The way the Chinese use Feng Shui

Have you ever wondered how Chinese think about Feng Shui?

For instance, how do the Chinese use Feng Shui? What kind of things do they consider when they practice Feng Shui or have a consultation? How does Feng Shui fit into their lives?

The following template is extremely valuable because it brings this ancient science into perspective in a way that it allows you to deepen your knowledge of yourself and where Feng Shui fits in relation to its use and life.

When the Chinese use Feng Shui they have a very holistic approach to it and there is a very famous saying which illustrates exactly how they think about it:

The Chinese Say:

First is a man's Destiny,
second is his Luck,
third is his Feng Shui,
fourth is his Virtue
and fifth is his Knowledge.

(Old Chinese proverb)

Feng Shui and our lives

In life, we are influenced by many things. We can be influenced by our culture, social expectations, our family and history, our loved ones, then finally our limitations or even our good qualities as humans.

On top of this we can be influenced by the energy of our physical environment, the luck of our buildings and other life force energy that operates around us. For instance, harsh weather conditions can have an effect on our personality and even good weather conditions will shape our personalities and lifestyle and this will continue to have an influence upon us, contributing to the creation of our personalities and our destinies. Perhaps you may be wondering why I have bothered to mention such information but actually, the Chinese never separate Feng Shui from a person's destiny or their luck, or the type of circumstances that operate around them and in fact, this is very much a part of the Feng Shui equation and consultation.

Destiny

For each and every person, there is a destination to which they are bound in their lifetime. In addition, no two people can play the same role. We are in the process of creating our destination every minute of the day via our decisions and interactions. Each and every one of us is born with an intrinsic series of dynamics existing within our unique potential - our personality - which we enact throughout our lives accordingly.

In the Indian culture, these intrinsic dynamics are called the Sanskaras or the Personality Habits of the Soul. Sanskaras means the patterns, habits, the impressions of your personality which the Indians believe you have formed and created over many lifetimes. These personality habits form the deeper part of the memory and are representative of the innate habits of the soul carried throughout the process of life. Additionally, we are in a constant state of forming and re-creating our own personality habits all the time. Some of us have very good personality habits which serve us out in the world, whilst others have personality habits that restrict them or inhibit their progress, and all of us have a mixture of both.

The study of destiny is a very deep subject. What makes one person so lucky and more able to use their inner qualities and what makes another person less able to do this.

Human life force energy is about our personality habits. Our 'patterns' and destiny is what we are born with and develop throughout our life time. The patterns we are born with travel with us and each of us have the potential to mould and create our destiny (and personality habits) as we go. As we live our lives, we are moulding ourselves, creating our lives or our destiny whether we know it or not, realise it or not, or like it or not. One important part of destiny is the reactions or responses we have to our lives and how this contributes to us continuing to create our lives.

Destiny is the power which pre-ordains or marks out these potentials beforehand and luck is the means to implement them. At another level, virtue could be considered as the mother of destiny because it's all about how we manage our virtue that makes or breaks any situation. Still destiny, is an energy even beyond that. For instance, take the person who has something to contribute to mankind. There will be a certain type of energy and luck associated with that and it is an energy that has its own momentum. In effect, the person will become the driver for that momentum because when the timing is right and they are the right person, they have the internal qualities to create the momentum or the "chemical reaction within them required to create the contribution" according to the situation and time period.

Still, Chinese Feng Shui Masters recognised that there is another dynamic associated with a good destiny and luck. They believe that if you were to take a person whose destiny and luck is positive and put them amongst bad Feng Shui they would probably still be successful. In other words, the person with the strong destiny will have the capacity to manoeuvre their inevitability through space and time to create their fortune against all odds and essentially this is the sign of "good luck".

Another phenomena that Feng Shui masters recognise is the phenomena whereby a person with a good destiny will usually attract good Feng Shui and there is a saying: if your destiny is that good, then you do not need Feng Shui (but of course, the Chinese also believe that if your destiny is good, and you use Feng Shui then your destiny will be better).

The other side of this coin is the dynamic whereby when someone is in a weak part of their destiny they will attract a building that does not have good Feng Shui and this can potentially have a marked effect upon their destiny.

When this type of dynamic is occurring it is believed, that if this person can get the help of good Feng Shui then their lives can be slowly improved depending on how good their Feng Shui is. However, often when people are in "bad luck' not only do they make the wrong decisions, hang out with the wrong people, etc.the reality is, even if you present the right Feng Shui to them - they will still choose the bad Feng Shui or ignore your advice. If they then suffer as a result of this, then we have to say "its Karmic settlement". At times people can also settle Karma when they are in good luck, when they make the right decisions, etc. The settlement of Karma comes into the realm of "Heaven's luck" which is fully discussed in '3 types of luck' and on the Inner Feng Shui Website.

Luck

Luck describes the flow of life force energy which travels with you throughout your lifetime. Ultimately we either have good luck, bad luck, or middling luck and these will present in varying degrees, throughout the different stages of our life. Our luck can vary from year to year or in longer time spans. Luck is a very intangible concept. It's invisible; it's there whether it's good or bad - it's often considered to be the return of karma or actions we have performed in the past. Have you ever heard a story about someone who had no talent, no skill, but they had the luck to reach successful heights? Throughout history, there are many examples of brilliant people who had created something good for mankind, but they did not have the luck to implement it successfully and were therefore not recognised for it.

Luck is considered by the Chinese to be an invisible energy which has the potential to be improved with the right Feng Shui (see "3 types of Luck" for more information).

Feng Shui

To observe the science and art of Feng Shui means to put oneself and one's physical placements into the 'right placement' in space and time in order to receive the beneficial flow of energy from the universe. At a more subtle level this means that if you are placing yourself into a situation whereby you can receive the beneficial flow of the universe then it means you are placing yourself into a position to receive the opportunity. When we are truly aligned with our Feng Shui we are aligned on all levels of our being. This means, physically, emotionally, socially, intellectually and spiritually aligned to "the highest or best potential" within our lives.

On the other hand.whether you consciously practice Feng Shui or not.you are still surrounded by some type of Feng Shui even if you don't observe or use Feng Shui by design. This is because, your home, your office, your space, your environment has to be arranged in some way, shape or form and it's this way, shape or form that brings the influence of the environment to you. Ultimately, it's impossible for us to not be influenced by Feng Shui because as humans we are made up of energy, we come from energy and we are influenced by all types of energy including the life force energy called Chi. In either instance, you still have Feng Shui to consider.

Virtue

Virtue describes the inner qualities that we are born with and develop throughout our life. The truth is, in order to be in harmony you need to be able to create the flow for your own existence. Many times when things are not working out for us, it may simply be that we have not have discovered the type of virtue or internal power we need (to apply) in order to overcome an obstacle or manoeuvre a situation. Having the power to apply or manifest the virtue (appropriately) is yet another part of this equation.

Virtue could be considered as internal or "Inner Feng Shui" because its all about placing oneself, one's thoughts, words and actions, into a proper placement within space and time in order to be successful and receive a positive energy flow. Think back to a person you may have met at some time and as you watched them you saw how clumsy they were. Did they always say the wrong thing at the wrong time? Did they always fall out with other people because they did not know how to be tuned into the pulse of the moment or the people? Did they later blame the people for not being receptive?

Then there is the opposite situation to this - someone who did not have a strong destiny or good luck, but the quality of their virtue was so good that it attracted you to like them and you wanted to be around them. This is the power of virtue. If you have a good destiny and luck accompanies you, but you have no virtue, then it may be harder for you to enjoy your luck and your life because you wont know how to.

Finally, the consideration that most Asian Feng Shui masters believe: if you have a weak destiny, luck that is not very good (at the moment) and bad Feng Shui...then develop your virtue and perform charitable actions. Virtue is developed through a deep understanding of charitable actions which should be right and timely. Virtue is also developed through internal and external listening to the universe as well as learning to use your own qualities to pave your way.

Knowledge

Knowledge is about the skills and talents we are born with or develop throughout our lifetime. It is true to say that if you want to be successful and you have a good destiny, good luck, good Feng Shui and good virtue then you need the knowledge to accompany it in order to make it a practical reality. For instance, let's take an average person. You could put this person on the best golf course in the world, give them the best set of golf clubs, dress them in the best golf gear, even give them a 1 year annual subscription to the gold course for free.however, if they don't know how to play golf.!!??

In terms of creating prosperity and a good life you need to have the knowledge to do it. If you decide to go into business selling fish but you don't know the first thing about fish or fishing, then, for the first few years (until you can learn this) you could be in trouble!

Feng Shui - its holistic approach

The Chinese have always understood that the most important aspect having the largest bearing in the scheme of things is a person's destiny. Equally, they understand that destiny is not responsible for success alone. They believe that it's the combining of destiny, luck, Feng Shui, virtue and knowledge that makes us successful.

Finally, in the Chinese approach to Feng Shui, there is a holistic look at the individual involved - their destiny, their luck and the type of influences the person is undergoing. Although Feng Shui can be practiced without Chinese astrology, this is the role and function of Chinese Astrology in a Feng Shui consultation. Then, when it comes to making a prognosis in relation to Feng a 'bigger picture' be formed about the person and the Feng Shui of their building.

© Copyright Gahle Atherton 1998. All rights reserved. This excerpt has been taken from Gahle's Book: 'Feng Shui' the Perfect Arrangement (simple secrets unveiled).