Feng Shui Study

One of the most common views we get from those new to Feng Shui is that it appears like it's very wishy-washy, a superstitious load of nonsense with no real basis.

How can anyone substantiate the amazing claims put out by Feng Shui practitioners?

How can one justify the price of a consultation when it all seems so far out that the location of one's bed can be so important in determining one's fate?

How can you disregard the Chinese classical system when you can see trained experts are able to do the demonstration below without injury?

As you can see from this demonstration of Chi Gung, those trained in the use of Chi and other energies can perform extraordinary feats which normal people can scarcely conceive of, let alone rationalise.

Before we reveal the truth about Feng Shui and how it really can live up to, and exceed, many of the claims made about it, we'll need to explain to you one important point. As someone who is serious about Feng Shui, it's important that you are able to understand the following distinction that needs to be clear in your mind.

The Two Types of Feng Shui
There are two clear types of Feng Shui available in the West today. There is Traditional Feng Shui and New Age Feng Shui.

Traditional Feng Shui is practised by Rising Dragon Feng Shui and thousands of oriental masters to this day. It's history dates back past the ancient Dynasties of China, over 6,000 years. The techniques used in it today are those that have been stored in ancient texts and treatise on the subject as well as those passed down by the master to student through countless ages.

New Age Feng Shui is the term given to the modern, Western interpretation of this Chinese Classical system. After it's arrival in the West, various enthusiastic parties began mixing it with Western practices like the mainstream Western therapies of Aromatherapy, Crystal Healing and colour therapy, Interior Design, Fashion and Product Marketing together with an exotic cocktail of spiritual and psychological beliefs.

The difference between the two is vast and it's worth appreciating these differences if you want to understand how Feng Shui works. Classical Chinese Feng Shui expert Joey Yap, aide to Grand Master Yap Cheng Hai, put it very eloquently when he said:

"New Age Feng Shui is equivalent to your daily horoscope readings that you get in newspapers. This stream is entertaining, however, you should not take it too seriously. Certain approaches in New-Age Feng Shui are considered rather dangerous from the perspective of Classical Feng Shui. Classical Feng Shui refers to the actual traditional form of study and practice of this art. There are many profound theories and sophisticated formulae that one needs to know before you consider practising this art professionally."

We're not here to tell you what to believe or what to use in your own life - if something works for you, then that's the most important. The purpose of this article is simply to educate people as to what is Feng Shui and what is it's basis. From this point onwards, all the information contained within alludes to the mechanics of traditional Chinese Feng Shui as practised by the consultants at Rising Dragon Feng Shui. If you want to query if Black Hat Sect Feng Shui is really practised in the Far East, we suggest you ask a practitioner of those disciplines to respond as they are not part of traditional Feng Shui's curriculum and therefore not a subject which we are qualified to speak for.

Where is the Intuition in the Sky and Seas?
Feng Shui literally translates as Wind and Water, this title coming from an ancient classic which describes a rule that applies to the movement of Chi. In fact there are great secrets contained within that one phrase alone.

First and most obvious is the use of the term 'rule'. Within traditional Feng Shui there is absolutely nothing intuitive. The bad news for old housewives is that ancient Feng Shui masters analysed the ways in which energy moved to such a degree that they were able to realise the exact mathematical patterns by which one could model their movement. If that sounded quite deep, I'll repeat it - Feng Shui is based around mathematical formulas. So, no more old wives tales about whether something is causing disharmony.

The good news for everyone else then, is that anyone with a little patience can learn Feng Shui. You can do it even if you've never said to anyone that "that room should be green, because it feels right!"

May the Force be with You
Now we understand that there is this precision based approach to harmonising the energy in our environment, it's worth understanding what is meant by this seemingly nebulous term "energy". Many people like to talk about 'harmonising' or 'balancing' energies, but very few people have penetrated into the system far enough to understand what energy is.

In the traditional Feng Shui system, there are three energies and I'll endeavour to explain a little to you on each. The Three Energies are:

1. Chi
2. Magnetic Energy
3. Land Spirits

The Universal Energy
Chi is the often denoted in English as being the Universal Energy, something that flows through everything and connects everything. However, most people in the West think of it as being some vague, out-there type of energy. Unseen and unfelt, how can it have a profound effect on a person's health?

The follow stills are taken from one of Nam Yang's live performances in Trafalgar Square, London. No-one was hurt during these displays, but to watch such superhuman powers, one quickly realises that these people have learned extraordinary skills - there is no other way they could survive such fearsome blows with serious injury. Please do not try to replicate any of these techniques at home without prior instruction.

In this first shot Master Iain Armstrong is shown washing his face in broken glass. Not a single cut is sustained in the process.

In this next shot, a student demonstrates 'Iron Throat Chi Kung' by placing the point of a spear at the soft point in between the collar bones. He then walks forwards until the spear is bent in two.

Master Iain Armstrong demonstrates the same technique without his top to show that there is no cheating going on!

This final shot shows a blow that would cripple, if not kill outright, any untrained person who attempts it. In this demonstration of Iron Head Chi Kung, Master Armstrong's head is placed on a solid concrete block. A second concrete block is then placed upon his head as a sandwich. Someone then takes a sledgehammer and attempts to break both slabs. Remarkably, both slabs break, but, contrary to Western scientific and medical principals, Master Armstrong's head does not behave like an egg dropped on the floor! Both blocks shatter, while he rises, none the worse for having survived such a horrific blow.

From these images alone one can clearly see Chi in action and you can feel it's power. Manipulating Chi internally is a process which requires dedication to learn, but this forms the basis of Chinese Martial Arts like Tai Chi and the Chi Gung shown here and also Chinese Healing Arts, like Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture. Manipulating Chi externally is called Feng Shui. Due to the high levels of environmental Chi, it's effect can be an immense boost if correctly positioned in relation to it. Equally, if wrongly placed it can be disastrous.

It's a great failing of Western Science that to date they have been unable to find a way of measuring or quantifying Chi. While demonstrations like the one above prove that it is possible to use Chi to defy current Western Scientific and Medical knowledge, it appears that an arrogant part of Western society wants to conclude that Chi doesn't exist because it can't be measured by Western Science. It's a sorry reflection on how primitive Western Scientific instruments really are. What are they expecting? A person to devote their life to mastering the Shaolin Way and in their spare time be an Einstein who dreams up new scientific measuring instruments? I'm sure you get the ridiculous picture. It's not going to happen. Until Western experts devote their expertise to understanding what is going on, it would be worthwhile us rejecting their arrogant attitude that believes only what they can prove is real. Just because they can't prove that Aliens exist, it doesn't mean that they don't! Being open minded is the best policy as it helps prevent one from falling off of the edge of the earth when you get to to the limit of it's flat surface!

Ever Felt Repulsion?
Everything has a magnetic field around it, something that Science is able to back up. You have a magnetic energy field around you - in fact your brain, your nervous system, right down to your very cells connected by tiny electrical impulses that send messages around the body. That means your thought patterns and feelings are electrical impulse based.

You house also has a magnetic field. Naturally, being much bigger than yours, it's field has the power to control yours.

What happens when you put two magnets together? If you get the right ends, then they are so attracted to each other they stick! But get it the other way around and you can feel the repulsion.

Imagine for an instant the effect that overbearing force can have on your brain - your emotions, your thoughts, mental clarity and state of mind - when it starts pushing it all back the wrong way.

Imagine for a moment the effect on your nervous system - your sensation, your reflexes - when it gets repulsed by a massively more powerful force.

Imagine the effect this has on your health - mental and physical - when it's messing you up and you don't even know it! You wake up feeling tired with no reason, you make bad decisions with no excuse, you keep self-sabotaging, you know it's wrong but you do it anyway and you get sick more easily than others. If this doesn't defy logic, what, apart from not looking for a reason why you are suffering like that, does?

How then can a person tell what magnetic field is good for them? In Chinese Feng Shui we use mathematical formulas, combined with the help of the specialist Lopan Compass and a person's birth data to analyse this on an individual basis. When a person is born the magnetic fields from the planets and sun are at a certain strength. This gets effectively stamped into us and this is why each person's best Feng Shui is different. We like different magnetic fields according to the levels which we were exposed to at birth. This is indeed a higher level secret I'm sharing with you today!

Schools from the New Age side of Feng Shui like the Eight Aspirations and Black Hat Sect have ignored this powerful principal and created 'one size fits all' Feng Shui. This is why Rising Dragon Feng Shui's consultants do not use these techniques and why we can tell you without hesitation that you will get a markedly different result if you used our powerful and precise Feng Shui services rather than one of the shallow New Age teachings.

Crossing Over With...
Chinese culture has always believe that spirits exist. In fact a central cultural element is the understanding of the Six Realms of Existence, a teaching central to Buddhist and Taoist belief. There is therefore a portion of Feng Shui expertise that is devoted to harmonious existence within the various realms. If you visit Taiwan for instance, you'll soon notice that there are numerous shrines for various earth dwelling spirits, as well as festivals devoted to hungry ghosts and the spirits of our ancestors. A consultant who claims there is no spiritual aspect to Feng Shui is therefore either usually very inexperienced or trying not to offend delicate Western tastes for religion in order to get a sale.

One entire side of Feng Shui is in fact devoted to the relationship between the living and their ancestors. This is called Yin House Feng Shui - the study of burial grounds. Here is a passage from Yuen Liao Fan's classic of the Spring & Autumn Period, the Four Essays in which he examines historical records of Yin House Feng Shui to testify to it's power:

The ancestors of Young Wing, the Duke of Fujian province, lived as boatmen from generation to generation. Whenever torrential rains caused flooding, houses were destroyed and there were always people, domestic animals and valuable goods that were washed away and swept down the river. When this happened, other boatmen always hurried to grab the valuable goods from the river, while Young Wing's grandfather always saved the people who were drowning. People in the village ridiculed him for his stupidity. But through the years, the family slowly prospered and, by the time Young Wing's father was born, the family had become quite wealthy.

One day, a Tao Master appeared and told the Young family, "Your ancestor has accumulated great modest virtues; hence his descendants will enjoy wealth and honour. There is a dragon site in which you should re-bury your ancestor."

This was done, and the tomb is now called the 'White Rabbit tomb'. Later on Young Wing was born. Even in his early youth, Young Wing passed the imperial examination and was placed in a high-ranking position. Furthermore, his late grandfather was also honoured by the Emperor. Young's descendants are, to this day, still prosperous, and many of them are prominent, worthy people.

Later in the same Essay there is another reference:

Also, in Amoy, a city in Fujian, lived a Mrs. Lam. She was extremely generous and always made bread to give to the poor. A monk came to her house everyday and every time would ask for six or seven of the buns. She provided the bread for him regularly for three years, without complaint or reluctance.

One day, this monk came and told her, "For three years, I have been eating your bread and I do not have anything with which to repay you. However, I know of a piece of land behind your house. If you re-bury your ancestors there, then there will be as many government officials from among your descendants as there are flax seeds in a bottle."

Lam did as advised and, within the first generation of her family, nine were able to graduate under the imperial examination system. From then on, in every generation of the Lams, there were always many high officials. Even today, there is still a saying: "There will always be someone named Lam in the graduation list of every imperial examination."

The support of spirits is in fact considered essential and the absence of them altogether abnormal. In fact it is said that a home without spirits can gather no prosperity. If one can live in harmony with them, they not only confer their protection onto one they also Jiao Chie or Bring Wealth. Grand Master Sheng-yen Lu revealed many secrets in his 148th book. The following translation comes from that:

In the past, whenever I read the Feng Shui of a person’s home, I observed both the visible and the invisible worlds. The invisible world refers to the realm of spirits.

I will divulge a great secret:
I was once invited to do a Feng Shui reading for a certain prestigious household in Kaoshing, Taiwan. Once I entered the house, I saw many poverty ghosts occupying the place. These ghosts were the debtors of the owner. I instantly knew that this prestigious person would soon lose his wealth altogether. Indeed, soon afterwards, his business failed miserably.

On another occasion, I visited the home of a poor man in a village to read the Feng Shui of his house. His house was typical of a Chinese village courtyard. I saw lots of spirits, like an army of ants, carrying sacks of golden sand on their backs marching to his house. One by one they entered his house to deliver the golden sand. I knew right away that the family would soon possess great wealth. Eventually, his name became well known and he held a position in the government. His wealth increased astronomically and he became the country’s wealthiest man.

These are my experiences of reading Feng Shui.

If debtor ghosts demanding payment surround the individual, he is doomed to fail.

If wealth deities surround the individual, he is destined to prosper. Thus, the invisible hand of spirits affects everything.

I once went to a night market in front of a temple for a midnight supper. In front of the temple was an empty lot with a small stall. The stall only sold four items, which were herbal soup, noodle, rice flour roll and green vegetables.

There were many tables around the stall and they were all occupied with customers who were eager to taste the food. It was much like ants after cookies. I opened my divine eye to examine the man running the stall, and what I witnessed was frightening. The open field was filled with more than a hundred patrons visiting the stall, and an equal number of spirits roaming the area. These spirits had swayed the customers to patronise this stall. When the spirits lure one in, one obeys.

The stall was famous for its herbal soup, and the taste was delicious. Every night, the traffic of customers flowed in and out like an ocean tide. His business was so prosperous that his wealth flowed like the running tap water. Someone said that the stall owner smiled while calculating his earnings at home. Another said that the stall owner owned a few apartments and his wealth was measured in the billions.

I paid close attention to the stall owner’s facial features. I observed that his face was dark and gloomy, with a sunken nose, tiny mouth, small eyes and hardly any flesh on his face. He certainly did not look like he was a man of great wealth but instead resembled a homeless old man.

I felt there was nothing remarkable about this old man. But how do you explain his wealth? Besides being rich, he had so many spirits helping to lure customers to his stall. I suspected that the old man learned how to keep psychic entities to help him. But upon closer observation, though he looked unpleasant, he did not have any negative energy lingering around his body.

From a distance, I looked at the stall and the area of land it was on and observed some glowing beams of red light emerging from the ground, forming a red cloud over the area. This may have explained why the stall was so prosperous. Perhaps it was due to the auspicious Feng Shui of the place. The other stalls did not enjoy the same kind of customer traffic as that one stall did. They were barely surviving to make ends meet. This was indeed interesting.

Unlike Wicca or other Western spiritual communities, the Chinese system is very well formed and extremely structured. There are different types of spirits, some beneficial and some worth avoiding. We don't simply say 'Spirit says' and take it as Gospel. One must be able to understand what level the spirit is at. For if a message passed to you came from your ancestor, it would be likely that they would want to take care of you. If however it was someone you owed a debt to, they may well try to deceive you in order to repay the debt. Equally while there are spirits powerful enough to cause serious mischief, there are also higher level ground dwelling spirits within the earth and sky that can protect you from harm.

An Earth Spirit Shrine

Essentially, the first principle to master in this aspect of Feng Shui can be summed up in one word - respect. If one has respect for one's ancestors, you will lead a virtuous life of service and they will doubtless be proud of you. If one has respect for the spirits around one's house, you will keep the place clean and avoid being loud and intoxicated at night often. If one has respect for oneself, you will not feel the need to ask spirits for guidance constantly and so your energy will not become too Yin. It would be considered good sense indeed not play with strange spiritual practices like Witchcraft or Ouija Boards as this is asking for trouble sooner or later. By following the one simple principle - respect - most people will not have any major catastrophe befall them by way of spirits.

A traditional Feng Shui consultant will be aware of Yin House Feng Shui, Ancestor Worship, and the many types of Earth Spirits that may require consideration. If the consultant is not versed in these disciplines, then their Feng Shui cannot be said to be complete. Rising Dragon Feng Shui's consultants are able to make offerings to spirits and bring harmony between realms. We can also teach you to live at ease with spirits and help you protect yourself if they are being mischievous.

The Basis of a Fulfilling Life
I'm sure you've gathered that there is real, authentic power within Feng Shui and that the study of Feng Shui itself is expansive as the skies and seas themselves. For innumerable reasons there is now the likelihood that the unadulterated, authentic teachings may make a home for themselves within the West, far away from the repression that the Communist Chinese Government feels necessary to place upon these skills.

40 Westerners were immediately arrested in Tianamen Square in February 2002 after they shouted 'Falun Gong is good'. Repression continues be the Communist method of choice to tackle the classical Chinese systems and it is claimed that each year many practitioners are tortured to death in Chinese detention centres. This clearly illustrates the power the Chinese government attribute to traditional Feng Shui practice. Image ©BBCi News - click here for the full story

In Chinese thought, it has long been acknowledged that those who can master Feng Shui or recruit the help of a skilled practitioner, have the potential to grow exponentially in this lifetime. It is for fear that a skilled individual will topple the current ruling regime that Beijing suppresses the practice of the complete Chinese Classical systems. Sadly, many of the Shaolin and Wudan Masters, together with the enlightened Buddhists and reclusive Taoist Masters have taken many of their secrets to the grave. It may never be again that we are blessed with arts so powerful and transformative that they are referred to as 'the Secrets of Heaven and Earth'. If the chance to meet with an authentic practitioner, who still holds true to the original forms and who seeks earnestly to honour their lineage, then wise be you who seizes the opportunity to learn from them. For it is true that spirits can be delivered, calamities averted and fates changed, but only if one understands the true way.