Purple Lotus Publisher > Journal > Volumn NO. 10

Balance is Auspiciousness

By Grand Master Sheng-yen Lu

Translated by Janny Chow from p 40-44 of A Detailed Explanation of Household Geomancy, published in 1987

Someone has asked me, "Among the many forms of houses, which kind is the best?"

I have replied, "Any form that is balanced is auspicious."

At first glance, it may seem that an architectural balanced form is a very simple concept, but in reality it can be quite complicated.

Some people like novel and outstanding designs and have built houses in strange looking shapes, but as long as the designs comply with the principle of constructive movements of the Five Elements and pose no clashes, then they can still be considered balanced designs.

For example, in Tantric Buddhism, based on the association between the five chakras and the Five Enlightened Wisdoms, stupas symbolizing the five chakras have been constructed consisting of the following shapes from top to bottom: dome, elongated semi-circle, triangle, circle, and square.

The Five Elements are fire, wood, water, metal, and earth. According to the principle of constructive movements of the Five Elements, earth generates metal, metal generates water, water generates wood, and wood generates fire. Using this principle, one can build structures based on shapes of the Five Elements and arrange them in a clockwise fashion, and come up with a design that is novel, outstanding, and original.

Unless one seeks to be deliberately "stylish," any conventional house that is balanced is in general very auspicious.

The "dragon side" and the "tiger side" of the house have to be in balance. This is one important aspect that needs to be taken into consideration.

When we stand at the front door facing outside, to our left is the "dragon side," and to our right is the "tiger side." The best situation is to have the "dragon" and "tiger" match and balance each other.

A tall dragon can be balanced by a long tiger.

A long dragon can be balanced by a tall tiger.

Geomancers generally consider that a taller or longer dragon is auspicious whereas a taller or longer tiger brings bad luck.

The most auspicious house shape is one that has a "green dragon" and a "white tiger" that match and balance each other.

There is this feng-shui verse:

When a sharp peak emerges from White Tiger Hill,

The wife will definitely beat up the husband.

The verse describes a situation wherein the white tiger is taller than the green dragon, it also implies that the servant may dominate over his master, or there may be a reversal of roles between the male and female with the yin overpowering the yang. As a result, the environment may be one of disharmony and imbalanced earth energy that invites the malign force of "sha chi" and may portend great misfortunes.

I once visited a monastery, and the abbot took me around to look at the feng-shui of the place. The monastery, with its back to NNE, faced the direction of SSW. A reading obtained by the feng-shui compass indicated the trigram "Ken." Water in front of the monastery flowed from east to south (from the Chen position of the Later Heaven Sequence to Ch'ien position of the Former Heaven Sequence as shown on the compass.) There was no prominent topographical armrest on either side of the monastery. When I looked next at the living quarter of the abbot, I noticed that it was not located at a comandeering position but rather at a site right below the White Tiger Hill.

I asked the abbot, "Who live in the White Tiger Hill?"

"The disciples."

"Soon your post will be taken away from you," I said to him.

"Why?"

"The circumstance here is one of a subordinate overtaking the master, it is just a matter of time that you will lose your position."

The abbot was an honest monk and he was visibly saddened by the feng-shui assessment of the place. Several years later, I heard , that he was no longer the abbot at the monastery.

A taller or longer white tiger signifies the presence of a force that is too strong. Most people living in places that have high White Tiger Hill will gradually develope nervousness, power-craving, competitiveness, or start harboring dark designs for others. In short, there will not be any auspiciousness or peace in such a situation.

I feel that in buying land to build a house, one has to figure out clearly which direction the house will face, as the direction the front door faces plays an extremely critical role. It is best that the direction is favorable to one as determined by one's date of birth. Pay attention to the matching of green dragon and white tiger. Do not allow the white tiger to be taller or stand out because it signifies great misfortunes. It will be too late to regret once disasters occur.

Of course, there are Taoist and Tantric methods that can be used to avert and remedy bad feng-shui situations. These methods belong to either the "suppression category" or "remedy category" and can provide a temporary resolution.

The general feng-shui practitioners may be able to make an assessment of a situation and offer resolutions, but they may not necessarily understand that implicated in the art and science of feng-shui are the principles of Tai Chi, Two Forms, Four Appearances, Five Elements, Eight Trigrams, and other principles governing the workings of the universe. In a place where there is a clash or assault of noxious chi, by using the "suppression method," one can transform the adverse situation into a peaceful one. In fact, such remedies do not just divert disasters, but can result in great benefits. Their efficacies are indeed inconceivable.

At places [on the dragon side of buildings] where I, Living Buddha Lian-sheng, have installed stone tablets for the dragon spirit, people have often seen golden and green lights. Some have even sighted the green dragon and heard the crying sounds. Lights bright as the sun and the moon have been observed to emanate from the sites. To resolve the problem posed by a white tiger that is too tall, it is necessary to install Living Buddha Lian-sheng's green dragon stone tablet at the dragon side.