Feng Shui and Cooking

I read an article written by Jan Cisek about what Feng Shui is - Philosophy, Art or Science. The author uses different metaphors to support his idea that there is no ‘authentic’ Feng Shui and that anything that works is good Feng Shui practice.

He says, “Feng Shui is like cooking. There are lots of different styles of cooking. They all work, in context. But there is not one ‘authentic’ way of cooking, is there? "

Well, there is! Although there is no ‘authentic’ way of cooking, there are basic principles that must be followed in cooking. There are certain steps a good cook must follow to prepare delicious food.

The principle is that the food must be well presented, must smell good and must be tasty. In Chinese it is called 色 香 味 俱 全.

The steps to follow are:
1. Selection of fresh and good raw materials.
2. The right temperature must be used in preparing every dish.
3. The moisture in the food must be retained and not lost in cooking.
4. The recipe must make sure that the various ingredients go well with each other.
5. The sauce must bring out the taste of the food but not to cover up the original taste.
6. The presentation must be good looking.
7. The fragrant of the food must arouse the appetite of people.
8. The nutrition of the food must help people to be healthy.

There are different recipes and different ways of presentation. Yet, they all must satisfy the basic principle and the essential steps.

In Feng Shui, it is the same. There are different formulas. There are different ways to practice Feng Shui. However, the result must help people to enjoy harmony and success. Parallel to the eight steps in cooking, we have:

1. Selection of site - a beautiful environment.
2. A good design to receive wind and light.
3. The house must retain sheng qi.
4. The formula used must bring yang qi to meet yin qi in a loving manner.
5. The decoration must be beautiful.
6. The landscaping must be nice and appropriate.
7. People must feel the good qi and fall in love with the house.
8. There is active qi to help people to create fortune and inactive qi to enjoy success.

These "steps" can be refined as they just popped up from my mind. These are the draft of guidelines to follow when we practice Feng Shui. There is "authentic" Feng Shui.

JY