Chang Quan
The Mind, Body And Soul Connection To Feng Shui
I. Introduction
In my previous article, “Making Decisions and Taking Actions with Feng Shui During Uncertain Times”, I explained how the lesser known temporal aspect of feng shui is a powerful element in helping people make decisions to obtain their desires. Coupled with the more familiar practice of physical feng shui – the movements of energies from and around objects and structures and the directional energies – temporal feng shui can be a truly powerful secret tool to maximize the positive results you want from your decisions and actions. As I mentioned in that article, to maximize these positive results from the temporal and physical practices of feng shui, a person must act with good intentions and do good deeds. The cosmic energies are most helpful to those who live a productive, useful and helpful life – both to ourselves and to others.
Living a useful, productive and helpful life can mean different things to different people. If it is based on a moral compass that espouses charity, generosity, no harm to others, and no harm to oneself, then it is most likely the correct way of living. However, there is more to correct living than these moral compass points, although they are by no means unimportant.
Just as feng shui is based on natural forces of cosmic energies that have their own logic, flow and progressions, so do peoples’ existence on this world. For us, the natural energies, whether positive or negative, flow in a circle from the mind, to the body, to the soul, and back to the mind. That is, the mind controls and feeds the body, the body feeds the soul, and the soul then feeds the mind. If the mind, body and soul are in harmony and balance, then there are sustained positive energy and happiness.
In these uncertain economic and political times, many peoples’ minds, bodies and souls are out of balance. The natural flow and order are disrupted because we have allowed our minds to lose focus, our bodies to take control and our souls to wither. The world’s current economic upheaval is in part due to this imbalance. Now is a good time to get back to the basics, to simplify our lives so that we can find our ways back to balance, harmony and the natural flow.
II. The Body
The body is feeling, pleasure and senses. Our desires are too often meant to satisfy our senses. Too many of us allow our senses of sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing to make decisions for us. This control has lead to excess consumption and spending. Too many of us spend on things that we don’t need, consume beyond our resources, and live beyond our means. How many of us have clothes in our closets that are fairly new or unused, yet we buy more clothes? How many of us don’t think that there is global warming and our natural resources are depleting at an unsustainable rate? How many of us are over-weight? How many of us have credit card balances due to spending on items that are not necessary for our existence? How many of us are going through foreclosure because we purchased a house that we know we could not afford? How many of us spend unnecessarily on gadgets and toys when all they do is allow us to pass time, which we know can be used on more productive endeavors? How many of us are still unhappy even if we have good jobs, a nice house, and a healthy bank account; yet we desire more? How many of us feel that there has to be something more?
There is nothing wrong with fulfilling our bodily desires so long as there is balance and harmony. This balance and harmony comes with the recognition that we must moderate the actions that are meant to satisfy our five senses. To get back into harmony and balance, start by consulting with our minds, asking whether a particular action is necessary and in balance with where we are in our lives. If we are honest and fair to ourselves in asking these questions, we are slowly allowing our minds to take control over our bodies (and our senses). With this approach, perhaps we can simplify our desires. Perhaps we can conclude that a new shirt is not really necessary, that another serving of food is not really necessary, that another hour on the video game is not really productive, that having a good job, a nice house, and a healthy bank account all satisfy our senses, but not our minds and our souls.
III. The Mind
If we can simplify our lives by reducing the desires of our senses, perhaps we can take a step back and allow our minds to be in control the way it is meant to be. Remember that the mind controls and feeds the body, the body feeds the soul, and the soul feeds the mind again. With the mind in control, it can moderate the actions meant to satisfy the body’s senses; so that the mind can direct the excess resources that we have (whether it’s time, energy or means) to efforts that feed the soul. Additionally, with less emphasis on the body’s desires, we consume less food, spend less money and deplete less natural resources, all things that in fact benefit our physical existence and enhance our security.
For the mind to regain control the way it should and find its purpose again, it must do things and take actions that truly nourish the body so that the body can nourish the soul. In allowing the body’s senses to dictate our actions, our minds have allowed us to become self-centered, greedy and negative. Self-centeredness and greediness have contributed to the world’s current economic crisis. In turn, negativity contributes to the prolonged detrimental impact of this crisis on our lives. This negativity manifests in different forms, such as hopelessness, loss of faith, confidence, and poise, and depression.
Our minds must overcome this negativity, work to reduce the self-centeredness and strive towards generosity. We must cultivate our minds in such a way that its energies are directed towards things and actions that we can do that will produce positive results. Feng shui enhances these results, but feng shui cannot create them. Positive results ignite in our minds, and feng shui fuels them.
The first step to cultivating our minds is to recognize what is within our control and what is not. We should be mindful of what is outside of our control, but we should not let those things weigh us down. For example, the world’s economy is near collapse. Many of us feel helpless and apprehensive of what lies ahead. Many of us have lost our jobs, our savings and our shelter. As a result, many of us grow depressed and have lost our faith, confidence, hope, and poise. But why should we feel this way when these events are now out of our control? Of course we may have done things (or more accurately, our bodily senses have caused us to do things) that have contributed to our current situations. But those are things in the past. What should we do now given our current situations that both reflect the lessons we have learned from our prior actions and at the same time achieve balance of mind, body and soul?
Of course, we should learn from our prior actions and not commit the same mistakes we made before. But we should also recognize that positive thoughts and attitudes go a long way to lighten the burdens in our minds, to help us recognize that we may be in a vulnerable position, and to help us do those things that are within our control to help ourselves. Of course, we know that positive thoughts will not put food on the table or pay the mortgage, but they should help us have a clear mind so that we can help ourselves. They should give us hope and faith that so long as our minds, bodies and souls are in balance, then we will make it through any ordeal.
As we strive to remove negativities in our minds, we are in a way nourishing our bodies by removing unnecessary bodily stress and depression. Many of these negativities can cause sleeplessness, depression, worry, anger, and other harmful thoughts and emotions that strain our bodies. Before we can address our greed and self-centeredness, we must ensure that our bodies are healthy and have what it needs (not necessarily what it desires).
IV. The Soul
The mind’s ability to provide for our body and to direct its actions towards balance and natural harmony must necessarily focus on the health and nourishment of our souls. My reference to the soul in this article is to the positive emotions and feelings people get from performing a good deed. The good deed, along with hope, faith, and good intentions, are what fuel the powers of feng shui.
Once it regains control of our bodies, our minds should direct our bodies not to focus so much on ourselves, but on what we can do for others. Helping others, whether with our time, our money or our energies, is helping ourselves rid of greediness and self-centeredness. When we help others, we are helping to feed our souls because of the innate sense of pleasure and happiness we feel in our hearts when do perform a good, selfless deed. Thus, we should have positive thoughts and hopeful attitudes about helping others and giving of ourselves. We do not necessarily have to give a lot of money, time or energy. The important thing is to feed the soul by giving. The more we give, the more feng shui will work for us. The more pure the giving, that is to give for the sake of giving without the expectation of receiving in return, the more powerful the effects of feng shui.
V. Final Thoughts
Don’t approach these harsh economic times as something that is forcing us to reduce consumption and spending, but as an opportunity to permanently change our perspective and behavior. Don’t spend and consume less because the economy is bad and you may lose your income so you must conserve. Do these things because of a recognition that spending less and consuming less are ways to get back into balance with the natural order of mind, body and soul for sustained happiness and prosperity. Work to put the mind back in control so that the soul can be nourished. The soul’s nourishment is the key to enhance the powers of feng shui.
About the Author
* Master Lam Quan is the founder of the Flow Concept School of Feng Shui. He may be contacted at http://www.lamquan.com. Hear Master Lam’s podcasts at http://fengshui.podbean.com.
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