Chapter 2 - Don't Live In "Low And Pressed" Places

When I was young, I often practised geomancy for other people. I had a principle: the rich and poor were treated as equals. I would readily go to help when the rich invited me. I would be equally glad to help when the poor came for me.

So I practised geomancy both for the rich and the poor.

The most important principle I adhered to was:" Never ask for a price; leave it to the wishes of the host."

The reason for this is that I studied geomancy solely for relieving people of their sufferings.

Once I was invited to the house of a poverty-stricken family.

They were living in a very low place. Behind their house, stood a broken cliff reaching to the sky. The house was surrounded by bamboo. The owner grew vegetables to sell.

I immediately concluded that this was a "low and pressed" place.

A Book of Secrets on Land Spirits has this to say:

A low house incurs suicide.

A pressed house courts setbacks.

My conclusion turned out to be correct. The wife of the owner killed herself by taking insecticide just because of some quarrel between husband and wife over their poverty. The grandmother, suffering from rheumatism, was taken to bed with hemiplegia. Of the children, some are ill with infantile paralysis, some with asthma. The owner worked like hell to sell vegetables, but met with a complete failure.

Why does a house in a low place foretells suicide? This is because the house is at the bottom of winds. People inside always feel it is stuffy and depressing, and they tend to take things too hard. As they are not comfortable or happy, they can never achieve what they want. Upon certain initiation, they may go to some extreme.

On the other hand, low places belong to the Yin, the negative, or the nether world, where the spirits from the nether world come to make mischief. This mischief can easily lead to suicide.

A house is "pressed" if it is too close to an overhanging cliff. Such a house breeds a feeling of depression which tends to stifle any aspiration. Such a house also causes all kinds of strange diseases. Living close to a sheer precipice, one easily feels desolate and miserable; he will stand no chance of development.

To be more practical, a house in a hollow place at the foot of a mountain, will collect a lot of water from a rainfall which will not go away easily. On the other hand during an earthquake, the falling rocks will bury the house deep. One has to be very cautious.

I asked the owner of the house, "There are seven people in the house now. Is that right?"

He was puzzled, saying "Only five."

I let out a smile, "Exactly seven. Among them there are two regular visitors. Hah, hah!"

"We never have visitors," he replied.

I asked him to ask the grandmother if there were two regular visitors. To his great surprise, the old woman said yes. The two visitors wore costumes of the Qing Dynasty, one in black and one in red. They were often seen coming in and going out.

The owner was now panic-stricken.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" he asked the granny.

"I was afraid you would be frightened. I was also afraid that you wouldn't believe me. You would tell me I was dim-sighted from old age."

I told the owner that he should no longer live in that "low" and "pressed" place, because it was a place of spirits from the nether world. Living there, people in this world would suffer from diseases, run into difficulties and meet with setbacks. Affected by these Yin spirits, people of the Yang would often think of killing themselves. Suicide is induced by spirits from the nether world.

Why could the grandmother see the Yin spirits? She was nearing her own grave. Her positive vitality was almost gone so that she was bogged down by negative forces. She was physically close to negative spirits. So she could see the spirit visitors.

Some geomancy masters also believe that a house in a hollow place collects water which is as good as wealth. For that reason, such a house may spell a great fortune. However, the movement of water is difficult to deal with. Only the most capable master can channel a great deal of water in while letting out only a little of it. If a lot of water is let in without any outlet, people in the house will get drowned.

A house in a low place is inauspicious.

A house with some overhanging precipice behind it is "pressed" and is also inauspicious.

So I advised them to move as the house was fraught with grim possibilities.

I remember the owner of the house gave me 50 Taiwan dollars. I didn't mind the pay since he was poverty-stricken. Furthermore, I am not a geomancy master out for big money. My aim in studying A Book of Secrets on Land Spirits was to benefit everyone with my expertise, not at all to better myself or to make money. This is a convenient way to guide people in matters of this world. More importantly, it is also to impel people to cultivate in accordance with the Dharma teachings.

I, Living Buddha Lian Shen, believe that in choosing the location for a house, we need first of all size up the "situation" because it is the most important. As the saying goes, "the situation is more powerful than the men". A high place is exposed to winds. A low place is exposed to water logging. A place that is neither high nor low is the best. The so-called "land spirits for houses" is in fact a matter of balance. Balance is a vast field of enquiry. We are at the threshold leading to this field.

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