Feng Shui, The Essence Of Good Taste        

      By Dolores Kozielski

      Feng Shui pronounced Fung Schway is the Chinese ancient art of placement and balance of energy. For about 5,000 years, Feng Shui has been practiced. Feng Shui began by locating the best site for Chinese ancestral graves.

     Housed in a circle of the Tai Chi is a symbol of yin and yang; you know the black swirl with a tiny white dot and the white swirl, with a tiny black dot; they are known as opposites. The Tai Chi represents everything contained within the universe. As the centuries passed, from that mysterious circle of yin and yang, Feng Shui developed into a unique resource. It influenced one’s surroundings by attracting the positive aspects of energy, essentially by neutralizing the negative. Understanding the five elements, wood, fire, earth, metal and water accomplished this.   

     In Chinese philosophy and science, the five elements have their own direction, attribute, shape, color or colors, and a plethora of other representations. The elements work with or against each other; sometimes they even cancel each other out, if applied properly.  Feng Shui practitioners believe, how much or too little of each element can truly have a profound effect our daily lives and surroundings.

     Over many centuries, Traditional Feng Shui, or Compass school, was widely practiced in China. By trial and error and with proper application of the elements and a compass called a Lo P’an, evolved many other schools of thought.  Form school developed and grew. It was based upon, how humble farmers raised their crops, by planting in the best physical location.  The mountains from behind protected their crops from the wind. In the front, the gentle flowing streams of water nourished the fields. That is how Feng Shui got its name, wind, water. 

     Then, there was an awakening in America; a fairly new concept called BTB (Tibetan Tantric Buddhist Black Hat Sect) came along. It was born in the early 1980’s and is attributed to Professor Lin Yun, who teaches this particular application of Feng Shui, an approach that does not use the compass, but a much less complex instrument called the Bagua. In Chinese, bagua means eight segments; ba means eight, gua means segment or part. The bagua does not follow the compass or true directional space. The entrance of a home and business or garden is called the mouth of ch’i, ch’i meaning energy. It is always north on the Bagua. Each segment of the bagua has an attribute or life pathway, direction, color, and a symbol associated with it. For example the Fame segment of the bagua is in the South, its color is red and its symbol is a triangle. Metaphorically speaking, a feng shui practitioner follows the bagua like a master chief would follow a recipe aligning the bagua with the mouth of ch’i, placing all the proper elements, or ingredients, within each area. The result is the best mix or creation, for all who share in the finished product.

     Also, vital, in the practice of BTB is, daily meditation and “right” intention. When the practitioner’s mind, body and soul are clear and focused, the proper alignment of energy or a transcendental cure may be offered. Transcendental cures are very different form standard cures; they are spiritual and mystical in nature, seeming at times, to defy logic. 

     Clearing clutter is also one of the a main factors in Feng Shui. It is like being in the cleanest and most sanitary kitchen, (the kitchen can be synonymous with any place in our surroundings). It provides an unobstructed work area, which makes room for new and improved recipes.  Preparation in an uncluttered and clean space makes room for abundance. Not necessarily more, but a full measure of what is needed. Abundance is invited inside the cleared and clean space, so that every individual can create what they need most in their life’s diet, a balance. Wealth is always welcomed, but sometimes wealth comes in many different flavors, not just money, but wealth of career, knowledge, family, health, fame, romance, children, travel, or by drawing people into our lives that can be helpful in many ways. Whatever one craves, it can be found through Feng Shui. If we enter a messy kitchen, or heaven forbid, an uncleanly one, most individuals would probably stop cooking. They would leave the premises and eat elsewhere, or only eat to survive. It seems, that’s what many people are doing today, just surviving. They are missing out on the ambiance and taste of the finest food for the soul, which I believe can be had through Feng Shui. 

     Food for the soul, an awareness of one’s surroundings, with a good intention, along with the proper application of Feng Shui is like having the most delicious, nutritious meal in our daily living and spiritual lives. This is what the Feng Shui practitioner prepares and then serves, by passing along life’s recipes to those who partake in the essence of the experience of fine placement, harmony and balance. I believe it is the equivalency of dining at one of the world’s finest restaurants, the ambiance, along with superb food is experienced. The master chief is the Feng Shui practitioner who prepares the finest food for the soul and saviors every moment in its preparation.

     Whether using a pot or Lo P’an, fork or bagua, these instruments connect us with the food that we need, the life energy that keeps us strong, happy and satisfied and most importantly, alive.  Imagine trying to eat with your hands. Not having the proper utensils, like a pot to cook in or a fork to eat with. The same holds true for do-it-yourself Feng Shuiers, without the proper tools, things can get mighty messy. Even in the art of dying, the master Feng Shui practitioner, like the master chief, knows that the proper recipe for success is following directions. They recall that the very foundation and essence of Feng Shui was the proper location and direction of gravesites. This is the soul of Feng Shui. 

Feng Shui is one of the best recipes that I’ve ever followed and tasted. As the adage goes, “How do you know how it tastes, unless you’ve tried it?”

Copyright © 2004 by Dolores Kozielski

Dolores Kozielski is a certified, Feng Shui Practitioner and professional writer. She can be reached at www.FengShuiWrite.com

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