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People new to Feng Shui, especially those interested in becoming a practitioner, are sometimes surprised and confused by the bagua concept. They expect something a little more complex and involved. But, as it turns out, the magic is in the simplicity. You can understand the bagua better if you look at it through the eyes of a child rather than a learned scholar. A child has an attitude of hope and enthusiasm, uncluttered with the confusion or the irrelevance we acquire as adults. Choose to accept the Bagua as simplistic universal truth and its secrets will be revealed to you.

I have found it helpful sometimes to think of the bagua as a well thought out and ordered filing cabinet. The nine folders in this file contain all the possible life events you may experience. What could we find simpler on the surface and yet potentially so complex underneath. If we try to unravel its mysteries intellectually we will fail. The universe is far too miraculous for the human mind to comprehend. On the surface these nine squares appear pretty straightforward, but look at the bagua closely, study it, try to dispute it, try to add or subtract from it, try to think of a life experience that does not fit into one of the squares, or try to take away one of the squares as unessential. It can?t be done.

But as simple as it looks, who can juggle nine balls without help? Feng Shui through the bagua provides that help. But it won?t make sense to your intellect; it must simply be accepted on faith for it to begin to work. Feng Shui works on your behalf and translates your intentions into the thinking stuff that the universe can work with. "But how in the heck can the color of a chair be responsible for me getting that new job or not?" The chair and the color are only symbols of the underlying forces at work. Feng Shui and the symbols you use are the guardians of your intentions and have been put in place to remind the universe where you want to go and request it to help find the best way to arrive. The underlying power is unfathomable and must simply be accepted. There in lies the wonder of Feng Shui and of the bagua. It takes the complexities of life and simplifies them into a nine square picture, and thereby gives you a tool to connect to universal truths that will bring order and harmony to your life.

So, what about the bagua, how can something so simple be so powerful. The bagua concept is used to connect us to power we cannot understand as human beings. It connects us to a higher power that knows our best interests and how to achieve them. Our existence is far too complex for us to manage by our own resources. The harder we try to control our lives the more frustrated and folded up we get. We need help. We need to be in harmony with our environment to gain control. The Universe, in its broadest definition, is extremely dynamic and changing, yet balanced and controlled, it is deliberate and patient. We on the other hand tend to be indulgent and impatient. We want to live our lives in a day and we want everything immediately. The universe does not work that way. It does not run on our human timetable. The bagua reminds us of our environment and the balance it requires. Balance and patient is what Feng Shui teaches us, and the bagua is the tool or road map to find the happiness that we seek.

So lets look at this wonderment of wisdom and simplicity. As I mentioned above try to think of a life experience that does not fit in one of the nine squares. You can not. It?s all there. Nine areas of human existence in a certain order related one to the other and each one balanced. Look at the bagua and see the relationships that exist. See how each area is dependent on the others and none is more important than the next.

How many examples of unhappy people can you think of and now realize its due to imbalance. See the people with lots of money who are so unbalanced in relationships and love. Did I say Hollywood? See how many people are imbalanced with their career and their family life is in shambles. How many people have you seen that have all the Fame and Reputation that the world has to offer only to abuse their health to a point of dying years ahead of their time.

Are you getting the message? Balance and moderation will bring you in harmony and allow you to achieve the happiness you desire. Balance and moderation is what optimizes your life and brings you all the abundance that is really available and waiting for you to claim. Once your grasp this basic concept of Feng Shui you are ready to move on and see all the power packed wisdom this little nine square bagua map really contains.

Marie Schoonover