Chapter 03: Avoid Living in a Site Affected by Noxious Spirits

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

I once performed a feng-shui reading for a very quiet, elegant home. Located in a nice neighborhood, the house had a fine shape and an auspicious floor plan. The furniture had even been arranged to conform to the rules of feng-shui. The owner of the house had previously consulted several famous feng-shui masters and had been told that everything was fine. However, as soon as I stepped inside the house, I could sense something unusual about it.

"I don't think there is anything wrong with the feng-shui of this house, but there is something strange in the air, a presence of unusual spirit energy" I told the owner.
The owner asked me, "In which particular spot of the house is this energy the strongest?"
Turning into my extrasensory perception, I walked through each room of the house until I came to the swimming pool located in the backyard. Stopping before it, I said, "This is the spot."
The owner remarked, "Living Buddha Lian-sheng, you are indeed extraordinary. Many unusual happenings have occurred right at this swimming pool."

The owner then recounted the following occurrences: People swimming in the pool experienced intolerable coldness after staying in the pool for a short while. Every person who swam in the pool developed leg cramps. A person swimming alone would occasionally feel tugs at his legs, and if he swam underwater, he would feel the presence of another person swimming alongside him. Sometimes, late at night, when there was no one swimming, the sounds of water play could be heard.

"Oh! There are noxious spirits dwelling here," I said.
After looking into the matter, it was discovered that before the construction of the current house, an old hospital had stood on the site. The current swimming pool was where the morgue of the hospital had been. Due to the hospital's old age and other requirements for the land, the hospital had been torn down and replaced. However, the spirit energy of the original hospital had not dissipated, and this led to the manifestation of strange phenomena.A house can inherit "noxious spirits" from the earth upon which it is built because such sites are ruins of temples, hospitals, cemeteries, old battlefields, execution grounds, murder scenes, disaster scenes caused by fires, earthquakes, or other calamities, and shrines. If, for no reason at all, strange phenomena and mishaps occur at such sites, it is usually due to the presence of "noxious spirits." Homicides also occur unexpectedly where noxious spirits are present.

To deal with such situations, some feng-shui masters advocate the bulldozing and removal of fifty centimeters of topsoil from the original site and replacement of the old soil with clean soil. Removing earth possessed by spirits is one way to control noxious energy.

However, if a home has already been built upon the site, one can only use one the following "averting" methods:
~Taoist practitioners may use the "Nine Phoenix Pure Water Method that Removes Impurities." (This method was discussed on one of my previous books.)

~Buddhist practitioners may first chant the Great Compassion Dharani, to prepare the Great Compassion Dharani water, then sprinkled this water from the inside of the house to the outside. One should then prepare sections of green bamboo, shave off the skin, and write on each section the Earth God Mantra of "Om, du-lu, du-lu, de-wei, so-ha." One must then stick these bamboo sections into the earth surrounding the house, as a means to restrain the ominous energy. This signifies that spirits attached to the soil cannot disturb people living on that piece of land, nor can they enter into the land anymore.

~More conventional methods include the sprinkling of holy water by Catholic priests, the Taoist purification method, and the Buddhist rituals of compassionate chanting and Bardo Deliverance.

Not all homes afflicted with noxious spirits were built on land once occupied by temples, cemeteries, hospitals, battlefields, or execution grounds. I had once done a reading for a home with noxious spirits whose owner was a connoisseur of antiques. He had amassed a collection of antique beds, tables, shrine tables, and utensils, some of which had "spirits" attached to them. His whole family had been thrown into turmoil without knowing the cause.

Also, certain areas attract noxious spirits simply because the earth chi is strongly "yin" to begin with. Spirits and ghosts love to assemble at such places; these include dark cinemas, deep and secluded valleys, unusual castles, and old houses.

Most feng-shui masters do not have cures for a home whose energy has been arrested by sspirits. My study of the spiritual world has given me insight into the "noxious spirits" that cause energy disturbances. Feng-shui is the art of balancing the magnetic, subtle energy field of a house or building. If the energy of the house's magnetic field flows smoothly, its inhabitants feel peace and comfort. If this magnetic field is disturbed, chaos arises, and people living in the house experience agitation and roadblocks in their relationships.

Noxious spirits are invisible. According to The Spirits of Earth Magic, the presence of noxious spirits means the house is haunted. For ordinary people, it is better to avoid living in such haunted houses. However, I, Living Buddha Lian-sheng love to live in haunted places because I can convert the disruptive vibrations of these entities into harmonious frequencies. By befriending the ghosts, they become one's helpers. Feng-shui professionals need not fear noxious spirits as they can be recruited to increase business, harmony, and success in one's life.

Source:
http://www.padmakumara.org/books/book69/chap3.shtml

Chapter 04 : Avoiding Living on Odd Shaped Lots

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

What are odd shaped lots? Odd shaped lots are incomplete of fractional lots. In terms of the five elements:
1. Round shaped lots are associated with metal.
2. Rectangular lots are associtated with wood.
3. Broom or irregularly shaped lots are associated with water.
4. Triangular lots are associated with fire.

Square lots are associated with earth.
In urban areas, most odd shaped lots are triangular or irregularly shaped, and neither is suitable for residence.

It is difficult to design floor plans for triangular shaped houses, and the disorderly and asymmetrical pattern of irregularly shaped houses also poses problems to the design of a harmonious floor plan. In selecting lots, one should avoid odd shaped lots, even though they may be cheaper. These lots invite noxious chi, and people living in them are gradually subjected to noxious influences and may develop "fragmentation." A comparison may be made between the shape of a house and that of a human being. An incomplete lot is analogous to a person with missing or deformed limbs and facial features.
A triangular lot with one of its apexes positioned in the front invites "huo-sha" [noxious fire energy], and its two sides, the left and the right, invite "feng-sha" [noxious wind energy]. An irregularly shaped house, due to the presence of too many angles, invite harm to oneself or others. Therefore, in purchasing a lot to build a home, one should look for a square, rectangle, or circle and stay away from odd shaped lots. An odd shaped lot may be considered for the construction of commercial buildings, as long as no one lives there.
A common element shared by most odd shaped lots is the presence of one or more protruding features. Protruding features are associated with extremely strong energy forces, and inhabitants who live for a long time in such houses come under these influences and become extreme in their presonalities. The magnitic or subtle energy field of such sites is "strong and chaotic" and may also increase the risk of accidents for the inhabitants.

People living in houses with strong magnetic forces do not experience peacfulness. If it is a commercial building, such as a bank, hospital, supermarket, or department store, (where there is a great deal of foot traffic), then a strong magnetic force might actually be beneficial. An expert feng-shui master would know the method to divert the excessively strong energy in an auspicious direction and thus bring more business to the merchants.

On the other hand, if the excessively strong magnetic force of an odd shaped lot is not directed in an auspicious direction, the strong force will attract scoundrels with ill intentions resulting in bank robberies, medical disputes, burglaries, and frauds, which are most abhorred by businesses. A "dynamic force of vitality" indicated auspiciousness. In contrast, the occurence of crimes such as arson, murder, rape, and lascivious behaviors at such properties is an indication of the presence of noxious energy.

If the strong subtle energy can be guided in an auspicious direction, it will result in a "dynamic vitality." If it is led, instead, in an inauspicious direction, it will result in horrible crimes. An expert feng-shui master would be someone with the knowledge to direct the earth chi.

I performed a feng-shui reading for a family whose house was built on an odd shaped lot. When I met them, the family was extremely down on its luck. The inhabitants had already been involved in five different car accidents, some of which were quite serious. Also, every member of the household displayed some kind of neurotic behavior. I noted that these harmful effects were caused by the triangular shaped house in which they lived.

The family members had hot tempers and were easily provoked to anger. The owner and his wife quarreled daily, and their children were involved in gang activities. Such extreme behavior develops over time from the influence of noxious wind energy from the two sides of the triangle. The house was built upon a triangular lot formed by intersecting roads.

I noticed that the bedrooms were all pointed in the front and wide at the rear, due to the constraints of the house shape. I told the owner, "Your daughters will become men's mistresses."
"Master Lian-sheng, your psychic reading is extremely correct."
"It is not from my psychic reading. When one's bedroom is lopsided, one, of course, cannot become a legal wife but only someone's mistress," I responded. The owner's two daughters, who were quite beautiful, had both fallen in love with married men. Besides their involvement with gang members, they seemed especially attracted to married men.
"What is there to do?" The owner was quite sad.
"Do not continue to live on an odd shaped lot. It is better to move. Find a nice, quite house somewhere else and convert this house into a shop. This would benefit both you and the house."

I, Living Buddha Lian-sheng, believe it is best to stay away from odd shaped lots because they possess both the characteristics of "fluidity" and "extremeness" which embody violence and chaos. Whenever such lots are used for commercial buildings, an expert feng-shui master should be consulted to ensure the proper guiding of the "chaotic chi" in an auspicious direction. If the "chaotic chi" is not carefully handled, it may bring violence instead of harmony. Such noxious disharmony can be extremely fierce. Just the thought of such upheavals is enough to make one shudder.

Source:
http://www.padmakumara.org/books/book69/chap4.shtml

Chapter 05 : Keys to the Selection of Home Sites

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

Apart from the "high peaked," "low and overshadowed," "haunted by noxious spirits," and "odd shaped" sites mentioned in the previous chapters, there are many other places that are inauspicious and thus unsuitable for building homes. In selecting a site, it is essential that one consult an expert feng-shui master and invite him or her to give the place a thorough reading.

In places where the soil is predominantly sandy, the building of homes is not advised. Earth chi dissipates quickly in sand, and therefore such places lack an abundance of earth chi. One may also rule out rocky ground because earth chi also dissipates quickly there. Sites with an absence of "nurturing chi" can cause more harm than good.

Soil with good earth chi is part clay and part ordinary soil. There should be enough cohesiveness in the soil for it to form a clump when held and clenched in a fist.

It is also best if the rear of the lot is slightly more elevated than the front. Such a geographical feature indicates the presence of a "back support" as well as having a "proper receptacle" for receiving the converging earth chi. Houses on such sites are sitting properly on "chairs" provided by the great earth.

Before constructing the house, one should inspect the right and left sides of the site for any geographical "armrests." "Armrests" represents "guards" as well as "benefactors," and they also symbolize the "storing and accumulation of chi," indicating that help will come in many forms.

A desirable front view from the house consists of a wide vista that is flat or sloping slightly forward, as long as there are no broken cliffs or deep hollows. It is even better if the vista includes a scenic lake in the distance. Having other houses situated directly across from one's house is fine as long as one's front door does not directly face the corner of any house. Actually, the four major rules for selecting a tomb site may also be applied to the selection of a residence. These are: "having back support," "having armrests on the left and right sides," "having a 'reflective' body of water in the front," and "having an island in the water." These four principles for selecting a "yin abode" [for the deceased] are the same as those for selecting a "yang abode" [for the living].

Building sites in cities are generally quite flat, but by observing the direction of the flow of rivers or other water-courses, one may determine which spot is more elevated and which is lower. Pay attention to the cohesiveness of the soil. Scan buildings on both sides to see if they are neat and pleasant to the eye. Take into consideration the possibility of any front view obstructions occurring after the house is completed. As one generally plans to live for a long time in a custom built home on a selected site, a beautiful view day-in and day-out helps soothe one's mind. On the other hand, if the front view is a garbage dump, an electrical pole, the corner of somebody's house, or a chicken farm, it may create obstructions and unpleasantness in the atmosphere and cause roadblocks in the emotional well-being of the whole family. The earth chi may also be destroyed if one grows vegetables or other crops in front of the house, digs a manure pit in front, and uses chicken manure stored in the pit to fertilize the plants. One should be wary of and pay particular attention to these other features, which also have great bearing on the earth chi: a garbage incinerator in front of the house, a chimney in front of the house, and temples in front or behind the house.
Before purchasing a site, one needs to find out about the history of the land. Paddy fields, dry farmlands, woods, farms, factories, pastures, roads, and grasslands are auspicious. Sites after fire disasters, hundred-year-old houses, execution grounds, cemeteries, temples, hospitals, crematoriums, isolated tomb sites, and historial monuments are inauspicious for building homes.

If one wants to build a home on land where there has been a chiken farm, livestock ranch, or pig farm, one must dig up fifty centimeters of the top soil and replace it with clean earth. Once this is done, the land wil be all right.

If one must build a home on land occupied by noxious spirits, one should avert future obstacles by first making peace with the spirits and having the land cleansed. Buddhist monks or nuns may be invited to chant sutras to help deliver the spirits and pray for peacefulness.

When I, Living Buddha Lian-sheng, do feng-shui readings for residences, I always first inspect the land before the house itself. This is to study the overall earth energy. If the overall energy is vigorous, people living there will definitely prosper. If the overall energy is weak, the luck of the occupants will definitely go downhill. Big houses should be paired with strong earth chi, while small houses must be paired with earth chi that matches the smaller size.

Building a small house on land with great earth energy is a waste. Building a grand home on land with weak earth energy invites decline.

Another factor to consider is that, in urban areas, roads radiate in all directions. Cars speeding on the roads also contribute to the overall atmosphere of the environment. Some roads are straight while others zigzag and are winding.

Straight roads can cause the problem of "an oncoming charge of chi directed at one." Winding roads can create "an outside the bow situation" specific to curves.

It is best to avoid building homes on sites that are charged by oncoming roads or on the convex side or outside of a curve. I shall explain these factors in detail in a later chapter. (A site facing an oncoming road may be used for the building of a police station, civic hall, or temple.)

I am aware that, to this day, some people still regard feng-shui as mere superstition. The truth is, feng-shui is not superstition, but rather the study of the environment at a profound level. A beautiful environment naturally leads to beautifying of the mind and spirit. When one's mind and spirit are in peace and harmony, one will succeed in one's endeavors. After all, when Mencius [a sage and student of Confucius] was a child, his mother relocated their household three times, just so she could find a perfect and beautiful environment to raise him in.

What this chapter consists of are of course only the most basic principles in selecting a home site. There are many detailed and more profound principles that I will go into in the future, as the opportunities arise. It is my hope that this book will provide a clear introduction of feng-shui to its readers.

Source :
http://www.padmakumara.org/books/book69/chap5.shtml

Chapter 06: Nature Thrives in the Essence of Love and Perishes in its Absence

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

The most famous verse written by Master Hung-jen, the Fifth Zen Patriarch, is as follows:
Seeds sowed with the essence of love,
Grow to bear fruits;
In the absence of the essence of love or seeds,
Neither nature nor life exists.

This verse is also most appropriate when applied to the art of household feng-shui. According to The Secrets of Earth Magic, the decisive factor determining the prosperity or failure of a house is the "essence of love" or the absence of it.

With the essence of love or affection - the household thrives.
Without the essence of love or affection - the household declines.

This quality, this "essence of love," can be detected in a house just as it can be detected in a flower. When a flower blooms lusciously, exuding a wonderful fragrance, it is in its most beautiful and glorious moment. When a flower is wilted and lifeless, its petals brittle and dry, we know instinctively that it has come to its moment of decline.

In the study of human faces, a vital and healthy complexion with expressive eyes full of sensitivity indicates the "essence of love." One the other hand, a face that is expressionless, listless, grayish or pale with little vitality is a face indicative of the absence of the "essence of love." The idiom "a widow's face" has been used conventionally to describe someone completely devoid of youthful vigor and passion.

In analyzing residences, it is a great art to distinguish one with the "essence of love" from ones that do not have this essence. When the exterior of a house appears lively and dynamic, without any clashing elements, it can be described simply as having the "essence of love." Many houses with multiple protruding angles also may look very dynamic, but if clashing features exist everywhere, then they lack the "essence of love."

Houses that are too overbearing, greatly flawed, unpleasantly plain, or look ridiculous and unreasonable belong to the category of houses that "lack the essence of love."

A true feng-shui practitioner can observe a house's exterior and quickly determine whether or not it has the "essence of love." This knowledge is gained only after many years of keen observation and practice. Upon seeing a house, an experienced feng-shui master can assess with certainty whether the "essence of love" exists.

I, Living Buddha Lian-sheng, feel that the judging process is one that depends entirely on one's senses and cannot be conveyed through words. It is a skill that requires years of field training to develop. Experienced masters know what to look for, while inexperienced ones will not be able to put their finger on it. A truly capable feng-shui master can, with a "sniff" of the house, know if the "essence of love" exists or not by observing its chi. This is the secret key to the studying of a house's exterior.

In addition, a house's "essence of love" also depends on the "magnetic birth orientation" of its owner. Every individual is born with two major "lucky" and two major "unlucky" orientations within the 360 directional points of the compass.

When the orientation of a house is compatible with the magnetic birth orientation of the owner, (i.e., if the orientation of the house correlates to an orientation that is favorable to the owner), then the "essence of love" exists in that house.

When the orientation of a house is not compatible with the magnetic birth orientation of the owner, then the house lacks the "essence of love."

Therefore feng-shui professionals generally base their judgement of a house on how favorable its orientation is in relationship to the owner. If the orientation of a house is compatible with the owner, then it will bring great fortune and prosperity. If there are clashes or incompatible situations, then misfortune and disaster will follow. This is entirely based on the theories and principles of "magnetic birth orientation."

In general, feng-shui masters use the system of twelve directional points in which the twelve Earthly Branches are matched with twelve of the specific directional points of a compass. Every person is born under one of the twelve Earthly Branches, each of which has an animal symbol attached to it. The twelve Earthly Branches are: tzu, ch'ou, yin, mao, ch'en, su, wu, wei, shen, yu, hsu, and hai. However, some feng-shui masters also prefer to use the system of twenty-four directional points. Still others prefer to use the Nine Star or Eight Directional methods. My personal feeling is that the twelve directional points method is most correct, although a combination of various methods may also be used.

Therefore, in my opinion, the two basic elements used to determine the luck of a house are its "orientation" and "external appearance." If the orientation of a house is favorable to the owner of the house, then the next thing to consider is its exterior. Before building a house, one might consider consulting a true feng-shui expert because the exterior appearance of a house often determines whether there will be the presence or absence of the "essence of love," peacefulness or misfortune, and auspiciousness or disasters.

I was once invited to do a feng-shui reading for a western-style villa. After walking once around the house, I spoke with certainty to the owner, "Whoever lives in this house has tumors in the body."
The owner asked in astonishment, "Master, how do you know?"
"How can I not know! There are tumors all throughout this house."

Later I found out that the mistress of the house had had tumors in her uterus, intestine (three of them), and the stomach as well. She has had numerous surgical operations!

The exterior appearance of a house plays a very important role. If it is dynamic, with smooth architectural lines that do not clash with the environment, then it has the "essence of love" and will definitely bring prosperity to its inhabitants. Otherwise, it will bring forth decline.

Nature thrives in the essence of love and perishes in its absence is indeed a golden saying.

Source:
http://www.padmakumara.org/books/book69/chap6.shtml

Chapter 07: Correlations Between a House and the Human Body

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

According to my guru Taoist Master Ch'ing Chen: "After living in the same house and having been subjected to the same environment and magnetic field for many years, a person gradually takes on the characteristics of his house."

In The Secrets of Earth Magic, the following comparisons are made between a house and the human body:
The front of a house is analogous to a person's facial features. The left and right sides are like the upper and lower limbs. The living room is analogous to the heart. The bathroom is like the kidneys. The kitchen is analogous to the liver. The bedroom is like the lungs. The dinning room is analogous to the spleen.

Based on the above analogies, defects in certain areas of a house can imperceptibly influence the health and fortunes of the head of the household. Of course, correlation between specific parts of a house and those of a human body cannot be one hundred percent accurate. Just as some people use the living room for dinning purposes and others have a bathroom installed inside their bedroom, there is sometimes not a clear cut division between the various functions of the rooms.

Yet, Taoist Master Ch'ing Chen told me that a feng-shui expert can indeed, after careful assessment of the house, determine its problems.

In the past, when I performed feng-shui readings for others, I often pointed out to my students structural features which constitute risks for "surgeries" and "abnormal growths." Shortcomings found in houses which present "surgical risks" are: incomplete enclosures around the house, a skylight in the roof, unbalanced windows in relation to the house, casual positioning of doors, too many doors leading to the outside, or inappropriate and unbalanced positioning of doors inside the house. All these are characteristics of "surgical cases."

Which structures pose risks for "abnormal growths," such as tumors or cancers? During the surveying of the house, pay attention to any "protruding features" which clash with the rest of the house. Look for things that do not match the house and look as if they were attached or added on (like a person carrying a backpack). The mismatch may be in size or in symmetry. One has to pay attention if such "protruding features" exist because they constitute a risk for abnormal growths.

I, Living Buddha Lian-sheng, am rather opposed to the idea of reconstructing or adding extensions to an existing building. For example, when there is nothing wrong with the original design of the inside of a house, owners often get the notion to have a certain part of the house pulled out and rebuilt. Or, they suddenly may decide to build a little adjoining house to the back of the big house. Once the little house is added, it completely changes the feng-shui of the entire structure.

One should know that structural renovations inside a house indicate "surgeries," while adding extensions to the outside of a house indicate "extra growths."

Sometimes, structural demolition and rebuilding of houses are done too casually. If the rebuilding and additions are appropriate, they do not matter. However, if new clashes are created, they become risks for surgeries or growths. This is because any demolition or rebuilding causes changes in the feng-shui and magnetic field of the house. If the changes create a better feng-shui and magnetic field, then they are fine. Otherwise, bad changes may be followed by great disasters.

Before initiating any structural renovation or extension, it would be best if one consulted with a feng-shui expert. The selection of an auspicious date from the Chinese almanac for the commencement of construction is very important. Structural renovations or extensions, like surgical operations, can do great harm to the body if botched.

I personally pay careful attention to house repairs. If a window is broken, a pipe is leaking, a wall is cracked, water or electricity is not running, or any household appliance is broken, one should have them repaired as soon as possible. These minor repairs do not cause any change or threat to feng-shui. However, if they remain un-repair inside the house for a long time, they can affect one's psychological well-being and, consequently, one's fortunes. Therefore, try not to store any broken items in the house. If there are any problems with the water or electrical supply, have them repaired as quickly as possible.

There is an analogy between house repairs and preventive health care. A minor cold, if not taken care of, may worsen and develop into secondary pneumonia or even kidney problems.

I was once visiting with a friend, and I told him curtly, "Everyone in your family will undergo surgeries."
"Why?" asked the host.
"Because a hole has been dug right next to the stomach of your house."

The owner of the home had wanted a shortcut from the street to his house, so he had had the wall closest to the street demolished, creating a special driveway while keeping the second level of the house intact.

Strangely, in each of the three years following the creation of the new driveway, a family member had undergone surgery. The host asked me if there was any way to resolve the problem without taking out the driveway.

I picked a "Man" [meaning full] date from the Chinese almanac and performed a "repair ritual" to erect an invisible wall. As expected, from then on, no one in the family has required surgery. The "repair ritual" indeed works wonders.

Source:
http://www.padmakumara.org/books/book69/chap7.shtml

Chapter 08 : Balance is Auspiciousness

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

Someone once asked me, "Among the many house forms, which kind is best?"

I replied, "Any form that is balanced is auspicious."

At first glance, it might seem that an architecturally balanced form would be a simple concept to detect, but, in reality, it can be quite complicated.

Some people enjoy novel and unusual designs and have built houses in strange looking shapes. As long as these designs comply and do not clash with the principle of the constructive movements of the Five Elements, then these may still be considered balanced designs. For example, in Tantric Buddhism (based on the association between the five charkas and the Five Enlightened Wisdows) stupas symbolizing the five charkas have been constructed consisting, from top to bottom, of the following shapes: dome, elongated semi-circle, triangle, circle, and square.

The Five Elements are fire, wood, water, metal, and earth. According to the principle of the constructive movements of the Five Elements, earth generates metal, metal generates water, water generates wood, and wood generates fire. Using this principle, one can build structures based on shapes of the Five Elements, arrange in a clockwise fashion, and devise novel, unusual, and original designs.

Generally, unless one seeks to be deliberately "stylish," any conventionally balanced house is very auspicious.

One important aspect that needs to be taken into consideration is the balance of the "dragon side" and the "tiger side" of the house. When standing at the front door facing outside, the "dragon side" is to your left and the "tiger side" to your right. The ideal condition is to have the "dragon" and "tiger" balanced.

A tall dragon may be balanced by a long tiger, or a long dragon balanced by a tall tiger. Geomancers generally consider a taller or longer dragon to be auspicious and a taller or longer tiger to be inauspicious.

The most auspicious house shape has a "green dragon" and a "white tiger" matching and in balance.

There is a feng-shui verse that states?

When a sharp peak emerges from White Tiger Hill,
The wife will definitely abuse the husband.

This verse describes a situation in which the white tiger is taller than the green dragon. It also implies that a servant may dominate his master, or that there may be a reversal of roles between the male and female with the yin overpowering the yang. As a result, the environment may be one of disharmony and imbalanced with earth energy that invites the malign force of "sha-chi," portending great misfortunes.

I once perfomed a feng-shui reading for the abbot of a monastery. The monastery, with its back NNE, faced the SSW direction, with the feng-shui compass indicating the trigram "ken." Water at the front of the monastery flowed from east to south (from the chen position of the Later Heaven Sequence to the ch'ien position of the Former Heaven Sequence, as shown on the compass.) There was no prominant topographical armrest on either side of the monastery, and I also noticed that the abbot's living quarters was not located at a commanding position, but rather at a site right below the White Tiger Hill.

I asked the abbot, "Who lives in the White Tiger Hill?'
"The disciples," he replied.
"Soon your post will be taken from you," I said to him.
"Why?"
"The circumstance here is that of a subordinate overtaking the master; it will only be a matter of time before you lose your position."

The abbot was an honest monk, and he was visibly saddened by my feng-shui assessment. Several years later, however, I heard he was no longer the abbot of the monastery.

A taller or longer white tiger signifies the presence of an overpowering force. Most people living in places with a high White Tiger Hill will gradually develop nervousness, power cravings, competitiveness, or start harboring dark schemes against others. In short, there will be no auspiciousness or peace in such a situation.

When buying land to build a house, one must figure out clearly which direction the house will face, as the direction the front door faces plays an extremely critical role. It is best that the direction be favorable to one as determined by one's date of birth. Pay attention to the matching of the green dragon and white tiger. Do not allow the white tiger to be taller or to stand out because this signifies great misfortunes. It will be too late for regrets once disasters occur.

Of course, there are Taoist and Tantric methods to avert and remedy bad feng-shui situations such as this. These methods belong to either the "suppression category" or the "remedy category" and may provide temporary resolutions.

General feng-shui practitioners may be able to assess a situation and offer resolutions, but they may not neccessarily understand that implicated in the art and science of feng-shui are the principles of Tai Chi, Two Forms, Four Appearances, Five Elements, Eight Triagrams, and other principles governing the workings of the universe. In a place where there is a clash or assault of noxious chi, one can transform the adverse situation into a peaceful one using the "suppression method." Such remedies, in fact, not only avert disasters, but may result in great benefits as well. Their efficacies are indeed inconceivable.

At places (on the dragon side of buildings) where I, Living Buddha Lian-sheng, have installed stone tablets for the dragon spirit, people have often seen golden and green lights. Some have even seen the dragon and heard it roaring sounds. Lights bright as the sun and moon have been observed emanating from the sites. To resolve the problem posed by a white tiger that is too tall, it is necessary to install, on the dragon side, Living Buddha Lian-sheng's green dragon stone tablet.

Source:
http://www.padmakumara.org/books/book69/chap8.shtml

Chapter 09 : Outside the Bow and Inside the Bow

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

"Outside the bow" - When we raise a bow and mount an arrow on the string of the bow, the area pointed at by the arrowhead is considered "outside the bow."

"Inside the bow" - When we raise a bow and mount an arrow on the string of the bow, the segment of the bow is considered "inside the bow."

In simple terms, a bow is an arc. The area enclosed by an arc is called "inside the bow."

For example, we can draw a circle and place a house inside this circle. The house would be "inside the bow," no matter which direction it faces. On the contrary, houses outside the circle are all located in an "outside the bow" position. In terms of topography, watercourses, roads, and buildings can give rise to "outside the bow" situations.

An "outside the bow" situation created by a watercourse occurs when a meandering river flowing in front of one's house forms a curve, and the house is located outside the curve. An "outside the bow" situation created by a road occurs when a meandering road in front of one's house forms a curve, and the house is located outside the curve.

An "outside the bow" situation created by another building is a situation that happens to houses located in the vicinity of large circular shaped stadiums, as they are all located outside a curve.

In household feng-shui, houses enclosed by a topographical or structural curve are located "inside the bow." An "inside the bow" position is one that is being nurtured by "affection" and will see great prosperity.

In contrast, houses located on the outside of a curve created by landforms or other structures are in the path of forces bouncing off the curve. Such "outside the bow" houses lack the essence of "affection" and will see decline.

In general, three phenomena can be created by a landform or building structure: "inside the bow," "outside the bow," and "straight." The latter situation occurs when the watercourse or road that passes in front of one's house is straight, and there is no curved building in front on one's house.

A true feng-shui practitioner will select "inside the bow" sites to build homes and avoid constructing houses in areas that are "outside the bow." This is because "outside the bow" sites are like "targets" being aimed at by arrows and under the assault of malign forces from all directions. In terms of earth energy, such sites are directly confronted by "sha-chi" or noxious chi from all sides. When one is under the invisible ill influences of "sha-chi," one will definitely encounter great disasters or major accidents.

I, Living Buddha Lian-sheng, have noticed that many contemporary luxury homes have been built "outside the bow," facing the direct aim of arrowheads. I could not help by sigh at these luxurious "masterpieces" designed by professional feng-shui consultants. I shudder to think that such feng-shui professionals can be so ignorant and incompetent! I knew of one rich man whose home had been built "outside the bow." Originally a powerful businessman, immediately after moving into his new home, he was seriously injured in a car accident. After the incident, his business also suffered great setbacks and orders for his company took a nosedive. The disastrous "outside the bow" position also caused his employees to embezzle money from him. It was quite a sad state of affairs, and soon after, the large, luxurious mansion became vacant.

I find that many contemporary feng-shui practitioners like to pay particular attention to the direction a house faces. They favor houses with front doors facing southeast, south, or east. Houses facing southwest, northeast, and west are undesirable, while those facing northwest and north are average. Thus many feng-shui practitioners concentrate on juggling the direction faced by the front door.

The correlation between the orientation of a house and the magnetic birth orientation of an individual is of course important, but whether a house is located with its front door facing the outside of a bow or the inside of a bow is even more important.

I would like to stress:
"Inside the bow" = Great Auspiciousness
"Outside the bow" = Great Misfortune
If one has already purchase a site that is "outside the bow" on which to build a home, or if one has already built a home on a site that is "outside the bow," how can this be remedied?

A true feng-shui master will offer the following two resolutions:
1. "Copying the same curvature" - For example, a large building located outside a ring can adopt a curved design to its structure. A design conforming to the same curvature as the topographical curve is the best method to prevent the ill influences of an "outside the bow" situation. Adopting the same curvature on the building structure will render the "sha-chi" ineffective.

2. "Equal retaliation" - For example, design the building in the vicinity of a circle in a curve form that has the same but opposite curvature as the circle. The malign forces directed toward one by the curve of the circle will be rebounded by a similar curve inherent in one's house design. The forces generated by the two "outside the bow" positions will cancel each other out.

I deeply feel that there is an intimate relationship between an "inside the bow" position and the presence of "essence of affection," as well as between an "outside the bow" position and the absence of "essence of affection." This is a relationship that involves the principle of earth energy and its movements. Based on personal experience studying the various elements of topography and landscape, one can judge if a house is auspicious or not. The levels to be considered are very complicated but, when each level is analyzed, one can determine if a house is "within the bow," "outside the bow," or "straight." By carefully studying the phenomenon of "inside the bow," "outside the bow," and "straight," one will discover great and mysterious correlations among "heaven," "earth," and "men."

Source:
http://www.padmakumara.org/books/book69/chap9.shtml