Feng Shui Underpinnings

Feng Shui Underpinnings

Exploring the Feng Shui Underpinnings I
by Judy Adler-Morris

How do we understand Qi? Qi is often described as matter or energy or both at the same time. Some even say that Qi includes intangible spirits. We have properties described to us such as the famous quote from the Burial Book by Guo Pu “Qi rides the wind and is dispersed, but it is retained when it encounters water.”

Those who have dealt in the arena of Qi can attest to the validity of these hypotheses. In an attempt to further enrich our understanding of Qi and how it works in our world I am drawing upon various authoritative resources such as Master Joseph Yu, Mantak Chia, Eva Wong, Alan Watts, Thomas Cleary, and Lau-tzu.

This is such a rich topic that it will be presented in stages. This is Stage One of an undetermined number. I hope this helps in broadening our understanding of Qi and how Qi impacts the very fiber of our being as well as the environments in which we live, work, and play.

Ancient texts give us these statements:

“The Ultimate Void and yet the Ultimate Greatness!
Abstraction copes with Qi while Qi is controlled by form.
The vibrant Qi of the Sun, the Moon and the Stars rise to above
While the soft Qi of mountains, rivers, and vegetation descends to accumulate.”

We can take the statement ‘The Ultimate Void and yet the Ultimate Greatness ‘ to be what is commonly called ‘The Tao’. In the Dao Te Ching (English version by Stephen Mitchell) we are told:

“The Tao is like a well: used but never used up. It is like the eternal void: filled with infinite possibilities. It is hidden but always present.

“I don’t know who gave birth to it. It is older than God.

“The Tao is called the Great Mother: empty yet inexhaustible, it gives birth to infinite worlds.

“The Tao is infinite, eternal, Why is it eternal? It was never born; Thus it can never die. Why is it infinite? It has no desires for itself; Thus it is present for all beings.

“Since before time and space were, the Tao is. It is beyond IS and IS NOT.”

If we look closely at these statements we can see that the Tao is in everything. When the Tao gives birth we have the t’ai-chi and from there we have the ten thousand things. Structure and form emerge. Eva Wong tells us that “…form is the abode of the Tao, and spirit is its workings.”

When the birth of our planet Earth occurred the Qi descended from the heaven to fill the planet with substance of yin and the Qi of the earth ascends to give the heavens yang essence. Herein lies the cycle of yin and yang ascending and descending. There is no yin without yang and no yang without yin.

In Feng Shui we are attempting to balance the initiating and the receiving – the yang and the yin. We are working with the inner and outer manifestations of these two fundamental types of Qi. Our job is to identify these cycles and work appropriately with them.

We can understand that some people are kind while others are unkind. How does this apply to non-human forms of Qi? Everything that has form will develop tendencies. These forms will have feelings which will dictate the occurrence of certain actions. As Feng Shui practitioners we can bring together the yang principle and the yin essence to allow the creation of the ten thousand things. We must be mindful, though, how we use this process and for whom.

I welcome your thoughts, comments, and/or suggestions regarding this topic.

About the Author
Judy Adler is the first American designated Feng Shui Master by Master Joseph Yu, founder of the Feng Shui Research Center in Ontario. She has been practicing and teaching Feng Shui professionally since 1993. Although she resides in the Austin, Texas area, she provides services for clients internationally. She can be reached at Judy@FSRC.net