| Feng Shui” is the ancient Chinese art of harnessing what is known as “Qi energy” to attain qualities like balance, prosperity, health, harmony, stability and peace of mind. It clearly defines how one must adjust the way we use our properties for optimum benefit. It includes how we open doors and entry points into our dwellings, sleep, cook, work etc. to maximize the positive energy from our surroundings. It tells you how to tap into the best energies that prevail in the universe, much like we adjust a TV antenna to get a better picture on out TV screens. |
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| A WARNING |
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| There are several schools of thought and methods of attaining this energy and it’s benefits, and different practitioners have used various methods to achieve results, sometimes using even a combination of different schools. This is definitely not a do-it-yourself art, and must be practiced with immense caution. |
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| While choosing a Feng Shui consultant, it would be prudent to check his or her credentials. Someone who has derived positive results from their recommendations should refer them to you or the consultant should be able to provide such testimonials. Make sure that they have been trained by a recognized Master or in a reputable Institution. Much damage has been done by those who are self-taught or who proudly tell you they have learnt from books by themselves. Imagine being operated upon by a self-taught surgeon! This is the same situation. |
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| I am giving a list of general and practical tips, which are relevant to those people planning to buy a house. While selecting a new property, keep these guidelines in mind. The checklist below is not exhaustive but should see you through this stage. For simplicity, I will also highlight what to avoid. |
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| MING TAN OR THE BRIGHT HALL. |
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A definite must is the Ming tan or the bright hall. Traditionally the Ming Tan is an area that is an open space in front of the property whose primary purpose is to collect the Qi and retain it so that it is able to permeate the house. A good Ming Tan will be big enough for the purpose in relation to the house. Ancient Chinese Tombs all had large and clearly defined Ming Tan areas that were an important aspect of the Feng Shui of the tombs. |
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| In fact a Ming Tan has the marvelous ability to convert the negative Qi into positive Qi which is why it is so important to have one. |
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| While this is fine for houses that are independent structures, what is to be done in an apartment? Well, it is nice if you have a large balcony in the front of your house that can serve the same purpose, no matter which floor you are on. The bigger the better. Resist the temptation of enclosing the front facing balcony of your apartment into an extra room, you lose your Ming Tan! |
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| If none of this is possible, see that then area that you enter into your house is available so you can retain an area that is open and uncluttered, you can then form what is known as an “Internal Ming Tan”. |
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| A CLEAR OUTLOOK FOR GOOD QI |
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| Look out of the main door. The “main door” is the door through which the family enters, which could well be a side door closer to the garage and not the designated main door of the house. The outlook should be clean and lively and totally free of obstacles. In an apartment, the passage outside should definitely have a dust-bin, shoe cupboard or a collection of shoes, and stuff one does not need in the house. This can be yours or your neighbours. |
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| Aim for a clutter-free, clean and brightly lit common passage for the benefit of all flat owners. For a house, the ground should preferably be lower as you step outside. For apartments, of course, this is not feasible so don’t try to raise the flooring inside your home to achieve this aspect, it is not required, apart from the fact that you are adding a dead load on the slab, that may not be structured to take this load. |
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| Absolutely avoid those houses facing a flagpole, lamppost, TV or transmission tower or dead tree, or any feature, which dominates your landscape. Also avoid buying houses facing dilapidated or broken down structures. A very high mountain, hill or hillock in front of the house is also not auspicious. These impede prosperity and growth. In short, when you look outside, it should appear clean, open and pleasant. |
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| WATCH FOR FAST MOVEMENTS OUTSIDE THE HOUSE |
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| Highways or roads with fast moving traffic, and power grids and railway tracks in view are a definite no-no. It is good to be able to see things that generally reflect prosperity and positivism, like fresh and healthy plants and generally uplifting surroundings. Highways and railway tracks behind the house are also undesirable. Flyovers or bridges that cut across the apartment are also not good. |
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| WHEN ROOF LINES POINT AT YOU |
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| The roof lines of the houses around your property should not have any of their sharp corners aimed at you. These pointed structures all constitute “poison arrows” or “shars”. These are very harmful, especially if they are pointing to the main door. In case this is unavoidable, try to block it off by keeping plants in the path, it is a good problem-solver. |
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| DEAD ENDS SPELL DISASTER |
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| Look at the roads around the house. If the house is at the dead end of a road, avoid it. (Fig 1) The same applies to a house located at the end of a “T” junction, (see fig 2) or in a position where a long road is gathering momentum towards the main door and then turns away at a right angle (See fig 3). |
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| NEON SIGNS AND BLINKING LIGHTS STIR UP YANG QI |
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| If there are neon signs or bright lights blinking in your view, this too is undesirable. Apart from being aesthetically disastrous, they don’t allow you to sleep well, as they tend to make the area “yang” as opposed to the “yin’ energy desired for sleep and rest. This is fine for commercial properties though. |
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| STEP DOWN AND NOT UP |
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| Make sure that when you leave the house you step DOWN out of your house and not UP to the road, or there will be impediments to your progress, and obstacles in everything you do. It brings incredible bad luck. In such a situation, using the rear door (if one exists) as a main door usually solves the problem as the situation immediately gets reversed. |
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| BEWARE OF WATER |
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| Water is often misunderstood as being GOOD! But it is not good everywhere. It depends upon where the water is located with respect to your house. Avoid water features like a swimming pool or fountain behind the house. |
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| Moreover, there are certain sectors where the water can be good and others where it can be downright disastrous. Only a trained Feng Shui Master can guide you correctly on this and it is very essential that he or she should have seen and studied the property and the surrounding landforms before such an assessment can be made. |
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| NO WATER: As a thumb rule using the center of your property as a reference point, avoid water in the West, North West, North East, and South until 2043. This is without exception. |
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| YES WATER: For the same time frame, water is desirable and best in the South West, East (second best) South East and North but you still need a qualified person to fine tune this rule to your property. |
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| DIRTY WATER: Any water that is dirty is not good, especially if it is collecting in places it is not meant to, as in the case of overflowing drains and leakages. |
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| LOOK FOR THE MOUNTAINS : |
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| A mountain range embracing you from behind (or a high feature like a tall building) with a water feature in front of the house is considered highly auspicious, and the ideal situation. This is the ideal situation. The reverse is generally undesirable. |
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| Of course a seasoned Feng Shui consultant should be able to indicate what energy the mountain is best suited for, but as long as it is visually beautiful and not too ugly and broken looking, it is fine. |
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| WATCH FOR THE CURVES IN THE ROAD |
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| Houses on the inner side of a curved road are better than those located on the outer side, where the hump of the curve forms a bow shape which attacks the main door. (Fig 4) |
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| Straight pathways and driveways leading to the house are not too good and one will benefit by making the pathways meander a bit. |
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| FEEL THE QI |
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| Step into the house, close your eyes and try to take in the atmosphere. All houses radiate some kind of energy, positive, scary, happy etc. You will get the hang of this sooner or later. Make sure it gives you feel-good vibrations otherwise it will be no good for you. |
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| Enquire about the previous owners’ condition, why they moved, were there any unnatural deaths, etc. If the history is bad, don’t touch the property without consulting an expert. We tend to inherit the energies of the previous owners, good or bad. If everything else is good, and only this problem is there and you are helpless, and have no choice, take the house and get it totally renovated, and perform your religious ceremonies intended for such a purpose, getting rid of all old energies before you enter. |
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| Houses built on old graveyards, orphanages etc are not good. |
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| SHAPE OF THE HOUSE, APARTMENT OR PLOT: |
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| Look consciously for regular four sided, square or rectangular shapes for the house, as well as for the individual rooms. While considering rectangles, they should be well proportioned and not too long and narrow. This is known as the 4 point gold. |
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| Beware of rooms having a “sickle shape formation”, as they are very bad for bedrooms. Putting a door in the right place so that two perfect four sided rooms result can easily solve this problem. |
| (fig 5) |
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| LOOK FOR THE TOILETS AND STAIRCASES |
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| It is said “forms kill you first” and completely devoid of direction, one needs to see that the forms are proper right at the start. |
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| Houses with toilets and staircases located in the middle are highly avoidable. This may happen especially when two apartments, usually a mirror image of each other are combined to form one large apartment, with a hole in the center. |
| Fig 6 |
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| Once you enter the house, make sure you do not see a bedroom door right in front of you, or the kitchen. Ideally you should enter into a bright well-lit hallway or foyer, which should not have a confusion of doors in it (more than two doors is confusion). In case your main entrance faces another set of doors leading directly outside the house, create some kind of barrier between the two doors and put a screen in front of the rear windows to retain the qi |
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| Check the bedrooms for beams and columns in the middle of the rooms and especially for beams, which will be should not be directly above where you sleep, eat, work or relax. |
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| The columns are poison arrows or “shars”. There are other shars that occur within the house and one must look out for them. They would generally be corners of rooms which are sharp and protrude into your usable spaces.(see dig 7) These can be managed by simply putting live plants in front of them. Plants have the amazing ability of working as filters for negative qi. |
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| Other examples of shars could be sharp corners of wall units or bookcase, decorative items with sharp corners etc. |
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| WATCH FOR THE BROKEN GLASS SHARS |
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| Repair all leaking taps and broken glass as soon as possible. Broken mirrors are especially inauspicious and cause grievous hurt to the health of the people in the house. You must absolutely avoid mirrors and extensive use of glass in the bedroom. Leaking water in any form is BAD. |
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| FACE YOUR BEST DIRECTION : |
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| It is now time to check the main door and ensure that the house sits in a suitable location. The main door or the front of the house will tell you the “facing” direction, but the primary reference point here is the “sitting” of the house which is exactly the opposite of the facing direction. |
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| For example, if your house faces North, it is said to “sit SOUTH’ |
| Insert chart for 8 types of houses |
| Once you know this, look at the chart to determine the prosperous sectors of the house. Use those locations to determine where to enter and leave the house from, where to sleep and place important things like the bed and study desks. |
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| The negative areas are best used to locate your bathrooms, toilets, store room and kitchen areas. |
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| This is a very general viewpoint and only one of the very many parameters to choose a house with. Selection of a house should ideally be done in consultation with one who knows about such things, BEFORE buying. It will than be easier to fix, as no house is perfect, and all need to be fixed in some way or another. In addition, external land formations influence the house much more that simply the “facing” as many budding enthusiasts and pseudo-professionals like to believe. It is for this reason that one needs to have a professional consultation before buying the house. |
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| WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR ? |
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| This is a primary consideration when choosing and fixing a house. The requirements of a retired couple would be very different from that of a young newly married couple. While one may want to be peaceful and relaxed, the younger ones may want to have fast progress. Older ones may need to focus on health rather than a growth in wealth. The consultant has to be made aware of the requirements at the onset so that the ideal site may be selected. |
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| These tips will help to choose the house. Once you are in the house, a good Feng Shui consultant can help you to arrange the house as per the needs of various members of the family. There are specific locations and directions which relate to various aspects like relationships and marriage, health, prosperity, stability and others which are negative and if we place ourselves in such positions can bring on disaster of varying degrees, divorce, illness and death. |
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| Classical Feng Shui does not place much emphasis on articles like frogs and turtles and wind-chimes as the basic remedies but relies mainly on positions and locations as a result of certain calculations. |
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| These artifacts if placed wrongly can harm you. E.g. Wind chimes and water activate the energies of the area that they are placed in and if they are placed in the negative areas will activate the negative aspects of the house, hence the need for a wise consultant. |
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| THE FEEL GOOD FACTOR |
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| Above all, you must feel good in your surroundings and many of us have a built-in radar whereby we tend to position ourselves in our favorable locations using our sub-conscious as a guide. Follow your natural instincts and do what gives you peace and happiness. Feng Shui makes up only a third of our luck. A third is made up of heavenly luck based on our past karma and the rest is our own efforts. It follows that good Feng Shui cannot make a beggar into a king nor bring prosperity into the house of a lazy man! |
