Boris RUDENKO.
A swindler, a swindler...
S. I. Ozhegov. Russian Dictionary
Science and life // Illustrations
Residential building in Hong Kong, built on the sea coast in strict accordance with the requirements of feng shui.
The Feng Shui master uses a compass to determine the location of the city.
Engravings from Luo Guanzhong's book "Three Kingdoms".
Recently, a new branch of the economy has appeared in our country. The new industry does not produce anything of the kind, although the citizens employed in it do not complain about their income. They explain to everyone else how to properly build houses, arrange furniture and seat subordinates. No, they are not builders, architects, designers or psychoanalysts. They are feng shui masters: experts (as they call themselves) of the ancient Chinese teachings on how to live in harmony with the world. What is this ancient teaching?
Background
"Feng Shui - winds (feng) and streams (shui) - the most ancient Chinese teaching on how to live in harmony with the world, based on an equilibrium exchange of energies between nature and man."
This is one of the modern definitions, although there are many others.
The first information about feng shui was brought to Europe by Ernst Aitel, a famous sinologist who worked for many years in China in a Christian mission. His book, published in 1873, is called Feng Shui, or Rudiments of the Natural Sciences in China. Later, works on Feng Shui were published by Aitel's colleagues, outstanding sinologists - the Dutchman Johann de Groot (" religious system China", 1892) and the Englishman Joseph Needham ("Science and Civilization in China", 1954). However, Eitel's definition of feng shui remains probably the most accurate:
"Feng Shui is, simply put, a system of superstition designed to teach people where and when to build burials and houses in order to ensure the necessary eternal prosperity and well-being."
The Feng Shui system in the form in which it appears today arose as a derivative of the teachings of the Chinese philosophers of the Song Dynasty (960-1270), who considered Nature as a single living organism. This organism has, in their opinion, four sections:
General order(s),
Numerical proportions of the Earth and the Universe (shu),
vital breath (qi),
Forms of manifestation of Nature (in).
The most complex calculations of the many combinations within these sections, taking into account the terrain, the location of the stars, the time of year, and much more, determined where, in fact, the Chinese peasant should go in this life.
But it is important to know that feng shui originated from the cult of the dead, which has been of great importance in China since ancient times. China has never had a tradition of creating communal cemeteries. Everyone was free to bury the deceased member of his family anywhere and any way. At the same time, the Chinese attached extreme importance to the funeral ritual, since they believed that the well-being of the living depends entirely on where the remains lie, whether Nature perceives them correctly. Therefore, first of all, Feng Shui prescribed how and where to bury their loved ones.
As for instructions on building houses and arranging furniture, they appeared much later, in the 11th-12th centuries. n. e. So one should not believe modern pamphlets that claim that the age of the teaching is more than six thousand years. This is simply not true, although the roots of feng shui do go back into the distant (albeit not so) past: archaeologists have established that approximately the same burial principles were applied as early as the 9th century BC.
TO XIX century feng shui entered the life of mid-China so tightly that the Europeans often faced very serious problems when trying to implement projects for the construction of enterprises, roads, bridges and settlements. European engineers were frustrated by the need to coordinate with the local authorities the installation of even telegraph poles, if the Feng Shui masters claimed that these poles create knots of condensation, as they would say now, of negative energies. And when the governor of the Portuguese colony of Macau decided to introduce the natives to the benefits of civilization and build contrary to the canons of Feng Shui railway along the shortest distance from point A to point B, they waylaid him and cut off his head.
“Undoubtedly, there is something in this very Feng Shui,” Aitel commented, “if it induces the social ranks to acts of terrible murder, and state ministers (Chinese provinces. - Note. ed.) forces it to be used as a convincing excuse to justify the inability to further progress in trade and civilization."
Nevertheless, a way out could always be found.
"The most ominous natural forms from the point of view of Feng Shui," Aitel writes in his book, "terrible thickening of deadly breaths can be improved with skillful intervention. One of the main tools for this is money!"
“It’s true,” he immediately adds, “this tool is terrible: having paid for the first time, you will pay constantly ...”
Johann de Groot, who worked for a long time as an official of the Dutch colony on the island of Amoy, described in detail the sophisticated system of extortion of Chinese officials in resolving conflicts arising on the basis of feng shui. For example, when the burial of one family, carried out on the basis of a qualified expert geomancer, in the opinion of another equally qualified specialist, seriously violated the neighbor's feng shui. The final settlement of the dispute was very costly for both parties ...
European researchers unanimously noted that the feng shui calculations made to search for the greatest auspiciousness of being are incredibly complex and "can awe the ignorant common people with their incomprehensibility." Nevertheless, when the Europeans built their homes in Hong Kong in the most convenient part of the island, protected from the winds, and besides, they planted trees and dug ponds for beauty, the Chinese seriously suspected that they knew a lot about feng shui, but for some reason they hide own knowledge. It is clear that the Europeans were simply guided by common sense, not knowing about the principles of feng shui.
This is where the whole essence of "ancient wisdom" lies. But more on that later, now it's time to see what happened to Feng Shui outside the limits that gave rise to it - in Europe and Russia.
exotic fruit
Although Feng Shui has been known in Europe for a long time thanks to the work of European Sinologists, it has become fashionable only recently due to the general feverish outburst of interest in the East, well prepared by the works of Madame Blavatsky and finally provoked by films starring Bruce Lee, the instability of life and the general stupidity.
Kung Fu, Shaolin, Wushu, Taijiquan, Taoist magicians, and finally, Feng Shui. And the slogan is ready in the spirit of the time: learn to unite with Nature, absorb the energy of plants, earth and water according to old, forgotten, but wonderfully restored recipes today! And everything is ancient - so ancient that the heart stops sweetly and gently tickles in the nasopharynx. The older, the sweeter it freezes and tickles.
Europeans are practical people. Purely for pleasure, they did not inhale the mysterious veil of ancient wisdom for long, rightly judging that real money is behind any human interest. Europe was flooded with books and pamphlets on the topic of Feng Shui. Then schools arose and from there, from Europe - that's amazing! - and not at all from China, with which we have a common border of several thousand kilometers and at least a four-hundred-year history of relations, feng shui came to Russia. It came to us as a commercial product in the form of translated editions at the beginning of the troubled 90s, when the demand for mysticism and parascience increased fantastically. Having lost his usual ideological guidelines, the layman was looking for somewhere to lean on, and was willing to pay for any sweet deception.
Offers followed immediately. Astrologers were the first to catch the pie, breaking into absolutely all the media, including state television channels. They were followed by crowds of psychics, sorcerers, hereditary soothsayers and healers...
Feng Shui is a bit late. But now he is making up for lost time.
Publishers of translated feng shui textbooks were the first to make money from it. And then there appeared and multiplied in an incredible number of Feng Shui masters, the courses and schools organized by them, as well as services: advice on the proper organization of life, the arrangement of furniture sets in homes and offices, and the location of the front doors of country cottages. Feng Shui has turned into a business, into a commodity, confidently ousting clairvoyants and fortune-tellers with their primitive conspiracies and amulets from the field of mass deception of buyers. It’s a sin not to use such a wonderful opportunity to make money: this is not some kind of magic, but the most complicated exact calculation, inaccessible to amateurs!
Do you want good luck in business? Invite a feng shui master who will explain that the boss should sit in the far corner of the office, middle managers in the middle, and the secretary should be at the very door; he will order a couple of tables to be rearranged so that the sunlight does not hit the employees in the eyes, and then he will take a fee for the work: from 150 to 400 rubles per square meter of the surveyed area. If the areas are large, discounts are possible.
Would you like to never get sick? Invite this master to your apartment - he will also supervise the rearrangement of furniture there and even sell you powerful talismans - clumsy sculptures of a dragon, a lion or someone else, which should be placed at the energy points of your home (where exactly they are, the master will indicate exactly).
And if you decide to build a house, then starting such a business without the help of a feng shui specialist is tantamount to suicide. God forbid the door will open in the wrong direction of the world - you are waiting for the inevitable collapse, ruin and a hospital bed until the end of days. Well, and so on ...
feng shui a la russe
Today dozens of "academies", "schools" and "studios" offer Russians services in comprehending Feng Shui mastery via the Internet:
Academy of Mastery of Chinese Metaphysics.
Feng Shui Academy.
Feng Shui Design Studio.
Imperial Feng Shui Center.
Feng Shui of the Black Hat School.
Feng Shui and Harmony Studio.
Jade dragon...
By pointing a finger at random at any of these educational institutions, springing up like mushrooms in a cow pasture, you will find that becoming a true master of the ancient system is far from easy. Under the guidance of wise mentors, you will first of all take initial courses, and then professional ones, each of which is divided into several blocks. Oh, how beautiful and mysterious their names are! "Analysis of Fate and Fortune", "San Yuan Flying Stars", "Four Pillars of Fate", "In-depth Study of Bazi", "Yi Ching Prediction"...
There are also separate courses: "Horoscope of the Twelve Animals Chinese zodiac"," Training course of traditional Chinese astrology "Bazi Suanming" ...
Each block, of course, will cost a pretty penny. But in great deeds it is undignified to trifle. To become a mature master, whatever one may say, you will have to pay from 50 to 100 thousand rubles. In return, you will receive a beautiful certificate certifying that you are a real sage, which you can hang on the wall and show to the girls you know. You can also immediately open your own school and give the same certificates to its graduates for money. Good for the system public education such a school will never get in, inspections of the quality of education do not threaten it.
At academies and schools, as a rule, Feng Shui shops are open, selling all sorts of useful things. Do you want to achieve wealth and financial luck? Buy a three-legged toad from this store and all wishes will come true. The assortment includes "small three-legged toad" for 90 rubles, "medium three-legged toad" for 180 rubles. and "golden toad" for 330 rubles. Who needs any luck, let him choose between these toads.
However, for those who are bad with money and even the toad did not help, we can recommend a simpler and cheaper path. Buy any of the feng shui translated foolish books and study, comprehend the mysteries on your own. Let's try together to step on the path of secret knowledge.
Most importantly, teach tutorials, determine your number gua. Depending on it, you have to choose all sorts of useful directions in space. We immediately note that in fact gua- these are not numbers, but graphic trigrams, combinations and combinations of which were used by master geomancers to make their verdicts. But these are trifles.
So, to define gua in Russian it is necessary as follows: "Take the sum of the last two digits of the year of birth. If it works out two-digit number, add up the numbers again. The Gua number for men is 10 minus the result. For women: 5 plus the result. If you get a two-digit number, add up its digits again.
Stop! This is European numerology! If the technique came from Chinese antiquity, then how? In China from the II century BC. e. up to the 19th century there was no continuous system of reckoning. Years were counted according to epochs (the reign of dynasties) and periods within them (the reigns of individual rulers). For example, the first year of the Guan-he period corresponds to the year 178 of our calendar, and the first year of the Zhong-ping period corresponds to the year 184. True, along with this system, another was used - "household", when the years were combined into "circles", or "cycles", 60 years each. But all the same, no matter how you translate one system into another, there is no gua will not work. By the way, Sinologists-Sinologists at one time had to work hard to determine the correspondence between the European and Chinese calendars. They deduced this correspondence, but it is in no way compatible with the methods of self-instruction books.
Let us suppose, however, that such trifles are not essential to the attainment of personal happiness. We have determined the number of gua, we move on.
"Having determined the number of Kua, you can easily determine the directions for orienting the bed, table, hearth, door ... If you were able to orient the rooms that you personally use, as well as the front doors, bed and desk according to your happiest direction, you will have excellent feng shui, life will be filled with abundance, prosperity and happiness."
Okay, let's deal with happiness, we are now mainly interested in how to avoid all sorts of troubles. Therefore, we immediately look into the section of unfavorable directions. Let's assume that your gua number equals 5.
The first bad direction in modern Russian-Feng Shui literature is called "harm". The direction is dangerous, but not very. Conflicts with people and the law, failures and accidents without a fatal outcome are possible. For the "five" this direction - East.
The direction of the "Five devils" provokes quarrels in the house, fire and burglary. As well as other troubles that are even scary to mention. For the unfortunate "five" is Southeast .
Direction "Interruption of life" or "Unfortunate fate". Here everything is clear without explanation. Be afraid, be afraid "five" North!
Let's sum up. To survive, I personally (in this case I acted as a test specimen) need to go west. Not in the sense that you immediately run across the Belarusian border, but arrange everything in the house in this direction: the head of the bed is to the west, my gaze at the desktop should also look to the west, the supply of electricity and gas should also be from the west ...
In addition to the desktop, I have everything in the other direction. And although someday I could organize the delivery of natural gas and electricity from Belarus to my apartment, it no longer makes sense. My unfortunate fate was decided by feng shui much earlier:
“If your front door faces this direction, you will lose all your descendants. Your children and grandchildren will die and your lineage will be interrupted. You may lose wealth and everything in your life will go wrong. Your family will suffer from regular health problems. This direction must be avoided at all costs. It is both fatal and deadly."
My entrance door looks to the north, as was provided by the general plan for the development of the area. Been looking for thirty years now and I feel like I can no longer resist the inevitability of feng shui. There is, however, a last chance: to compensate for the shortcomings of my gua by rearranging the toilet. This is not a joke at all! This is exactly what the instruction I cite recommends to do in severe cases. Minus by minus, according to the canons of Feng Shui, sometimes gives a plus. I would save myself by erecting a toilet seat in a dangerous direction, so that every time I sit on it, I block the negative energy flows coming from the outside with my positive flows from the inside.
But this won't work. My house is typical, the possibility of moving the toilet to any direction of the world is not provided for in it.
So that's it.
Farewell, brothers!
Departure from the rules
The last word in the discussion of any problem should belong to a specialist. Only a professional is able to put an end to the dispute, to separate the wheat from the chaff, the true from the false - this is the main principle of the journal "Science and Life", we have been rigorously following it for many decades. So this time, when I was going to talk about feng shui, I first of all began to look for Russian scientists who could explain what the ancient Chinese system is from the point of view of modern science.
I called a respected scientific institute engaged in the study of the history of ancient civilizations, the leadership of which named two of its employees who are competent in this field. There was little left to do: meet, talk and arrange the results of the conversation in the form of an interview or an article. But I haven't been able to meet anyone. Without refusing directly, both researchers studiously avoided personal contact. Still not understanding the reasons, I continued trying to organize a meeting for two weeks, until I suspected that the point here was not at all the exclusive employment of specialists. Then I decided to get acquainted with scientists in absentia - to look for their works, to understand what they are actually working on.
I found the work of one of them using the Internet - abstracts of the report on scientific readings at another reputable institution. The speaker talked about his participation in a practical seminar in China, where he taught Axis the Taoist art of achieving immortality. There is nothing of the kind in this, the study of folklore of all times and peoples is a worthy occupation, which was once demonstrated by the great researchers of fairy tales and superstitions Propp and Frazer. I was saddened by the fact that the speaker treated the topic not as a subject scientific research but as to the hidden truth. "Very interesting is the practice of working with the subconscious, the interchange of energy with trees, celestial bodies, etc." - such was one of the final phrases of the report.
After a short search, I found the second recommended feng shui specialist among the teachers of the Imperial Feng Shui Center. In his brief description the center's website says: "... uses various types of Chinese art of divination in its work."
It is clear that our magazine could not invite either one or the other for cooperation. True science is not compatible with individual superstitions or personal business. Yes, they themselves understood this very well, and therefore avoided meetings with the correspondent of a popular science magazine. I began to look for other authors and found that serious feng shui scholars are simply not interested. Everything about him has already been said by the great Dutch and English. So this time our tradition will be broken.
The good old days
You do not need to go to a psychologist to answer the question: why do people become easy prey for scammers?
From excessive credulity - in the first place, from equally excessive self-interest - in the second. These are the main reasons from which a set of very different options unfolds like a fan. However, today we will leave the selfish motives of the victims out of the field of discussion, focusing on human credulity, which is most often exploited by rogues of a mass spill. To be more precise: credulity, resulting from a lack of elementary knowledge, at least in the amount of a ten-year course.
Some believe crooks who call themselves astrologers, claiming that the location of the stars and planets determines their luck and misfortune for the current day and hour. Trusting people do not know that neither stars nor smaller cosmic bodies, by definition, can have any arrangement - they all rush through space at an incredible speed, remaining absolutely indifferent to the state of our health and the contents of wallets.
Others are inclined to seek salvation from worldly adversity in the wisdom of ancient teachings, not even trying to be puzzled by a simple question: if these teachings were so wise, why were they so thoroughly forgotten?
"Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese teaching about how to live in harmony with the world. Harmony here means a balanced exchange of energies between man and nature. Once this state was natural for people, thanks to it they were truly happy, healthy and productive "- says one of the commercial brochures on the topic of Feng Shui.
Indeed, we have lost many achievements of the past. We dress less and less in natural skins, do not sleep in the open air and practically do not eat our own kind. Since those glorious harmonious times, we have learned to deal with epidemics that completely mow down the population of entire states; increased the average duration human life from twenty-five to seventy (although they have not yet reached immortality) and even managed to approach celestial bodies, so rich in energy for direct exchange, which, however, still needs to be discovered.
May seekers of ancient forgotten truths forgive me: do not seek.
There were none. Nothing that humanity has long since firmly forgotten needs resuscitation, except in the interests of historical science. And the slightly forgotten, but useful, is necessarily extracted from the storerooms of memory in order to serve to increase the comfort of the current existence. The ancient Chinese system of acupuncture - acupuncture does not contradict the achievements of the world pharmaceutical industry, but pills do not harm needles either. Equally ancient systems of physical exercises - taijiquan, yoga - are also quite suitable for maintaining tone and maintaining health, if you treat them exactly as physical exercises, and not as secret teachings.
With all due respect to the intellect of ancient scientists and thinkers, we note that the attempts of seekers of hidden truths to transfer their ideas about the world around us today cause only pity.
We know from school that the compass was invented in China. Indeed, the first mention of a device using the magnetic properties of iron dates back to the 1st century AD. e. But for a whole millennium after that - until the end of the 11th century - it was not used at all as an instrument for determining the course of ships or the route of travelers, but only as a tool for divination and magical rituals ...
Nostalgia for the old days is the natural state of every aging and not very educated organism. Someone sadly recalls the times of Brezhnev, someone - Stalin, and someone - the sovereign-emperor. The search for the Great Truth and the Real Truth in more distant eras is more characteristic of unintelligent youth, combined with twos in the school certificate, which is quite curable. But the sincere belief that these searches were (or will be) crowned with success testifies, rather, to the stupidity of its bearer.
Conclusion
Faced with the need to independently form an opinion about what feng shui is, and having spent a lot of time studying the issue, I confirm: feng shui is an amazingly interesting thing!
This funny difficult game orders of magnitude superior to divination on Tarot cards or primitive compilation astrological horoscopes. It took me two working days to accurately calculate the feng shui of my apartment in strict accordance with the ancient recommendations. True, I am not a master - still young, inexperienced.
In such an ancient, sophisticated system, of course, a certain rational grain cannot but be contained. When choosing a place for laying the foundation of a dwelling, Feng Shui masters took into account the predominant direction of winds, the nature of the soil and currents of underground water flows, the danger of seasonal river floods, avalanches and mudflows. This is what modern surveyors, architects and builders are taught. They seem to teach well, but in light of the recent spontaneous destruction of markets, swimming pools and residential buildings, an additional feng shui course would not hurt them.
"Feng Shui," said Joseph Needham, "is the richest source of information about the ethnography, cultural history, and philosophy of the great Chinese people."
So it is better to treat the search for well-being with the help of feng shui methods as a harmless and non-committal entertainment.
Blind faith cannot be fought. If a person believes in the unknowable, he cannot be dissuaded, since the unknowable does not accept logic, does not accept arguments. But here is an invincible argument, the name of which is almost Eternity.
According to ancient Chinese beliefs, water is the blood and breath of the earth, its channels are veins and arteries. An attempt on the flow of a water stream, according to Feng Shui, is the gravest evil, entailing all sorts of misfortunes up to the complete destruction of an incorrectly placed structure. And it would be difficult to doubt that if the architect and builder of the Great Wall of China Meng Tian did not confess his sin.
He built the wall at the behest of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi to protect the empire from the raids of wild northern tribes. Built and built. Only great China was able to create this greatest structure of all continents, eras and peoples. And it truly has the right to be called the most important Wonder of the World. What are the pyramids of Egypt! What is the Helicarnassus lighthouse or the gardens of Babylon!
Five thousand kilometers is the length of the wall! Millions of tons of stone and soil, tens of thousands of lives of slaves and workers were required for its construction.
Meng Tian died in 210 BC, saying before his death the words recorded by chroniclers and survived to this day:
"I couldn't build the Great Wall without crossing the veins of the earth," the builder admitted bitterly.
Since then, 2216 years and several months have passed.
The wall is still standing...
(2 votes : 5.0 out of 5 )Recently, many of our fellow citizens have a new hobby, which is called Feng Shui. Feng Shui literature is abundantly presented in bookstores. There are many websites dedicated to him on the Internet. In general, we can say that feng shui is now in vogue. But how deeply do those who are fond of it understand the nature of feng shui?
Where are the roots of feng shui? The author will try to answer these and other questions in the article. People who do not care what to believe in, and who, like a weather vane, turn towards fashion hobbies, it is unlikely to be interesting. The article is intended for those who take their spiritual life seriously and consider themselves a Christian. And, first of all, for Christians who are considering whether or not to let Feng Shui into their lives.
So what is feng shui? Feng Shui is translated from Chinese as "wind-water". This teaching appeared in China in the 9th century. It is interesting to note that Lillian Too, a popular modern feng shui guru who dates it back to the 9th century, writes in another work: “The Chinese have been practicing feng shui for a millennium.” True, where these “millennia” came from, she does not explain. However, as the author noted, quite contradictory statements are often found in the works of Lillian Too, many of which we will get to know in more detail below.
So, modern followers of Feng Shui claim that there are many schools of Feng Shui, while "real Feng Shui relies on the same concepts."
Differences in different schools of Feng Shui are only in practice. In an attempt to define feng shui, Lillian Tu writes: "Feng shui is an ancient Chinese set of practices for living in harmony with one's own environment, that is, with the structure and fluctuations of the energy around us"; “Feng Shui is the art of the correct use of cosmic breath, or qi, the force that circulates in our entire environment”; “Feng Shui is not only the science of the energy of“ wind and water ”(as the term Feng Shui is actually translated), but also the art of using, attracting and generating this energy.” From the foregoing, we can deduce approximately the following definition of feng shui: feng shui is a theory and practice by which a person attracts and generates some qi energy, and with the help of this energy harmonizes his environment.
What is all this for? The following answer is given to this: "... the cycle of good luck and bad luck can be significantly changed if you learn the secrets of earthly energies and how to manipulate them." By luck, Lillian Too understands: money, health, power, in general, prosperity. Lillian Too writes: "... increasing income is one of the human aspirations that is most easily satisfied with the help of Feng Shui"; “If you are not destined to become a great business tycoon, Feng Shui will help you get rich, but it will not make you a fabulously wealthy person. It all depends on your heavenly luck."
Given that Feng Shui is based on the doctrine of chi energy Let's take a closer look at this doctrine. So, qi is a kind of "vibrating" energy that is distributed everywhere, it gives a person "strength and soul." Lillian Tu writes: “The qi of a person is the spirit that controls his activities. An excess (or lack) of qi in the body determines the health and vitality of a person ... different people qi differs in quality and quantity… the qi of the human body must be in harmony with the qi of its environment.” In another book, Lillian Too adds: “It is chi that attracts abundance, wealth, prosperity, health, recognition, popularity, and happiness.” Where did the teaching about qi come from? From Taoism. If so, it will be useful to know the Taoist concept of qi.
It should be noted that Taoism is the national religion of China. Its origins lie in the practice of contemplation and meditation, which were used to gain a state of dispassion and peace, as well as to gain immortality. It makes no sense to acquaint in detail with the Taoist teachings, since there are very good work to which the author addresses all those interested in Taoism. For our purposes, it will suffice to get to know the classical Taoist doctrine of qi.
Taoism is pantheistic. Qi is the energy that permeates the entire universe. A classic example explaining the nature of qi is given by the ancient Chinese skeptic Wang Chun (1st century A.D.); he argued that matter and spirit are different states of qi, just like steam and ice are different states of water. Matter is "frozen" spirit, spirit is "thawed matter", i.e. in Taoism, matter and spirit are consubstantial, they always existed and did not know the Creator. Man lives in qi. Qi surrounds him from all sides. Taoists sought to merge with qi and through this gain immortality. At the same time, it should be noted that Taoism teaches not to control nature, but rather to give oneself to it. The goal is not to change the world, but to merge with it. How did the Taoists learn about qi? Through meditation as a result of mystical insights.
What is feng shui for its followers: religion or science? Lillian Too answers this question in this way: "We consider Feng Shui as an applied science, since the laws of Feng Shui were formed on the basis of empirical data collected over the centuries." So, the followers of Feng Shui refer to science. As for the religiosity of feng shui, the answer is given as follows: "Feng shui is not a religion"; “…there is nothing spiritual or mystical about the practice itself. You will not be required to compromise with religious beliefs or ideological principles, as no prayers, sacrifices or faith are required for the practice.” Lillian Tu does not attribute her passion to magic either: “... Feng Shui is not magic. And also not a spiritual practice that requires great faith in the power of Feng Shui or conviction in its effectiveness.
Unfortunately, the author must note that Lillian Too's assertion that feng shui does not require faith, is false. Lillian Too writes: "As long as you don't need to believe in Feng Shui, as long as doubts nest in you, you fill the space around you with negative energies"; “If you want to use feng shui to improve your life, try not to give too much leeway to distrust. After the necessary knowledge “falls into place”, it will even seem strange to you how you could not pay attention to all these things that were said in the theory of feng shui”; "The feng shui technique works best if you maintain a serene attitude towards it."
The above quotes refute rather than confirm Lillian Too's claim that belief in feng shui is not required.
Let's see now how scientific is feng shui. Lillian Tu writes: "I must confess that I am unable to explain exactly how feng shui works." Opening up the question of the relationship of modern science to feng shui, she continues: “The theory behind feng shui recommendations may seem strange to representatives of the Western scientific school. For example, numerous references to the Yin and Yang aspects of energy. It also assumes the acceptance of the fundamental premise that the entire universe and everything in it is created from the Five Elements - Earth, Water, Wood, Metal and Fire - in a relationship of mutual destruction and generation.
If feng shui meets the standards of academic science, why do scientists reject it, as Lillian Too herself admits? And if they reject it, then why would Lillian Too mislead her readers by claiming that feng shui is scientific? What is this science that scientists deny? It should be noted that science is built on a paradigm from which the scientific picture of the world is derived. Feng Shui is based on religious doctrine Taoism, which, as far as the author knows, has not yet become the basis scientific picture peace. It is interesting to note that in the preface to one of Lillian Tu's books, her admirer writes: "Feng Shui is a complex subject that requires a deep knowledge of Chinese metaphysical sciences." But Chinese metaphysical sciences have nothing to do with academic science. The preface concludes: "Feng Shui is also concerned with the manifestation of dynamic forces and energies that science has yet to discover - on a scale from the earth to the universal." If science has yet to "discover" these forces, maybe then it's not worth declaring this a fait accompli and classifying feng shui as a scientific discipline? Maybe it's more honest to say that the theoretical base of feng shui is built on Chinese mysticism What is Taoism?
The author has already cited Lillian Too's assurance to his readers above that there is no religiosity in feng shui, and that anyone can practice it without any compromise for their faith. It should be noted that this statement is not true. As mentioned above, the theoretical basis of Feng Shui is based on the religious doctrine of Taoism. Is it possible to believe in Taoism and at the same time be, for example, a Christian? No. To do this, it is enough to compare their creeds. Christianity is monotheistic, Taoism is pantheistic. Christianity teaches about the Personal God - the Creator, in Taoism there is no God at all. For the Taoist, the Cosmos is God and God is the Cosmos. The idea of creating the world out of nothing, inherent in Christianity, is also rejected in Taoism. Taoism has no idea immortal soul present in Christianity. The Taoist perceives the world as a continuous process of flowing of some forms and modes of qi energy into others. This process is eternal and impersonal. All in all, Taoism and Christianity are so different that only a person who does not know them can talk about the compatibility of these two worldviews. In addition, as Lillian Too writes: "...the best approach to the use of feng shui is to develop a true reverence for the energies of the Earth and for Mother Earth herself." Isn't a Christian supposed to revere only God, and keep the earth? The main goals of Feng Shui are also in doubt, which, according to Christian doctrine, can be classified simply - money-grubbing!
Christianity is not against material well-being, but does not set it as its goal. The Christian seeks first of all the Heavenly Kingdom ( Matthew 6:33), and only then earthly well-being, and then only on condition that it does not interfere with the main goal. This is clearly stated in the Holy Scriptures: “…what is the use of a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? ( Matthew 16:26). And the idea of an all-consuming concentration on achieving wealth, which Lillian Too calls for, is completely alien to Christianity. For example, it is difficult to imagine that the advice that Lillian Too gives to her students could be given to anyone by a Christian is difficult: “To be successful in creating abundance, you have to crave it. You must saturate this desire by focusing completely on it. … The more clearly you visualize the type of luck you are aiming for, the sharper and more effective the energies you will create will be.”
And how should a Christian react to the following recommendation of Lillian Too: “Get used to seeing the world around you through the eyes of Feng Shui. Develop sensitivity to the powerful though invisible energies around you”; “…you should try to feel your personal qi, which belongs only to you. Only then will you be able to tune in to your force field and the cosmic breath within you.” This is a good recommendation for a school of psychics, but completely unacceptable for Christianity.
Used in Feng Shui and meditation practices , which are also completely incompatible with Christianity, and although Lillian Too criticizes them, she admits that feng shui masters use them: meditative state for special feng shui consultations. These methods are different for different masters, and judging by what I have personally seen, they are closer to shamanism than feng shui techniques.” Lillian Too is probably unaware that Shamanism is the father of Taoism, on the theoretical basis of which Feng Shui itself is based, and therefore Feng Shui masters practicing shamanism are not an anomaly, but the norm.
feng shui is magical However, Taoism is also magical, and despite the fact that Lillian Too refuses to classify it as magic, she still writes: “Feng Shui is really akin to magic: it often seems that some mystical force comes into play.” And given that Lillian Too admits that she doesn't know how feng shui works, what reason does she have for denying the possibility of a "mystical power" actually being present?
Recognizes feng shui and the teachings of karma completely incompatible with Christianity. And how will readers like the idea of "transcendent feng shui"? As Lillian Too writes about it: "... transcendental feng shui ... is based on special visualization techniques and chanting mantras." Lillian Too herself uses mantras from Buddhism in her practice, but does not mind that her readers use, among other things, for "purification" christian prayers. And what does “transcendent feng shui” help with? As Lillian Too writes: “People suffering from incurable diseases like AIDS, cancer, and other life-threatening illnesses may present these manifestations of ill health as powerful blockages in their system. Picture them in your imagination as obstacles to be removed… imagine mentally that the blockages within you are dissolving.” So, you have AIDS, cancer? No problem, mentally imagine that your illness is just an "obstacle" inside your body and calmly go to the cemetery. Where do you have every chance to go, if you trust feng shui and ignore medicine.
At the very beginning of the article, Lillian Too stated that one of the main goals facing practitioners is achievement of material well-being; however, it adds: "It all depends on your heavenly luck." And if "heavenly luck" is against it? It turns out an interesting logic: if you achieve wealth, then you are practicing feng shui correctly, and if not? As Lillian Too writes: “It seems to me that in the best possible way Recognition of true feng shui experts is the study of biographies. When someone offers you their services as a feng shui master, see if feng shui helped that person achieve the things they promise to do for you. If this person he himself clearly did not benefit from good feng shui, you should look for another. When used correctly, feng shui always works.(highlighted by us. - V.P.)”. The logic used by Lillian Too is purely sectarian. The system is always right. If the system does not work, the person is to blame. So, if a follower of Feng Shui spent a lot of money and time on purchasing literature, scrupulously followed the advice of Feng Shui and did not get any results, then he himself is to blame. The system is always right! With this approach, it is possible to prove the truth of any system.
Here are some tips that can be read in feng shui books. For example, readers may find out that "... the grave of Mao Zedong's grandfather was" in the palm of heaven moon goddess", that is, the location of the grave was so favorable that it brought great luck to the grandson, in this case, the great helmsman Mao". How simple: a well-placed grave led a person to the pinnacle of power. Or, in another case, Lillian Too writes that she was going to business school and needed money to pay for her studies. To get them: “I moved my bed to align my sleeping position for auspicious qi and good luck from the best direction. The method did not fail me and I was able to get a UN scholarship to attend a business school.”. I wonder if the application for this scholarship was not submitted? The author, for example, sat without money for a long time, tried to work, and at the same time rearranged the bed and - about the "miracle" - the money appeared. Question to readers: work or bed is to blame for this "miracle"?
What can be said at the end of the article? Let's summarize what we have learned about Feng Shui. Many statements of feng shui guru Lillian Tu contradict themselves. Feng Shui has nothing to do with science. Its foundations lie in the religious doctrine of Taoism. At the same time, if Taoists seek to merge with qi, modern feng shui people are clearly trying to manipulate it. Modern feng shui is essentially a parody of the Taoist teachings. Feng Shui is not compatible with Christianity. And given that feng shui gives advice for the treatment of AIDS and cancer, then it can be deadly if a person who believes in the advice of feng shui masters turns his attention away from medicine and is “treated” only by feng shui methods. In the opinion of the author of the article, modern feng shui is a typical superstition. Those who deal with them can be addressed with words from Holy Scripture: "Turn away the worthless and woman's fables, and exercise yourself in piety ..." ( 1 Tim. 4:7). Well, to allow Feng Shui in your life or not, let the readers decide for themselves.
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For many centuries, people have put dry academic science above all else, not wanting to notice that it is constantly proving its inconsistency. It would seem that in our life there is no place at all for the supernatural and inexplicable.
And yet the world is gradually changing, and people along with it. Increasingly, they are turning to the wisdom of their ancestors, to the knowledge of past centuries, seemingly buried and forgotten long ago, but now resurrected from the darkness of non-existence.
People are returning to the knowledge of the ancients, which is not torn off from the nature and essence of being, but which is an integral part of them, and are convinced of their truth.
A component of this ancient system of sciences is the science of feng shui, the science of following your Tao, of a happy and carefree life.
Feng Shui is the science of harmonious life. History of occurrence.
It is said that a long time ago a man named Fu Xi served as an inspector of ditches and dams in China. He was celebrated as a competent specialist, gifted with both technical knowledge and worldly wisdom. Throughout the Celestial Empire, the industrious Fu Xi was known and appreciated.
As soon as some river overflowed its banks, changed its course or flooded fields, destroying buildings and rice crops, they immediately called Fu Xi, because he had never hit his face in the dirt, successfully solving all the tasks assigned to him.
And so it happened that the governor of Shanxi province, a wise man and respected for his concern for the affairs of the province and its people, was disturbed by the fact that the bed of the Lo River passes dangerously close to a high mountain. The turbulent flow of the Lo and its whirlpools brought a lot of trouble to the locals. In addition, the river constantly threatened to overflow its banks and flood the fields. And then the course of the wayward Lo changed and took an even more dangerous direction. The governor immediately sent for Fu Xi.
The inspector arrived in Shanxi and immediately admitted that he had never faced such a difficult task. He studied the area for a long time, trying to find a solution to the problem. Finally, he announced that in order to divert the course of the Lo River, it was necessary to break through a tunnel in the mountain, at the foot of which it flows. Then he made all the necessary calculations, and the work began.
Hundreds of men worked to cut the tunnel. Many died during the collapses, the lives of others were taken by Luo, but no one said a bad word about Fu Xi, who worked on an equal basis with everyone. Finally, 6 months later, the tunnel was cut and the Lo river was tamed.
And so, looking forward to a well-deserved rest, Inspector Fu Xi walked late in the evening and suddenly stumbled upon the entrance to the cave, which was not indicated on his maps. Fu Xi marveled at this circumstance and decided to explore the cave. Entering it, he lit a lamp and saw a path that led into the depths of the mountain. Fu Xi went along it.
On the way, he met a strange animal with yellow-brown skin and a huge pearl in its mouth, and then a ferocious dog that scared Fu Xi with barking, but did not bite, and a yellow pig. Before the eyes of the amazed inspector, the dog and the pig turned into people dressed in black clothes, and then a creature with the body of a man and the head of a snake appeared. Fu Xi realized that he was honored to see a deity - the Great Emperor.
The emperor handed Fu Xi a scroll of parchment, on which 8 groups of black lines were drawn, some of which were solid and some were intermittent, a jade tablet divided into 12 parts, each of which symbolized the period of the year and day, as well as a tortoise shell, on which depicted the magic square lo shu.
“You confirmed the ability to tame the rivers, to think wisely; With your latest achievement, you have proven that you can rule the country. The hexagrams of the scroll will help you determine the years favorable for the people of China, predict certain events. A jade tablet will give strength to rule the people wisely, and the inscriptions on the shell will give the ability to plan correctly.”
Soon Fu Xi really became the emperor of the Celestial Empire and ruled for 40 years. Not once during his reign did the land of China suffer from drought or flood, and his subjects did not know hunger. So many sciences appeared in China, including the science of feng shui.
The phrase "feng shui" is translated from Chinese like wind and water. It was these two forces, according to the ideas of the ancient Chinese, that formed the landscape, it was they who created the conditions for life in a particular area. Here, by the way, wind and water were understood not as any specific movements of air or water masses, but rather as a manifestation of the two fundamental forces of the universe - yin and yang.
Thus, feng shui is not only the science of how the terrain features affect the life and feelings of people, but also the science of the impact of subtle matters, the science of how to comprehend your Tao and follow it, avoiding unnecessary suffering, go along the path of life as it should, and finish your earthly path, having cleansed yourself of the negative karma of previous incarnations.
The science of feng shui can be given the following definition: it is the science of harmonious relationships with the surrounding world, objects of animate and inanimate nature, its constituents, with the aim of creating such conditions for an individual or a group of individuals when his (their) physical and spiritual state reaches the maximum possible positive values.
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