Feng Shui

In some classical Feng Shui teachings, the center of the Bagua is called Health. Other teachings say the area is the emptiness, the calm where the soul lives. The Eastern teachings are simple, yet have so much depth to the understanding. Through years of evolution, we have learned that in the center, we can find a point of balance between the polarities of yin and yang energies. In the center of a tornado or hurricane the eye is a calm, invisible energy. The energy in this Torus form is moving vertically and horizontally. To find clarity in a time of fear, one must practice a calm state of mind and heart.

Flow consciousness is paradoxical in that it often requires great effort and concentration to achieve a result that is seemingly effortless and spontaneous. With effort, we move beyond effort and find stillness.

Consider bamboo, the most auspicious plant in the Feng Shui teachings. It is strong, fast growing, and a good environmental choice. The stalk of the plant has an opening in the center, connecting to earth and reaching up to the Heavens. Bamboo is as much at home in Western as in Eastern gardens. The gentle swishing noise it makes in the wind or as we brush past can be energizing. In the past, the villages and cities were designed around a center, in the form of a plaza, the courthouse square, or a park.

New York City, Boston, and Colorado Springs have beautiful parks in the center, where people come together from all over the area to relax, play, have concerts, and gather with friends. In some European towns, the young children play in the plaza while their grandfathers talk politics. In one city park in Lisbon, the older gentlemen played dominos and cards for hours under umbrella trees while young lovers walked hand and hand. Some say these places are the heart of the city.

I grew up in Tyler, Texas, where in the center of town, there was a beautiful, old courthouse surrounded by trees, flowers, and benches where the older men cameo visit while their wives and children shopped on Saturday. The city council decided to tear down the courthouse, allowing the main street, Broadway, to move straight through the center of the square. The heart of the town was cut out and the downtown has since almost died.

Where is the heart in your city? Where is the heart of your property, your garden, your house, and each room? Is it open or full of objects? The Tai Chi area in the center of the Bagua is the "Great Void." It's a space that allows the chi to return, be replenished, and then move on. It contains all eight energies of the Bagua and none of them at the same time. It reflects your health, for if everything is in balance, so is Tai Chi. It represents an opening for infinite possibilities; thus the area should be kept clear.

If you create a central space in your home or garden, you allow the free flow of energy and are not channeling it away too quickly. In my home, the living room is the heart. On a daily basis, there is an open area clear and free to change inmost any direction. This room can comfortably hold the energy of a large gathering or that of a small intimate group. It is my "Great Room" and everyone comments on the wonderful energy.

Here are some suggestions for enhancing the Tai Chi area of your space:

How do you find your center and enhance the art of living? Centering your physical environment can lead to a centering of your life’s energies. One must begin feeling one's point of balance. Flow consciousness requires balancing concentration and mindfulness. Concentration is the ability to focus on the precise center of our unfolding experience. Mindfulness is the ability to continuously embrace the panoramic totality of life. The Tao, centeredness, is what keeps you connected and grounded. John Dennis Govert says, "Zen Feng Shui is the moment-by-moment practice of making that journey more aware and more delightful." The following are Govert’s six aspects to Zen Feng Shui, all of which are directions that can be used with any Feng Shui tradition, school, or technique:

Clarify your aims: This is simply the task of selecting the one tone to which you will tune your home or office. If you do not make this step, then anything you do from a Feng Shui point of view will only cause more scattered energies. Write down eight things that you want to accomplish in your lifetime. Review the list, and select the top three that have had the most meaning to you now and for the next two years. Next, select one goal from this group that needs the most work over the next six months. That is your Feng Shui focus. Everything that you do must advance this one noble aim.

Empty yourself and your space: Discarding everything in your life that you no longer need can further clarify your aims. Chinese philosophy and art point out that emptying your life is the prerequisite for filling it more swiftly with what you really do want. This means simplifying your life.

Energize yourself and your space: Rooted in the practices of Chi Gong, this means slowing down and systematically eliminating all energy leaks. Examine whether water, heated or cooled, is being wasted. Are plants dying inside or in the yard? Is there anything broken or not working properly? Discover the reason and fix it. On a personal level, check that your own Chi or vital life energy is healthy or strong. If it needs improvement, get help to change negative energy-draining habits.

Cultivate daily living as an art form: As you move through life, regard each situation as an opportunity to express yourself artistically. When you serve tea, fruit, and cookies to a loved one or guest, arrange the food with as much presence as if you were painting a landscape scroll. As you begin to approach each situation and moment with this awareness, you will begin to rearrange furniture, rooms, yards, and walls with the same carefulness and attention. This practice will lead you on a path of discovering for yourself what is favorable and unfavorable Feng Shui because your own experience will be the judge.

Cultivate the depths of your intuition: The deeper you cultivate your intuition, the more effortlessly you will arrange things as they need be, be it an impromptu dinner party, a kitchen remodeling, or pruning the cedar in the yard. How well your intuition operates depends on how aware you are of all that surrounds you, however obvious or subtle. As your circular awareness widens, you will discover more interconnections between the universe and you. When pure intuition operates, any FengShui art you perform will be perfectly suited for you or anyone else you wish to help.

Rest Your Mind in its Original Place: Almost subtle level, through meditative practice, you will encounter what is really your mind. You will encounter your original nature and how to rest your mind in its natural place without effort. As you practice, the enlightened mind will show itself as having been present from the beginning: completely, dynamically, and joyful. At this stage of awareness, the conditionings of specific places where you live and work dramatically diminish in their power to influence you in any negative manner. This is the state of Feng Shui-less Feng Shui, and this is the aim of Zen Feng Shui as an art form. Like the empty sky it has no boundaries, Yet it is right HERE, ever serene and clear. When you seek to attain it, you cannot see it. You cannot take hold of it, But neither can you lose it.-Yung-chia, Zen tradition Enlightenment will no longer be seen as a different state of consciousness (happening inside our brain); it will be see as a whole-being flow experience that naturally emerges when we come into dynamic alignment with the universe in its process of continuous creation.

Tafi Cole, a Feng Shui educator and interior designer, has worked throughout the U.S., South America, and Europe to bring this ancient wisdom teaching up to date. She works with homeowners, real estate developers, financial investors, psychologists, healthcare providers, and interior designers through private consultation and lectures to create harmony and balance in one’s surroundings and in life.