Macrobiotics

A diet based on the principle of the Yin and the Yang, a sound and practical guide to balancing one’s daily regimen. The closest approximation that can be made by Westerners to the diet of the Eastern adepts.

Origins of macrobiotics

The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine, the oldest-known book of Chinese medicine, is the foundation of the macrobiotic diet. Ronald E. Kotzsch writes in Macrobiotics: Yesterday and Today that The Yellow Emperor’s Classic “asserts that food is an important means for treating disease. It says that in ‘medieval days’ the sages treated illness first by diet, usually prescribing a regime of rice gruel for ten days. If this treatment was not successful, then the roots and leaves of medicinal plants were used to harmonize the energies. Acupuncture and moxibustion were employed only as a last resort. If the emotions and the will of the patient are stable, says the Classic, then cereals alone can effect a cure. Grains have a special importance and power as human food. Water and grains are the root of life and ‘death comes only when they are exhausted.’ In particular, rice is mentioned as a vital and harmonious food.”

The Yellow Emperor’s Classic is attributed to Huang Ti, the legendary Yellow Emperor (born c. 2704 B.C.), but was probably not written down until about 500 B.C. The Yellow Emperor is believed to have ruled China during a golden age and is considered the ancestor of all Chinese people. The diet was given by Sanat Kumara to the lightbearers and, among others, to Lord Lanto, who is said to have inspired The Yellow Emperor’s Classic.

The messenger has given numerous lectures on the macrobiotic diet, including how human behavior and physical and mental health relate to the condition of the body’s organs and what foods are beneficial to the health of the organs.

Diet and the spiritual path

Sanat Kumara has spoken of the importance of diet on the spiritual path:

Come, then, into conformity with your true inner being. Espouse, if you will, as the messenger has, the present awareness of the diet of the Eastern adepts. Espouse, then, that path whereby you recognize that all things have consciousness.

From the mosquito who lands on your arm to the ant or the worm—all things have consciousness. The leafy green vegetables you eat also have consciousness, as does every other food. Thus, consider yourself to be made up of the various consciousnesses of the substances of which you have partaken. Shun, therefore, those meats of red blood but rather prefer the fish of the sea that are in abundance and readily available, that can balance your four lower bodies when you include the proper complements of grains, vegetables and seaweeds. And thereby you might one day know the freedom, if it be your choice, unless you have concluded that a specific condition in your body requires them for a time of not having to necessarily continue to eat fish, for you will know the strength of God within you....

Fortification of the physical body, then, provides the chalice for the soul and the Atman. And I, Sanat Kumara, promise you this: I will inhabit the physical body of anyone who does prepare that body and who does maintain the mind that is more yang than yin. I will inhabit that body, portion by portion of myself, even as you increase your God consciousness portion by portion.”

Note from the editor

Many spiritual traditions recommend avoiding meat when one is pursuing the spiritual path, as Sanat Kumara speaks of in this dictation. This is easier for those who are away from the pressures of the world in a monastery or a spiritual retreat. Every person is different and individual needs vary according to body chemistry. Although the ascended masters recommend a less dense diet with little or no red meat, they do expect students to be practical and make their own choices in consultation with their Higher Self. They encourage a healthy diet of grains, fresh vegetables and lighter protein sources, citing fish and poultry as being preferable to meat.

Students pursuing a spiritual path often tend naturally to eat less meat, since they find that a lighter diet helps in maintaining spiritual attunement. However, students of the masters who have a lifestyle that involves heavy physical work, especially in cold climates, may find that lighter foods do not meet all their needs, and that they need to partake of heavier foods, including red meats, to maintain balance in the body. They also find that they can transmute these dense foods quickly through their physical labor and the violet flame. This may be also the case for students on the spiritual path who are going through an intense period of work or stress and may feel the need for some meat or other heavier foods to help them stay more tethered to the physical plane.

Overall, it is better to complete one’s divine plan while eating meat as opposed to not being able to function effectively in the physical plane and hence not complete one’s divine plan because of not eating meat. The master El Morya has said that if one eats red meat, then it would be best to increase the amount of violet flame to help transmute any toxins or density associated with the meat.

While the principles of yin and yang underlying the macrobiotic diet are universal, the diet as it is taught by some practitioners today does not suit all constitutions. The masters are very practical and ask us to make our attunement with our own body Holy Christ Self and to trust that attunement. Be sure to consult a doctor or health-care practitioner if you have a medical or mental condition or if you are pregnant or nursing.

Sources

Pearls of Wisdom, vol. 32, no. 30, July 23, 1989.

Pearls of Wisdom, vol. 32, no. 19, May 7, 1989.

Pearls of Wisdom, vol. 31, no. 34, July 2, 1988.