Macrobiotics

Macrobiotics is a philosophical view of the nature of our apparent existence: an interplay of two fundamental and opposite qualities identified as Yin and Yang.

The name arises from Greek prefixes macro-, meaning long or large, and bio-, meaning life. The name sounds rather technical, but the philosophy, Large/Long Life, is quite the opposite. It is based on the intuitive sense of the one-ness and interconnectedness of life, and how to relate to its apparent behaviour via the concepts of ever-changing Yin and Yang.

The idea of balancing opposite extremes can be found also in Hinduism, where one description of the nature of Maya (the illusion of separate existence) can be found in terms of three fundamental tendencies (Guna's in Sanskrit). While not defined in precisely the same way, the Tamasic guna can be compared to Yin and the Rajasic guna with Yang, in the sense that too much of either quality leads to a less fruitful life than if they are nicely in balance. While there is no word for a balance point between Yin and Yang, there is a third guna, the Satwic guna, which identifies a balanced state.

In both philosophies, living in the balance point is stated to lead to the most rewarding life, and directly to the deepest wisdom or consciousness.

Diet

Macrobiotics when applied to food is often referred to as the macrobiotic diet. However it is not a diet in the sense of being rule-based, or recipe-based. It relies on a personal and ever-growing intuitive sense of Yin-Yang balance. There is a wiki page about it, but be warned: it has been made to appear very suspicious, by contributors who do not understand it or its intentions, though there are sections of the page which describe some details fairly and 'give the flavour'!

An excellent introduction to Macrobiotics is by award-winning actor Keith Michell called Practically Macrobiotic. In the introduction section he describes the philosophy and the vivid benefits he experienced from exploring the way of life and goes on to provide a practical cook-book with many example recipes.

As the diet is not rule-based, and excludes nothing, it does not have the level of risk the current wiki page goes out of its way to allude to. Obviously, misinterpretation and fanaticism is a danger of any type of diet, but the macrobiotic way itself is neither a 'fad diet' as the page wrongly states [it is blocked from being edited for some reason!], nor a dangerous one; it only points to natural and healthy ways of eating, with the minimum of unhealthy ingredients. That makes it hard to follow in our current society, of course! But the philosophy itself makes no demands on the student other than to discover what works best for you, and thereby enjoy health and happiness.
Having given the above proviso, here is the link, as the page has many details which would be wasted to repeat here: Macrobiotic Diet.

Other Reading

Many books have been written about Macrobiotics, but here is a good place to start to explore this beautiful and safe philosophy: The Macrobiotic Association