After much consideration, I decided to attend the International Teacher’s Meeting in Berlin after several years of absence. My main reason for attending was to gather support and reach agreement on a common definition of macrobiotics. It seemed that this objective was the next and most important step for us as a community. Taking the initiative to define ourselves as a group will have substantial benefits over time both within our community and the way macrobiotics is perceived in society.
Obviously, there are very diverse and strong views about what the definition should be. I was very skeptical about what the reception would be for the joint project that Carl Ferré, myself and Simon Brown had worked on. I was very pleasantly surprised to see the enthusiasm and overwhelming support for this endeavor.
In Berlin, 45 teachers were able to agree on a definition, knowing that it’s not perfect. It is however, a good starting point. It seemed that we have finally reached a turning point where all of us in the macrobiotic community are beginning to come together and think as “we”. This is very different from working on a joint project. The importance of agreement and consensus as a group came to the forefront for the first time in my experience. It’s my hope that this is a new beginning in the re-creation and formation of a macrobiotic community. Hopefully, we are reigniting our energy as a movement.
The timing seems perfect for sharing macrobiotic principles in a much greater way than ever before. We have passed the 50-year anniversary of George Ohsawa’s passing. Together with the more recent passing of Michio Kushi and the closing of the KI, it is clearly the beginning of the next era for macrobiotics. In today’s social climate, macrobiotics is in a unique position to make important and valuable contributions to the growing and expanding social and environmental consciousness. It has been exciting and inspiring to be a part of this process.
By Denny Waxman
