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During the course of my practice, I am frequently approached by people with the same query, "I have done the vastu of my place and I would now like to opt for feng shui." To my ears it is akin to: "I am contemplating having dal makhani with chicken noodles for dinner." While appreciating fusion food is the new rave, some mixtures are best left alone. Unlike fusion food it is impossible to have fusion geomancy, as both vastu and feng shui have underlying differences that prevent the simultaneous use of both. Without advocating one system over the other, my advice is to follow either feng shui or vastu, but not both.
In this article I compare both systems, drawing out the differences and similarities between vastu and feng shui by considering site selection, time dimensions and doors.
A basic similarity between vastu and feng shui is they deal with the common subject of geomancy. Indian geomancy is vastu, while Chinese geomancy is feng shui. The word vastu etymologically means 'the place where people dwell'. In vedic terms vas means dwell also vastu means earth. The earliest records of applied vastu can be found in the Rigveda*.
The literal translation of the word feng shui is wind (feng) and water (shui) and the earliest records of feng shui or kan yu can be found in the Shu Ching**.
Division of vastu and feng shui
Vastu is primarily divided into two branches: devalaya vastu (temple vastu) and graha vastu (house vastu). Graha vastu is sub-divided into the building of palaces, forts, ordinary houses, and landscaping. Feng shui can also be divided into two branches: yin house feng shui (burial feng shui) and yang house feng shui (house feng shui). Both the branches can be further sub-divided into San he feng shui (landscape feng shui) and San Yuan feng shui (time dimension feng shui). Both San he and San yuan are applied in ordinary houses, commercial places, landscaping, palaces, burial sites and forts.
Site selection
Both feng shui and vastu use site selection as a tool for choosing a location. In vastu site selection is done by testing the soil of the site with reference to taste (rasa), touch (sparsa), colour (varna) and smell (gandha). If all four factors are in agreement then the site is called uttam ( or best quality).
In feng shui it is the formation of the dragons (mountains), the waterways (incoming and outgoing) and the location that determine the quality of a site. The colour of the soil is in turn used to assess the quality of the dragon (mountain). A common feature of both systems is that for a house to be blessed with prosperity the site has to be of good quality.
Time dimension
Time dimension plays a crucial part in vastu and feng shui, but in different ways. In feng shui time determines the quality of property and if it is wang (prosperous) or sheng (auspicious), then the property is deemed good. Flying stars is one of the methods used to calculate the time dimension. Time is also used to determine the kind of qi a house receives, if the house receives wang qi then the house is deemed prosperous. Time also determines which areas are suitable or unsuitable for construction, renovation, repair work (i.e. the date selection method).
By contrast only date selection is more commonly used in Vastu. Certain months are considered inauspicious to start construction work in certain areas. However, unlike feng shui, vastu does not have a dynamic concept of time. Generally a house is considered auspicious if it faces any of the cardinal directions and inauspicious if it faces the sub-cardinal directions.
Doors
Vastu gives the location, numbers and the nature of doors a lot of importance. Guidance can be found in the ancient text of Brihat Samhita*** and Matsya Purana***. Nature includes the quality of wood, nature of wood, shape and size of the door. Location of doors should be in the cardinal points and not the sub-cardinal points. Numbers indicate the number of doors a house should have. Vastu even considers having a door exactly on the cardinal points (e.g. - 0 degrees for North) to be auspicious.
By contrast in feng shui, the location and direction of the door play a major role. In feng shui the door is the mouth of the house therefore the internal feng shui of the house is determined by the quality of the qi that enters through the mouth. If the qi that enters is sha qi (evil qi) or dead qi (out of time qi) or any of the other inauspicious qi's then the quality of the house is reduced. Also if we mix the methods in feng shui then the blend is between the house, the surroundings of the house, the time period and the directions that are suitable for the owner. These directions are calculated through the date of birth of the owner (Visit Ba zhai page).
One of the methods in feng shui (death and emptiness lines) considers the exact cardinal or sub-cardinal points (e.g. - 0 degrees for North) to be highly inauspicious especially for houses. While selecting the position or facing even the external formation(surrounding environment) is taken into consideration. Feng shui has formulae which are applicable while selecting the position or location of the door keeping in mind the direction.
Therefore, Vastu predetermines whether the location of a door is auspicious or not, while in feng shui a combination of factors such as the house, the surroundings of the house, the time period and the directions that are suitable for the owner determine this.
To be continued.
* One of the four ancient vedic texts.
** One of the five Chinese classics.
*** Ancient vedic texts.
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