Feng shui has been studied and practiced for thousands of years but it is only relatively recently that people in the Western world have turned to this ancient art to find solutions that will ease all aspects of their lives. The key to feng shin is that everything should be in balance and harmony. But before you can apply feng shui cures to rectify or improve any imbalances, you need to understand the basic concepts of feng shui and discover how everything is related. This section of the book explains these basic feng shin principles, and makes them easy to understand.
After a brief history of feng shui, you will find suggestions on how best to use this book. This is followed by an explanation of chi (the energy which surrounds all things), including what can happen when it moves too quickly or too slowly. Then there is all you need to know about the bagua (a flexible template with which you can identify the different areas in your home and how they relate to corresponding aspects of your life); the five elements theory; and the ten classic cures on which the specific cures in Part Two are based. Finally, there is advice on how to cleanse your home.
INTRODUCTION
"Has he luck?" was the first question that the Emperor Napoleon asked of any likely associate, while the fabulously wealthy Rothschilds said, "Never have anything to do with an unlucky place." It is easy to understand and agree with these sentiments, and the good news is that with the application of feng shui it is possible to improve anyone's luck.
Feng shui originated in China more than 3,000 years ago, so it has well and truly withstood the test of time. Its principal aim is to improve every aspect of life-including finances, relationships and health-by creating balance and harmony in the environment. Feng means wind, which is an analogy for health, and shui means water-which is another way of saying wealth of mind, body and spirit.
The law of perpetual motion
There is a great deal of contradiction and confusion over feng shui which can be very frustrating for the serious student. One of the reasons for this is the law of predecessor chi (chi means energy). The law is simply that if you repeat an action a sufficient number of times it becomes self-perpetuating. According to legend, this law (with respect to feng shui) was set in motion by a peasant named Yu Yang Chang. Although he was very poor, he was bright and one day he came across a manuscript of classical feng shui. He studied it carefully and, deciding that he had nothing to lose, moved his meager belongings from a cave where he was living to another site with favorable feng shui. He followed the advice and when the time was right he joined the Chinese army. After a short time he rose through the ranks and became a general-quite a feat in itself. He then continued his meteoric rise until he finally became Emperor of China, a truly extraordinary accomplishment. (Incidentally, by using feng shui, he also predicted the date and method of his downfall.)
Yu Yang Chang then apparently changed his name to Wen. Almost as soon as he took up this powerful role he called all the feng shui masters together and, realizing that feng shui had helped to put him in this position, he reserved the best feng shui masters for his sole use for the good of the country. He believed that the Emperor is the "captain of the ship" (if his energy is balanced he will steer the ship on a good course, if he is not in balance he might steer the whole country off course).
Emperor Wen then decreed that all the other masters should go out and start to spread red herrings about feng shui to create confusion about the subject and thus decrease the chances of anyone using feng shui to plot his demise (feng shui can be used for good or bad purposes). To this day, by the law of "predecessor chi, " that confusion remains. But this has resulted in some advantages as well as disadvantages. On the one hand feng shui can be confusing and frustrating, full of contradictions, but on the other it is like a fascinating cryptic crossword that has to be deciphered. To understand feng shui fully you have to use and study it practically, check what your data tells you and draw your own conclusions. This is one of the reasons why to be a master you need to apply practical applications and witness events for 81 years (the length of time it takes to complete one cycle).
Copyright 2000 by Sarah Shurety
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