Fengshui – sometimes when I take a back seat and look at everything again, a few things tends to stand out. These are to me the inescapable part of study and research into this interesting field.
We seek out feng shui for very simple reasons, don’t we? Get that career going… get the kids to pay more attention to them school work…get the attention we believe we deserve at work..more money, solve all my problems…get..get.get..the list goes long.
You know, life is a very funny thing. Never seem to be enough no matter how much there is. So easy to say sour grapes and walk away. Can do perhaps but then that would mean never really knowing how the grape really tasted. It is always a toss between going for it and walking away. Ask me, I’ll say something worth doing is something worth doing well. That goes for feng shui as well.
Often heard, Feng Shui is to achieve balance. Yin yang. Balance. No matter which words…it comes down to getting the best there is available. If we do not have it (yet) then we use what is available, like Fengshui, to make things work.
Feng Shui is a life science in many ways. You have heard of the three pirincipals, I’m sure. The principals of Heaven, Earth and Man.
Heaven Principal
There are many definitions of these three principals of fengshui. No, not the three divisions that are inscribed on all fengshui compass. Heaven is the sum total of all the forces that play us. At least the forces that are currently in play. Some choose to call it Karma. Others call it fate. Not things in the sky or the physical forces of heat, light, sound and so forth but rather invisible forces that act like inexorable great waves with us on it. That is the Heaven Principal. You may call it Heaven’s Law.
Accepting the law of Karma, our place in this sometimes incomprehensible world becomes clearer. Accepting karma need not take negative connotations. It has an eventual payout policy to it no doubt but it also means there is something we can do about it. We can add or subtract from it.
Fengshui talk says that whatever heaven wants, heaven gets. General belief is that fate is defined the time we were born so what to do? Not so really if I may say. There is always some cushion or as they say a trading range. Greatness happens because that is fate. True. But it is not the road we travel that matters but the direction we are travelling that matters. That’s Emerson talking and I buy it.
Connecting this changeability of heaven’s greater plan is feng shui. How is it done? Through conscious self will of course, which is where the Man Principal comes into the picture (more of this later). But as far as this heaven principal we can connect. For example with astrology knowledge we can plan the best time for us to do certain things. The kind of work which would provide the best chances of success. The location and conditions in our favor. The things to avoid. Importantly, knowing what our limits or limitations are, we can work within that. Most, most importantly is understanding contentment and with that the fruit of happiness. Contentment only comes from knowing our trading range.
Earth Principal.
Ah, is that this feng shui the art of placement and interiors? Tomb selection perhaps?
To narrow it down to getting the right decorations in the office or house would be incorrect. To nail it as selecting a favorable apartment that faces the right direction or the right shape would be incorrect too.
Earth is about the land we stand on, the air we breathe, the suns and planets, stars and moon too. An not forgetting the people we interact with everyday. The phrase is ‘Earth benefits’. Earth is kind. If the earth is kind and hospitable to us, wherever we go and whichever way we turn, we will be greeted with smiles. We are accommodated and in the vast land, there is bounty. This is the Earth principal and feng shui helps us achieve this harmony with the land. Our nourishment, our space.
Man Principal
Last but certainly not the least is the Man Principal. Most critical in fact for to ignore this can even mean death. Ask Caesar. Well, to most of us getting along with our merry lives, it isn’t so serious but nevertheless, it is worthwhile to pay heed.
Maximising this Man Principal. It is not some voodoo or spells that we can cast. Of course, we do find magic chants drawn and placed on altars or over doors but that is not it. True working with the man principal concerns more with generating that greatness that is in us all. The qualities of goodness and consideration for our fellows. That’s it.
Goodness eventually triumphs. Do not believe me? If it had not, our earth would be a living hell where evil reigns supreme. Hitler, Pol Pot and others of their kind would have won. Our world would have been one of suppression and torment but goodness have always prevailed.
Our own inner world is a mirror of the bigger world outside. We have our hours of darkness and despair but we are always able to overcome them. Fengshui stresses this point too only not so directly. It aims to ensure that each member gets something. IF there is no absolute good, at least there is no blatant negative. That is feng shui at work.
On an often unspoken aspect, feng shui touches the human psyche. We can choose to fall into fatalistic thinking or choose something better. There is a solution. Be good, be kind, be compassionate, be considerate. That is the best tool. Man harmony is not just about human beings. Chants and mantras displayed on walls and over doors. What do they mean? Suck in wealth? Not really. It is a message that there are higher forces. Who are they meant for? To us and to unseen powerful entities too. It’s logical isn’t it that for these to work, they are directed at “something’?
Benevolent beings will smile kindly on the good. Trust me. That is fengshui Man principal talking.
In a Nutshell
Go with the flow. Take what comes naturally along. Seize the moment. There is also something in everything. Be harmonious. Be good. Live with the land not just on it. DO to your neighbor as you would to yourself. Lastly, use feng shui. Wisely. J
…this was written with the brain absent….
This book is a translation of a text by FengShui Master Jiang Da Hong (ca1640) with my explanations and comments. The root text is a section on yang dwellings from his book “5 Songs of the Heavenly Principles”.