Traditionally there are two schools of Feng Shui thoughts in China: the Form School and the Compass School. The Form School often referred to as the Landscape School is the most traditional feng shui school. It focuses on assessing qi energy from the form of the landscape pattern as well as the form of man-made buildings.
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.
Continue reading
Pu Yu was the 133rd head master of Yungquan (“Bubbling Spring”) Temple on Gu Shan (“Drum Mountain”) in Fuzhou, China. Established in the Tang dynasty, this monastery has over 1,200 years of history. I formally became his disciple in the late 1970s, just a few years after the end of the Cultural Revolution. At that time, due to the long suppression of religion in China, the temple had few monks and hardly any visitors. As a result, I was able to enjoy quite a bit of time with Master Pu Yu during my stay.
Mirrors are common household items. They are used for dressing, for reflecting more light and for creating the feeling of a larger space. But mirrors also have negative aspects.
Mirrors can create false images and incite chaos and conflict. For example, a bedroom with mirrored closets often creates insomnia. Also, have you ever noticed that if you talk with a friend while sitting next to a full mirrored wall, the discussion often turns into an argument?
With green tea as an innocent, energetic teenager, and oolong tea as a sophisticated, mature lady, there must be a father figure in the tea family; it is an assertive gentleman– Black Tea.
Black tea, which the Chinese call “red tea” because of its rich red color when properly brewed, is a fully fermented tea. With a strong full-bodied flavor and taste, black tea is the most consumed tea in the world. It accounts for some 70% of all production and consumption.
“As a tea drinker, one comes not only to enjoy the beauty of tea drinking, but also to find that tea can be a path for self-cultivation and spirituality:
Human beings live between Heaven and Earth, nourished by Yang and Yin energy. The energy of Heaven comes downward from above, manifesting as sunshine, rain and so on. The energy of Earth rises upward from below, manifesting as food, water and other nourishing products. Heaven (yang) energy implies dynamic expansion while Earth (yin) energy implies collection, connection, cooperation and nourishment. Without the effects of Earth’s energy that emerges to balance the outward expansion of Heaven’s force, there will be conflict and strife. What are the most powerful factors in manifesting Earth energy, the energy of connection and cooperation? The answer is trees, forests and all vegetation. The places that tend to have more conflict in the world are just those
places that lack forests, or that have undergone recent, sudden deforestation. In modern history, there are positive correlations between the depletion of natural forests and the general level of strife and chaos in the world. This is the source of the problem.
In the arenas of politics, economics or other specialized spheres, there is constant effort to control chaos and conflict. The emphasis is not on how to solve the issues but on how to not create further problems. Due to this, there will always be an uphill battle to find a fundamental solution to today’s issues. From a feng shui perspective, the best solution is found in Mother Nature. We must look at it from an energy (chi) level. Chaos and conflict means there is too much Yang energy so it is necessary to increase the nourishing Earth or Yin energy or increasing energy for cooperation and support. How do we go about this? We must begin by planting trees and establishing greenery all over the world. In the meantime, where forests are abundant, water will be abundant. And water, to the planet, is like blood in the human body.
The global warming and the increase of CO2 is the modern urgent concern. While people search for different ways to find solutions, which are often complicated, we should just ask our Mother Earth for a solution. According to a scientific study, 20% of CO2 is attributable to deforestation, which is more than all of the world’s cars and trucks combined. Let us stop and take the time to think. How much of a positive impact will there be in solving the CO2 issue if instead of deforestation, we increased forestation?
In life, often the most ordinary things are the most unordinary and the most familiar are the most unfamiliar. For example, every day of our lives, we sleep and we wake up. Have you ever thought about how we fall asleep at night? Or what part of the body wakes up first in the morning? Do we wake up from head to toe or is it from toe to head? Or does the whole body wake up all at the same time? Have any of these questions ever crossed your mind?
We all enjoy beautiful things, whether it is a scenic landscape, colorful foliages in autumn, new buds bursting out from a branch in early spring, or a garden in full bloom. We can all appreciate the beauty in each of these images. But, have you ever stopped to think about how you enjoy these beautiful things? Do you simply stare at them with your big eyes? Do you just look at them casually, not giving much thought? Have you ever tried to communicate with them? Have you ever noticed your breathing patterns when looking at beautiful images?
The universe is an open system. This means that the process of exchange between us and our immediate surroundings to the greater whole of nature is a process of exchange that never stops. This exchange includes information and energy from all matter. However, most people have never received the benefits of a full exchange. What happens is we end up depleting our own energy more than receiving from nature. For example, as we look at beautiful scenery or even a flower, we are giving it energy which means we are depleting our own energy.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could constantly replenish our energy from nature? Just imagine that after a stressful day at work, you could come home and recharge your energy to enjoy your free time! Wouldn’t that be nice! Actually, this is possible. To gain this type of knowledge cannot be too difficult, or even complicated, as in nature, all things are easy and simple. We just complicate things on our own. Just imagine if schools stopped focusing on teaching only academic knowledge and instead taught useful living knowledge, it would open the minds of the youth. It would be wonderful if they taught how to receive energy from a flower, tree, mountain, ocean, moon or sun. I hope that those of you out there with such knowledge and wisdom will begin to write and share such valuable information.
