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Tao: Blue Mountain Meditation Music
2005 The Year of Awakening!
2006 The Year of Realization!
As you are reading this, we have already entered the Year of the Dog. There are many kinds of dogs ?watch dogs, fi ghting dogs, barking dogs, running dogs, and so on. Dogs are one of the best friends of human beings, and also tend to share in, and refl ect, many of the human energies around them. Last year, we described as a Year of Awakening ?and indeed, many events, from natural disasters to intensifi ed human confl icts, have made us sit up and take notice. But have we really awakened?
In the coming year, for everyone who has not fully awakened, the stream of revelations will continue ?and lead to realizations. In the United States, there are many pressing issues in addition to war and terrorism: health care, education, and civil liberties. But how these issues manifest and develop hinges on the conduct of our leaders, and one of the characteristic traits of our leaders at the moment is a kind of weakness that expresses itself in their decisions and policies. This weakness involves a very specifi c cluster of traits: a feeling of vulnerability that leads to isolation, and listening only to those who agree; a tendency toward rigidity; a harshness of expression, and a lack of courage to admit when a mistake has been made.
Although it can be tempting simply to criticize policies and attitudes with which we don’t agree, it is important to remember that, for those of us who live in the United States, these are our leaders. They are manifestations of our energy, of the energies in which we all participate because we live in the same region of the planet. The more we adopt an attitude of mere criticism and hostility, the more we participate in the same energy pattern, and the more we reinforce it. While this may give us some immediate satisfaction, it does not resolve the situation. In fact, it helps perpetuate it.
Instead of participating in the pattern of weakness, it is more productive to try to replace it with a pattern of strength, because from a position of strength many things ?fl exibility, creativity, gentleness, and moderation ?are possible that are much less likely from a position of weakness. But how is it possible to replace weakness with strength? By providing support, rather than by engaging in attempts to undermine. This does not mean that we have to agree with policies, or with the way those policies are carried out. It does, however, mean that we should try to act from the point of view of supportive concern that encourages people to do better, rather than taking an approach that encourages them to be defensive and suspicious. The way to make this change is not on the external level, but on the level of information and energy. Once the energetic and information pattern changes, it becomes easier for the outward manifestations to change. In our hearts, we should wish them well. We should realize that within them, no matter how deeply it may seem to be buried, there is a seed of divine energy, and we should seek to nourish it so that it will grow into manifestation. As we do this, we are also nourishing within ourselves the seed that will grow to produce clarity, strength, and higher wisdom.
We are happy to report that we have produced a CD of Blue Mountain meditation music. Also, at the request of many of our graduates, we have introduced a new course, Signs and Symbols, that addresses the way in which signs and symbols reflect the energies of larger manifestations. The course studies the way in which, for example, corporate logos reflect the energies of the corporation, and how changes in logos can promote changes in the organization.
In addition to posting our newsletter on our web site, we will also be distributing it electronically to everyone who would like to receive it by e-mail. We invite everyone who would like to receive the newsletter by e-mail to send us their e-mail address at fengshui2000@hotmail.com. For those of you who cannot read the newsletter on the web or cannot receive it by email, or would prefer to receive a paper copy, please send your postal address to the Blue Mountain Feng-Shui Institute. Because of the recent increase in postage, and the increased ease of distribution offered by the internet, we are trying to reduce our mailing list so that we can provide better service in other areas.
We would also like to report on the pending publication of Medicine Box: A Journey into Ancient Chinese Wisdom, a novel by Dr. Shan-Tung Hsu. We are expecting that it will be available in April ?so keep your fingers crossed.
We are planning a feng-shui gathering (with book signing) in July. In addition, we are exploring the possibility of another feng-shui tour of China in September of 2006. Anyone interested in the tour, please contact Shan-Tung Hsu for more details. There will be an early cut-off date, so, if you are interested, get in touch as soon as you can.
Feng Shui is a form of ancient wisdom that provides guidance for all aspects of human activity. Its modern version, though, has been scaled down to a much narrower scope; as a guide to understanding and organizing the environment in which we live. Although this is a fairly broad field, in for the most part people tend to think of Feng Shui in terms of the houses or buildings in which we live and work..
For most of human history, if people didn't make their own dwellings, they had them made by skilled local craftsmen. This meant that houses were built by people who had a more intimate sense of the feel and energy of the land where the house was to sit. This, in turn, established a more harmonious relationship between the house and its natural environment. In addition, the internal spaces were arranged in accord with common sense ?a shared understanding about what the spaces were for, and how people would live in them.
In modern time, land has become more and more scarce and expensive. The desire to maximize profit leads builders and developers to squeeze as many unit as possible onto a given piece of land. Designs tend to be replicated mechanically, without much regard to the difference between one setting and another, with little sense of what whether a specific design is in harmony with that particular environment.
There has also been a loss of contact with common sense. A wide-spread example is the “island kitchen,?in which the stovetop is on an island in the middle of the kitchen space. This classic example of bad design was introduced in the United States about half a century ago, and has haunted home design ever since. This design, in which the stove is unsupported and is in an unavoidable confrontation with the water, correlates with a loss of control of the household budget, and a more challenged relationship between husband and wife. Although this design flaw can not be blamed on architects ?most houses in the United States are not designed by architects, who work only for corporations and more affluent individuals. Even so, there is a similarity with some characteristic features of modern architecture.
Modern architects often seem to act more as tools reflecting the energies around them, rather than playing the role of making a connection with more transcendent forces. Many designs by well-known architects are certainly eye-catching, but merely reflect the fast pace, emotionally charged, and unthinking reactivity of modern life.
What is the source of success or failure in an architectural design? Is it the architect? Or the owner? Actually, it is both. Talented architects have the ability to channel and manifest the energy and information (heart, mind, and spirit) of what intends to be manifest. Thus, any particular design develops from the way the architect is able to bring to manifestation the particular energy form manifested by and through the owner (either as an individual or as a group of people).
Seattle, for example, is blessed by the presence of the beautiful and powerful Mt Rainier, and by beautiful and abundant bodies of water, in addition to its rather mild climate. Yet, in the city, there are few buildings to be proud off ?and almost none of them were built after the 1960s. The ruinous Rainier Tower, the dark menace of the Columbia tower, and the warty growth of the Experience Music Project, and finally the leaning, bullying presence of the office building on fourth avenue, at the edge of the International District, unavoidably assault our gaze. The latest Seattle landmark, the new downtown library, which was hailed with enthusiasm last year, has the general presence of a looming robot head. Naturally we are delighted about the improved library. However, the architecture has no coherence with the buildings around it?which may have been the point: “Look at me! I am great because I am different.?The small. wedge-shaped entrance to its huge mass gives the feeling of being a the secret entrance to a tomb. The “landscaping?on the front corner is just a pile of dirt nd weeds. It adds nothing to the facade. Even a few benches placed near the front would make it feel more welcoming.
The peculiar problems with architectural design in Seattle have a lot to do with the “owners??the Seattleites. When people ask me about the Feng Shui of Seattle, I say that it’s good –but too good. In Yin-Yang theory, when yang reaches a maximum it begins to turn into yin. In an most ideal living environment, there is little challenge. There are no hurricanes, tornadoes, or other serious problems. There is not enough adversity to forge strong characters. Because they lack a strong character, Seattle people tend of be passive, and indecisive. This is what allows architects from out of town to show up and ruin the beautiful landscape and skyline.
When the Experience Music Project was built, no news media dare to criticize the design. The most critical remark anyone dared to make was that its was “interesting? For decades, Seattleites have been talking and arguing about mass transit system. And we are still talking, still arguing, still vacillating. The problem is not whether one system is better than another: the problem is whether Seattleites have the guts to make a decision and stick to it.
We have just said that design hinges on the talent of an architect, and that talent is the ability to channel the energy and information (the heart, mind and soul) of both the owner and the architect. However, this means that, while a talented architect could create a master piece ?or could equally create a master disaster. (After all, an average talent could only create an average disaster). Everything has three aspects ?matter (physical manifestation), energy (chi) and information (heart, mind or soul). Although this is as true of buildings as anything else, architects tend to focus on the physical, because they do not have a theory that would allow them to grasp the energy or information aspects. Even without a theory, however, talented architects connect with the energy and information levels, ands manifest them in their work.
The same architect can turn out work at either end of the scale. Steven Holl did beautiful work with Seattle University’s Chapel of St. lgnatius, but he also designed the chaotic and unworkable building of the Bellevue Modern Art Museum. Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao in Northern Spain is a successful piece; people in Seattle hoped his design for a museum in Seattle will draw visitors from around the world. But the EMP is more than a mere disaster: is has gained a reputation as one of the ten ugliest buildings in the world.
What makes the difference, from project to project, is a matter of the balance of the heart. In general, there are not many ugly religious buildings. When architects feel respect for the project, when they feel it is beyond being a merely personal project, ego is more suppressed ?one might say that a divine intervention safeguards the design. But when architects become very successful, and perhaps even complacent about their abilities, that arrogance and shifts the balance of the heart, and that imbalance expresses itself in the work.
This is not true just for architects: it is true for all of us. Matter, energy and information are the three aspects of existence, but our focus is largely on the material level, the level visible manifestation. Nevertheless, it is the higher-order aspects of energy and information that ultimately make the difference, and how they manifest depends on the balance of our own hearts.
Tao: Blue Mountain Meditation Music
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CD Now!
Listening with the ears brings relaxation;
Listening with the heart brings tranquility;
Listening with the chi brings unity with the universal energy.
The music of the Chinese guqin represents one of the longest unbroken musical traditions in the world. For over 2000 years, this music has been regarded in China as the summit of musical achievement. It was performed in private; rarely if ever in public. It was the music of the inner courts and of the heart.
This music was said to restore the body, and even to bring enlightenment. It was the favorite instrument for masters of study and meditation, who saw it as a way to tune the heart.
This music is played by contemporary guqin master Wu Ziying on an instrument dating to the 12th or 13th century, named the Perfectly Harmonized Jade and Pearl Qin. The melodies date from the 3rd to the 17th centuries: Flowing Water - Ancient Moon - Autumn Lake - Landing Geese -Buddhist Chant - Plum Blossoms. They fl ow in a continuous stream, carrying the listener into ever-deepening absorption.
Ordering information: $18 (shipping and handling included). Please send a check or credit card information (Visa or Mastercard only) to Blue Mountain Feng-Shui Institute (P.O. Box 15233, Seattle, WA 98115-0233) or call (206) 523-3946
2005 The Year of Awakening
The year of the Monkey is nearly over, along with all its surprising twists and turns. Coming up very soon is the Year of the Rooster, and perhaps with it a new awakening, especially in the aftermath of the political and cultural turmoil.
Over the past year, with the help of graduate Kelly DeBruine, we have established and developed our web site, which can be visited at fengshuisource.com. We have also been fortunate in that Gwen Williams, another graduate, has volunteered to serve as our web master. We are building an archive of past articles from this newsletter and other sources, and hope to make it available soon. The web site will also make it easier to give everyone timely information about or activities.
Another exciting development this year was the first Blue Mountain Feng Shui tour in China. This September, thirty people went with us on a 12-day review of some key sites. Of course we had fun, and saw some standard tourist sights -- but we planned the tour around Feng Shui themes, so we approached each activity and location with Feng Shui in mind. Many of us were vividly struck by the intensity of ascending Yang energy at the Temple of Heaven. We also visited the White Cloud Temple (Bo Yun Guan), one of the premier Taoist Temples, and attended a lecture on energy cultivation by Lineage Master Xu. Most of us accepted the challenge to climb up almost to the top of the Great Wall, despite the fog and mist on that day. Going down the Li River from Guilin, the landscape seemed especially dreamlike; Dr. Xu led the group in Taiji on the deck, while water buffalo gazed on the banks of the river.
Because of the enthusiastic response of the people on the tour, and because many people were not able to attend, we are organizing another Feng Shui tour in China for April, 2005. The tour will be limited to 28 people: if you are interested please contact us as soon as possible, so that you can reserve a place. You can contact us by telephone, or by e-mail through our web site.
This year we also offered three new courses. Two specialized courses, Feng Shui for Lovers, Yin and Yang of Food and Cooking, were very well received. We also offered a Feng Shui Remedies course for graduates who were already certified as Feng Shui consultants. People had been asking for such a course, and we finally felt that it there were enough students who were ready for it. The course presented with both conventional and esoteric approaches to dealing with situations when changes on the physical level are not possible.
Many people are probably not aware of the long tradition of Qin music in China, although some of our local students have had a chance to hear this music at some of our events. In Seattle, we are fortunate to have a Qin master teaching at the University of Washington. He has agreed to develop a CD of meditation music exclusively for Blue Mountain Feng Shui Institute. This tape should be available in the first part of the coming year. As soon as it is available, ordering details will be announced on the Blue Mountain web site.
Over the past year, the popularity of Feng Shui has continued to increase around the world. In addition, more people are developing a clearer sense of what traditional Feng Shui really is. There has also been an increase in trained Feng Shui practitioners, and we hope that this in turn will have an increasing positive effect on the societies in which they live and work.
Water and Feng Shui
In traditional Feng Shui, the intrinsic energy pattern (qi) of our living environment, whether a large-scale landscape or a small house, is detected from physical patterns.
In a large-scale landscape, there are Mountains, Hills, Flat Lands, and Bodies of Water. We call these the Four Features. The intrinsic energy of the landscape is closely related to the quantity, quality and composition of these four features. These are thus the basis for understanding the energy pattern of the environment, and its likely impact on the people who live in it. Mountains, being static and stable, provide the force for stability, the force of support. The Hills, also called the Guardian Hills, provide protection for the Flag Ground, where energy collects. The Flat Ground is the Energy Spot, the nurturing space within activities take place. Water, flowing through the lowest places, confines and shifts the energy flow. It also provides an open field of vision that allows for expansion. When these features are good, and are well balanced, we say that the Feng Shui of the landscape is good.
The Mountain feature, as a source of energy, support and stability, is also the source of control. It becomes a metaphor for power, political or military. A country with great political or military influence usually has a strong Mountain configuration.
The Water feature represents flow and traffic, and is thus a metaphor for trade, commerce and money. Economically successful countries have access to large bodies of good Water. Most large business centers are on rivers, oceans or lakes.
Because of this, people often say that Mountains are Power, and Water is Money. Taking this in a simplistic way, people sometimes think that Water is Money, and that flowing water will bring fortune into the house. This is why in recent years miniature fountains have become a popular household Feng Shui gadget in the United States.
But the real impact of Feng Shui is on the energy level -- the level of energy patterns carried in and by physical features like water. It is not the water itself, but the energy pattern typical of water, that is associated with wealth. If water were literally wealth, a house with a leaking roof would be better than a house with a good roof.
The Water feature represents flow, merging, spreading, connection, liquidity, and flexibility. It is these traits that are associated with economic success, just as they are also characteristic of material water.
The political unrest that has accompanied the recent elections in the Ukraine has reminded me of a question asked by a student in a workshop I gave in Kiev a few years ago. The student pointed out that Ukraine has nice mountains in the northwest, vast flat lands with very rich soil, and the Dnieper river flowing from the north to the Black Sea in the south. In terms of Feng Shui, these four features are almost perfect. Why, then, is the Ukraine so poor?
This is a legitimate question. In physical terms, the Ukraine does have good Feng Shui. Its capital, Kiev, was once the center of Europe -- in the tenth century. The Ukraine was also the breadbasket of the old Soviet Union. But the answer, as I told the student, is that the Ukraine now does not have good Water. Not that I discount the existence of the Dnieper River, or the Black Sea. But in Feng Shui, Water is more than just physical water. Human beings live between Heaven and Earth. We are affected by three factors: Heaven (Time), Earth (Space) and the Human. The Four Feature model does not apply only to the Earth factor: it also applies to the Human factor. The rigid political system and awkward economic system of the current Ukraine indicate that there is a lack of the Water quality -- flow, liquidity and flexibility. With this lack of these Water qualities, one cannot expected money, or financial success.
This is why well-controlled, dictatorial countries are so often poorer than freer societies. Hungary broke free of the old Soviet bloc in 1991, and turned (or returned) to a market economy. It now enjoys the highest per capita income among all the countries in the old Soviet bloc. China is another good example: the recent rapid economic growth began with the pragmatic 1 of the popular leader Deng Xiaopin.
It is important to realize that physical manifestations -- including the structures of the material world -- are created by energy patterns. To change physical manifestations, it is most efficient to work with the energy and information levels.
An example, on the human level, is the formal debates held during the recent US presidential elections. Formal arguments in themselves may express the point of view of the debaters, but they do not often convince anyone -- and certainly not the other party to the debate. Once people have acquired a point of view, it is not easy to change that point of view, especially through arguments. A political position or commitment manifests from the higher level of energy and information: from the mind and heart of the person who holds it. To change or affect that position, it is not so effective to manipulate the terms in which it is expressed. It is more effective to work at the level of the mind and heart from which the position has taken form -- and to do that, one has to work with one’s own mind and heart. This may seem to be a slow process, but in fact it is actually the fastest process, because it is the most effective.
After the election, many Kerry supporters were disappointed and distressed, even to the point of despair, and wondered if it was worthwhile even hoping to influence the situation. The answer is that there is little hope of influencing the situation by manifesting antagonism to it on the outer level. To do so is to work at the material level. There is, however, the real possibility of affecting the situation by working at the energy level. To do so, however, requires working with one’s own mind and heart, and having an openness to the minds and hearts of those whom one wants to influence. One cannot influence people with whom one has no relationship. But before one can have a relationship, one has to be open to the idea that a relationship is possible.
Form defines energy. In the true Feng Shui approach, one needs to see things beyond the physical level. For example, from the conventional point of view, a physical building is just a physical body. But from a Feng Shui point of view, a physical building is also an energy body and an information body. This understanding has been missing from the architectural world throughout its history: this is why people have been able to spend centuries debating the issue of form versus function. From the Feng Shui point of view , this debate does not arise, because form and function exist simultaneously, and are developed and perfected simultaneously. In a pyramid, there are four points at the lowest level, but there is only one unifying point on the top.
One photo with trained cormorants perched on your shoulder, three Yuan; twenty postcards from a street vendor outside the Forbidden City, one USD; floating down the Li River practicing Tai Chi with Dr. Hsu; priceless.
To my mother and me, China is no longer a distant country to the East that we bear no connection to, but a place made real to us because we’ve seen, tasted, and experienced it. Our trip was nothing less than fabulous, overflowing with countless memories and new experiences. One of the most memorable moments for me on this trip was my ambitious dream finally becoming a reality the day we literally climbed the Great Wall. I can still see the gray bricks which formed the battlements on the walls I climbed between, and through the openings the fog covered mountainous horizon, layer upon layer, looked just how I had pictured it would. My mother, however, who has been drawn to China for years, and even as a teenager dreamed of leaving her life to meditate in the mountains of Tibet to be amongst monasteries, monks, and their ways of life, found the mysterious pagodas in the far off distance drew her attention. An especially notable experience for her was when we were invited to Master Xu’s temple where he spoke to us about deep secrets of Taoist energy and meditation, and I think we both felt the power in the Monk’s chanting at Lingyin Temple where we also saw life size statues of the five hundred disciples.
I am embarrassed to admit that neither my mother nor I have taken Master Hsu’s Feng Shui classes, but we were fortunate enough to hear about the trip through friends of ours, (Jim and Charlotte Fairfield), who had. Although we joined this journey knowing little about Feng Shui, we were eager to learn, and what better place to study this art then with Master Hsu at the heart of where it all began. Over the duration of the trip Master Hsu pointed out countless Feng Shui examples, such as the man-made layout of the Forbidden City, the natural landscape surrounding the section of the Great Wall we climbed, not to mention the Feng Shui specific gardens we visited and the various discussions on Yin and Yang to mention a few.
I cannot fathom going to China in any other way. If it had been up to me to plan the trip, I would have overlooked some of the greatest sites (and seriously have gotten lost), and I honestly think the trip would have been made hollow by what it would have lacked. All our stops, tour guides, buses, meals and accommodations were great, and had we not have traveled with Master Hsu, we would have missed his insights and added knowledge of tea, Tai-Chi and Yin and Yang, to name only a few, which I felt really added to the depth of the experience.
On the lighter side, however, we thought it important to mention our experience with the unbalanced Yin and Yang in most public bathrooms, as there is a toilet but rarely any toilet paper (bring your own)!
Neither of us would have traded this trip for anything. We sincerely hope that our brief description helps nudge you in the direction of deciding to go on the next Feng Shui Tour, and that you enjoy and gain as much as we have. Happy travels!
Jen and Marguerite Redmond
