Do you believe in Feng Shui?

[iekkim]

I come from a Chinese family and although we don't fully rely on Feng Shui, my parents think that there is no harm in conforming to what was advised. Sort of like, "there's no loss in trying".

 

I was just curious if you guys, Chinese or non-Chinese folks, believe and follow Feng Shui.

[abcdefg]

Wish I knew more about it. "Study Feng Shui" needs to go on my to-do list.

[imron]

2 hours ago, iekkim said:

"there's no loss in trying".

Unless you are paying a Feng Shui master to advise you, then your loss is his/her gain, and there are plenty of charlatans willing to take your money.

[Lu]

I don't believe in it as such, but 1) there is a lot of common sense in it, so often there is something to be gained by placing your bed here and your chair there and not the other way around; and 2) I'm superstitious. So when reasonably possible, I follow it.

 

Anecdote: from what I know, one shouldn't have the entrance of a building on a corner. Not sure if this is feng shui or ghost theory, but a corner door, on two roads at the same time, is bad luck. On the corner of the street where I used to live there was a bar, with the door on the corner. In the six years I lived there, the bar changed hands and names at least four times. Whatever the name or the owner, the bar was usually empty. A few years ago the place was converted into an apartment - apparently whoever owned it gave up on ever running a succesfull bar there. I'm really curious about the life of whoever is living in there. I wonder if they're happy.

[Shelley]

I think it has some merit on a practical level, I don't think it is something I "believe in" because that would imply something supernatural, and for me it is purely a practical thing.

 

I think it has developed over the years into the form it is now to enable the people who study the methods to make a living from it. To cloud it in mysticism and myth gives credence to paying a knowledgeable person for it. Also the little rituals and methods used are an aid to remembering how it works.

If you think about some of the advice given it does make sense, a house with the back door and the front door inline with each other will not be fortuitous because the good qi will blow straight through the house, so in practice this would probably be a draughty house.

 

Not sitting with your back to the door of the room is probably good advice if you have cause to be concerned you may be assassinated, you want to know who is coming in, these days it has been shown that it is not a restful situation if you are sat with your back to the door because you are always looking over you shoulder to see who might be at the door. They use to sell a little mirror to put on your PC monitor so you could keep an eye on things behind you. I actually have a separate monitor with the CCTV cameras so I can see the doors and shop. We also have 3 doors in the room I spend most of my day in, so its hard not sit with my back to at least one, but also facing at least one door.

I think if you approach the whole subject with common sense and don't get carried away with it, it can make a useful contribution to your life. If you study it you will notice that if something that is consider bad for qi such as a wall in the wrong place or the toilet in the wrong place in the house there is always a "cheap" alternative to pulling down the walls, by the judicious placement of plants or rearranging of furniture solves the problem.

 

I haven't made an extensive study of it, but what I do know gives me enough information to decide it is pretty harmless and may even be beneficial, just as long as things aren't taken too far.

[iekkim]

Imagine the road as a letter T, they say that a place of business or home should not be directly in front of the I or else it's no good. We have several feng shui masters in my city but they say the really good ones don't ask for a specific amount of money. They just take whatever you give.

 

We had a guy who bought our old car do some kind of numerology based on our birthdays and he totally got me. He described how I was based on my birthday, without ever meeting me. He's actually the reason why I brought up this topic. I was suddenly curious about people's beliefs.

[imron]

Have a look up cold reading.

[陳德聰]

Not a "practitioner" of feng shui, but definitely have certain things built into my life just by either coincidence or by practicality. I have always benefitted from plants in the home that produce a lil extra oxygen, sun shining through the right windows at the right time of day, bed placement in relation to the window, etc. My friend who used to live in a house right at the intersection of a T shaped road had a car drive up onto their lawn, lol (nobody was hurt). I think it's certainly interesting enough to warrant picking up a book or two from the library, but not something I'd pay someone for.

 

But of course as a child, I used to put "water" in my parents' room to try to help mellow out their  relationship and help them not be so angry at each other all the time (metal supposedly overpowers wood, and water nurtures wood hah). As an adult I recognise this as superstition but also kind of think it helped me at the time to feel like I was "doing" something.

 

Also sidenote: I was under the impression feng shui refers to the geographical stuff, positioning, etc and that numerology and ghosts were a separate thing?

[Shelley]

2 hours ago, 陳德聰 said:

 I was under the impression feng shui refers to the geographical stuff, positioning, etc and that numerology and ghosts were a separate thing?

 

I thought so too.

 

I certainly don't have any time for numerology. I tolerate chinese astrology better than western astrology but again place no value in it.

 

I think that feng shui, for example having a new building "blessed" is not much different than smashing a bottle of champagne against a ship for good luck. each culture has it own routines and customs that are followed, some are more useful than others, at worst you have just wasted a bottle of champagne.

 

 

[iekkim]

7 hours ago, 陳德聰 said:

I was under the impression feng shui refers to the geographical stuff, positioning, etc and that numerology and ghosts were a separate thing?

 

I think they're different but it just so happens that a feng shui master was the one who taught this guy numerology so... Yeah. Not too sure about how that happened. I guess he has vast knowledge on these...?

 

But I find it so amusing because there are just so many factors to how you're supposed to live or how your house should be, like the direction your door is supposed to face, the number of steps on your stairs, etc. I guess I grew up with these being instilled in me but I don't think I would seriously practice is when I leave my parents' home.

12 hours ago, imron said:

 

Have a look up cold reading.

 

 

That is interesting! I used to love watching The Mentalist with Simon Baker and find the whole thing amusing. It miiiight also be cold reading, if my parents and sister may have let something slip to him. I did not know that was the term used!

[happy_hyaena]

 

On 6/21/2017 at 0:18 PM, iekkim said:

I come from a Chinese family and although we don't fully rely on Feng Shui, my parents think that there is no harm in conforming to what was advised. Sort of like, "there's no loss in trying".

 

 

This reminds me a lot of Pascal's Wager (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal's_Wager), i.e. act like you're Christian even if you really don't believe in it because it's not that difficult and if God (the Christian one) actually exists, you can enter Heaven after you die. Obviously there are many religions out there so how can one maximize the odds of something good happening while simultaneously breaking as few rules as possible, considering all the religions and superstitions in existence?

 

 

What do people here think about TCM/中药 in general?

[Lu]

The problem with a religion like Christianity is that you cannot simultaneously believe in the Christian God and in other gods, because He forbids it, so you can only be fully Christian or not Christian at all. Feng shui (and TCM) is much more flexible. You can use feng shui just in case and still believe in (or practice just in case) a bunch of other things as well.

 

I don't really have an opinion on TCM. I don't actively seek it out and thus rarely come in touch with it. In Taiwan I once hurt my arm, bad enough that I wanted a doctor to look at it but not so bad that I felt a hospital was in order. A friend recommended acupuncture, so I went to an acupuncturist and the arm did indeed heal. Which it might have done on its own, so I still don't have much of an opinion on TCM. Generally I think it's not a good idea to use it exclusively, because sometimes you just really need an operation or chemotherapy or other harmful or invasive ways of healing.

[Guest realmayo]

9 hours ago, Lu said:

you cannot simultaneously believe in the Christian God and in other gods, because He forbids it, so you can only be fully Christian or not Christian at all.

Not mutually exclusive... It'd be like saying you cannot simultaneously be married and conduct a furtive affair with your secretary...  But it's true that such activity is neither condoned nor usually advertised... In fact I'd suggest it's society's attitude to both such instances of promiscuity that's more important. 

[Lu]

But unlike your wife, the Christian God is not just jealous but also all-knowing.

[LiMo]

I put no stock in feng shui because it's not big in the UK, although what little I've heard of it, and now just read, makes me think there's little reason to. If there's any sound advice on building and furniture arrangement I'll just see what works for me.

 

TCM is slightly different. From a theory perspective I think it's probably all wrong, seeing as it's based on a model of the body that doesn't seem to be supported by modern scientific methods. Having said that, the actual substances involved could still be of use but simply for different reasons, and so I think it should be thoroughly explored for new and effective methods. I've heard many good things about the Taiwanese herbal medicines that are based on TCM and supported by the health service there, I'd much rather have that than have homeopathy on the NHS!

[lrumin94]

I know plenty of Catholics and Christians who also believe in Feng Shui.

 

I've tried TCM, those tonics made from weird stuff were kinda weird but had to swallow them because my parents gave it to me. I've also had my back stuck with needles for acupuncture and I didn't feel entirely relieved, I'm okay with TCM but I'm not a huge fan or a huge believer unless these TCM actually relieves my back pain. 

[Guest realmayo]

10 hours ago, Lu said:

But unlike your wife, the Christian God is not just jealous but also all-knowing

You're right in theory of course but in reality there's a long history of Christianity accommodating other beliefs and of Christians retaining other beliefs or superstitions. Especially, but certainly not exclusively, outside Europe.

[Yadang]

On 6/20/2017 at 9:18 PM, iekkim said:

"there's no loss in trying"

 

On 7/19/2017 at 4:14 AM, happy_hyaena said:

This reminds me a lot of Pascal's Wager

 

On 7/19/2017 at 4:27 AM, Lu said:

Feng shui (and TCM) is much more flexible. You can use feng shui just in case and still believe in (or practice just in case) a bunch of other things as well.

 

happy_hyaena got there first. The (main) problem with Pascal's wager and any other wager, is that a 50/50 wager only works if nothing could be lost. Even with the more flexible FengShui and TCM, there's still something to be lost: time and money being the things that come to mind. If anything can be lost, and it really is a 50/50 (or worse) wager, then it's not a good one, because by that logic you could be convinced to do all kinds of crazy things: sacrifice a dollar a day to the flying spaghetti monster, wear your shirt inside out everyday (just in case it pleases God - s/he has a since of humor, I hear), pray to Ittehgaps (a spirit, not a god, just in case it exists), etc. etc. just in case. None of these things would cost much, but they would cost, and given that it's a shot in the dark (50/50 - or worse) as to whether they'd work, it would be crazy to attempt any of them, much less them all (which I think Pascal's wager would have you do).

 

If you think FengShui has a 50/50 chance or less of being legit, it doesn't make since by way of a wager to tip the scale so to speak, because there is a loss.

[iekkim]

On 7/19/2017 at 6:14 PM, happy_hyaena said:

This reminds me a lot of Pascal's Wager

 

On 7/21/2017 at 0:56 PM, Yadang said:

If you think FengShui has a 50/50 chance or less of being legit, it doesn't make since by way of a wager to tip the scale so to speak, because there is a loss.

 

Very interesting insights. I guess there is a loss, somehow. Say, time, as Yadang had mentioned.

 

Quote

Pascal argues that a rational person should live as though God exists and seek to believe in God. If God does actually exist, such a person will have only a finite loss (some pleasures, luxury, etc.), whereas they stand to receive infinite gains (as represented by eternity in Heaven) and avoid infinite losses (eternity in Hell). - wikipedia

 

I guess some people are willing to accept these finite losses for the possibility of the infinite gains, like a happier home?

 

For instance, my mother just met with a Feng Shui master who said that the door of my room should not face the door of my brother's room, or else we would constantly fight. She was asked to put a small mirror so that we wouldn't fight and I guess, knowing this, my brother and I subconsciously fight less??? I find this thing odd because really, our brains are weird and our subconscious minds are so complex that I don't know if it's really Feng Shui doing the work or me...? I'm not sure if you get me but I am sort of confused but I sort of understand what I just said.

 

imron mentioned cold reading back then too, this is like The Mentalist and, again, the subconscious mind is at play, I believe. From micro expressions to micro actions to unconsciously doing things...