Book 69 - Household Feng-Shui

The most famous verse written by Master Hung-jen, the Fifth Zen Patriarch, is as follows:
Seeds sowed with the essence of love,
Grow to bear fruits;
In the absence of the essence of love or seeds,
Neither nature nor life exists.

This verse is also most appropriate when applied to the art of household feng-shui. According to The Secrets of Earth Magic, the decisive factor determining the prosperity or failure of a house is the "essence of love" or the absence of it.

With the essence of love or affection - the household thrives.
Without the essence of love or affection - the household declines.

This quality, this "essence of love," can be detected in a house just as it can be detected in a flower. When a flower blooms lusciously, exuding a wonderful fragrance, it is in its most beautiful and glorious moment. When a flower is wilted and lifeless, its petals brittle and dry, we know instinctively that it has come to its moment of decline.

In the study of human faces, a vital and healthy complexion with expressive eyes full of sensitivity indicates the "essence of love." One the other hand, a face that is expressionless, listless, grayish or pale with little vitality is a face indicative of the absence of the "essence of love." The idiom "a widow's face" has been used conventionally to describe someone completely devoid of youthful vigor and passion.

In analyzing residences, it is a great art to distinguish one with the "essence of love" from ones that do not have this essence. When the exterior of a house appears lively and dynamic, without any clashing elements, it can be described simply as having the "essence of love." Many houses with multiple protruding angles also may look very dynamic, but if clashing features exist everywhere, then they lack the "essence of love."

Houses that are too overbearing, greatly flawed, unpleasantly plain, or look ridiculous and unreasonable belong to the category of houses that "lack the essence of love."

A true feng-shui practitioner can observe a house's exterior and quickly determine whether or not it has the "essence of love." This knowledge is gained only after many years of keen observation and practice. Upon seeing a house, an experienced feng-shui master can assess with certainty whether the "essence of love" exists.

I, Living Buddha Lian-sheng, feel that the judging process is one that depends entirely on one's senses and cannot be conveyed through words. It is a skill that requires years of field training to develop. Experienced masters know what to look for, while inexperienced ones will not be able to put their finger on it. A truly capable feng-shui master can, with a "sniff" of the house, know if the "essence of love" exists or not by observing its chi. This is the secret key to the studying of a house's exterior.

In addition, a house's "essence of love" also depends on the "magnetic birth orientation" of its owner. Every individual is born with two major "lucky" and two major "unlucky" orientations within the 360 directional points of the compass.

When the orientation of a house is compatible with the magnetic birth orientation of the owner, (i.e., if the orientation of the house correlates to an orientation that is favorable to the owner), then the "essence of love" exists in that house.

When the orientation of a house is not compatible with the magnetic birth orientation of the owner, then the house lacks the "essence of love."

Therefore feng-shui professionals generally base their judgement of a house on how favorable its orientation is in relationship to the owner. If the orientation of a house is compatible with the owner, then it will bring great fortune and prosperity. If there are clashes or incompatible situations, then misfortune and disaster will follow. This is entirely based on the theories and principles of "magnetic birth orientation."

In general, feng-shui masters use the system of twelve directional points in which the twelve Earthly Branches are matched with twelve of the specific directional points of a compass. Every person is born under one of the twelve Earthly Branches, each of which has an animal symbol attached to it. The twelve Earthly Branches are: tzu, ch'ou, yin, mao, ch'en, su, wu, wei, shen, yu, hsu, and hai. However, some feng-shui masters also prefer to use the system of twenty-four directional points. Still others prefer to use the Nine Star or Eight Directional methods. My personal feeling is that the twelve directional points method is most correct, although a combination of various methods may also be used.

Therefore, in my opinion, the two basic elements used to determine the luck of a house are its "orientation" and "external appearance." If the orientation of a house is favorable to the owner of the house, then the next thing to consider is its exterior. Before building a house, one might consider consulting a true feng-shui expert because the exterior appearance of a house often determines whether there will be the presence or absence of the "essence of love," peacefulness or misfortune, and auspiciousness or disasters.

I was once invited to do a feng-shui reading for a western-style villa. After walking once around the house, I spoke with certainty to the owner, "Whoever lives in this house has tumors in the body."

The owner asked in astonishment, "Master, how do you know?"

"How can I not know! There are tumors all throughout this house."

Later I found out that the mistress of the house had had tumors in her uterus, intestine (three of them), and the stomach as well. She has had numerous surgical operations!

The exterior appearance of a house plays a very important role. If it is dynamic, with smooth architectural lines that do not clash with the environment, then it has the "essence of love" and will definitely bring prosperity to its inhabitants. Otherwise, it will bring forth decline.

Nature thrives in the essence of love and perishes in its absence is indeed a golden saying.

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