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Comparative study on vastu and feng shui continued.
Vastu shastra is the study of the vastu purusa. Describing vastu purusa is hard but it can be counted as the spirit of the house. According to Indian geomancy each house has a living force within it called the vastu purusa.
As seen in the image the vastu purusa is said to have six bones, a single heart, four vunerable points and four vessels. His head lies face to the ground towards the Northeast. Vastu purusa is viewed as a male figure tightly coiled in a mandukapadam or 64 equal square grids. He is said to be responsible for all good and bad fortunes. Therefore it is essential that none of his limbs, his head or his heart (described by a divinity called Brahma) is disturbed.
Feng shui is the study of qi - how qi flows, where good qi is located, how different qi can effect us (for better or for worse), how different qi react with each other and how qi can be manipulated through various techniques (formulae) to obtain the optimal results for any given property.
Describing qi is again a hard task, but it can be counted as the living energy or the life giving force. Without qi there would be no life. The basic properties of qi is that it is omnipresent, it is carried by the movement of gentle winds and qi gets collected or can be retained by water, hence the name feng shui, which means wind and water. This forms the basic fundamentals of feng shui. There are five different types of qi called the five elements viz. water, wood, fire, earth and metal (To know more on five elements click here). The quality of qi can either be bad (sha qi) or good (sheng qi).
Understanding the concept of yin and yang (a term loosely used yet not fully understood) is necessary for the study of feng shui. Yang means movement, brightness, light, water etc. yin means stillness, darkness, night, mountain etc. Yin and yang cannot exist without each other. Yin contains a bit of yang and yang contains a bit of yin. To explain it simply, it means balance - too much light can be blinding at the same time absolute darkness can mean you cannot see. What is required is temperance or balance for you to see. That forms the essence of yin and yang. Qi can be either yin or yang.(To know more about yin yang click here. )
Directions
Vastu shastra has a total of eight directions viz the four cardinal points (North, South, East and West) and the four sub-cardinal points (Northeast, Southwest, Northwest and Southeast).
Feng shui takes into account twenty four directions also known as twenty four mountains. Each of the eight directions are further subdivided into 15 degrees each making it a total of twenty four directions. In some of the advanced feng shui formulae the study of a house can be based on 0.937 degrees (360 degrees divided by 384 [64 hexagrams x 6 yaos per hexagram]). Accuracy of the compass plays an important role while doing such fine study. That's the reason a good Lo Pan (Chinese compass) is always used by a feng shui practitioner.
Water
Both vastu shastra and feng shui pay a lot of importance to water as it is regarded as wealth in both the subjects.
In vastu shastra it is advisable to locate the well/sump in the Southwestern direction for houses facing North and East. For houses facing West or South the well/sump should be located in the Northeast side. Some contemporary authors and teachers recommend only the use of Northeast for constructing a well/sump. It is also said that the well and the house should have gap between them and the walls of the well should not touch the walls of the house.
Fountains are to be located in the North or the East direction and the minimum distance between the main door and the fountain should be more than the height of the door. The drainage system in vastu is simple. The water of the house has to flow out from either the North or the East side.
In feng shui, water is counted as wealth therefore a number of "wealth formulae" have been developed to get the optimal results from a site. Here again time dimension plays a crucial role. Water in certain directions during certain periods (a period comprises of twenty years, there are in total 9 periods making it a total of 180 years) is considered auspicious. During this period called the period 8 (2004 - 2024) according to one of the water formula (zheng shen ling shen) it is auspicious to have water either in the Southwest, East or North direction. According to the same formula it is inauspicious to have water in the Northeast direction. Water here means an open space, lake, pond, river etc.
In feng shui, drains are built around the house to bring in wealth. This is not the house drains that carries the dirty water out but instead clean water is circulated around the house to bring in prosperity. The direction the water flows (left to right or right to left) and the direction as well as the location the water enters through or leaves the property plays a crucial role in feng shui. Here again all aspects are determined based on the facing of the house or property. It is wise to note that not all houses can have or need to have water.
Rooms
In vastu shastra, the location of the rooms is predetermined. The puja room (the shrine) is generally located in the Northeast direction. The kitchen is usually located in the Southeast and the dining hall in the West. There are two options for the bedroom the Southwest and the South. The East side of the house should be kept open and could have an open courtyard. The study room should be located towards the North, also the treasury or the house chest can be placed in this location. The Northwest is an ideal place for the store room and can be the second location for placing God's shrine.
In feng shui, nothing is predetermined. All depends on the period the house was built on and the direction it faces - this helps in determining the quality of qi in each room/area which is calculated through the flying stars system and ba zhai pai in feng shui; the year the owner of the house was born - this also plays a role in selecting the auspicious and inauspicious rooms for the person and in placement of furniture; the external environment - this helps in determining the auspiciousness of the site (an excellent flying star chart without the correct environment is only half auspicious).
In conclusion I would like to say that on the surface it might look as if vastu and feng shui can be blended but when one delves deeper into both the subjects the blend is not a possibility.
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