What is Feng Shui? by Michael Silverman

Did you ever go to sleep at a friend’s house or at a hotel and found that you just couldn’t sleep? The bed was just fine, the room was fine, but you just couldn’t sleep. Did you ever go into a home or office and felt that the room didn’t have any energy? When you enter an office for a meeting and sit down do you ever feel uncomfortable? There could be an answer, and that answer can probably be found in Feng Shui.

Feng Shui (pronounced fung shway) is the ancient Chinese science of geomancy, a science that tries to help us live in harmony with the environment in order to derive its benefits. As a tool, it’s been in existence for nearly 5000 years -- about as long as people anywhere in the world have lived in houses.

It teaches how to find the benefits of an environment, improve the good influences, choose your most comfortable place, while training you to slow down – or ward off -- the harmful elements present. It’s been said, recently, that if you could understand the coincidence in life, we would understand everything. I don’t understand the coincidences, no one does.

What can be seen is the connection, the action, not the force that produces it. What we’re talking about here is noticing the connections. After close to 5000 years of following the connections, with periodic adjustments, Feng Shui still works.

Feng Shui literally means “wind - water,” and is said to have originated about 4850 years ago by China’s first legendary emperor, Fu Hsi (2852 BC).

The legend says he was sitting on the bank of the Lo River, and a tortoise emerged from the water. The tortoise’s shell was divided into eight sections, and there appeared to be a symbol in each section. According to Chinese myth, these symbols became the original eight Trigrams of the I Ching, the book used for recommending a path in life to follow. About 3000 years ago King Wen, a great philosopher, changed the order of these Trigrams. His son actually started the Chou Dynasty, but his son pronounced him king actually after he died.

Feng Shui is a process. It is not a one-time correction. As you add or change a house, as you add new furniture, you will have to be aware that there will probably be changes and corrections needed to keep the Ji flowing.

The rule is, “Just be conscious of your environment”. Stop not looking in a corner that bothers you, look at it and fix it. If you decide on a certain arrangement of things, keep it up. If something moves, move it back. Correct it now. Don’t put off ‘till tomorrow what can and must be done today.

If you like confusion, leave your sink in a state of confusion, and you’ll have confusion all day. It will also affect your sleep if you leave the sink full at night. All night your mind will be working on what has to be done in the morning, before you really start the day. For a good night’s sleep, arrange the house before you go to sleep.

We should also sleep with our head in the correct direction. According to the Five Elements, each of us is an element according to year of our birth. Basically, any year that ends in either 0 or 1 is Metal and their direction is West. Years that end in 2 or 3 are Water and their direction is North; 4 or 5 is Wood and is East; 6 or 7 is Fire and is South and 8 or 9 is Earth and it is in the middle and all directions suit. Because the Chinese year comes in January-February, people born in an even year in january-February must look for the exact date the Chinese years comes in. People with this problem should contact me by email.

We look at luck as the favorable coincidents that happen to us. We break the luck down to three (3) types of luck.

• The first is Luck from Heaven. This could possibly be things like your horoscope, etc. Basically it’s the things you came with.

• The next is the Luck from the Person. It is said that a person can improve this luck by actively trying to be a better person.

• The third is Luck from the Environment. This is where the practice of Feng Shui works.

It is further said, that if we improve our environment, and actively try to be a better person, we can influence the Luck from Heaven. We can make bad luck ok, ok luck good, and good luck great.

So, remember, while you fix up your environment, try to be a better person, it’ll pay off. There is no element of punishment here, just go along with the Tao, and things work.

Copyright 2007 Michael Silverman. Michael has studied both design and Feng Shui since 1972. He works as a design consultant for more than 20 years. He studied three forms of Feng Shui and has settled on the Black Sect Tantric Buddhist School of Feng Shui, basically, because as he says, "It works." Through email connections, he is capable of viewing plans and doing world-wide consultation. http://www.clil.net/michael/