| A brand new, six-star hotel was opened into operation in earlier 2008 at Boston’s fashionable and gorgeous Back Bay area. It provides world-class facilities, luxury accommodations, and extraordinary services. Located at the corner of Boyleston Street and Newburry Street, the new hotel is in the neighborhood of lots of famous brand stores, the well-known Boston Common and the recently completed South-End Recovery Project as a bright shining star decorated right in the center of this beautiful American metropolis. Its sumptuous and tasteful design is comfortable and satisfactory, enjoyed and praised by visitorts from all over the world.
It is hard to image, though, there was a fire not long ago that damaged the whole building and made the hotel like a ruin without guests. Before the hotel’s reconstruction, the CEO asked the renowned Feng Shui Master, Mr. Yu Guang, to come to see the site and give his advice. Based on the traditional Feng Shui principles of the Five-Element Cycle and the modern Feng Shui theories for understanding the Nature, utilizing the Nature, modifying the Nature and conforming to the Nature, Master Yu rearranged the overall positioning of the hotel’s direction, location, design, interior and exterior dispositions, and color coordination, etc. that has resulted in magnificent scenes as above-mentioned and the hotel’s current booming business. It is outrageously amazing, isn’t it? Here, I am not going to comment if the mystery Feng Shui theories really have such a magic effect, but just go ask those who have been benefited with their life experience. They will tell you the truth…
Master Yu Guang’s family is an aristocratic one in Feng Shui field from Taishan in Guangdong Province. The Yu family’s secrets on Feng Shui practice has been handed down to Master Yu through four generations. Master Yu started to study Feng Shui when he was very young. With his high power of understanding, strong interest, investigative persistence and original views, he made his own fame among his contemporaries.
According to Master Yu, Feng Shui investigation needs to integrate all the three vital factors of celestial phenomena (the heaven), local landscape (the earth) and flow of spiritual energy (the human). The stars in the heaven correspond with the location on the earth and then affect the relevant human beings, that reflects the elegant nature of Feng Shui – the balance between Yin and Yang inside of everything and all things in the world and the endless Yin-Yang cycle of “combination followed by division and division followed by combination”. The (spiritual) energy and the shape are always integrated – the energy was shaped at Tai Chi (the origin of the universe), Tai Chi divided into the Two Appearances (Yin and Yang), which in turn derived into the Five Elements (Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, and Metal)… followed by the Eight Diagrams and the Nine Squares. There is no ending for the dynamic cycles of production, reduction and destruction between Yin and Yang or the Odd and the Even, as well as among the Five Elements in accordance with the transformations based on the Luo Diagram. Furthermore, the Even is corresponding with the dragon’s heritage and helps on balance of the overall arrangements; whereas the Odd is for exorcising evil spirits and carries favor with the good fortunes. So, the heaven, the earth and the human are integrated in a perfect harmony where human is the principal while mountain is the shape and water is the media.
Also according to Master Yu, Feng Shui is actually a comprehensive science which puts cosmology, geophysics, hydrogeology, meteorology, environmental landscaping, architecture, ecology and human bioinformatics into one integrated body. The purpose of Feng Shui practice is to understand, utilize and modify the Nature based on careful and thorough investigation in order to create the best possible residential environment and the optimized coordination among the Heaven, the Earth and the Human. As a powerful tool, there are differences between doing good or doing evil when applying Feng Shui. To practice Feng Shui with a good will and kind heart will help people and serve the society. All the things between the Heaven and the Earth have their respect energy, so what we need to do is to coordinate them into harmony, making Yin and Yang, the Heaven and the Earth, and the energy (Chi) and the shape integrated. For either Yin Chai (gravesite) or Yang Chai (residential house), the location and orientation, the front and the rare, the left and the right, and the energy and the shape should be coordinated well in an harmonic integration. Particularly for Yang Chai (residential house), between furniture and space or furniture and human and vice versa, the optimized arrangements will correspond to the natural coordination and development of the three natural magnetic fields in cosmic stars, the earth’s poles and the human bodies, respectively. That is in fact the perfect harmony of the Heaven, the Earth and the Human.
We always talk about “water is a fortune”. But, what is water in Feng (wind) Shui (water)? Water follows the shape of mountain, mountain stops water as a boundary, while roads surround houses where water stops. The best water-related housing setup should be coordinated with proper shape and balanced structure. The former should be open and the later closed. Again, mountain is the shape and water is the media so that Yin and Yang can integrate, combine and cumulate. That is the rationale behind the old saying: “Let the rivulet runs through the bright hall.”
Geology is a vital aspect of Feng Shui studies. Master Yu indicated that geological conditions have direct, significant impacts on human health so that they need to be investigated carefully. Many elements, such as zinc, molybdenum, selenium, fluorine, and uranium, exist in soil and groundwater which can adversely influence human bodies and cause diseases or cancers. So, houses should only be built after a careful site selection based on thorough analyses of the land, water and surroundings in order to avoid any contamination and hazardous substances, in accordance with the Feng Shui principle of exorcising evil spirits and pursuing good fortune.
Furthermore, Master Yu explained that the dragon is always the most important in geographic structures. The so called dragon means the lie of a mountain or the physical features of the land. Soil is the dragon’s flesh, rocks are its bones, and vegetation is its hair. The energy and the shape will be perfectly coordinated if the site is located somewhere with the dragon’s arteries and veins connected with the owner’s ancestors’ spirits so that Yin and Yang could be arranged according to the Feng Shui principles of the Five Elements, the Nine Stars, and the Eight Aspirations. To build a grave (Yin Chai) or a house (Yang Chai) at such a selective site with coordination by the five vital factors of the dragon, the nest, the soil, the water, and the orientation will make Yin and Yang supplement to each other and then create a perfect combination of the heaven, the earth and the human.
In the 21st century, cities are expanding very quickly, and there are a lot of roads and streets in cities with houses on both sides. So, the roads/streets and the vehicles are considered as water flow in rivers. In cases of houses on just one side, it will be considered as sand. It’s usually said as 1st house, 2nd fortune, 3rd Feng (wind) Shui (water), 4th cumulative virtue, and 5th reading books – that is right – in addition to the grand dragon, human relationships, upstream, upwind, high ground, and circulation of lucky water, the lucky house and its prestigious location depend on the four lucky columns and the violet clouds from the east. According to Master Yu, there is a major principle of reduction in his Feng Shui theory – one should not plant trees in front of his main entrance. It’s supported by the science, for trees may obstruct the sun light and stop air flow. Trees may also be hit by lightening. Birds rest on the trees and drop to contaminate the environment, encouraging mosquitoes and insects and spreading diseases. Another reduction may be caused by locating a house with the main entrance facing a coming road or street. Besides, one should always try to avoid electric poles or big rocks in frond of the main entrance. To exorcise evil spirits and pursue fortune will benefit the owner and residents of the house.
There is a grand restaurant in Quincy of Massachusetts. Its original main entrance was not facing a good direction and its stoves were located in wrong places, so the business was bad. The owner asked Master Yu to do something about it. Master Yu conducted a very careful investigation and found the causes as mentioned before. In addition, he found the centrally positioned cashier desk was really the killer – a major destruction factor in the restaurant’s overall Feng Shui arrangements. Then, he changed the positioning of the cashier desk, the main entrance and the restrooms, modified the interior arrangements and decorations, and improved the restaurant’s fortune by accumulating human energies. Now the restaurant’s business has been booming.
The Earth is a planet surrounded by the cosmic magnetic field, which people may not feel but were, are and will be affected all the time. If the human magnetic field is not coordinated with the cosmetic magnetic field and the earth magnetic field, human health will be adversely impacted. So, serious diseases, natural disasters or human mistakes may occur if people disobey the natural laws. Whereas, to follow the natural laws, to develop coordinately and to conserve the ecological balances would integrate the cosmic, earth and human magnetic fields into a perfect harmony that would therefore benefit everybody.
With his comprehensive knowledge, profound vision and extensive experience of more than thirty years, Master Yu has attracted lots of visitors and audience wherever he goes. He has been invited to give various lectures and seminars and to practice Yin-Yang Chai Feng Shui operations in many countries. There were some well-known architects among his audience. Master Yu told them that the main entrance of Yang Chai (residence houses) is the opening for the live energy, so the lucky and prestigious house should be able to accumulate the energy (and the good fortune – dragon luck), store wind, back mountain, face water, have a perfect balance and stable foundation, be bright and open, coordinate with colors, spaces, furniture, decorations, and other relevant thing both inside and outside in a optimized harmony. He’s summarized all fundamentals of Feng Shui integrated into architecture in just a few simple words, very inspiring and profound.
Master Yu is a very modest person; he never wants to show off. A humble scholar with a sense of humor, witty talks, beaming smile and confident laughs, he maintains that a Feng Shui scholar shall provide beneficial advice to people and improve their living environment with more favorable Feng Shui arrangements thus promote their health, longevity, and fortune. Therefore, we should do our best to explore the truth of Feng Shui study meanwhile promoting the brilliant Chinese civilization throughout the world to benefit more and more people. |
