No! and Know

[Guest guest]

No! and Know

By David Briscoe

 

I believe that knowledge is freeing. As a macrobiotic counselor, I am primarily

an educator, not a doctor or healthcare practitioner. I don’t " treat " people. I

try to educate them in the practical daily application of the truly dynamic

macrobiotic principles. This is not something that can be done in a single

consultation visit. It takes patience on the person’s part and on my part,

because we are not raised in a culture of patience. We are steeped in the modern

hurry-up way of " do this, swallow this, inject this, do as I say. " So a

macrobiotic counselor/educator has to understand the modern mind, how it's been

conditioned and educated, and its habits. I have to be able to put myself in

another’s shoes if I am to be successful at educating them be a free-thinking

person in a modern, hurry-up and impatient world. Just throwing my own favorite

concepts or beautiful cosmic philosophies at them won't work. As an educator, I

have to work hard in order to be a good " farmer " who can

determine the best way to prepare the earth so that it can receive and hold the

seeds. Then I have to clearly see how to nourish and care for the seeds so they

can grow and bear fruit.

 

It has often been said to me by various individuals practicing macrobiotics that

they don’t know why they are avoiding certain foods and eating others. They say,

" I don’t know why, but my counselor told me to do it this way. " To me, this

approach to macrobiotics is misguided and may lead to fanaticism, dependence and

misunderstanding. It is living in what I call the " Valley of ‘No’ " . In the

Valley of No, one practices macrobiotics because someone said " no fruit " or " no

meat " or " no sugar. " There may have been genuinely good reasons for these no’s,

but unfortunately, all too often, an individual is not taught carefully or

clearly enough or he/she forgets what was explained to them verbally. Living in

the Valley of No can be frustrating and depressing after awhile, and it is

natural for someone who is stuck there, trying to practice macrobiotics with a

burden of no’s on his back, to give up. No one enjoys living with a weight of

no’s on her back. Eventually we all want to throw off

such a weight in order to feel free again. In the Valley of No, fanaticism,

rigidity and unhappiness can easily arise. It is dark and dreary because the

sunlight of knowledge, self-reflection and free thinking do not shine there.

 

I like to encourage people to find ways of moving from the Valley of No to the

mountaintop of " know " . In other words, when you begin to make your choice from

your own knowing and understanding, you can transform a dreary macrobiotic

practice totally. In the Valley of No, many resentments and tensions can develop

as the person attempts to do a macrobiotic practice, because we don’t have basic

knowledge of what we are doing. We are blindly following someone else and as

experienced and respected as that counselor or author may be, we are still

following them. Our practice is not based on our own knowing and understanding.

 

Yes, we can certainly learn from others, but it is our own application of what

we learn that brings it to life. Concepts and philosophies are only words from

another. They come to life when we apply them in our own daily living. Then, we

see for ourselves if it works, makes sense and has value in our own lives. Then

it becomes mine, it belongs to me, it lives in me because I have used it,

applied it and gained from it. From that knowing and understanding, I can then

make my own choices freely. Macrobiotic practice becomes mine. I do it because I

want to, not because " I have to. " I choose to eat or to not eat something

because I decide to do that. In this, there is real freedom. There is no one to

blame or to feel angry about, and I don’t hold it against others if they don’t

make the same choices I make or that I think they should make. In my own

freedom, I give others their freedom, too. Then, I totally do what I want based

on my own understanding, free thinking, and free choice.

Knowing becomes a living, breathing and changing awareness, because it is

on-going and because I am open daily to learning and understanding. Yes, even if

I have a serious disease like cancer, I must eventually come to my own

understanding and make my own free choices about my diet and daily living. No

one else can do it for me. Well-meaning friends and devoted loved ones of the

seriously ill often have to learn this through much frustration, angst and

difficulty.

 

Many people have said that we need to strictly guide and monitor those with

serious illness because they are too confused, unable to make good judgements

and unable to rely on their own intuition. It is true that many need guidance,

but at the same time that we are giving guidance, we must be educating people on

how they can set themselves free. I believe this should be from the start, not

later after they have " recovered. " I have seen very few recover from anything

based just on doing what they were told to do. The ones who recover are the ones

who really learn, who take the time to educate themselves, and who practice

macrobiotics from their own developing knowledge and understanding. Blind

followers are very slow when it comes to healing because blind following breeds

resentment.

 

Weak and bed-ridden individuals will need close care and assistance in the

beginning but eventually, if they are to recover, they will have to take deep,

strong and personal charge of their own healing and do it from their own

knowing, under-standing and free choice. Freedom through understanding is the

heartbeat of a spirited practice of macrobiotics.

 

http://www.macroamerica.com/macrobiotics.html

 

 

 

 

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Ask About Health Professional Support Series: AIM Barleygreen

 

" Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future "

 

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