Chapter 27
FENG SHUI
Feng shui (say “fung shway”), often called the art of placement, could just as accurately be called the art of flow. This ancient Chinese practice — literally translated as “wind” and “water” — aims to maximize the beneficial movement of chi, the universal life force present in all things, through an environment. Just as fresh air and clean water nourish our bodies, so does fresh, clean chi nourish our homes and our lives. When the flow of chi through our space is blocked, weak, or misdirected, our relationships, cash flow, creativity, health, and career can suffer. Chi wants to meander gracefully through a space, like a gentle breeze or a winding stream. When it flows too strongly, it becomes like a hurricane or a flood, and we are likely to feel tossed about by winds of change — unstable, prone to crises, struggling to keep our heads above water. Where chi is blocked, it becomes stale and stagnant, like a pond choked with algae and fallen leaves, and we may feel tired, run down, depressed, unable to focus, hampered in our efforts to move forward.
In a corporate environment, poor feng shui can result in miscommunication between managers and employees, conflicts among team members, and lack of support for key initiatives; individuals may be overlooked for promotions or deserved raises, suffer damage to their reputation, or even lose their job, and the company may have difficulty attracting or keeping key customers. In a retail store, feng shui problems can block the flow of customers into and through the store, contribute to theft and staffing problems, and negatively affect the amount and size of sales. Feng shui provides tools and guidelines for analyzing and correcting the flow of energy into and through our space. It uses the arrangement of rooms and the placement of furniture to create a smooth pathway for chi through a home, office, or store. Blockages and other forms of negative chi are removed or counteracted, in order to welcome opportunities and encourage progress. Colors and shapes associated with the five elements — wood, fire, earth, metal, and water — are used to create movement, balance, or protection, depending on the needs of the client; and imagery and objects such as paintings, photographs, statuary, and other accessories are chosen and placed to enhance and reinforce the client’s intention. Feng shui reminds us that everything is connected, and that our physical surroundings have a significant impact on our mind, body, and spirit. It teaches us to be mindful caretakers of our environments, so that we may be mindful caretakers of our lives.
Feng shui is an ancient practice that originated in China several thousand years ago, and the basic “form school” principles are still in use today. For example, the ideal location, according to traditional feng shui, has an “armchair” configuration: a hill or mountain behind the home on the northern side, to provide protection from cold winter winds; lower hills along either side; the house facing south to catch the sun; and a lake or stream in front, to provide water for crops and livestock. This type of landscape is still considered auspicious today; in an urban environment, a larger building to the rear provides similar protection, while streets and highways act like rivers to provide pathways for chi. Consider also the effects of your local climate. In central China, for example, feng shui dictated that the kitchen be located on the southern side of the house, because the prevailing winds came from the north and might extinguish the cooking fire otherwise. Today, some practitioners have learned this rule and follow it regardless of local conditions; but if you live in the southwestern United States, where the climate is very hot and dry, your kitchen might be better located on the shadier north side.
Another traditional approach is the “eight directions” method. The eight directions are the four cardinal compass points (east, west, north, south) and the points in between (NE, NW, SE, SW). Based on your gender and year of birth, four of these directions will be auspicious for you, and four inauspicious — thought to bring illness or bad luck. According to this method, the front door of your home should face one of your lucky directions; you should sleep in an auspicious sector of the house, face one of your lucky directions while you work, and so on. This approach is very popular in Europe and is becoming more widely known in the U.S. If you are shopping for a new home or apartment, it’s worth finding out what your lucky directions are (and those of other family members), and factoring that in. However, just because the front door of a house faces your luckiest direction doesn’t mean it’s the best choice for you; it is no guarantee that the house has good feng shui in other respects, and there could be all kinds of problems on the property that far outweigh the benefit of a “lucky” front door. If you know your lucky directions, there’s no reason not to consider them, so long as you look at all the factors involved when deciding how to use and arrange your space. For example, moving your bed so you sleep in a lucky direction won’t do you much good if you are now sleeping under an overhead beam, or directly in line with the bedroom door — both considered poor feng shui. Feng shui works best when you use it as a basis for informed decisions, rather than rigidly following guidelines out of context.
And, just in case you aren’t confused enough already, there is also the “compass school” approach. This is a complex practice that calculates a detailed “star” chart for the home, based on the year of construction and the precise compass direction the building faces. You can think of it as being like an astrology reading for your home: in addition to the basic chart, there are influences that change every day, month, and year. Some homes will have poor star combinations that bring bad luck to their occupants unless corrected through specific feng shui “cures,” such as placing metal or water in certain areas; other homes might have a good chart, only to come under unlucky influences during a particular month or year. The compass method requires that you know the year your house was built, and whether and when any significant renovations (to the roof, foundation, or major additions) were made; you must also be able to get an accurate compass reading (within a couple of degrees) of the home’s “facing direction,” which is not necessarily the same as the front door. It is sometimes difficult or impossible to get an accurate reading, especially in an urban environment — a car parked at the curb, a cast-iron fence, or buried utility lines may be enough to throw it off. When I lived in an apartment in New York City, I took quite a few readings over several months; they were so varied and inconsistent that I was never able to do an accurate compass analysis of that apartment.
In summary, all of the traditional methods of feng shui offer valuable principles and guidelines, which you may or may not be able to apply to your specific home. Fortunately, there is another approach, introduced in the United States by Master Lin Yun, called “Black Sect” or “Black Tibetan Buddhist” feng shui. This and other similar approaches focus on creating a healthy flow of chi through a space, and address the need for a method that can be used where compass-oriented rules of placement are difficult or impossible to follow; it can also be used in combination with the other methods, to provide a deeper understanding of the energetic qualities of your space. In this contemporary approach, the association of specific areas of the home with specific aspects of your life is based on position relative to the front door — the “mouth of chi.” Furniture is arranged to create a safe, comfortable environment, and colors, artwork, and imagery are chosen to reinforce desired changes. One of the most appealing aspects of this style is the emphasis it places on the power of your intention to influence the energy of your home; this makes the practice much more personal, and creates an opportunity to use feng shui as a tool for increased self-awareness and personal growth. “Fast Feng Shui” is my approach to teaching the principles of contemporary Western feng shui in a way that is easy to learn and apply. And the best part is that anyone can use it for increased prosperity, success, and happiness — starting right now, without special equipment or years of training.
The highest excellence is like that of water. The excellence of water appears in its benefiting all things, and in its occupying, without striving, the low place which all men dislike.Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, ch. 8, trans. James Legge, 1891