International holidays - International Feng Shui Awareness Day

April 8 is celebrated as International Feng Shui Day In recent decades, the Taoist practice of symbolic exploration of space has become a real fashion trend People in different countries build houses and arrange furniture inside according to the rules of Feng Shui, although few of them realize that we are not talking about simple principles of interior design, but about a deep philosophy based on the principle of the unity of man and nature Feng Shui is an ancient Taoist practice that teaches a person to live in harmony with the world around him "Feng" is translated as "winds", and "shui" - streams The basis of this practice is maintaining balance in the exchange of energy between man and nature This practice dates back more than 3,500 years Europe was first introduced to Feng Shui by the famous sinologist Ernst Eitel, who lived and worked in China for a long time He was a participant in a Christian mission in a foreign land After his return, Eitel published a book entitled Feng Shui, or the Rudiments of Natural Science in China Following Eitel, several other Sinologists published similar works, in which a lot of attention was paid to the study of Feng Shui It should be noted that in the last century, Chinese practices were viewed with condescending ridicule in the West This is easy to see even in the title of Eitel’s book, who called Feng Shui a “rudiment” - what our ancestors needed, and what continues to exist solely by inertia You should also separate real Feng Shui from the practice that has become widespread in the West Classical Feng Shui was deliberately simplified by Thomas Lin Yu in 1986 An American of Chinese origin taught its basics at US universities and created an esoteric version, which subsequently went to the masses Thomas Lin Yu divided the space into zones of wealth, love, children, career and so on According to esoteric Feng Shui, it is enough to place a special figurine in a certain area to activate it You can also turn the bed and voila, life will miraculously improve immediately In real feng shui, neither amulets nor talismans are used, and the direction of energy flows is determined individually for each individual place The colors of objects and their shape have no effect on qi - the energy of life, which will be discussed further What is harmony? In the understanding of the ancients, and many modern Chinese, it is a balance of energy between man and nature Once upon a time, a state of harmony was natural for people They did not demand much and felt happy at the same time Over time, this balance began to break down People began to build tall houses and isolate themselves from the outside world This process took many centuries And today we have skyscrapers that touch the skies We have acquired a lot of smart gadgets Everyone has a job, a family, a home, a lack of time and a rare vacation once a year The connection with nature was lost Man himself has created so many benefits, he already needs a lot, but he is no longer happy Feng Shui was essentially developed to maintain balance when people began to lose this subtle connection with nature This system arose from the teachings of Chinese philosophers of the Song Dynasty Nature, in their understanding, was one living organism in which everything is interconnected The breath that gives life to animals, birds, fish and humans is qi energy It is she who permeates everything around and it is with her that the world began Chi energy is the great principle of life, separating the living from the non-living It is poetically called “the breath of the Dragon” Qi generates life and after death, everything that was once alive returns to it It is divided into yin and yang, two opposites that also exist in balance with each other Qi is also classified into five wu xing - wood, fire, earth, metal and water Elements that provide the interconnection of all existing objects and phenomena There are two qi in a person - the original one, which was inherited from the parents, and the acquired one The first one is not replenished It is gradually consumed over time The acquired one enters the body along with food, air and water Together with the inherited one, it forms true qi This energy is constantly in motion, but if the path of flow is blocked, then the balance is upset, the person begins to feel bad, and a dark streak comes in his life Qi is dispersed by the wind, but water can hold it The classical practice of feng shui teaches how to manipulate the vital energy qi