of.
> > >
> > > Love
> > >
> > > Andy
> > >
> >
> >
> >
>