Guest guest Posted August 3, 2006 Report Posted August 3, 2006 Hi all, Just got back to HI from the KI summer conference in VT. I worked so darn hard. Did anyone go? I didn't get to see any of the sessions, except for when Michio met with the teachers. I'll post his lecture on my blog in the next few days. Hey, Simon, your sister is the BEST cook and such a great person. Enjoyed working with her! Glad there aren't TOO many messages to catch up on! Quote
Guest guest Posted August 4, 2006 Report Posted August 4, 2006 I want details lots of details, any details you can think up. If not, post here when we can read your blog.......... Glad you got back safely! Reg > > Hi all, > > Just got back to HI from the KI summer conference in VT. I worked so > darn hard. Did anyone go? I didn't get to see any of the sessions, > except for when Michio met with the teachers. I'll post his lecture on > my blog in the next few days. > > Hey, Simon, your sister is the BEST cook and such a great person. > Enjoyed working with her! > > Glad there aren't TOO many messages to catch up on! > > > Quote
Guest guest Posted August 4, 2006 Report Posted August 4, 2006 wow! wow that is so cool. I wish I was as evolved in 8th grade! I was in la la land. took so long but hey all in good time. What was it like growing up mb in Indiana, doing it alone? Was your family supportive? Did you need to cook on your own? Details......... peace, Reggie > > Hello, . I am a new member of this list. I live in the greater Boston > area. > > > > (What kind of geographical distribution does this list have, I wonder -- ) > > > > Please send me a copy of your report re MK's lecture, or link to your blog. > I'd like to hear about what he talked about. > > > > Me, ---- I've been macrobiotic since 1968 when I was in 8th grade. My older > brother and the writings of Mr. Ohsawa and Mr. Kushi convinced me to become > macrobiotic. My brother lived in Boston, but I was a young person living at > home in Indiana with my mother and father. I did visit my brother several > times and experienced the Boston macrobiotic community in the late 1960s and > 1970s, when it was really something. I am happy to say I went to at least > one of Michio's famous $2 lectures at the Arlington Street Church, 1969 or > so. > > > > ---And by the way, the first East West Journal, which started out as a > macrobiotic magazine and which I received as a young person in Indianapolis, > Indiana, had an article by Michio which had an indicatively radical title: > " Civilization is the Disease; Cancer is the Cure. " That was the macrobiotics > I was excited by. > > > > Different things were emphasized back then. > > > > > > > > W. Gerzon > > Handyman, Carpenter, Educator > > Arlington, MA > > > > summer conference > > > > Hi all, > > Just got back to HI from the KI summer conference in VT. I worked so > darn hard. Did anyone go? I didn't get to see any of the sessions, > except for when Michio met with the teachers. I'll post his lecture on > my blog in the next few days. > > Hey, Simon, your sister is the BEST cook and such a great person. > Enjoyed working with her! > > Glad there aren't TOO many messages to catch up on! > > > Quote
Guest guest Posted August 4, 2006 Report Posted August 4, 2006 wow! wow that is so cool. I wish I was as evolved in 8th grade! I was in la la land. took so long but hey all in good time. What was it like growing up mb in Indiana, doing it alone? Was your family supportive? Did you need to cook on your own? Details......... peace, Reggie > > Hello, . I am a new member of this list. I live in the greater Boston > area. > > > > (What kind of geographical distribution does this list have, I wonder -- ) > > > > Please send me a copy of your report re MK's lecture, or link to your blog. > I'd like to hear about what he talked about. > > > > Me, ---- I've been macrobiotic since 1968 when I was in 8th grade. My older > brother and the writings of Mr. Ohsawa and Mr. Kushi convinced me to become > macrobiotic. My brother lived in Boston, but I was a young person living at > home in Indiana with my mother and father. I did visit my brother several > times and experienced the Boston macrobiotic community in the late 1960s and > 1970s, when it was really something. I am happy to say I went to at least > one of Michio's famous $2 lectures at the Arlington Street Church, 1969 or > so. > > > > ---And by the way, the first East West Journal, which started out as a > macrobiotic magazine and which I received as a young person in Indianapolis, > Indiana, had an article by Michio which had an indicatively radical title: > " Civilization is the Disease; Cancer is the Cure. " That was the macrobiotics > I was excited by. > > > > Different things were emphasized back then. > > > > > > > > W. Gerzon > > Handyman, Carpenter, Educator > > Arlington, MA > > > > summer conference > > > > Hi all, > > Just got back to HI from the KI summer conference in VT. I worked so > darn hard. Did anyone go? I didn't get to see any of the sessions, > except for when Michio met with the teachers. I'll post his lecture on > my blog in the next few days. > > Hey, Simon, your sister is the BEST cook and such a great person. > Enjoyed working with her! > > Glad there aren't TOO many messages to catch up on! > > > Quote
Guest guest Posted August 7, 2006 Report Posted August 7, 2006 Hello , said she had a really good time. I am glad you met up. Looking forward to reading about Michio’s lecture. All the best, Simon Hi all, Just got back to HI from the KI summer conference in VT. I worked so darn hard. Did anyone go? I didn't get to see any of the sessions, except for when Michio met with the teachers. I'll post his lecture on my blog in the next few days. Hey, Simon, your sister is the BEST cook and such a great person. Enjoyed working with her! Glad there aren't TOO many messages to catch up on! Quote
Guest guest Posted August 8, 2006 Report Posted August 8, 2006 Wow thank you so much for sharing that story. I especially liked the parts with humor to the taking out the book and if I could have the asparagus thing. We learn so much through time that we think we MUST know right now. Your journey is a great one. Perhaps you can, if you wish, put this into a file and add to our files section? I'd love to keep it handy. Peace, Reggie > > Well, since you asked........ > > > > My older brother was my big influence. He is also a 1 Water, born in > 1945, whereas I was born in 1954. He did Berkeley college, rebellion, > hippie, LSD; then eastern philosophy, yoga, macrobiotics! So in my fifth > grade of school, 1965-66, he was no longer saying " Take LSD, it is great! " > but " Brown rice is the way to go. " Thus I totally skipped the use of drugs. > Never even smoked marijuana - hey, I didn't eat sugar ( " too yin! " ), and > Michio wrote in the Order of the Universe magazines that marijuana was 100x > more yin than sugar, and LSD was 1000x more yin, so I wouldn't touch it! I > was too yin already, and yin was the enemy! This was a rather limited, > early, immature view of yin/yang, obviously! > > > > Some drugs might have been good for me, actually! > > > > But now I think it's a bit too late to try them. > > > > In addition to listening to my brother, I also read the writings of > Ohsawa, in 1967 or 68 and immediately said, this is for me. All the yin/yang > science, and the food suggestions made sense to me. But the thing that > really grabbed me was Ohsawa writing, " Try this way of life and you will > experience total non-exclusivity, absolute freedom, and unconditional love. " > That's somewhere in Zen Macrobiotics (if anyone knows where, please tell me, > as I haven't been able to find it and haven't re-read that books for years). > Those three things, total non-exclusivity, absolute freedom, unconditional > love - that to me is what macrobiotics is about. Some view macrobiotics as > something to cure cancer with. It includes that, but is so much more. I am > sad when only physical health is the focus of a macrobiotic gathering. In > some ways, I think Michio (my main live teacher) really missed the boat when > he chose to focus on curing cancer so much, instead of focusing on inspiring > people about a whole new way of living on earth. I have had to " forgive him " > for doing what he has done, frankly, and see that my anger at him is my > problem, he doesn't deserve it, and that he is doing what he is doing. It's > up to my generation to add to what he is doing, not to just criticize it! > > > > Foodwise, back in 1968, I decided I was too yin, so I stopped eating my > mother's desserts, and just ate her cooking, including meat, thinking this > was good for me! My brother had got her into brown rice and fresher > vegetables. When she served dinner, I would run upstairs, take out my copy > of Zen Macrobiotics by Ohsawa, and look at the table with foods and > yin/yang triangles. The table would help me to decide if I could eat the > asparagus she served me or not, based on the book! This is what you call > " conceptual eating " !! > > > > The good part is, I did stop sugar and ice cream. (Ice cream had been a big > favorite of mine, I think partly because it is baby food (milk), it is sweet > and wonderful, it makes you happy, and it is a substitute for mother love. > My mother was a not-so-loving critical Dutch Protestant, and I don't think I > ever felt yummy love from here. Ice cream was a poor substitute, but it was > the best I could come up with, along with pushing some feelings aside, to > deal with 10 or 30 years later!) > > > > Eventually I grew up a bit about conceptuality and food. The next year I > stopped eating meat too, and throughout high school ate my mother's cooking, > which was brown rice, vegetables, and some occasional fish. I just skipped > the desserts. Hardly ate any sea veg, etc., it was not a balanced diet. Rice > and vegetables, some fish, some salad, and all augmented by occasional > peanut butter, lettuce and pickle sandwiches! > > > > This is called macrobiotics by book. It's better to have a live person > around! > > > > The only thing I really remember cooking for myself was ready-to- cook > blueberry muffins from some mix, which tells me I sometimes did indulge in > sugar! I think it was Betty Crocker! > > > > Oh, wait, that's not true. I would go home for lunch, I remember, and I > would whip up some buckwheat pancakes from buckwheat flour, add some frozen > corn and lettuce, and that was lunch. So I did cook a bit for myself. I had > my mom's oatmeal for breakfast. > > > > Early on, maybe the first time my brother visited us as a macrobiotic, he > cooked a big pot of garbanzo beans. I mean a lot. He must have been new at > cooking! He then went back to Boston, or something, and my mother, my > sister, and I had to eat those beans for the next few weeks. My mom didn't > believe in throwing food out. I was not happy about this at the time. > > > > I did visit my brother in Boston about once a year. Then when I finished > high school, I moved to Boston, fall 1973. > > > > I remember the very first year I was going to visit my big brother in > Boston, maybe 1970 or earlier! I had read Ohsawa, again, and he wrote > something like, " A true macrobiotic, like an animal in the wild, needs no > toilet paper. " Or something! Typical extreme (and in its own way, wonderful) > Ohsawa! The macrobiotic community in Boston at that time was really > something: Erewhon (three retail food stores, one nationally important > warehouse/distribution company), two book stores, three restaurants, and > maybe 30 study houses, all relating to Michio Kushi or even rented by Michio > and Aveline. The spirit of the 60s was in the air. Brother lived in a > study house on Beacon Street in Brookline, and I was afraid I'd get there > and there would be no toilet paper in the bathroom! > > > > Of course, this was a young man's fantasy based on reading! When I got > there, it turned out people were a bit different and the food was different, > but other than that it was a normal American household. Or as normal as a > group living situation could be in the late 1960s. My brother picked me up > at the airport, and we went to the study house. The first guy I met said to > me, " Welcome. I sleep next door to you, and I snore, I hope it doesn't > bother you too much! Bad kidneys! " I quickly realized that I didn't have to > be perfect here. (My upbringing, school, and family dynamics inclined me to > both be competitive and to think I had to be perfect, or at least > excellent!) I also heard for the first time the Kushian Boston macrobiotic > community of tending to emphasize one's organs and which ones were sick! > > > > The whole mindset had plenty of room for evolving and maturing, and it has. > > > > Thanks for asking. > > > > > > > > W. Gerzon > > Handyman, Carpenter, Educator > > Arlington, MA > > HandymanG@... Quote
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