[Note: The contents of this paper is comprised largely of excerpts The
Complete Idiot's Guide to the I Ching (Alpha Books, 2001) and the
new edition of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Feng Shui (Alpha Books,
2002). Both books may be purchased at any bookstore or on e-book sites
such as Amazon.]
You're
not an idiot if you're confused about feng shui (pronounced fung schway).
This ancient Chinese tradition has bulldozed its way into the West, becoming
the craze du jour. It seems everyone is either doing it or dissing it.
Feng shui articles, books, entire magazines, complete schools, and comprehensive
websites have crowded the market. Some of these offer advice and varied
techniques far removed from the real thing. They all seek to cash in while
misleading the unsuspecting, taking full advantage before the uninformed
consumer wises up and begins to question the myriad inconsistencies.
Actually,
this dilution of the classic tradition can be likened to playing "telephone."
Remember that childhood game? One kid whispers a sentence into the next
kid's ear. Something like, "My 50-foot alligator lives in a black lagoon."
By the time the sentence reaches the end of the line of kids, it may have
become, "My pin-striped crocodile swims in a pink polka-dot pool." Get
the idea? This article will avoid such silliness and present to you a
clear, concise explanation of feng shui and how this ancient Chinese practice
harmonizes with modern science and a holistic reality.
Our
Separatist Mindset Prevents Us From Seeing a Holistic Reality
Before
we can discuss how feng shui's principles support modern scientific thinking,
we need to take a step back and understand fully how the Western mind
works. How the Western world has become a culture of rational thinkers
and how we are becoming a people of united reformers.
Pretend
the universe is a car. We all know that a car is an intricate mechanism
comprised of thousands of pieces, all functioning as parts of the whole.
We know that it would be impossible to discern how the car operates by
studying, say, a tire. Ironically, this is how most Western scientists
study the universe. They focus on one spot or element, disregarding the
interconnectedness of that which surrounds and/or encompasses it.
As
a culture, we have learned to isolate, compartmentalize, and fragmentize
information. Only in the West do we tend to separate such things as mind
from body and faith from reason. Our separatist notion and the way we
view the world stems from our linear scientific heritage. We are comfortable
with taking a step-by-step, logical approach to problem solving. Everyday
phrases like "Let's be reasonable," and "This is not logical" are testament
to our deeply ingrained thought process.
In
fact, the Western mindset helped, in part, to create faux feng shui! The
keen masterminds behind Black Sect and Life Aspirations feng shui understood
that Westerners like things neat and orderly. Westerners need to break
things down. Westerners need to label things. Hence the creation of distinct
components or life aspirations/stations of wealth, career, knowledge,
and the like.
Remember
the '70s television commercial: "Two all-beef patties, special sauce,
lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun"? Quick, was it
McDonald's or Burger King? Chances are, you had to think about it. The
point is, the savvy production team hired by the owners of McDonald's
capitalized on the Western obsession with parts. Little emphasis was placed
on the whole burger.
Continuing
with our fast-food analogy, Westerners want things bigger-better-faster.
We want things now-now-now. Borrowing a term from our friend and feng
shui teacher and practitioner Cate Bramble, feng shui has become "McDonalized."
Simply, most Westerners do not have the patience to fully understand a
complicated concept. We want the Reader's Digest version--only part of
the story.
The
study of classical feng shui will not only free us, allowing for alterations
in the way of seeing and thinking, but also help us grow, develop, progress,
and succeed. It will help us become more holistic, shedding our separatist
ways.
Western
Intellectual Heritage and the Holy Grail
Since
ancient times, philosophers and scientists have searched for the Holy
Grail of Knowledge: the origin, structure, and order of the universe.
With each new discovery, myths were dispelled and replaced by new "truths,"
which often carried over into successive centuries, becoming firmly rooted
in our collective consciousness. Over the past 2,500 years, there has
been an impressive roster of individuals whose scientific discoveries
or philosophical ideas changed the way we view the world. Here is a brief
overview of those who have helped to form our rational, separatist mindset:
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The Greek
Age:
The ancient Greeks considered the study of science a noble pursuit.
It was not inspired by religion, which at the time was polytheistic--a
belief in or worship of more than one god. Science that presents
a rational and orderly view of the cosmos developed in ancient Greece
around the sixth century B.C.E. with Thales of Miletus. A seafaring
and trading people, the Greeks developed an acute sense of time
and space, their observations giving birth to the fields of astronomy
and geometry. We can credit Pythagoras (560-500 B.C.E.) and Aristotle
(384-322 B.C.E.) with instituting scientific methods based on logic
and reason. These methods of deductive and inductive reasoning still
play a role today in scientific thinking.
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The
Newtonian Age:
English physicist Sir Isaac Newton's (1642-1727) universe was black
and white, void of gray. Now called "classical" or "mechanical" physics,
Newton's belief was that simple and permanent mechanical laws that
could be understood by careful observation and experimentation governed
the universe. Based on the Greeks' deductive and inductive methodology,
Newton explained his theories using mathematics. He maintained that
we are separate from nature and thus are able to observe the world
objectively. Although Newton sought to reconcile his deep religious
convictions with science, his ideas set the stage for a break between
science and religion, or physics and metaphysics (philosophy).
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The
Enlightenment Age:
Coined by German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), the term "enlightenment"
took God out of the scientific equation, viewing natural phenomena
entirely as a mechanical scheme. Kant sought to bring together two
divergent philosophical ideas developed during the seventeenth century--the
notion that knowledge is derived from observation and experience and
not theory (empiricism) and the notion that knowledge is derived from
reasoning (rationalism). According to Kant, the concepts of time and
space cannot be fully understood using sensory perception. Because
of these limitations, the physical world must be studied using a rational
system like mathematics. Other enlightened philosophers include Denis
Diderot (1713-1784), Julien Offra de la Mettrie (1709-1751), and David
Hume (1711-1761).
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The
Darwinian Age:
The split between science and religion was fully realized with British
naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-1882). Postulated in his book, On
the Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation
of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (1859), Darwin's groundbreaking
and controversial theory of evolution and natural selection caused
much discord between the scientific and religious factions. The schism
deeply impacted the Western mindset. |
The
above examples demonstrate how we have learned to rationalize, separate,
and isolate information as a means of understanding the totality of the
universe and its inhabitants. As a result, we have effectively disengaged,
separating science, religion, mind, and body into distinct and fortified
camps-a mindset that would be shattered with twentieth-century science.
United
We Stand: Modern Holistic Theories
Yet,
the discoveries made by twentieth-century physicists have rocked the scientific
world, crushing long-held traditional views spearheaded by Newtonian mechanics.
A unified world picture is emerging that no longer reduces nature (and
human nature) to a series of isolated parts. Modern scientists now view
the cosmos as a web of interconnected and interrelated events. As you'll
soon learn, many modern scientists believe in the existence of God or
a higher power to which we are connected. The new scientific paradigm--the
whole is the sum of its parts--is replacing the common ideology--the parts
are the means to the whole.
While
these two ideologies may sound alike, they really are not. The distinction
may be subtle but, nonetheless, significant. We are speaking of ways of
thinking, considering, perceiving the world. Remember the car at the beginning
of this discussion? Today, when we look at it, we see more than just a
set of tires, a carburetor, or a fuel tank. We see all these things and
more: a means of transportation, a status symbol, a product of a powerful
worldwide industry. When we drive this car on a highway, we are involved
in more than going from point A to point B; we are utilizing a vast and
vital, well-connected national and interstate road system upon which the
economic health of our nation depends. When we consider our nation, we
do not stop at borders. We belong to a community of nations, diverse peoples
all sharing the same planet.
In
feng shui, the totality is what is stressed--a rich totality comprising
of a harmonious unity of parts. This is opposed to a collection of distinct
and singular parts (the eight life aspirations/stations) joining together
to form a loose federation. So, as scientists continue to search for "pure
truth," feng shui helps to provide an alternate path, if you will, new
frames of reference to our collective consciousness.
Two
influential and revolutionary scientific theories surfaced during the
twentieth century that played a leading role in changing how scientists
understand the world. On a larger scale, the discoveries enabled us to
see the Big Picture, a holistic reality.
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Theories
of relativity:
Postulated by German physicist Albert Einstein (1879-1955), his theories
state that mass is nothing more than a different manifestation of
energy. It means that the book you're now reading and the chair you
are sitting in are forms of energy at rest. Also, Einstein understood
that space and time were not separate entities, but are connected
to form a fourth dimension called space-time.
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Quantum physics:
Formulated in the 1920s by Neils Bohr (1922-), Max Planck (1858-1947),
and Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976), among others, quantum physics is
the study of subatomic particles such as electrons and atoms. In a
nutshell, quantum theory reveals the unity of all things. It shows
that we cannot use isolation as a method to gain knowledge of the
whole.
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If
these theories seem like old hat to you, ideas that have lost their
power and passion, consider the following theories postulated by three
innovative and progressive Western scientists:
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David
Bohm
(1917-1992): Based in part on his work concerning the behavior of
electrons, Bohm believed the universe can be likened to a hologram
in which each part of the image contains the entire picture. He believed
the universe is "an undivided and unbroken whole" and that there exists
a hidden primary reality (the quantum potential) that provides information
to the totality of humankind and its environment. Bohm's beliefs give
a scientific explanation to the phenomenon of synchronicity--]a pattern
of correlated coincidences (thoughts, objects, numbers, and/or events)
linked together to form a theme of meaning to the observer.
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Rupert Sheldrake
(modern-day biologist): Sheldrake claims that the development and
evolution of an organism and human consciousness is guided by a holistic
force that he calls the morphic field. Specifically, the morphic field
is a phenomenon of nature whereby if a form or thought occurs in nature,
it is likely to repeat again in another species; and if a thought
occurs, it is likely to be thought again by another person. In nature,
the spiral shape of conch shells, hurricanes and galaxies are examples.
In human nature, the independent and almost simultaneous "discovery"
of calculus in 1675 by English mathematician and philosopher Sir Isaac
Newton (1642-1727) and German mathematician and philosopher Gottfried
Leibniz (1646-1716) is an example of humankind tapping into the morphic
field.
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Andrew Newberg
(1967-): Neuroscientist Andrew Newberg believes he can prove that
a higher power exists by the way the brain functions during states
of deep concentration, meditation, and prayer. In these states the
"line" that separates the self from the world disappears, producing
the effect of a mystical union with God (or the Sea of Consciousness,
a Higher Power). The question remains: Is God an illusion produced
by the brain's activity or has God wired our brain to experience a
holistic reality? These mysteries and many other studies about the
convergence of science and religion are being funded by the John Templeton
Foundation. |
Indeed
the notion of a holistic world order is quite profound and worthy of more
study. Indeed, the Big Picture is now beginning to emerge. As modern scientists
delve deeper into the celestial heavens and probe deeper into the infinitesimal,
many are becoming aware of the unity and oneness of all things-a concept
the Chinese have always embraced.
In
the meantime, if we can accept Bohm, Sheldrake, and Newberg's ideas, it
means we are able to draw from an infinite well of potential and possibilities.
This is the hallmark of feng shui--to harness nature's well to better
our existence.
