Properties from a feng shui perspective:
Part 95 By David Koh and Joe Choo | Jun 25, 2009
The Science of I Ching
The practice of environology or feng shui involves many steps and processes. One of the main ideas is that there are three types of energy (called “chi”): heaven, earth and human.
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Parliament House ... be it by design or coincidence, the choice of site is actually good.
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Each of these exerts an influence on people and the surroundings. Heavenly energy actually refers to interplanetary forces at work, not the theological concept of heaven and hell. We remain in the realm of science and the practice of environology has nothing to do with religion or beliefs.
Physicists have long ago established that objects with mass attract one another. They call this natural phenomenon gravitation. While we cannot wilfully make objects like light sabres fly through the air into our hands, we experience gravitation every single moment – without it, we would be floating in space!
Ancient sages were astronomers and they recognised the impact of celestial objects such as the moon and the planet Jupiter, on our lives. Jupiter’s effects may seem insignificant to the naked eye but they are powerful nonetheless over time. Hence, it was called “tai sui” or the Grand Duke. As Jupiter changes its position relative to our planet each year, we need to make adjustments to areas deemed “afflicted” by it.
Earth energy is largely determined by landform and our series of articles have mostly revolved around the impact of earth energy on properties and their occupants. We endeavoured to show how good landform can help a location to prosper tremendously and conversely, how poor landform can cause difficulties to people even in so-called “good locations”.
Finally, there is also human energy, which is determined by the individual and his or her birth date. From this data, environologists can compute the Gua number and a Life Profile (also known as Eight Characters or “pat chi”).
Human energy energises a building and keeps it vibrant. Houses or buildings that are abandoned lose this energy over time. Places that are devoid of human energy would become dilapidated and attract unclean spirits, according to some beliefs. Haunted houses, anyone?
I CHING
The basis for environology originates from the I Ching or Book of Changes, written about 5,000 years ago, purportedly by the legendary Fu Xi. No one knows exactly how something so profound can be discovered so many eons ago – this was the beginning of ancient civilisation! – and yet, there it is, with hidden wisdom which can continue to surprise to this day.
In the hundreds of years since, the trigram formula presented in the I Ching was expanded into hexagrams by various sages, including Chou Wen Wan and Confucius. This refinement is used in the practice of feng shui today.
The Book of Changes describes the way everything changes following a prescribed formula. Thus, practitioners can make forecasts and recommend measures to prepare for the changes. This is often mistaken for prediction, which is more a case of trying to peer into the future, or summoning supernatural forces to divine the future.
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The three-storey main building is where the two houses of Parliament – the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara – convene.
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The proper usage and intention of I Ching and its offshoot, feng shui, is simply to make forecasts based on natural phenomena. This is no different from making weather forecasts. Meteorologists look at various data, especially satellite photos, and make forecasts – not predictions – on the likelihood of rain, storms, dry weather and so forth. They are quite accurate, though not always.
Considering how I Ching originated from the dawn of civilisation, without the aid of modern equipment, it is amazing how it still holds true to this day. It helps, of course, that the forecasts are written in the form of poems and analogies. Yes, it can be very subjective and the accuracy of the forecasts depends on the skill and experience of the practitioner in interpreting the texts.
WHEAT FROM CHAFF
This is what separates the wheat from the chaff among the gaggle of feng shui practitioners, many of who would anoint themselves as “masters”. We are very concerned by the amateurs, the inexperienced and the charlatans who pass themselves off as experts and mislead people with half-baked advice.
If the wrong advice is harmless, it is not too bad. At most, the client will become a strong sceptic and perhaps spread the word to debunk the charlatan. However, if the advice happens to bring harm, ill health, disharmony or financial ruin to the client, then their actions cannot be condoned.
One of the main reasons behind the formation of the Malaysian Institute of Geomancy Sciences (MINGS) is to establish a set of standards for the training and accreditation of environology practitioners. This is not limited to just feng shui. We believe there are common scientific principles at work behind various geomancy (environology) practices of other cultures.
MINGS aims to conduct research to find these commonalities. This will enable us to authenticate certain practices with sound reasoning, and debunk those that are pure superstition in nature. We hope to recruit more interested enthusiasts to contribute to these efforts and create a substantial body of work that will help establish environology in its rightful place as a scientific discipline.
Our tour of the Klang Valley takes us to the Houses of Parliament, where our Federal legislature sits. This is an elegant and iconic building complex, easily recognisable as a landmark of Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia. (For Google map reference, please log on to http://maps.google.co.uk/ and search for “Kuala Lumpur”.)
Continue Your Reading: The Science of I Ching: Part B »
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