Saturday, January 1, 2011

What is Feng Shui?



Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese Metaphysical Science of physiognomy discipline, harnessing the natural energies or Qi (cosmic energies) through observations and analysis of the person’s living environment, to help oneself to achieve specific goals in their everyday lives.

To do so, Feng Shui studies the natural and man made landforms around our property, in order to first ascertain the type of Qi present, enabling us to tap into positive Qi, whilst avoiding the ill effects of negative Qi.

In the old days, Feng Shui was known as 堪舆, literally translated as Kan Yu, the observation of the forces between Heaven and Earth. Here, Heaven refers to the Astrological Space and Earth refers to our Mother Earth. At that time, Kan Yu was known as the practice of identifying good burial spots. The theories and principles were later applied beyond graves and burial spots to living properties and homes.



One must approach Feng Shui with an open-heart as it is neither religious nor spiritual, and it does not require to practise any enchanting or praying.

And when it comes to living properties and homes, Feng Shui allows us to know the When, What and How of both positive and negative Qi, and with that, the ability to use and avoid different type of Qi at different points of Time.



Within Classical Feng Shui, there are 2 major schools of thought – the San He school and the San Yuan school. These comprises various systems and principles like Flying Stars (Fei Xing-飞星), Eight Mansions (Ba Zhai-八宅), 64 Hexagrams (Xuan Kong Da Gua-玄空大卦), Dragon Gate Eight Formation (Long Men Ba Ju-龙门八局), etc.

Classical Feng Shui is also always practiced in tandem with Chinese Astrology, such as 4 Pillars of Destiny (Bazi-八字) or Purple Star (Zi Wei-紫微) Astrology and complemented by Face Reading (Mian Xiang-面相) and Date Selection (Ze Ri-择日).

Generally, Chinese Astrology can be used as a Diagnosis, and Feng Shui as a Prescription. A Classical Feng Shui Practitioner will ascertain the nature of the individual’s problems using their astrology chart, as well as observing their living environment, and then utilize an appropriate Feng Shui application to assist them in either resolving the problem or achieving their goal.

In summary, Feng Shui is an art of “assessing” the quality of life through observations and analysis of the persons’ living environment. It is not really about the Art of Object Placement, Interior Design, decorating your house with good luck objects, but it is about living in harmony with the environment and enriching lives.

In Feng Shui perspective, it is not just about being rich, finding the right husband or striking the lottery. It is neither a quick rich scheme nor a miracle cure, but try to approach it with a specific goal in mind; i.e. to harness the Qi in your environment in order to achieve your endeavors in life. You must still take action and work hard and Feng Shui will help you more. On the other hand, when you are undergoing a bad patch, then Feng Shui may help to reduce this negative impact.

The objective of Classical Feng Shui is to harness the positive Qi (Sheng Qi - 生气) and to avoid the negative one, so as to improve your life endeavours.


A Short Story on Feng Shui …
When it rains, the umbrella helps to protect you from getting wet, but you might still get wet and the degree of wetness depends on the quality of the umbrella and the intensity of the rain. Without one, you will simply been drenched. Here, Feng Shui is best described as the umbrella and the rain is the “obstacles” in your life.

Welcome to the Journey of Classical Feng Shui…and a good year ahead.

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