FENG SHUI CONCEPTS
By Jenny T. Liu
National Asian Pacific Month:
KEYNOTE SPEECH
Last year on May 27, I was asked to speak at the National Asian Pacific American Day
sponsored by the INS of the U.S. Department of Justice. The event was limited to
federal employees. However, I would like to share my thoughts with the public:
" It is a great pleasure and honor for me to be here today to celebrate the
outstanding accomplishments of my fellow Asian Pacific Islanders. I have been
invited here today to speak about feng shui and how it can help unite the world in peace
and progress.
Feng shui is a fairly new concept in the U.S. For me, it represents my heritage and
my life. It is a way of living in harmony with nature. Today, I will highlight
the key ideas of feng shui.
Feng shui is a Chinese philosophy that shows us how to create environments that let us
live comfortably so we can excel in life. Developed over 8,000 years of accumulated
experience in observing nature and human nature, feng shui lets us understand how
everything is connected and affects our well-being.
Based on the laws of nature, feng shui does not discriminate, because natural forces
affect us all regardless of our nationality, gender or age. If it rains, you shall
get wet; if the earth quakes, you will move; if the sun does not shine, you shall be in
darkness. The power of nature reminds us we are human, we are one species sharing
one Earth.
Nature celebrates variety and change. The human race has been blessed with the
greatest variety and ability to change. Yet, we tend to let these differences
separate us. We should perceive our differences as a thing of beauty, of variety, as
another wonderful flavor in life. If we are afraid to taste a new flavor, we shall
never be able to appreciate it for what it is.
Why should we let differences get in the way of our progress? It may be human
nature to fear the unknown, to fear what it does not understand. Or perhaps, we are
afraid to learn something new, because it may change our way of thinking, change who we
are. Should we fear change so much?
Let us look to nature which is never fearful of change. Day shall never know
night; one is completely opposite to the other, yet they know exactly when to give way to
the other. There is no dispute as to who is right or wrong, who is better or worse. As the
sun sets, the moon will rise and as the moon sets, the sun will rise. They are in perfect
balance.
So change is simply a balance that is constantly occurring, but from our perception
within a limited time frame, it may not seem that way. Because we do not have the
eyes to see into the past and future, we cannot see the big picture and perhaps be more
willing to change. By allowing for change within ourselves, we can move forward to
attain a higher level of balance. Balance requires our willingness to open our
hearts and minds to change. Like a scale, there is a give and take; you must remove
or add in order to attain balance.
Feng shui is about seeing the big picture, of looking beyond the present, of creating a
sustainable environment. An environment that provides for us today and tomorrow.
Everything we do today will affect tomorrow. The past affects the present, the present
shall affect the future.
Let us learn from our past. If we have been mistaken, we should learn not to make
the same error twice. If we have done well, we must ask how we can do even better
next time. We are here today in part to applaud and honor the courageous
Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients of Asian Pacific descent and the 100th-442nd Nisei
regiments for their selfless act of coming together for the common good of all, to fight
for peace. Let us find power in unity. No one better expresses this better than Maya
Lin, a Chinese American architect who designed the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial at the age
of 21. Ms. Lin's creation dignifies our heroes by uniting them as a whole. She
exemplifies the power of unity in numbers. However, it is ironic that there must be
war in order for there to be peace, that destruction inspires creation.
Let us unite for the common good of all. Let us beget creation through creation,
and peace through peace. Time has healed the wounds of the past and it is now time
to move forward and begin anew. Our experiences give us new knowledge. We have new means
of finding information, of communicating and understanding others, even if they speak
another language or are from a distant land. With the technology of the modern
world, we have very little reason to make the same mistakes.
Let us move forward with communication and understanding. It is important not to
misguide people of feng shui especially during this new age when there is a great need for
cultural exchange. There are qualities and shortcomings in both eastern and western
cultures, but the Earth is not cut in half, it is whole. Like yin and yang, opposite
but complements, one is incomplete without the other, so are the East and West. Together,
they are able to achieve what they alone cannot. It is through global communication,
understanding, and building multiple bridges that we attain world peace and harmony. We
must merge the wisdom of the new and old, of the west and east.
This is a natural phenomena. In the last decade, there has been a balance that has
already begun to occur. The very closed and private ancient Eastern cultures have
opened their doors and want very much to become like the Western world, while the Western
world turns to Eastern philosophy for insight and new solutions to their problems. This
exchange shall continue until a balance has been attained.
I believe we all have much to learn from nature. Feng shui offers guidance
through nature. Nature never takes more than it can give. Nature does not
discriminate. Nature thrives on change and is constantly evolving. Feng shui
can be considered an international philosophy to help us build environments that are
conducive of love for humanity and progress.
I hope this message lingers in your mind and your actions echo its voice. I speak
not only for myself, but as part of our whole humanity. I believe within each and
everyone of us, we know this truth, this message, this common purpose of preserving and
promoting man and womankind. Today, I have had the opportunity to share with you who
I am and what I stand for. I hope that one day, I may have the good fortune to learn
who you are and appreciate what you stand for. I close with the blessing that all
cultures may come together as One Earth and may America be the driving force to this new
Union of World Peace. I leave you with this- strong clear vision."
About the author: Jenny Liu holds a Bachelors Degree in Environmental
Design from UC Berkeley and a Masters Degree in Architecture from UCLA. She is an
expert in the 5,000 year old Chinese philosophy of Feng Shui who also shares her knowledge
through seminars, workshops, periodicals and the Internet . Awarded for her Master's
Thesis on Feng Shui, Ms. Liu is a fourth generation practitioner with her own consulting
firm. For more information, please see her website http://www.liu-fengshui.com/
or
for the
library of her articles http://www.spiritweb.org/spirit/fengshui.html
If you have questions, you can also reach her at (626) 282-8536.
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