As for Feng Shui itself, I can say nothing, for I have read little about it, nor do I follow it as a way of life, but I do see that it has a lot to offer. Not as a concept, not as a smart, trendy, with-it way of approaching life, but in its very essence. And what is that essence? For me, it is balance. A good friend defines Feng Shui as: taking the built environment (architectural, people-created) and putting it in flow (harmony) with universal energy (chi). For me, this is a clear and excellent definition. It also defines … balance.
Most of us will never be architects, designing and actually placing buildings on the land, but just about all of us will live in those buildings, work in them and, for better or worse, develop a relationship with them.
For me, the main physical expression of Feng Shui is the placement of such a building, your house for instance. How many architects have even the most vague aware relationship with the earth? Housing estates today are generally built on cheap and available land. But this land is not just land. It is part of the living body of our planet Earth, and as with all land, it has a resonating energy. How many architects or builders tune into that energy, and reading it, act accordingly? How odd it is that we humans, with such potential intelligence, do not use it to attune with, or learn about, the energy resonance of the place where we will build or buy, to live. And where we live has a very powerful influence on our life.
Not all land is amenable to human living. The whole of planet Earth is a vast network of lines of energy. You may call them meridians, ley lines, whatever; it is all about energy. Animals are in perfect attunement with this energy – they express good Feng Shui – but we humans have such a narrow focus we seem to miss it completely. Let me put it this way; if you build or buy a house on land where cows will not lay down, then you are very unlikely to experience harmony in that house. The land will exert a negative influence on everyone in the house. Negative in this sense is not bad, or wrong, it is simply a field of energy that is not favourable for harmonious human habitation. We are told that by practising good Feng Shui this energy field can be changed, but I can assure you that there are many variables involved.
For me, Feng Shui begins when you wake up in the morning. The direction of your thoughts and feelings this new day are creating an energy flow which you – all unaware – will follow. Thoughts that are in harmony with the Whole are going to offer a far better day then thoughts that are separative and negative. If you wake up with an awareness of Feng Shui, and decide to play with balance and harmony this new day, deliberately weaving it into the strands of your thinking, your speaking, your actions, your focus, you are going to have a gooooood day. The opposite is also true!
As a generalisation, human thinking is negative. It takes an effort not to be sucked into the daily maelstrom of human thought. The whole media is bombarding you twenty-four hours a day with a mostly negative feedback on life, yet if you resist it you become it. So you do not resist; you ignore, bypass, or decline to be involved in the human loop of negativity. This is ‘real’ Feng Shui. This will have far more effect than where you stand the bird bath in your garden. While you are in the city, the bird bath placement offers little. And if you live the true Feng Shui of Self, the bird bath will matter even less, wherever you are.
Let us return to the house located where cows will not lie down. Seriously, this is a real handicap. If you are aware that your family is a reasonable one, not overly prone to negative thinking, or blame, yet you all struggle to be on good terms in the house, then moving location offers a good option. Tune into your house. Meditate on the energy of your home. Home is house ‘and’ land. What do you feel? If there is a feeling of discord, a thread of ‘something wrong,’ an uncomfortable feeling deep in your consciousness, then be aware that you are living in this. Certainly it is possible for some Feng Shui consultants to help rebalance the energy, but only for some people. It is not as simple as, ‘do this and this, take that away and put this there,’ and all will be well. For one family, or one person in the family, or some people, it may work very well, for others it may have no affect. Why? That’s easy; because life is not a flow of energy outside of Self. It is a flow of energy within Self, and Self is the nucleus of Feng Shui. It is about harmony within; outside is not real, an illusion, and no matter how you play with them, illusions remain illusions.
You may well be thinking, ‘what about Feng Shui and nature?’ Let me put it this way. You wake up in the morning and immediately begin thinking. Those thoughts are energy; energy that is radiating from you right out into the cosmos. (This is not in physical terms, even though physicality is affected.) In terms of energy, which is also consciousness, nature is within your metaphysical field of energy. Nature is not in conflict with life; equally nature is not an expression of conflict. Even though we see what we perceive as conflict within nature, this is a reflection of our own inner human conflict. In other words, what we see is not what IS, it is our human perception of what is … and that is very different. Nature is an expression of the attunement and flow of natural life. True Feng Shui is us being part (and the Whole) of that natural expression, but unfortunately we have become strangers to natural. Animals are not involved in self-conflict, most humans are. Conflict is a blockage or resistance in the flow of energy within you. This energy flow is life. Nature never resists life, and is unable to mentally go into conflict with it, but people do these things all the time. Hence dis-ease.
In an article like this I can only touch on the outer edges of the vast depths of real Feng Shui. As soon as I explain one factor, that in turn leads to another, and another, and suddenly it is far too long and wordy. I see and experience life in wholistic terms – nothing is separate – so I have to make a choice of where to end an explanation, knowing that it is still only a part of the greater picture. And equally I have to live on these terms.
Let me offer a recent example. In 2003, while my wife Treenie and I were travelling on our annual tour of Re*treats and seminars around the world, my suitcases increasingly were being lost and delayed at the airport destinations. Treenie told me in no uncertain terms that this was my responsibility. Obviously, the normal human reaction is to blame the airlines, I mean, how could it be my fault, but the reality is, we create the energy flow of our lives, and this includes … everything! As I reflected on the suitcase problem, I knew that in reality, it was a Michael Roads problem. My Feng Shui was out of kilter! The reality was very simp le, I love giving the Roadsway Re*treats and seminars, but I really did not like the travelling, especially airports. I had been in too many, too constantly. So, my energy toward airports was in conflict with flow and harmony. Hence, my suitcases – a representation of me – got delayed and even damaged. I realised all this as we ended our South African, European and American tour, so I decided to change my attitude/energy on our Japanese tour. I smiled my way into airports, inner-sang as we travelled, enjoyed as always the Re*treats and seminars, and smiled my way home, all in perfect harmony with well-behaved suitcases. Definitely my choice for 2004!
This is what Feng Shui is really about. Let me offer one more example. About six years ago we added a large extension onto our house. A bulldozer came and gorged into the soil near the back door, taking the top five meters off a small hillock on the end of the house. As I watched, I became aware of a feeling of energy distress, but I dismissed it as my own emotions. As a passionate gardener, it seemed a violation of the earth.
When I went outside the next morning, concerned with my feeling, a clear and beautiful rainbow was arced over the site of the extension, so I assumed all was well. The extension was built, and we moved in.
About five months later sharp-eyed Treenie noticed termite activity in the wood of the new section, so the builder came to check it out. To keep this brief, termites had got into the house and had done a considerable amount of damage. It cost several thousand dollars to repair and replace. I took responsibility for this, and we paid. We rejected the ‘sue the builder to get the insurance’ avenue. When I went out that morning and saw the rainbow, I assumed all was well. In hindsight, I learned that the extension certainly received the blessings of the Spirit of our Home, but I had a responsibility to create and maintain a flow of harmony on that bulldozed site. I failed to do this. If I had sat down on that site, attuning with it, I would ha ve felt the areas of discord and I could have harmonised them with my own focussed field of energy.
Just a few species in the large family of termites are attracted to eat houses. The most powerful attractant in the house is discord and disturbance. This can be human negativity, earth based ley lines, or both. Those termites ignored the older, timber filled section of the house, and focussed only on the new section over the disturbed soil. We created a serious earth disturbance which I completely overlooked. Today, that area of land and house are in harmony with the earth.
Feng Shui is about creating and living within a field of energy that is in harmony with the universe. You can learn to play with this energy, creating the flow of life that most honours you. Life has never been against you, only you can go against life. When you are consciously aware, focussed, and balanced, you ‘are’ the harmony of the universe expressing in Self.
