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Feng Shui
The Philosophy of Living Harmoniously
Preface
Feng Shui, translated Wind (unseen) and Water (seen), is the Taoist's
ancient science that teaches us how to live harmoniously with our ever-changing
and interconnecting natural elements within our surrounding environment. I tumbled
across Terah Kathryn Collins' work on Feng Shui
when a friend gave me one of her books. I was amazed how simple yet meaningful is her teaching of Feng
Shui. Her writing is personable yet elegantly clear and easy to
follow. Because Feng Shui has so much to do with the teaching of how to
live harmoniously with our surrounding environment and the very essence of Feng
Shui is to bring harmony and balance to our lives, it extends beyond the
teaching of interior decoration, and well into the science of life and how to
incorporate its five elements (Earth, Wood, Metal, Fire and Water) into our
lives to achieve a balance for our inner peace. I'd like to
share some of these tip-of-the ice-berg wisdoms of Feng Shui as it has been so simplistically explained through
Collins' work, "Feng Shui - Personal Paradise Cards" with all of you
who happen to tumble across this section of our Website. For more
information on Feng Shui, write us at: fengshui@ankhoa.com.
The Philosophy of Feng Shui
by Terah Kathryn Collins
Introduction
Feng Shui, the study of how to arrange your
environment to enhance your life, is one of my greatest passions. A dozen years
ago, as a student, I decided to put Feng Shui to the test by becoming my own
guinea pig. I figured I was perfect for the job, being unhappily married,
unemployed, and basically at the bottom of the barrel of life. When my first
Feng Shui efforts catapulted me out of my unhappy home and into my own
apartment, I knew I was on to something. Change, like a strong wind, was blowing
all the negativity and mediocrity out of my life. My apartment became a
laboratory of sorts, where I tested the theories and practices of Feng Shui in
my own life and watched for results. I was not disappointed. Opportunities to
work, play, deepen friendships, fall in love, remarry, create a beautiful home
and garden, teach, and travel have all manifested as I "Feng Shuied"
my way into a heavenly existence
Now it's your turn. The Feng Shui Personal Paradise Cards offer you 54 juicy
bites of imagery and concepts to quicken your imagination and ignite your desire
to transform your home--and your life--with Feng Shui. To complement the cards,
I've included an excerpt on the philosophy of Feng Shui from my second book, Home
Design with Feng Shui A-Z. This booklet also contains chapters from my third
book, The Western Guide to Feng Shui--Room to Room on the Bagua Map and
the Five Elements, two foundational cornerstones in the practice of Feng Shui.
The Philosophy of Feng Shui
Feng Shui, translated as "Wind and Water," observes the
relationship between the seen and unseen forces of nature. Like wind and water,
you and your environment are two forces of nature. Your desires, goals, talents,
attitudes, and feelings--like the unseen force of wind; and the home environment
you live in--like the seen force of water; are constantly interacting and
influencing each other. And as with wind and water, when you and your home blend
harmoniously, the effect is friendly, comfortable, and positive. Life is replete
with fair weather conditions such as abundant resources, good relations, and a
steady stream of opportunities. In such harmonious circumstances, your health,
prosperity, and happiness thrive.
On the other hand, when you and your home clash in some way, extreme conditions
prevail. Your life's weather pattern may include a "stagnant" job, a
"stormy" marriage, a "drought" of resources, or a
"flood" of health problems. The primary goal of Feng Shui is to bring
you and your home into harmony so that you are not just surviving one storm
after another, but are thriving in a paradise of your own design.
Over the past decade, joining forces with my home has transformed my life. When
the wind of my clear intention sweeps across the water of my environment, change
happens. Feng Shui can show you how to join forces with your home so that all
heaven can break loose in your life. To do so means creating an intimate union
between you and your home. It's a marriage waiting to happen.
1. Everything Is Alive with Ch`i
The first principle in the Feng Shui philosophy is that every person, place, and
thing is alive with Ch'i, or vital energy. Along with being molecularly alive,
our material possessions are subjectively alive with our thoughts, feelings, and
associations. This concept is all-inclusive and tends to throw a monkey wrench
into how we've viewed the world to date. It changes our physical existence from
a world "that" is largely inanimate to a world "who" is
completely alive.
When we see our world as made up of animate "beings," rather than a
bunch of inanimate "stuff," we make different choices. Clear-cutting
and bulldozing areas to bang up as many houses as possible can only happen when
we believe none of it is really alive. When we feel the aliveness of all things
around us, including the earth beneath our feet, we tend to take good care of
them. We slow down, build around the knees and elbows of the land, and work in
harmony with "who's" already living there. We also choose our
belongings much more carefully, knowing that everything is imbued with living
energy that can build us up or break us down. We want to be surrounded by
possessions "who" strengthen our sense of well-being all the time.
Every "thing" that lives with you evokes certain memories,
associations, and feelings. That's why it's important in Feng Shui to assess
your material possessions. What are they "saying" to you? The quality
of your inner life is constantly influenced by what you're keeping alive in your
surroundings. Your feelings and memories may be of good times and delicious
moments, a mixed combination of associations, or they may be quite negative.
In Feng Shui, one of your primary goals is to surround yourself with
"environmental affirmations," or the things who are alive with
life-affirming associations. When you design your environment to affirm your
life, you are opening the pathways for happiness, health, and prosperity to take
up residence with you, and you're creating your environment to be your personal
paradise.
Look around and choose something that belongs to you. It could be your watch,
your shirt, the chair you're sitting on, or a nearby piece of art. As you focus
on that one object, what comes to mind? A rich medley of feelings, memories, and
associations may come up-- for example, when you bought or received it, what the
occasion was, whether it was a good deal, who was there, and so on. Ask,
"Do the thoughts and feelings this object is alive with strengthen or
weaken my sense of well-being?" If, in fact, it weakens your sense of
well-being, are you willing, ready, and able to let it go?
2. Everything Is Connected by Ch`i
The second basic principle of Feng Shui is that every person, place, and thing
is connected by Ch'i. Although our connections are usually strongest with the
people, places, and things that are close by, we are essentially in relationship
with everyone and everything on Earth.
Conflicting relationships can diminish or damage the quality of Ch'i in our
lives. When we recognize that we cannot isolate ourselves, we see the importance
of resolving our conflicts and cultivating good relationships. Because
everything is connected, resolving relationship problems greatly improves the
overall quality of our lives.
We are also intimately connected to every single "thing" that
surrounds us. And, in our culture, most of us have thousands of things! So in
the spirit of good relationship, it's crucial to simplify, organize, and
properly house our possessions--including the ones in garages, basements,
attics, and closets. As Victoria Moran says in her book Shelter for the
Spirit: "If you organize before you simplify, things will be
disorganized again in no time. This is not because you are a hopeless slob
without a prayer of redemption. It is because excess cannot be organized. If it
could, it wouldn't be excess."
This doesn't mean that you suddenly have to live a deprived existence, because
material well-being tends to increase in the presence of order. Simply let go of
anything you don't have a great relationship with, remembering that external
order and harmony create internal harmony and clarity.
In the same way, the many aspects of our lives are interconnected. We cannot
separate our health from our finances, our finances from our creativity, or our
creativity from our relationships. Every part of our life is connected to all
the other parts. Change or remove one part and the whole picture is altered. For
instance, your job will take a toll on your physical vitality and general
outlook on life if it's stressful. On the other hand, if you love your work,
you'll find that your relationships, health, creativity, and passion for life
are all strengthened as a result.
Take a few moments to consider whether you have some unfriendly connections with
yourself or others. Your outer environment may include neighbors you dislike,
alienated family members, or co-workers who are troublesome. Knowing how
connected you are to other people, it's time to reinstate harmony and balance in
all relationships, including your relationship with yourself. Contemplate the
meaning of healthy relationships, and practice generosity, compassion, honesty,
and forgiveness, knowing that the quality of your life depends on it.
3. The Ch`i in Everything Is Changing
The third Feng Shui principle states that the Ch'i in every person, place, and
thing is constantly changing. In fact, the one constant in our physical universe
is change. And it becomes a gift when we embrace it as a force that can improve
our lives.
Embracing change is often resisted in our Western culture. We want to look 25
forever, buy furniture only once, and have one career that lasts a lifetime. As
we all know, life doesn't work that way. Change happens. As we grow older and
hopefully wiser, we may marry, have children, divorce, change careers, move,
make new friends, remarry, and through it all, experience tremendous inner and
outer changes. When we fully join the dance of change and "let it
happen," we grow in wisdom and experience, and we allow our homes to
reflect our changes.
For instance, you may change careers and turn a guest room into a home office,
or transform the master bedroom into your art studio. As you change, you might
want more yellow in your living room or purple in your bedroom. You may feel
compelled to add built-in storage, an exercise area, or an atrium for your
collection of orchids. When you feel the need to change something about your
home, do your best to follow through as quickly as possible. Changing your
living space anchors and supports the newest you, while the lack of change keeps
the old you in place.
There's a Chinese saying: "If you want a change in your life, move 27
things in your house. " When you alter your home in a positive way, you
bring positive changes into your life. Feng Shui invites you to embrace change,
lighten up, and let your environment grow and move with you. To help you change,
install casters on heavy furniture such as desks and sofas so you can easily
move things around. Any change you make doesn't need to last forever. Let your
creativity run a little wild, and enjoy the moment, knowing that it's all going
to change anyway.
If you could change anything about your inner relationship with yourself,
what would it be? Perhaps you have a tendency to be stingy and judgmental with
yourself. If this is so, now is the time to become more generous and forgiving.
To environmentally affirm your positive change, you could place an abundant
arrangement of fresh flowers in your living room, symbolizing generosity and
self-love. Affirm your inner change by saying, "I am always changing for
the better. Change brings magnificent inner and outer experiences into my life.
I embrace change, and change lovingly embraces me."
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