Ingredients of Feng Shui

Like the chain of DNA linking characteristics together to form a human being, the Tao is the means to the end. Tao can be translated as "the way." Like a canary in a coal mine, diseased vegetation often augurs human dis­integration. We are connected to the entire system of life, and our lives cannot be separated from the life forces around us. Even when we cannot see it, each part of life depends on another to create a whole. When one part is crushed, the entire unit comes to a halt. To be uncon­nected impairs our lives.

How can Taoism be applied to a home? One way would be to re-create shapes and experiences from out­side. Do you have any plants, paintings of landscapes, or even colors similar to those outside your home? Does your home have a sense of connectedness from floor to floor or room to room? Color, style of furniture, or type of artwork can be the thread linking each individual part in a home.

On a recent consultation I observed a disparity between members of a family.  The parents were focused people who traveled many spiritual paths such as med­itating, eating wholesome foods, avoiding mind-altering drugs, and staying physically active. Throughout their home this was visible in photos of marathon runs and from their exotic travels and in a room they had furnished exclusively as a refuge for meditation.

Their son's room was a glaring exception. Except for pictures of marijuana plants, the room had little to dis­tinguish it from a motel room. There was nothing that identified his "self or what he liked other than this soli­tary weed. How a child's room connects emotionally, visually, and philosophically to a parent's point of view is a part of Tao's considerations. His room was a red flag that he was separating himself from his parents.

When nature, people, and their preferences are sequestered in an exclusive area and not shared by the whole, trouble might be brewing. How the threads of each family member's life weave into the big picture is a crucial element in the Tao of a home.

City dwellers rarely have a great deal of visual con­nection with nature. Still, it's possible for those who live with a human-made landscape to thrive. Do you like what you see? Is the altered environment satisfying? Do you feel nurtured by the view? Does your view include a thriving street filled with prosperous shops and restau­rants or are you cloistered from street life by viewing an air shaft between two buildings?

To be in the Tao is to be connected. Whether your home is rural, suburban, or urban, to feel deeply at peace you should feel positively enmeshed with your surroundings.