The Order of the Universe

by George Ohsawa

The philosophical basis of macrobiotics explaining humankind's connection to the Infinite and how a firm understanding of this connection can lead one to a healthy, happy, peaceful, free, and ideal way of life.

Genres: Philosophy

114 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1986

About the author

George Ohsawa, born Nyoichi Sakurazawa, was the founder of the Macrobiotic diet and philosophy. When living in Europe he went by the pen names of Musagendo Sakurazawa, Nyoiti Sakurazawa, and Yukikazu Sakurazawa. He also used the French first name Georges while living in France, and his name is sometimes also given in this spelling.

Ohsawa was born in a family whose father was descended directly from samurai. But this was the period of the Meiji Restoration and his family was very poor. He had to leave school after the compulsory high school as there was no money for higher education. This is when his spiritual path started. Around 1913 he met up with Nishibata Manabu (a direct disciple of the late Sagen Ishizuka) and studied with him in Tokyo in the movement Shoku-yo Kai.

Ohsawa also mentions in his books how he cured himself from tuberculosis at age 19 using what he knew about the ancient yin-yang concepts.

Later he travelled to Europe, particularly Paris, France where he started to spread his philosophy (it is in this period he supposedly adopted his new pen name "Ohsawa", after the French "oh, ca va" which means "all right" or "I'm doing fine" as a reply to the question "how are you doing ?"). After several years he returned to Japan to start a foundation, and gather recruits for his now formalized philosophy. After drawing attention to himself during World War II for his pacifist ideals, he moved his institution to a remote area in the mountains of Yamanashi prefecture.

It is presumed that he got the western name for his movement from a book written by Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland, a famous Prussian physician. It is known that he spent time in Europe with a descendant of Hufeland.

Several of his Japanese disciples were also instrumental in disseminating Macrobiotics in the West. They are, in particular, Herman Aihara in California, Roland Yasuhara in Belgium (where LIMA, the well-known manufacturer of macrobiotic products saw the light of day), and Michio Kushi in Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Caleb Stober · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bad fantasy passed off as legitimate philosophy. The author may have had good ideas but they are not in this book. He offers neither sufficient explanation for his view nor does he address questions such as “where did we come from? Where are we going? Why is everything messed up and how do we fix it?” in anything other than trite ways that ultimately have no substance. Just typical universalist cherry-picking from all the religions of the world to make a philosophy smoothie

[Wayward Child · Rating 4 out of 5]

I`ve always lived in a certain way and had certain unortodox beliefs I couldn`t explain or define. I`m not saying what I believe in is Ohsawa`s Order of the Universe, but he definitely came the closest to explaining the things I took for granted and always had lots of trouble conveying to my parents and everyone else who, at the mention of my name, smiled and said: "Well, she`s different." (Read: strange, odd, unsociable...) Well, now I feel like I have something to lean on. Still not quite sure how to explain what I believe in and what I`ve read in this book, or even if I agree with everything that`s been written in it, but now I at least have something to shield me, something to point at, something to take all the blame (or all the credit?) for my unconventional beliefs, view of the world and life-style.