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Master Bedroom and Size

When I first visited the imperial palace in Beijing Forbidden city many years ago, I was quite surprised to observe that the bedroom of the emperor was so small. It was no bigger than a maid's room back home.

If any of you have also seen this bedroom, you will probably be wondering why. After all, we always talk about a room fit for a king. Why then is an emperor's night chamber be small?

All this has to do with the chinese theory of natural sciences and fengshui. This theory is founded on yin and yang which is a science of the complementary forces of femininity and masculinity, of like and opposites. and according to this theory, a sleeping chamber should be no more than 9 square meters.

Some contemporary houses are designed with large halls and very commonly, huge rooms. It is great to pamper oneself after all the years of slought with a huge sleeping room but keep in mind that nature abhors empty space. Huge spaces are to be dealt with in a way tht the yin and yang are still kept in harmony. For example, it would not be good to have a huge room with the
bed conspicuously floating in open space. Another way to deal with this problem is to make use of the room within a room concept. Try arranging the furniture and study in a way that the actual sleeping area is a cocoon in itself.

Emptiness creates an energy which works silently on us. The ultimate goal is to have balance in all aspects of our lives. If we can do the best we can so that the blues do not creep in on us, that is all the better. And if we can take care of those empty areas of our lives where money cannot works its magic, that is also good.

Trees and Distance

Please be very very careful with trees which have grown old and planted right at your foor step. They may keep you cool but there are instances where so much light is blocked off.

If your house face the direction of your setting sun, the impact is even greater. If you have an irregular shaped compound it adds on. Especially so if you have a walled compound emphasising its shape. The shape is one thing but it is more about the movement of the qi that bothers us. Add on to that, you have created a fish pond at one corner overgrown with lichens and moss and algae.

All adds up to too much yin. Then you have your interior all dark and you place your shrine packed towards one corner where no yang reaches. You leave it unattended and no qi moves there. You leave your worldly possessions in such a way that the rats build homes becoming rent free housemates. You turn your porch into a workshop which only serves to stimulate the negatives.

Rambutan trees are tropical trees. In time they grow old and become a life of its own. Symbiotic and parasitic flora and fauna grows there becoming a universe on its own - a silent energy sapping universe. Invisible energies manifest from its knarls and knots. They are all yin and feeds on all that they find most convenient.

Scary hor?

Path of Learning

The learning process of fengshui is quite a long one. Over the course of their acquisition of knowledge, most would have explored the metaphysical, the spiritistism and the spiritual.

For the true inquisitive mind, plain physics and facts does not provide the only answer. The answer to most of man’s many perplexing problems lies beyond the boundaries of science.

Sensitivity comes with time on the road. I heard of one practitioner who played an involuntary part in mediumship before he came to grips with it and moved on to truer fengshui.

Another fine master who gave me tips started as a medium. In fact he gave annual distant fengshui check ups for believers while in a trance. The divination and the solutions he provided were quite out of this world like he would instruct the removal of a photo or picture. Quite eerie sometimes. I heard he has stopped doing that now. Probably retired.

The role of a fengshui is to investigate and recommend. It is not his role to be a continuing advisor for daily affairs or every change the client wants to make. He just cannot for the true master knows that life is a result of many things, the law of karma and self will being foremost amongst them.

Water fengshui - a case study

The emphasis when fengshui is mentioned is the use of objects and interior decoration to harmonise the internal fengshui. There are certainly benefits from the arrangement of the internal space to get the results we want. Simple common sense rules almost always does the job. And there are much published material out there.

I would say stay away from the superstitious and those which do not fit into common sense and practicality. Very often, tips are given. Use them but use your head. Very often too, the tips are base on superficial application of known fengshui theory and their use are questionable. An example is not to have water (like building a swimming pool) near at he south end of your house as south is associated with fire and water theefore becomes a no-no. This is of course simplistic and silly as well.

Back to the subject of water, old texts do mention them. And there being no swimming pools back then, the water they mention are natural bodies of water like lakes, rivers, streams, marshes and sea.

The sketch shows one example. It is also a good study on the application of Greater Gua.

The house shown on the bottom left was the home in question in this case study. It was built during the 3rd yuan (or cycle of 3) with an orientation of roughly northeast-southwest of GenWei.

During the 8th and 2nd yuan, the bodies of water being favorable saw progress and wealth as well as much other good things. This despite the fact that the orientation of the property was not so auspicious. Decay then started on the approach of the 3rd cycle and this decadence is attributed to the positioning of the lake in relation to the homes.

This example presented here is an example of the application of the Zhen, Cui and Zhao theory of water fengshui.

This knowledge can be used when we are selecting properties to buy, rent or live in. Instead of just only zooming in to the peculiar orientation of the property we are interested in, it is wise to take a look at the whole picture. As often mentioned, if there is no sunshine even the most fertile seed will not grow. Even if you have the best “to mountain to water” or DaoSan DaoShui orientation it means little if the overall fengshui is no good. The picture has to be complete.

Lower Back Pain

AH..today we leave fengshui for a while and talk about something that afflicts a great percentage of the adult population - BACK PAIN!

This article may be of some help..

http://mymixedjar.blogspot.com/2008/08/lower-back-pain.html

Irregular Shapes

There is this school in the old part of PJ which is a good example for the study of yin and yang in play. There are two single storey blocks that were constructed at an angle of about 30 degrees to each other. The reason could have been the constraint of space or the odd shape of the land.

At the narrow corner are some banana trees. The open funnel of this land faces off east so sunlight penetrates from the mouth of this funnel. The funnel also faces the busy main road. The western end is obstructed by some buildings and the banana trees.

The yin yang effect is so obvious. I did not have a camera with me then for it would have been a good shot.

Fengshui have always advised against irregular shapes. There are many reasons for this and the underlying principle is the odd juxtaposition of angles. The principles and theories may have different names and terms like the heaven earth man principles, conflict of elements, disharmony of yin yang etc.

More of Water in FengShui

In the SanYuan scheme of things, the direction where water should be is the southwest, east and west. This is in accordance with the principles of direct, stimulating and nourishing water.

It follows from this principles that such directions where water is found is deemed auspicious. However it must be clear that there are many provisos in that the real conditions and arrangement will have their implications.

For example it is applicable if there is “heaviness” to the northeast. Without this heaviness then the having water at the directions just described would be of no impact. Then again the water must be near and visible. If it is distant it would not be of little use. By distance it would be about 50 meters if we are talking about a normal sized house. If we are referring to a big area like a 2 acre estate, then how the water is positioned along with the enclosing features becomes important.

It looks simple enough to say water in those directions is good but it is not really as simple as that. In gauging how the presence of water relates to portent, we do need to know how to apply the rule of the three principals of heaven, earth and man. The way this rule is applied is to ensure that the orientation of the house, that is, which principal it lies on has to be compared to the direction of the water.

To determine directions of orientation and water can be tricky. Water very often may encompass varied principals of heaven earth and man. Its effect then would be to corrupt the qi that impacts on the house. That is the reason why what on surface seems to be good water may end up not being so. There are records of some experiences by practitioners of this effect.

There are other more refined ways to determine the quality of the water and one of these methods is the nine star method. This method involves groupings of the 24 directions and then applying the principle of five elements. This however is not a SanYuan method.

Coming back to the SanYuan method, the actual portent of the water has to be analysed with the arrangement of the stars.

Most failures stem from the confusion between water applied in fengshui and artificial features. In the proper sense, water is a manifestation of the physical and energetic properties of the land. It is after all a manifestation of the yin and yang. How it joins other water sources and it interplays with the geography are all manifestation of the nature of things. One cannot take the presence of a water fountain or artificially created water fall in our garden to be the same thing.

A water feature in a garden is a manifestation of gua. Gua means the inherent quality of anything that exists. Understanding gua helps us to understand the quality of the feature that we have built. Simply building a swimming pool does not mean that is water.

A blue pool and a red pool invokes different emotions, doesn’t it?

Water in FengShui

Water plays a very important part in fengshui assessment. What often comes up as a topic is the incorporation of water features in gardens. This often takes the forms of fish ponds, water fountains and swimming pools.

Before we talk about the impact of these features, a little knowledge of how the olden masters look at water is good.

From the treatises written by illustrious masters like Zhang JiuYi, Zhiang DaHong, LaiPuYi and the like, the water that was mentioned refers to water courses and natural lakes. Where it comes to homes, there are references to aquariums and wells but this is in the context of the application of qi rather than as water.
The theories and applications may appear different but essentially they apply rules of harmony. Master Zhiang stands out in that he tells of fate in connection with time cycles as well. If we carefully examine each method, we can conclude that they all work on harmony of the primal forces of yin and yang and the natural forces.

When dealing with water, there are two major aspects that are considered. The first is the direction and proximity. The second goes into more detail and calls for the accurate analysis of orientation and features present.

Delving a little, a lake 50 meters from a house will have a totally different effect from one situated 300meteres away. Taking that a little further, the same house with an imposing hillock or structure nearby will add on to the complexity of the fengshui qualities.

When it comes to orientation, it is crucial that the house itself is dimensionally and angularly sound for fengshui (and nature) abhors irregularities. An example of this would be a house with odd shapes and angles, a house built out of ninety degrees and doors positioned at odd angles to each other.

Importance of Geography

When we hear discussions on Fengshui, we often hear about the flying star configuration or the nine stars or water patching formulas. We also hear about the west east four groupng.

But seldom do we hear people conncecting the portent of the geography. In fact this is even more important.

Within the various teachings, the impact of natural and man made forms and features like hillocks, terrain, rivers and rivulets, towering structures and temples are taken into consideration. Examples are found in Master Zhiang's "Guidelines to Yang Houses" written in the early 17th century.

We do see how relevant this becomes when we want to build a Koi pond, for example. The flying star fellow would compose a star chart. However if this is what he strictly relies on, then he has missed out something which may lead to his misfortune later.

It is said that within the period of 8 that we are in now, the water should be at the south-west or Kun palace. This is partially true but whether that is auspicious again depends on its proximity, containment and complementary 'blocking' features.

Tao of FengShui

Firstly, apologies for being away for such a long time.

Today I feel like writing a little about the Tao of Fengshui. The correct pronunciation is Dao in the Pinyin system but then Tao is more readily understood.

Much of the real essence of fengshui is based on one underlying theme. And that theme comes across from the ancient quote, “The skies above are lighted by the five stars. The earth below is pervaded by the five transmutations.”

You may wonder what are these five stars and five transmutations.

The five stars are the five planets of Mars, Venus, Saturn, Mercury and Jupiter. The five transmutation is known by the more familiar name of five elements. (Somehow here this term has again stuck and everybody knows them but no harm attempting to change that perspective.)

What this ancient quote may be trying to tell us is that there is a universal rule that applies to all myriad things that exist. There is also this natural law and that is the law of Tao.

Tao teaches us to recognize that all things go in cycles and harmony is the main theme, be it harmony with nature, people, rules and even ourselves.

What has all this to do with fengshui? To go into this would require more than the space here can allow but for the time that we have let us take a quick quick look.

Fenghsui now emphasize very greatly on computation using a variety of methods. Some from the old school would divide the directions into many divisions and assign the five transmutations to them. The productive/destructive theory of the five transmutations are then applied to determine the portents. Of course there are also more intricate theories involved with most of them having much in common with astrology; probably derived from it.

The other popular school relies on a variety of methods of computing basing on the LoShu diagram. Again there are many theories involved here and they all sound plausible and very convincing.

Despite all these mathematics and number and element juggling, it all deals with attempting to capture the nature of the qi. However not many ponder to question whether there is any validity to all these methods.

The five transmutations pervades the earth and is present in all things. Should this not be the true essence of Tao and hence fengshui for fengshui is derived from Tao? Instead of working out complex formulas and attempting to interpret them, would it not be proper to comprehend and perceive the essence of the Tao in our environment and thus fengshui our space with that knowledge.

Fengshui people of the old school warn against not engaging someone who does not belong to a lineage. It is difficult to argue against that for a lineage transmission carries along with it the knowledge and experience of previous practitioners. There is only one open question though and that is whether the application is effective. No one really knows except from yarns spun by zealous students and followers.

Perhaps we should look some beyond the theories that are being taught and used and look a little deeper into the Tao of fengshui.

Animal astrology from Turkey

At this crepuscular hour may I tickle your curiosity by this fact. It may make you rethink whether you should believe so much of the hocus pocus that you read from those fashionable fengshui books.

The twelve animals cylce, that we know, that is, the dog, rooster, rat etc is known to the Anatolian shepherds of remote Turkey even today. The Turks have a completely different culture and religion from the Chinese not to mention the great geographical divide. This may possibly mean that the animal cycle that we know so well is imported into China a long time ago.

Still paying for those astrological books and magazines? Ha Ha!

Trigrams and Bagua

One of the most important that fengshui people miss is the importance of the trigrams or Gua. In fact its understanding is so important that without it there is no fengshui to talk about.

Never mind what you know about the flying stars or the 60 dragons or the various classical sets or formations that you have spent so much time on. If you have not internalise the Gua then the inner understanding is missing.

The chinese word for trigram is Gua. It is a combination of two ideograms. One provides the sound and the other provides its meaning. From the ideogram that provides the meaning, we see its connection to the art of divining. In essence, any diviner worth his salt possesses deep insight into the meanings and manifestations of the Gua.

In fengshui divining, the Gua and its attributes becomes critical to the divining of the fengshui. A lush pergola garden can be beautiful to look at besides providing shade. It may give the quality of the Gentle or it can exhibit and fill the space with the energy of Abysmal. How so?

A garden is naturally wood because of the living plants but it can take on qualities of Kan the Gua of the north. I was led to write this as I was passing a precast concrete column show room one morning along the old road near the KL zoo. They had this lovely pergola green house and it had such strong Kan qualities.

How does this help us in our fengshui? It becomes useful to know this when we design our gardens. There are many examples of houses especially terrace houses where the owners choose to build pergolas over that space next to the car porch. If doing so, it is best to ensure that it is neat and there is sufficient through sunlight. That reamins the first rule as the quality of the gentle is yin or feminine and sunlight helps to keep it in good shape bringing out its fine qualities of intelligence and connivality. If left too moist and dark then the moroseness of Kan is born and with it carries more dangerous qualities of loss and despair. And of course be mindful of the need for neatness and harmony.

This is the everchanging and interchanging nature of the trigrams which basically are interchangeable qualities of all the myriad things that exist. Wise to know this.

Abundance of Yang

Extract from my translation of 5 songs...

Where mountains and stream meet
May be said to be the meeting of both wind and water

When it comes to discussing dragon forms we say they should bind
Bounded dragons conceal lairs but not palaces

Be it imperial palaces or county districts
Search abundance of yang not look for dragons

These words of advice tells us simply how to look for good fengshui. Try driving by Center Point at night especially during a cool rainy night and you will get to know what is meant by the abundance of yang.

I must make it a point to bring along a camera and capture a shot.

Fengshui and Fees

I spoke to an old colleague today who asked me to do something with that 'dial' of mine. By dial she meant my old trusty luopan or fengshui compass. She hinted that i do a fengshui read for her office. In the course of our chat, I just mentioned that I do charge for 'turning that dial of mine'. and that I charge more for dialing that for being a building professional.

She was a little surprised that I charge. She does not know it but I do have a pledge to keep. One of my teachers has charged me to expect to be paid simply because it is the way things should be and also out of respect for the patron gods of the art.

I have my own reason for charging. As in all energy works there must be an exchange. It is only through an exchange that things really begins to move and work. The economists have a term for it. They call it the multiplier effect.

An exchange can be in any form or size. The red packet or 'angpau' serves the purpose in old china as a token of appreciation. The poor offers what they can afford although I would hardly think that the poor has the means to engage a diviner to poke around their property or lack of it.

On another note, the ordinary peasant folks can engage a trance diviner and I have seen some and heard of many who are pretty impressive. I know of one who could do distant fengshui divining, drawing out sketches of the property being consulted. And all for a small 'angpau'!

On the point about paying for divining services. What we actually pay for is the time of the diviner and I adopt the truth that even diviners have bills to pay. Most of the time, the angpau received barely covers the cost of time, petrol and toll especially so when follow up assessments are taken into account.

Faith !

The news say that Tibetans are fighting for their homeland. There is karma between Tibetans and I. My heart goes out to them. May they one day regain their homeland. May that day be soon!

(this is repeated here)

TaiSui-its true meaning

How the Taisui is deduced is very simple if we know the animal sign of the year for the taisui will be in the direction that the animal sign occupies. For example 2008 is the year of the rat and as the rat occupies the northern direction, Taisui is in the north direction for that year. 2007 is the year of the ox which occupies the northwest direction which was also the direction of Taisui.

Most of the eminent experts view is that it is not wise to confront Taisui. This means that one must never sit or face a direction that is occupied by Taisui. Is this correct? Going by what the almanac describes, the relationship of Taisui is only consulted when it comes to entombment or burial which goes to say that it is relevant to matters concerning the dead. It becomes hard to think of it as involving matters related to us living people.

The logic of Taisui rests on the fact of the wood element being detrimental to earth. As burial involves breaking and opening up of the earth it makes sense. This concept comes from the original concept of the image of a seedling breaking out form the earth causing change. Viewed from the perspective of the earth it talks about being broken open but form another perspective there is the growth of the seedling which is renewal. Taking this a little further, it is quite difficult to relate to the theory that a tomb facing north will be effected more than another facing west as all other things being equal both are open to the rays of the sun as well as other effects that could possibly be present.

Astrology being astrology, sometimes common sense eludes us. One thing though is certain and that is to relate Taisui to homes becomes most questionable.

Fallacy of FengShui

The common schools that practice fengshui nowadays are many and the books that are published teaches how to calculate qi on the belief (mistaken?) that they will be enough to bring all the goodness to whatever we are trying to do.

Most of the common systems today are of rather recent evolution. By recent is meant that they evolved in the last four or five centuries. Taking a trek down history, we discover that what is practiced today were not mentioned or recorded anywhere beyond a little over a thousand years ago. It was during the early days of the Tang dynasty, so the story goes, that the new emperor who happened to believe in the power of metaphysics to dictate heaven and man commanded a monk to come out with a new but false version of metaphysics. This the good man did. True to the emperor’s expectations this became the new syllabus of study for all who came to the capital so much so that over time what was false and what was the original became unclear.

There are four famous names in Chinese metaphysical history-Yang, Zheng, Liu, Lai. Yang was especially famous being credited with the fengshui classics like the ‘Dragon Strategem Canon’. Zheng and Liu were his students. Lai popularly know as Lai Bo Yi was a famous Song dynasty astrologer and scholars. Of course all the others were master scholars too.

All was fine until along came the renowned Zhiang Da Hong who wrote “Correcting the principles of geomancy” which threw out all the classics like “The Green Satchel Canon” claiming them to be erroneous.

However, he did not say on what basis his claims were based and from that point on no one really knew what fengshui was anymore. As more and more schools grew, the mud got thicker.

So what is the way out? We can perhaps go back to an earlier time before the Tang dynasty to see what it was that the olden people practice or what their theories were but then again, we must acknowledge that things then were much simpler and actually culturally different.

Most may not know that fengshui is so much tied in with fate. In fact, fate and its astrology predate fengshui. In saying that it also means that one has to study the theory of fate analysis before one can even begin to understand fengshui. If this were so then maybe the mysteries of the real fenghsui lies through a study of fate analysis?

People want to position themselves with fengshui. They go to astrologers and fengshui masters hoping to have a winning advantage. Perhaps it may be better for them to recognize that maybe it is better to take a closer look at the law of Karma.

Have you watched them sleep?

I read a very inspirational article a few days ago. It goes like this...

As young parents we often watched our young sleep and glow in their cherubic innocence and beauty with complete tender lovingness.

But have we ever watched our aged parents sleep, noticing their aged bodies sometimes lying crumpled with tiredness and wrinkled skin that once were soft with the milk of human kindness? Have we watched over them with the same tender loving care we showed our young?

Piper passes on

Piper passed on today. Om Mani Peme Hung Om Mani Peme Hung Om Mani Peme Hung....

Unable to find your parked car?

Lost car?

Have you ever dreamt of not being able to find a car you have parked?

This type of dream may be one where you remember very clearly the exact place where you thought you had parked your car but on returning, the car just is not there anymore! Frantic searching does not help either!

I recently had one like that and on checking and thinking about it found some clues to its meaning.

A lost car may mean hopes, meanings in life or satisfaction that, with recent turn of events, somehow is missing or lost. In connection with a dream, this may also mean doing something that is not what one likes. It may also be something that is off track to what is desired.

Being very clear in the dream the exact place where the car is parked may mean that all the things that we have done so far were based on sound reasons and rules. The only thing missing however is that feelings, inner likes and dislikes were not taken into consideration in arriving at the decision.

All dreams help us to know a little about ourselves for they are gifts to us from our subconscious. Maybe this interpretation may help.

Sanctuary within the home

extract from the draft of '5 songs'...

"..Zhang Zhong San, fengshui master of the early 20th century said. “ The temple determines the good and ill fortune of the community, the ancestral the weal and woe of the clan.” This is how important such temples or shrines are in fengshui.

Within the points considered in the placement of shrines or ancestral halls, a combination of land form study and qi is used. In the study of analytical qi, the facing star determines the status, rank, excellence, talent, abundance as well as harmony as a whole. Harsh, dull and scorching qi should be totally avoided.

In our homes, these same principles and rules too apply. We may not have ancestral tablets but in every home, it is desirable to have a shrine or altar area. There is nothing to be religious about this. For those not inclined to the placement of a shrine or for those not too religion inclined, a retreat zone or sanctuary can be incorporated within the living space. This is the collection point of all the vibrant qi and also serves as a sanctum where wounds collected from our daily excursions into the competitive world outside can be healed."

This sanctuary should be within the central area of activity yet is a niche or corner on its own. It should be kept clean and pure. Most importantly, it should be free of rubbish. Ideally there should be sufficient space for a person to stand or better still sit in in contemplation or meditate. Personal effects can be placed here for it is in many ways a place of focus for the family as well as for personal empowerment and recharging.

The Sigh

There were this chinese threesome sitting at a corner of red rooster of Perth International Terminal. One man, two ladies, late fifties or early sixties. Lady A was gesticulating, obviously agitated, quite upset. Man and Lady B listen solemnly. Then lady B starts to speaks but ends after a few words with a deep sigh.

The sigh is so common. Me think that this sigh if left unchecked becomes so ingrained and habitual that very soon we become the sigh. Perhaps it be better to check ourself before that happens. There seems so much anger and refusal to budge from our hardened position that everything else we see about us is clouded and blocked out by this sigh.

The sigh often may not be one of resignation but despise and resentment, don’t you think?

Shadow of a temple

Tip for today is not to buy a house if the shadow of a temple falls over the property. Why?

Temples are gathering places of yin forces. The shadow is caused by a lack of yang. Yin is not inherently good or bad but too much yin together makes it too strong to mange. Living people and houses are yang and should stay that way. When strong opposing forces are present, there will be difficulty striking harmony.

There is another aspect to temples. The convergence of people creates waves of yin yang forces and this amount to huge cyclical movement. Such peaking and troughs of qi is not conducive to homes in general.

However we are talking about temples in a general sense but there are instances where temples or worship places become a good thing for the community. A saint living there for example can only emanate goodwill for the surroundings.

Buying auctioned houses

Within fengshui circles, it is recommended that it is wise not to buy auction houses. In Hong Kong, they call them bank owner properties.
Why?

We may think that the energy is so bad that the owner is affected in a way. This may be partially true but then there are some houses which were not occupied by the owner or were left vacant. How then has the owner anything to do with the fengshui of the house when he does not live there?

In explaining life and fortune, we may need to look at the law of cause and effect, the law of deed and retribution. Where a house needs to be auction, it somehow carries with it a negativity which is associated with the old owner in one way or another. The cosmic link may be so subtle that it is difficult to put a finger on it. Nevertheless, it is there.

We may rub our hands with glee once the hammer is struck and the deal is ours as very likely we would have got a good price for it. But looking a little further our gain is someone else’s loss. In other words, we gained at another’s expense.

Fengshui is just one cog in the wheel of life. It has its science and efficacy but definitely is not a cure-all as many seem to believe. The best fengshui anyone can practice I believe is to understand and practice the law of karma.

Traffic lights say slow down…

I am reading a book on meditaion by a monk whom I have high respect, Ajahn Brahm.
There is one passage I would like to share.

“..Fortunately, for those with no opportunity to go to the monastery, teachers are available in great numberes in most modern cities. They are found at the major crossroads. They are traffic lights. When the red light appears it says “Stop!” That’s letting go practice. Have you learnt how to do nothing a the traffic lights? Or does only the vehicle stop while you speed on? If so then an opportunity is being wasted…”


“If you don’t time to learn how to do nothing, you are unable to relax at the red traffic lights of life, then you will soon be forced to stop in an early grave…” happiness through meditation

Good dates for March 2008

Here are some good dates for march 08. They are based on traditional chinese date selection. Remember they are fair days which goes that they are days which are generally ok for doing just about anything.

9
14
16
23
26
28

april fool's day is also a good day.

All athe best!

The center of the building in fengshui

Every home or living space has a center. This is also true for any place of activity even the open stall of a news vendor.

This center has a very important place in fengshui. Traditionally it is called tianxin which literally is heaven heart but it means the center of qi.

What this mean to us and our well being is, like we talked about earlier, quite important. This is the area where the qi forces emanate. It acts like a locus for the qi forces to spread and move through the living space. Once we can understand this, we can then begin to understand how to arrange or make use of this space for our well being.

Suppose you have a heavy load resting against your chest area. You will not fell very comfortable and may well experience breathing difficulties. Likewise if we have a heavy load place at the heart of our home, the house will not be very comfortable and that discomfort will be transmitted to us.

It is not just heavy things placed there that will have this effect. Untidiness, rubbish and foul odor too will also have the same effect. With this in mind it is recommended that we should have a clear, clean and convivial space in the center of our home.

Another name for this heart center is mingtang which literally means bright hall. In olden Chinese buildings, the center of this space will likely be an open courtyard which may be a landscaped garden; is the assembly point for activities and is well kept.

In contemporary homes especially in link houses, this space is the family hall. I have seen many instances where the owner has extended the original home to allow for bigger kitchens or back of house space. In most cases, they fail to knock down the toilet which originally was situated at the back of the house but then encroach into the center of the house after the extensions. It then becomes a part of the mingtang and the smell and effluents from there corrupts the mingtang. This is bad.

In the Indian science of space, Vasthu Sastra, it is also recommended that the center should be left empty as it is considered the weakest point for energy does not flow there. The reasoning may be different but it is still good advice which we can follow.

Rat Year and TongShu Almanac

This is the year of the rat! That is what people who are into the Chinese astrological cycle know. The news stands and book stores are now filled with magazines and books on what to do and what not to this year. New versions of the tongshu or Chinese almanac are out proffering advice for every day and hour of the year. And they all come in very attractive bindings and packaging. This is the era of commercialism.

Before we follow this bible of sorts, it is good to sit down and really ponder. Things like should we allow our life to be so fatalistic. After all the almanac was meant for farming and based on assumed powers of constellations and stars which are millions of light years away. Not forgetting that the almanac is calculated on a longitude which may not be the same as ours. And different climatic conditions as well.

New Age Fengshui?

I browsed through some fengshui books recently and was quite impressed by the number of new fengshui books and the way they were written and presented. Not that I totally agree with them though.

Everyone wants a better life that is for sure. That is the objective of fengshui and that is what the books generally say. One book in particular teaches that you should also fengshui your briefcase. By that he meant that we should fill our briefcase with power items like a branded pen, presentable folders and of course they are to be neatly arranged.

I agree with a neat and tidy working briefcase but do not see that as fengshui. Personal management and efficiency management maybe but fengshui? No.

It is nice to be carried along by all these new ideas. In fact most make a lot of sense but please do not confuse that with fengshui. Fengshui is about the science of space and its principles go beyond common sense. Its principles are base on natural laws which extend to the mysterious as well.

Hey folks, check out these links...

www.myinnerjourney33.blogspot.com
www.lifeasparents.blogspot.com
www.shopuntilidrop.blogspot.com
www.pennysense.blogspot.com

Blog and Earn Tea Money

Do you like to blog?

Or maybe you like to write about things. Here is one sure way to earn a few extra dollars to spend at Starbucks, Coffee Bean or DeliFrance.

How to do so? Got to this link and find out.

I find all this fun. With friends, we published a new age magazine, Inner Journey. I once had a website lazyclouds.com talking about fengshui, reiki and other related metaphysical things but this blog provides me some oomph…hope it is for you too.

Onward Ho to Slaughter

These camels are so cute aren’t they?

Pretty models making everyone rushing for their cameras as we were bussing through remote Bihar state in northeast India.

Sadly these cute friendly creatures will be driven some 500km to kolkatta before being shipped to Bangladesh to be slaughtered as meat. This is the sad and cruel fate that awaits them. OmMaNiPeMeHung...xxx...

Rolling Dragons

For the fengshui lover, “O’dragon from where thou cometh?”

This picture is taken from atop Guru Rinpoche caves in Rewalsar India

Five Songs on the Heaven Principles

My fengshui book is nearing completion. Here is an extract.

....To understand how this comes about, we need to refer to the principle of the relationship of the heaven, earth and man principals. Before we get lost, these principals are not some complex philosophical ideals but simply the three divisions of the twenty four directions found on the luopan. (Refer to the notes on the 24 mountains of the luopan). In practice we would work towards aligning all doors to the same principal. For example if the main door is orientated with a heaven mountain, then all the other doors should be to heaven mountains. There is no such thing as another alternative orientation....

what i saw at the hospital today

I was at the hospital today.

I saw that it carried an ISO 9001: 2000 certification which speaks much for their efforts to provide good health care. Compared to the hospital of my childhood, it is cleaner and new looking but somehow the kampung air is not there. Perhaps what is misiing is a few coconut fronds swaying in the breeze.

I saw a man who I believe is younger than me limping out. An evident tummy and loose muscles suggests that he is not one keen on exercise or any strenous activity. His eyes looks impaired.

I also saw an old couple of about 60. The lady obviously is a stroke victim and the man, presumably her husband was helping her onto a wheelchair. The gentleman, in T-shirt and shorts, showed big dark patches of scars and wounds that looks like it had been there for quite some time, likely not healing well. Maybe diabetes?

There I too saw many people who would never make it to the glossy magazine covers.

Aging is certain. Disease too is a constant companion.

Should we not make effort to make full use of our life while our body allow us to do so?

Is there a way out of aging and pain?

Natural body qi in healing

I read somewhere that the natural energy vibrations from our body contribute to our overall well being. It goes to say that any healing process is better if we do not allow our clothes to constrict us. That goes for tight elastic and synthetic clothing. The writer called it 'wei qi'.

I feel there is some truth to this. In the process of Reiki and hands on healing, the flow seems better when the hands are near the skin. For Reiki workers, I think if you try to lay your hands over or around a belt buckle or wallet, you will feel some blockage in your efforts.

Ever wondered why hospital attire are loose and of cotton? It is due to convenience of course but that is welcomed as it likely to be a contributor to better healing.

I hear too that yogis develop better meditation inversely corresponding to the volume of clothing they have on.

The natural remedy of flower bathing for a multitude of bodily and mental problems too require loose cotton clothes or better still none at all. Perhaps it has a connection?

bad experience with vista and compaq

I do not know the relevance this has to this space but then I hope that whoever is reading this will find something useful.

My experience goes like this. I came into possession of a new Compaq desktop computer through the kindness of a dear friend. It is a Presario.

It came with 256 RAM, dvd rom and Vista starter. Even without a burner, the price I must say is something which was most attractive. For an addition over the original price, an extra 256 RAM was added, something which, as we shall see, was not so smart.

My troubles began when the computer started hanging. Just when I thought that it had finally had even fun testing my patience, I found the system does not allow access to some websites, in particular msn.

What next? I resorted to calling the service center which, as anyone who has dialed 300 or 800 numbers, is quite an exercise in patience and futility. Good fortune smiled and my call did get picked up. Unfortunately it was not a specialist but a stand-in who promised he will get my troubles through to a specialist who will attend to my troubles, pronto! He said I will be receiving a call back. It was 5pm then. I was impressed. But not for long.

The call never came. Many calls followed to be greeted by the talking machine on the other end. I did learn though that they do have a soft spot for us frustrated callers. This they do by surprising us with the various ways to make you hold on to the line without a clue as to what is happening on the other end. They could all be having a party while your patience ticks away and your phone bill escalates.

Thank heavens, finally a kind Indian accented soul on the other end picked up my call. He was kind and let on that I am not the first one with such problems. I forgot to mention that I got so fed up with the vista that i formatted it with the old trusty windows xp. I should also confess my stupidity for not backing up the vista.

Back to this kind Indian soul. He gave me a number to call which he said is the kl service center number. It is. But that is the beginning of another round of talking machines, hung calls and promises. To cut a long story short, after promises made by the service staff, I wrote them off but this after having learnt that I have to fork out more money to get an upgrade, that this new computer does not support the old xp, that my ram is in no way sufficient to run vista anyway.

Many questions are left lingering. Why sell a computer that is deficient for basic use? By basic simply mean that it does not hang, that it is internet usable, can do simple word processing and spreadsheet. Basic does not mean that we take the thing home to find that it cannot handle simple task but need to spend more and more money to get to level one.

You draw your own conclusion but BEWARE!

Fengshui and Karma

Fengshui is about cause and effect too.



It would perhaps be very tempting to believe that fengshui is a cure-all or heal-all. Recent encounters have led me to perceive that this is the general view.



Maybe it is good a time as any for us to take a step back and look at ourselves. This of course does not mean looking at ourselves in the mirror. It means we take a look at our inner selves. The question we need to ask is what kind of a person we are; whether we are cultivating the virtues of kindness, love of our fellow beings, generosity towards others (and of course ourselves), awareness and control of our greed, anger and other vile natures which the wise would not approve.



The virtues we may be short of but it is never too late to cultivate them. The baser natures within us can be restrained and noted. Again, it is never too late to work at it.

Forms in Fengshui

It may seem very simple but the basis of good fengshui is about the forms that surrounds us and its impact on our environment. If we fail to note this fundamental point then we have missed the issue completely, never mind that we may have mastered the classics or claim expertise in all the methods or ahve studied under well known teachers or schools.

east west grouping

About the East group and the West group

Before we talk about east groupings and west groupings, we have to go a little backwards.

I always believe that we should always understand the principles behind everything that we learn. This is even more so if we are going to think about applying what we have learnt to real life.

A long time ago, during the times of the Tang dynasty, there was a book or study manual written during the reign of the first Tang emperor. This manual was meant to be the core text for the study of esoteric matters. It would presumably include the study of the treasured yin-yang principles, the YiJing as well as the five elemental energies.

Unknown to many at the time, there was a dark motive behind this manual. The emperor obviously believed that fate and esoteric knowledge were interlinked and that there certainly would be an advantage if his opponents and enemies were not to have what he possessed. He even took a step further and plotted to disseminate false knowledge. This was done through the publication of the manual just mentioned.

During that time and the era that followed many students from afar like Korea, Vietnam, Burma, Tibet and other surrounding areas came to China and studied there. They later brought this new found knowledge back to their home countries and the teachings spread from there.

There are some who speculate that the difficult times that is faced by the south east asian countries today are the results of the application of this false knowledge in political and domestic matters. The exception is Japan which did not absorb this new theory as they had a strong theory of their own. Mayber it was Japanese pride and also that they were isolated by land and sea and thus the new theorires did not take root.

This manual is extant today but the basis and theories behind this manual has been developed and transformed. In fengshui theories and studies it has surfaced into what many have called the eight mansion or eight houses fengshui. Along with this theory of fengshui, the east and west theory developed.

This east and west grouping principle fused the science of fengshui of space with that of fatality. We can see this happening too with other schools of chinese metaphysics. It is easy to conclude that chinese metaphysics is a big melting pot of a broad mixture. The trick we have to learn is how to differentiate what are grafted theories and what are the true essences.

As far as the east-west theory goes, there are two distinct features.

The first is that it meant that once the principles have been applied to a living space, it will be good till all eternity. As a stand alone theory it does not consider the effects and changes of the environment and that of time. This becomes a weakness and as so often happens, many practitioners will borrow from other theories to overcome this. What happens then becomes a mixture of techniques. It reminds one of what we see in the kungfu movies of the 1970s. The fighters fight and when one loses he changes from one style to another like from tiger claws to crane fists. These movies were nice to watch but actually what is happening is that most fengshui practitioners are doing exactly the same thing and that is borrowing and layering from various schools and fields of metaphysics not knowing that the principles and applications are not he same. The argument they use in defence is that they are only incorporating what is best and discard what is weak. They forget that that means a theory is imperfect. A theory must be able to stand up to tests to be accepted. What they are doing is plainly saying that they do not have faith in any one single theroy. I say that they do not understand what they are doing probably due to lack of understanding and study.

The other distinct feature is that space and individuls are divided into two groups.

What the theory says is that it is best to use what belongs to your group. For example if you are a west group person, they say you should stay in a west group house. Or to take a step further it would be best if you marry a person belonging to the same group. At work, you are advised to have a partner of the same group so that the working relationship can be harmonious.

How can this be? How silly can one become? How can one accept that people or spaces can be broadly classified into two groups? This is an obvious misunderstanding of the yin and yang theory. A simple look at the method of deriving the good and bad sectors will tell us that this is a simple juggling yin-yang of the trigrams due to the manner that the trigrams are arranged.

Worse are the proponents who say that the theory is alright to be used BUT it is better if one can do a full scale analysis by using the eight pillars or some other method. I ask, why don’t they just discard the east-west group theory and go straight and do a full analysis instead of telling people the chemical laced skin is alright to eat but it is better to eat the good stuff inside?

It actually is confounding to wonder why they chooose to propagate and tell people to do things which are not totally correct. Many are now using the theories of east-west grouping and applying them. The authors of books provide DIY (do-it-yourself) techniques to people. Are they not misleading, probably doing more harm than good?

As a food for thought, have you seen the Harry Potter movies? In the movies, there is a professor who is popular and famous because he has written volumes of books on magic. Thus he is reputed to be an authority. However as the show humorously shows, he can’t really perform good magic. It tells us that fame and name are no measure of worth!

Date Selection

Date Selection using the TongShu Almanac

If there is help available why not? This reasoning is all the more correct when we are embarking on some major move that will affect our lives and well being. For this reason also, we would select a good date for the conduct of our affairs.

Every society has their particular selection methods with the chinese seeming to have myriad ways to select suitable dates. There are the special doors, three cycles, mystical dimensions and more.

I believe that the purpose of study is to educate ourselves. In older times, knowledge were limited to the very few. Only the upper class and the rich had this privelege. At the same time, the texts and mateerials available were not that many so it always was the same texts being core study material. In some sort of a way, society became shaped and the psyche of that society conditioned, which is not necessarily a good thing.

The same is happening today. The TongShu or chinese almanac is ubiquitous in chinese homes. I remember as a young child, a scholarly old man told me that it is a talisman and hanging one in the home acts as a protection against harmful spirits. My parents and grandparents said the same thing, most probably because they heard it from him too. Of course I believed him because he was once a titled scholar before he fled china after the fall of the Qing dynasty. Later I learnt that such power ascribed to the almanac is that within it are magical writings as well as codes containing the secrets of the universe.

The singular most important use of the almanac is the calendar. It may be strange that this calendar is found at the back of the book. Well you see, it is meant to be the final conclusion or distillation of all the writings, wisdom and formula before it. One thing to note though is that the chinese almanac is read right to left. English books are read the other way so front becomes back and back becomes front.

The calendar found at the ‘back’ of the almanac is a lunar calendar. Fortunately they have elected to include the western gregorian calendar as well so we will know exactly ‘when’ we are. Fortunate really if not we would have no idea at all where we would be in our real world time. The unfortunate thing though is that they are all in chinese characters!

Many of the ‘astrologers’ practising today use the almanac as the basis for date selection. It is the astrologers’ basic tool. In calling him or her an astrologer is not exactly correct. Maybe it is more correct to call him a time selection specialist but for convenience, let’s just call him an astrologer.

Many books are now out in english that shows us how to select dates. Before gleefully using the methods that are shown, it is good to know how the calendar came about.

The chinese calendar compiled today is based on the Xieji-Bianfang Shu or Treatise on Harmonising time and Distinguishing directions. Take away its high sounding language it really means that it is a guide to selecting times and orientation. The time here means a good date and orientation is used in houses and burials.

It was compiled during the time of the famous Qing emperor QianLong and completed in 1740. The compilers were the astronomy unit which comes under the Board of Rituals.

What is important for us to know is that the reason for this compilation was that the early works were found to be full of errors and also there were many conflicting ideas on the subject. As an aside it also goes that there were many conflicting ideas too about astrology as a whole. Now, this is very important. The treatise is a compilation of scholarly works and it goes to say that the chief guy in charge eventually gets to decide what is right and wrong. We can safely assume that the emperor is no astrologer and leaves that to the head of the board of rituals. He is certainly a very powerful man but there is nothing to say that this treatise is not error prone.

What has this got to do with us? Well, if you are one who cannot live without consulting the almanac, just remember that you maybe relying on an error ridden work!

The other thing that we have to know is that the book is based on certain fixed longtitude to derive the calculations. How accurate it is to you, assuming all others are correct will depend on where you are located. Kuala Lumpur is at 113° longtitude which is about 28 minutes behind if we use 120° as the base line of calculations. So you may like to take note of this. However the system does not emphasise the sun and the moon but the bevy of stars and constellations.

Having talked about the time adjustment, there is another point that needs to be considered. The astrology as used by the chinese is not strictly an astronomy work. No doubt the constellations and stars as seen in the sky are used but the impact of these cosmic entities is not the same as that used by the western astrologer. In a way you can say that the almanac is derived from a coded guide left behind by the ancient observers. How accurately the later day astrologers have decoded them is open to question.

The most common way most common folk use to check on a good day is the 12 cycles (twelve shen of the day). That is why you will hear someone saying this is and ‘open’ day which is a good day or that this is a ‘broken’ day which means that it is not a good day. You may like to know that all the days within the year are divided into twelve types. They go in a cylce. You have to ask yourself the question “Is it that simple? If so, how can my life be governed by something like that?”

The other way is that of looking at the colors of the ink used to print the words. A good day is marked by the color red. In many respects it is correct as red signifies a general all round benevolence of the energies in play for that day. Of course this good or bad is based on the mathematics used in compiling the calendar. In other words, if there is an error on day one, then that error carries through making all the rest wrong. Also, if one use the wrong theory, then all the answers are going to come out wrong.

One last thing to remember is that the calendar was and still is very agricultural and feudal based in tone. Many of the activities are rather ritual based. For examples activities like setting the mill and washing the hair. If you are content with using the almanac for its face value, what you can do is to look deeper into the relationship between the activity and the reason why this activity is no good. Most of it will be related to the twelve cycles. (The twelve cycles depict major events of a feudal community and at another time we can talk about this).

The ancient astrologers’ favorite pastime is to observe the changes in nature and attempt to correlate this to human life with the purpose of predicting the cycles of life. Through knowing at which point of the cycle one is at, preparations and plans can be made to ensure a smoother journey. Likewise, we can do the same. If we are to have the best out of life, we have to make use of the resources that we have. In taking lessons from the almanac, it is not about looking for red days or auspicious astrological dates to do anything but as a tool for self development.

The world is constantly changing. Global warming is here and what is written happen in the almanac may not be accurate anymore. To the believer of the almanac, that person will have to look at the things happening around him and relate that to the almanc to reposition oneself within this space and time continuum. The most powerful force around is still the force of the human will.

In date selection and in fengshui, the true basis is the continuous cycle of all things. Date and site selection is not to be based on some archaic formula or can be decided by a set of formulas or a round compass. It has to be based on available circumstances, the characteristics and factors in play at that point in time and space. This is true.

Do not anger

Once upon a time I attended a seminar. It was a course in motivation and self empowerment. One of the lessons learnt then was to use anger as a motivation tool. It was the belief that there is no motivation stronger than that provided by anger. Reflecting back on all that and with sincerity would now say to all that that is not the way to work. Getting things done and achieving the material status in life through the use of anger to motivate oneself is NOT the way. Period.

If it is about motivation, then there are definitely many more better and effective methods. As human beings we have our ups and our downs. Who does not get annoyed once in a while anyway?

The difference is in the approach we can take. The Reiki principles say do not anger. However may we add a little more to that? Perhaps it may be better to know the anger that is coming around and be mindful not to let it get control of us. Taking a few deep breaths is a time proven method. Once the anger is seen as such our minds clear and the cause of that anger can be worked on and presto! We have the problem fixed.

Anger by itself is like a fire that takes us as the fuel. Once this is recognized it becomes powerless. In the application of Usui Sensei’s approach it is quite simply this :- an exercise in mindfulness and control.

There are many people who do meditation that brings about calmness of the mind. That on its own is fine as things can be seen more clearly that way. However it is also important that it can be used as a tool to work with anger. By this would mean that once we note anger arising, we can use our meditative mind to look at it. This becomes then a method of mixing our meditation practice with our daily lives. Meditation is one huge subject on its own but at this point it is good to say that deep calm meditation is of limited use if we are not able to employ it to cultivate ourselves.

House Renovation Precautions

I am prompted to write this after recalling an invitation to take a fengshui look at one house which was renovated in 2003.

What happened was that all was fine and it was until after renovations done towards the end of 2003 that the family found that there appears to be something amiss. Quite a fortune must have gone into doing the renovation and refurbishment. After a detailed check, it became clear that what could possibly be done wrong was done wrong.

Although the orientation and layout was left quite untouched the latent energy patterns of the house has been redistributed.

It is difficult to imagine that renovations can have a drastic impact on fengshui, but yes, they do. You see, all things go through cyclic existence starting from bloom, flourish and decay. This is undeniable. Likewise, things move along with the flow of time and this flow by convention shifts over fixed periods of time. What this means is that different energy forces comes into play, like a power shift. We are now into a different energy cycle compared with five years ago and that is why any renovations with respect to changing of doors, hacking out floor tiles, repairing the roofs, knocking down and building new walls all provide openings for the new energy to lock in and take effect.

For the fengshui lover, may I point out that the critical year may be 2004 but from my observations, it need not necessarily be so. Time in its own way is also a fluid and versatile fellow. Its impact on different people and matter varies from case to case. If you are a fengshui lover, do bear this in mind and adjust accordingly and make judgments based on your observations and confirmations.

Good Luck.

Reiki and Self-Healing

Ever so often, we forget that Reiki is also a self-healing therapy. The basic medicine is the perfection of self. To achieve perfection of self is a life time journey and goal in itself. It is true to say that no matter how much we devote to attaining this perfection, it may still remain a distant goal. However, like it is said, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going.

This healing of self applies to all practitioners, irrespective of whether we are Reiki I, II, III or no Reiki 0. If we care to ask ourself what really ails us, it is not surprising that we single out our work, our lifestyle or our attitude as the main culprits. When we begin to dissect these causes, we find that underlying our problems are many emotional conflicts that we have difficulty resolving.

Looking a little further in, we may just find the reason why we are feeling the way we do. Slowly we can understand why we react the way we do in our interactions in daily life. Maybe then, during moments like these, we can apply the principles and watch our emotions fade.

The theory of wholistic healing says that our physical ailments are manifest from our emotional persona. Given this as correct, then the principles become good medicine.

This basic self healing is not just about the healing of our physical pains but also our emotional and mental ones as well. Ultimately, we evolve into healing ourselves spiritually.

house healing

House Healing

My friend, Frank Regis aka the ghost buster of the philippines gave a talk at our healing center, Tara Touch, last year on “The Unseen Dimension”.

It was a very interesting talk and many were not quite ready to leave even way after the share session was over. What intrigued me was that Frank said that problem houses possess blueprints and such blueprints manifest indisturbances to the people who occupy them. These houses require healing.

It was the use of the word healing that caught my interest. In FengShui, we often refer to solutions or remedies for houses affected by negative fengshui. Is that not healing in a sort of way? Of course, the healing here referred to is quite different from the version of healing Frank was referring to.

There is a shamanic aspect to house healing within the context of house cleansing. As in all metaphysical works, we will have to include the unseen. However, within FengShui, what we try to achieve is to determine the energies that are manifesting within the space we are looking at and once having known that, make the necessary transformation to best fit the situation. Determination is made through a practice of confirming past events and traits corresponding to the reading. Proper judgment is an essential skill apart from understanding of ancient principles.

Anything that is to be done to effect transformation is healing. That became very obvious and I liked the way that Frank puts it. Every space has its subtle energy blueprints. When Frank talked about healing homes, he was referring to properties which had inherited blueprints as a result of past activities that had happened in the home (pardon me, Frank if I had misquoted you). When I look at it from a FengShui perspective, it has another explanation. Every space that becomes an abode, either for the living or the dead, has, from the moment it ‘takes life’, has a latent energy pattern.

It is this energy pattern that is the underlying cause of outcomes that happens to the occupants of that abode. It does sound quite sinister but happily, this energy pattern can be broken or changed. Put another way, it means that the fengshui of the house determines the outcome and as long as that fengshui remains, similar events will unfold as a result of whatever energy is present. Transforming the energy will change the fengshui.

Feng Shui Tips

Tip..bed headboard. On a few occassions, I have noticed that some people are fond of leaving a little gap between the head board of their bed and the wall. The reason maybe that it made sweeping and vacuuming the area between bed and wall a little easier, like a space where the broom or vacuum hose could reach.

This is not good from the fengshui point of view. In fact it is one of the principles of feng shui that the bed must be propped against the wall. The traditional reason given for this is that, with the bed against the wall (and we sleep with our head on the wall side of course) is that there is a backing, just like the protective wall behind us. This is partly right but not the main reason.

Fengshui is correctly about yin and yang, two major qualities that rightly understood and applied, brings many benefits. With the bed propped properly against the wall then applies this neat trick of having the yin and yang in balance. The hours of sleep are when the body is recovering from the toil of the day and what better way to refresh than with the mind at total ease, free of stress or anxiety. With the bed against the wall, there is guarantee that there will be stillness as there is no likelihood of anyone moving about where our head rests. It is an area of stillness and thus is yin-perfectly ideal for the yin to nourish our sleep!

The other reason why the bed head should be against the wall is that we do not want to occupy the central section of the room. In fengshui parlance, the central portion of the room is called the central palace. It is the main activity area, so to speak, and sleep is about rest, a removal from activity. Even in a small little room, there is still a miniature central palace and when we sleep, we rest in yin. So to have a sound sleep, we make the best of what we have of the yin-yang qualities and one way is to have the bed away from the hub of activity, the central palace. Placing the bed head propped against the wall is one of them.

One malady that has become obvious in current times to to have an extended head board feature. This extends the pillow position away from the wall. This in effect is moving the bed away from the wall where it should be. A good place tostore the brandy and those sweet soft toys along with the wedding photo but a definite no-no fengshui-wise and I hope that furniture manufacturers would take note of this when they design beds!

Of course before ending this short little tip on beds, it goes without saying that bedroom layouts with beds designed off the wall is also a fengshui mis-step. This happens in large bedroom layouts and in studio apartments. They look interesting but then the subtle energies at play make this not the design of choice. It is better to go for the conventional bed propped against tahe wall layout.

Good Luck.

Tip for Today...Recently, property developers are using fengshui to promote their properties. As part of their marketing strategies, they have enlisted the help of known fengshui consultants. This is quite all right if the expertise of fengshui consultants are engaged to advise on the overall planning and development. What would become questionable is when it is promoted that the whole development has been fengshui-ed letting on the impression that the pieces of properties within it are all of good fengshui. This impression is strengthened if the fengshui consultant gives statements to similar effect.

We, as buyers, should be aware that although the development has been built along fengshui guidelines, it does not mean that every piece of property within the development has “good fengshui”.

Feng Shui actually takes into account form and subtle energies which manifest effects in myriad ways. Each and every detail has to be looked into and proper judgments made. After the proper adjustments, remedies or enhancements have been made can we say the property is fengshui-ed.

Do exercise common sense and do not just believe every promotion that you may read or hear. Remember, it is very likely the agent who adopts the fengshui line is probably not a very expert fengshui person.

To fengshui a house or property does require quite a good eye with sound understanding of principles. I hope to work on writing more of this in the future.

WATCH OUT FOR MY FENG SHUI BOOK. This book aims to give a perspective of the applications of principles where there are many areas of concern. After a long time in the back drawers, I am going to dig out old notes and use them to compile a book.

Tip of the day. If your neighbour's cat has made it her habit of lounging in your porch, let her be. But as a fengshui-aware person, do keep the area clean. This cleaning up should be priority on your must-do list.

My neighbour's cat deposited some regurgitated stuff lasI night on my porch and reminded me to post this as a reminder for all of us. Fengshui is about the physical and the intangible unseen energy. These two are one and the same and are transmutable. I will be scribing more of this....

Being a keen feng shui practitioner, I hope, that with this piece of cyber space, to be abe to share some of what I have learnt and discovered through the years.

Something if not shared will eventually be lost along with the passing on of the people who possess them.

www.fengshuibreath.com