What is beauty? What is the experience of beauty?
Philosophers, both in the East and West, have tried to address this subject: in the West, Plato and Kant, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and Hegel; in the East, Lao Tzu, Confucius, Chuang Tzu, and more recently Cai Yanpei, Wang Guowei, and Zhu Guangqian.
We used to discuss what is beauty? – the subjective and objective sides of beauty, and the combination of both.
Regardless of the philosophy of the issue, we have to admit that pure art and architectural art are very different from each other. For one thing, architecture is a very complicated art form, because it has elements of many arts combined in it. But more important is how architecture relates to the public.
In earlier postings we mentioned the Four Features of Feng Shui, and that they apply at any scale, from the largest to the smallest.
Some readers have pointed out that many Feng Shui books talk about Five Features – and that the fifth is orientation.
In fact, that fifth feature came along much later, when people tried to apply astrological ideas to Feng Shui. This was the beginning of what we now call the Cosmological School.
To be in harmony with nature is a popular ideal, especially in light of the increasingly popular environmental movement.
In fact, when Blue Mountain Institute was founded, we used “In harmony with nature, in tune with the heart” as the motto of the Institute. But what is in harmony with nature? And how can this harmony be achieved?
In earlier postings, we’ve said that Natural Law was one of the main pillars of Feng Shui. Natural Law consists of the Yin-Yang theory and Five Element theory.
Even though the Five Element theory is concerned with dynamic transformation, the mechanisms of change, it is still associated with specific things: colors, forms, seasons, and so on. And Feng Shui is basically about form.
Feng Shui does involve some common household items. But these items are generally not a major concern in Feng Shui. Nevertheless, one of these items has become famous – or notorious: the mirror.
In an earlier article, we said that everything in the universe is composed of Chi. It has matter, Chi energy, and information (consciousness or thought). These three aspects exist together.
Chi energy can be recognized through form, that is, the material manifestation. Different forms manifest different Chi. When the form is wholesome, the Chi is wholesome.
In the 90’s of the last century, I was invited to participate in a conference about water (Water Symposium). Some 50 experts and researchers were invited from around the world, and the discussion was based around, “What is good water?”, and “The Energy of Water”.
Each presenter was allowed forty minutes to present. My theme was Form Energy. Actually, this had nothing to do with water, but the organizer insisted that my topic was new and exciting, and wanted me to share it with the other scientists and researchers.
In our last post we cleared up the myth of the south-facing door.
In Feng Shui, when we talk about a house or apartment, there are three major elements: the main entrance, the kitchen, and the bedroom.
In Seattle, an American architect friend complained to me.
“This Feng Shui is really killing me!”
“What’s the matter?” I asked.
He explained that a client from Hong Kong had commissioned him to design a house – and insisted that, for the sake of good Feng Shui, the door had to face south. But on that particular piece of land it made no sense to have the main door facing south.
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