Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Chapter 25 : The Importance of Workshops

Written by : Master Sheng-yen Lu
Translated by : Janny Chow

In the United States, many households have workshops, often in their garages. Inside the garage, beside parked cars, various tools and equipment are stored. Since paying others to perform repair jobs can be costly, homeowners themselves often carry out ordinary repairs such as car tune-ups, water and electricity repairs, lawn mowing, and house painting. Even furniture purchased from stores often comes unassembled, and one must read the instructions to assemble the parts.

Because the workshop is an "activity room" with frequent movement, hammering, knocking, and other loud noises, its location inside a home greatly influences household feng-shui. Workshops are therefore very important.

Houses with basements may install workshops on this lower level. It is best if the basement is located either at the northwest position or at the lower, rear end of the dragon side of the house. By nature, workshops are often relatively untidy places and should not by located at the upper, front part of homes. The most appropriate design is to locate them below or behind at the northwest position.

Because garages commonly double as workshops, it is ideal for a garage to be located at the northwest position in a home.

A garage located at either the northeast or southwest position is unfavorable as workshops located in these positions can cause accidents, hindrances in work, and even family discord.

In the United States, some houses have adjoining garages detached from the main residence. Such garages should not be located at the front of the tiger side of the home. In such a position, the garage door opening becomes a "tiger's mouth," and a tiger's mouth that is too tall or too long may incur unfavorable accidents.

An adjoining garage should also not protude too conspicuously. If such a protrusion already exists, it is preferable for the garage to be located on a slightly lower area on the tiger side in a position that does not overpower the dragon side. In America, almost every home has a garage, so the garage plays a very important role in household feng-shui, serving not only as a car park but also a workshop.

In Taiwan, the homes of the wealthy are not often equipped with garages. Occasionally simple sheds are built to house the cars. I would like to note here that special attention should be paid to the placement of the shed and its location on either the dragon side or tiger side of the home. Incorrect placements create unavoidable disasters of a great magnitude.

A car shed beside a home is the equivalent of a protruding object.

In the past, I had conducted many feng-shui readings for factory owners. The location of a household workshop is the equivalent to the location and proper operation of machinery inside a factory. Properly installed machinery will run smoothly, but improperly installed machines may break down for no apparent reason. The quality of the machinery and its operation determines the quality of the product.

On one occasion, I had been asked to a factory to inspect a huge machine that constantly broke down. The machine's frequent need for repairs gave factory workers numerous headaches, and even a technician, specially contracted from abroad, could not solve the problem. I was finally invited to take a look at the machine. I brought with me a bag of salt, a bag of rice, and a talisman inscribed with the words "continuous operation." After inspection, I saw that the machine had been incorrectly positioned directly above the teeth of the tiger's mouth. "The machine is being stopped by the tiger's teeth and cannot turn. It is best to move it to a different spot."

"But this is such a gigantic machine that the buiding housing it had been originally designed around it. To move it would be too expensive. Is there any other solution?" the owner pleaded with me.

Finally, I decided to resort to a "spiritual remedy." I performed a ritual and sprinkled salt and rice on the machine on a "Ch'u" date picked from the lunar calendar. I then pasted the talisman for "continuous operation" on the machine.

Strangely, the day after the ritual and pasting of the magic talisman, the machine began to operate smoothly. Once it started moving, it did not break down again. The entire factory staff broke in thunderous cheers, and the foreign technician shook his head, puzzled.

Someone approached me and asked, "How did you make the machine run?"

"I sprinkled some salt and rice on the tiger's mouth, and when the tiger shut its jaws, it spat out the machine. It was just as simple as that!" I laughed.

It is important to remember that workshops, garages, and machine rooms are rooms of "movement" that can alter feng-shui and create unusual phenomena. A geomancer must not overlook these three important sites as neglect of one area may result in a failure in the larger design.

Source:
http://www.padmakumara.org/books/book69/chap25.shtml

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