A few words from Phiya Kushi

"It has become clear to me that many macrobiotic promoters have unintentionally turned macrobiotics into a religion. It is subtle but it is done the moment when someone suggests that certain behaviors dictate or define whether or not someone "is" macrobiotic or not. This includes if a person chooses to eat meat, dairy or junk food. Religion, as Karen Armstrong so brilliantly pointed is not about belief systems but is about behaviors. When macrobiotic teachers start dictating that certain behaviors determine whether someone is macrobiotic they are passing judgment on people and preaching a new religion. I was guilty of this as well. But macrobiotics is not a religion. People are free to to do and behave as they please including what food choices they make. Macrobiotics is, instead, a field of study, of exploration and self-discovery. Macrobiotic is experiential and is about learning and growing. The true aim of macrobiotics is to set people free, not to limit and enslave them into a rigid structure and set of rules of conduct and behavior. I make food suggestions to people only because they ask me, not because I believe that they should behave in a certain way. People are free to do as they please as long they are not harming themselves or others. I hope that macrobiotic promoters can take a hard look at themselves and see if they are inadvertently promoting a religion or not." Phiya Kushi Apr 30 2008