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***ECOKOSHER FENG SHUI***
Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese art of being in connection with feng (wind) and shui (water), meaning the spiritual and
the physical presence, and visual symmetry. It is an ecologically based art form of spatial arrangement that incorporates
man made objects within natural surroundings. It is a means of defining ones place within the physical universe while improving
upon it. It teaches that one can improve ones lot and have a happy family, a good marriage, a healthy and long life, a successful
career, wealth, good fortune, etc., etc., if one creates the proper flow of chi (human spiritual karmic essence) in relation
to the thing that one is seeking the proper feng shui of, and in the relationship of the thing within its natural surroundings.
The Navaho (Dine) have a similar concept known as Beauty Way. In the Navaho system, while the Beauty Way story is told,
it is illustrated by use of songs, chants, sand paintings, prayer stick bundles, ceremony and process, on the individual level.
But, the position of East in relationship to a dwelling, the way one enters and walks within a home and leaves it, the natural
omens, the way one greets another, the place where one is in relationship to sacred places within nature, etc., all have bearing
on the flow of purified healing energies (diyin dine') of Wind and Wind.
Within the Jewish KABBALAH tradition, the concept of ECOKOSHER can be seen to incorporate the basic ideas expressed within
the traditions of both the Navaho Beauty Way and the Chinese Feng Shui.
This concept of ECOKOSHER teaches that through being in sync with the Jewish spiritual halakha of kashrut (the feng),
for Jews, and through living in sync with our Mother Earth (the shui) from whom we were created, and to whom we will return
after we die, as well, we achieve maximum spiritual-physical connectedness. For those of other ethno-spiritual paths, the
esoteric traditions and teachings of the Masters of the tradition and the specific food laws and traditions of living according
to the traditional life style of the ancestral Path works.
On a personal dwelling level, Ecokosher Feng Shui posits that a home be beautified and filled with the Spirit of being
in connection with the Creator. Every door (except bathrooms) could have a mezuzah affixed on the doorpost.
In other non-Jewish faith-based paths, sacred objects, such as crucifixes or pictures of saints or other holy objects
can be placed near entrance ways to create the sense of the holy nature of the dwelling place.
In the home, there should be many books that promote egalitarian, interfaith, non-sexist, non-racist, non-separationist
concepts that allow a person to feel comfortable with their being Jewish (or of another religion or ethno-religious identity).
Reading materials need to be available that promote the new Rainbow Religious perspective, wherein all religions are seen
as just as viable for the person who chooses to be of that particular path as for the person for whom Judaism is viable. There
should be books adjusted to the reading skills of every person in the home.
The Rainbow Religious perspective of the EcoRebbe teaches that ALL religions are like the colors of the sacred rainbow.
They are all needed together to make up the Rainbow Religion of Universal Mind; God. No one religion is better, in God's Eyes,
than another to experience the joys of human existence with. It is what one does with ones religious perspective to bring
about brotherhood, equality, joy, and love of the universe and all sentient things within Her that counts.
One might wish to set aside a meditation area or special praying place with a MIZRACH (a picture or sand painting) or
a SHIVITI (a plaque or paper inscribed with Psalm 16: 8, often in the form of a picture, along with various ways of pronouncing
the YHVH Name of the Infinite One) on the Eastern Wall to show the direction and kavanah for prayer. Both the Navaho and the
Tibetan Buddhist join Jews in facing to the East, in the direction of the rising sun (and Jerusalem), when praying.
The ECOKOSHER Blessing Path incorporates as a regular part of family and individual prayers, blessings from the time we
open our eyes, do our bathroom duties, get dressed, say blessings prior to and after eating, and/or drinking, see wondrous
sights of nature (like Rainbows or an eagle), study Torah or other Sacred Books, go to sleep, etc. We are taught that there
are one hundred blessings that we could acknowledge every day, if we but pay attention. We must learn to be able to see the
MAGIC that exists in the ordinary day to day things that happen before our very eyes.
We are given the ability of releasing the Divine Spark of YHVH (Infinite Creative Power) within an object by blessing
it. If I bless a stone, I release the YHVH Divine Spark within the stone that creates a positive aspect for the stone and
includes me within that aura. Only then may I use that stone to decorate my dwelling or to heat my sweat lodge.
If we place A TSADAKAH (CHARITY) BOX, with a designated charitable purpose, in a conspicuous place and money is placed
in it every day prior to going to bed, we create a positive blessing effect within our personal aura that draws blessings
to us. On Holy Days (like Erev Shabbat and Festivals, or Sunday or other Holy Days) money is to be put in the tsedakah box
prior to lighting the Shabbat or Festival candles, or prior to going to church or mosque. When the box is filled, it is taken
to a food bank, homeless shelter, or other charitable organization and emptied. Daily use of the tsedakah box insures that
the blessing goral (karma) created by our being a part of the Ecokosher Blessing Way Path remains revitalized and constantly
recharged.
IT IS AN UNKNOWN SECRET OF THE JEWS that giving tsedakah brings wealth. When one blesses another, one is made part of
the Blessing Way Path that also returns blessings back to the one who blesses.
Similarly, if one curses another, one is made part of the Cursing Way Path that returns a portion of the curse back on
to the one who does the cursing of another.
To attach Ecokosher feng shui to a home, the walls of the home could have on them pictures that are of spiritual content
and design. Family photos of ancestors, might especially be placed on western walls, as West is symbolic of the Place of Departed
Souls.
Mirrors might be placed where a person could see their own image in it as the first thing they see upon entering the home
or upon arising in the morning; thus reminding the person that they are created in the Image of God and are a Child of the
Infinite One. Mirrors can also be used at the ends of halls to suggest the concept of infinity or eternal life.
Plants might be placed (be careful of plants that drop sap or draw insects) where they hide corners and remind one of
their relationship to nature. Plants also revitalize the oxygen within a home. Fish tanks and bird cages (birds are quite
messy) bring solace and serenity into a home where problems of illness and mental instability abide. These must be placed
with the direction of a qualified Jewish shamanic-Rebbe of feng shui. Do not place live birds in a close area because the
dust off of birds is a source of allergy to many people. It is better to have bird feeders and birdbaths outside for wild
birds than it is to cage birds. It is also good to have gold fish ponds and small wild animal feeders.
The way we treat our garbage and refuse tells much about where we are in relation to the environment and to the Universal
Mind.
We should properly dispose of our waste material and not simply litter our surroundings with it. We must teach our children
to live as simply as possible, by example, wasting not. We should recycle EVERYTHING that is recyclable and compost as much
as possible of organic food leftovers. We should live simply and in harmony with our environment and not overtax the land
with our animals, buildings, or toxic waste.
There is place in the universe for humans to live and dwell at peace and in harmony with the rest of the environment.
However, this requires taking into consideration the flow of rivers, the place of trees, the nature of a hill, the living
places of wildlife and herbal life and honoring the right of other life forms to coexist with us.
What Ecokosher Feng Shui really is, then, is living with a deliberate sense of responsibility towards the entire biosphere
within which one lives. If we are cognizant of our relationship with all of nature and of the affect that we have on the Four
Elements of Air, Water, Earth, and Spirit, in our everyday living, we will be practicing Ecokosher Feng Shui.
Ancient Jewish teachings:
The Sanctity and Spirituality of the Earth
By Rabbi Gershon Winkler
"You find that when the Holy Blessed One desired to create the primeval human, she consulted the ministering angels and
said to them: 'Should we make the human?' Said they: 'What is the human that you even bother thinking about them?' (Psalms
8:5). Replied the Creator: 'The human that I wish to create, its wisdom is superior to yours.' What did Creator then do?
She gathered all of the animals and wildlife and birds and stood them before the angels, and said: 'Okay, assign them names.'
The angels just stood there and didn't know what to call them. She then brought all of them to the primeval human and said
to it: 'What are the names of these?' Said the human: 'Master of all the universes! It is fitting to call this one Ox, and
to this one it is fitting to call Lion, and to this one Horse, and to that one Camel, and to the other one Eagle' and so with
all the other animals. Said Creator: 'And what about you? What shall be your name?' Said the human: 'Earth Being (Ahdam),
because I was created from the Earth (Ahdamah).'" [Midrash Kohelet Rabbah 7:32]
The tradition in Judaism that the human was formed out of the earth is more than a simplistic metaphor or colorful homily.
The theme runs continuously and consistently throughout the scriptural, legalistic, midrashic, and kabbalistic avenues of
Jewish spiritual teachings.
For example, in the Book of Genesis (2:7), the narrator of the creation story informs us that Creator formed the human
out of the earth. In the Midrash, the second-century Rabbi Shim'on ben El'azar taught that not only was the human created
out of a clump of soil but out of earth gathered from all four directions (Midrash B'reishis Rabbah 8:1).
In the Jewish mystical tradition, the Book of the Zohar describes Creator as forming the human out of the earth of the
site of the sacred space of the Holy of Holies atop Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, and that each of the four winds of the four
directions were then summoned to gift the primeval human with each its particular power and attribute (Zohar, Vol. 1, folio
130b and Vol. 2, folio 23b).
These and other sources imply that the human is a living microcosm of the entire planet earth, and whose very soul is
imbued with the powers of the four winds. As the second-century Rabbi Shim'on ben Lakish put it: "All that the Holy Blessed
One created in the human had been created in the earth to resemble the human." (Midrash Kohelet Rabbah 1:9).
The twelfth-century Rabbi Moshe ibn Maimon in the beginning of his codification of Jewish law and practice taught that the
earth, the planets, the stars, suns, and moons, all of what we call inanimate or mineral, are as imbued with divine Soul as
is any other living being (Mishnah Torah, Hil'chot Y'sodei Hatorah 3:9). His teaching is more a reminder to the reader than
an introduction of anything new to Jewish tradition: "Praise the Creator, O sun and moon, all you stars of light; mountains
and hills, fruit trees and all cedars; beasts, cattle, creeping-crawlies and winged beings; all of them praise Infinite One"
(Book of Psalms 148:3-4 and 7-11).
"The Israelite does not distinguish between a living and a lifeless nature. A stone is not merely a lump of material
substance. It is, like all living things, an organism with peculiar forces of a certain mysterious capacity, only known to
him that is familiar with it. The earth is a living thing." (Johannes Pederson in Israel: Its Life and Culture [Oxford
University Press, 1959], p. 55).
Thus, the earth is not merely a sacred concept that exists outside of and separate from the human, which sacredness the
human then connects to periodically through rituals and ceremonies. Rather, the earth is an integral component of the human
composition.
More, the earth and the human are synonymous with one another. They are one and the same. They are named after one another.
What we do to the earth, we do to the human, and what we do to the human we do the earth (Genesis 6:11-13). When Cain kills
his brother Abel, the cry of the consequence of his action originates from the earth: "The cry of the blood of your brother
calls out to me from the earth."(Genesis 4:10).
The human's relationship to the earth, then, involves a serious covenantal relationship (Job 5:23), which, when betrayed,
promises consequences of deprivation (Deuteronomy 11:17) and exile (Leviticus 18:25), and which, when honored, promises longevity
and a peaceful life (Job 5:23-26; Deuteronomy 11:21).
"The Israelites do not acknowledge the distinction between the psychic and the corporeal. Earth and stones are alive,
imbued with a soul, therefore able to receive mental subject-matter and bear the impress of it. The relation between the
earth and its owner is a covenant-relation, a psychic community, and the owner does not solely prevail in the relation. The
earth has its nature, which makes itself felt and demands respect." (Johannes Pederson in Israel: Its Life and Culture
[Oxford University Press,1959], p. 479).
Ancient Jewish rites for invoking mystical experience and for vision questing also involved the earth, ranging from lying
down on the earth with stones arranged around the head (Genesis 28:11), to assuming a fetal-like position while facing the
earth (1 Kings 18:42). Weeping, too, is among the rites of achieving mystical experience, employed quite often by the second
century Rabbi Shim'on bar Yochai (Sefer HaZohar, Vol. 3, folio 166b) while also assuming the fetal-like position of "head
between the knees." It is obvious from these accounts and others that the revelatory experience emanates from the earth:
"Converse with the earth, and she will reveal to you" (Job 12:8). Upon completion of his vision, Rabbi Shim'on would
kiss the earth he had been facing during the entire quest (Sefer HaZohar, Vol. 3, folio 166b and 168a).
As the tenth-century Rabbi Hai Ga'on summed it up: "[The seeker of mystical experience] must fast a certain number
of days, put his head between his knees, and whisper many traditional chants and prayers to the earth. Then he is shown the
inner mysteries of the earth and is invited to journey through her seven chambers" (Quoted in Neil Asher Silberman's
"Heavenly Powers: Unraveling the Secrets of the Kabbalah" [Grosset Putnam, 1998], p. 36).
The mystical experience involved could be some profound wisdom, or it could be the revelation of a technique for performing
a specific act of sorcery (Midrash Heichalot Rabati 1:3).
These seven mystical chambers of the earth to which Rabbi Hai Gaon alluded play no less a role in spiritual questing as
do the more popularly known Seven Heavenly Chambers. In fact, the ancient teachers gave them both equal importance, and taught
that both meet and conjoin in common mystery at the Seventh Chamber (Zohar, Vol. 1, folio 38a). Each chamber corresponds
to one of seven names of the earth (which vary in different texts) and wields a particular attribute:
Eretz, meaning Compressed, whose attribute is Wisdom;
Adahmah, meaning Clay, whose attribute is Peace;
Ar'ka, meaning Inward, whose attribute is Grace;
Yabashah, meaning Dry Earth in Relationship to Water, whose attribute is Potential;
Tehvel, meaning Habitation, whose attribute is Bounty;
Char'vah, meaning Destruction/Eruption, whose attribute is Life;
Gey'a, meaning Gulley, whose attribute is Power.
The sanctity of the earth is described in the Jewish tradition beyond its relationship to the human, but also its relationship
to the divine, whose presence, we are reminded, is no less in the earth as in the heavens: "And you will then know that
I am Infinite One who dwells deep within the earth" (Exodus 8:18).
The ancient rabbis further dramatized the sacredness of the earth by pointing out the fact that Creator invested an infinitesimal
quantity and quality of complexity and deliberation into the creation of the earth rather than a more simplistic version,
in order to demonstrate the magnitude of her importance: "With ten utterances was the world created. But could God not
have created her with a single utterance? Rather, it is to teach you how precious is our earth, and how much reward for those
who cherish her and how great the consequences for those who abuse her" (Babylonia Talmud, Avot 5:1).
Jewish tradition also reminds us that God's love and concern for the earth herself exists independent of, rather than
because of, the human's reliance upon her: "Said Rabbi B'rakh'yah, Rabbi Chelbo and Rabbi Pappa in the name of Rabbi
El'azar: "Rain falls not solely for people's benefits. At times, [rain falls] solely for the benefit of a single blade
of grass" (Jerusalem Talmud, Ta'anit 3:2), not only for the benefit of humans (Job 38:26). "You have remembered
the earth, and watered her, enriching her with the river of God that is full of water, watering her ridges abundantly, you
make her soft with showers; you bless the growth thereof. The pastures, the meadows, the hills and the valleys, they shout
with joy, yea, they sing!" (Psalms 65:10-14); "Who prepares rain for the earth; who makes the mountains spring with
grass" (Book of Psalms 147:8).
The earth's endearment to God is communicated throughout the Torah through innumerable laws concerning her care. One major
example is that the earth is to have her rest every seventh day and every seventh year. "In the seventh year, you may
not harvest her yield or sow seeds into her, but must leave her to be, and allow the land to feed the poor, the strangers
not of your people, the wildlife and domestic animals; you may not work her that entire year" (Leviticus 25:4 and Deuteronomy
15:1-2).
The human, then, is assigned stewardship, not ownership, over the land: "And Infinite One, Source of the Powers,
took the Earth Beings (Human) and placed them in the Garden of Pleasure, to serve her and to watch over her" (Genesis
2:15).
The human, the Torah taught, could consider themselves in "ownership" of the earth only when they considered as
well their joint responsibility for all of her, the entire planet, not solely for their own "deeded" acreage: "Our
teachers taught: One should not throw rubbish from one's own property onto public land. It happened that a man did exactly
that, when a sage passed by and scolded him, saying: 'Why are you removing litter from land that is not yours and throwing
it onto land that is yours?' The man dismissed the sage as a fool and continued littering. After a time, he was walking on
the public land and stumbled over his litter and injured himself. Said he: 'Wise were the words of the sage who asked me
why I was throwing litter from land not mine onto land that is mine'" (Babylonian Talmud, Baba Kama 50b).
For no one owns land of their own. Rather, land is "ours" only when we are collectively aware of our responsibility
for the earth as a whole, not solely fragments of it to which we have staked our possessive claim. Technically, it is never
even ours to sell, the Torah teaches, for the earth's sole owner is God (Leviticus 25:23).
Therefore what we do to land we deem "personal property" affects the rest of the planet which knows no geographical
boundaries. What we do to our "private" land, in other words, is not exempt from any ecological consequences we
might thereby wreak upon the rest of the planet: "Taught Rabbi Shim'on bar Yochai (2nd century): It is analogous to a
ship full of people sailing on the sea when one of them begins to drill a hole on the floor of his section of the boat. Said
his fellows: 'What are you doing!?' Replied he: 'What business is it of yours what I am doing? This is my section!' Said
they: 'Of course it is our business when what you are doing is going to sink the boat and drown us all!'" (Midrash Vayik'ra
Rabbah 4:6); "It happened that a man tore up his orchard when a fierce wind came and injured him" (Midrash B'reishis
Rabbah 13:2); "When a healthy tree is cut down, its groan is heard from one end of the universe to the other" (Midrash
Pirkei D'Rebbe Eliezer, Ch. 34); "One who cuts down healthy trees, shall see no blessing in their lifetime" (Babylonian
Talmud, P'sachim 50b); "The life force of the human emanates solely from the tree" (Midrash Sif'ri, D'varim 20:19).
It is clear from these and myriad other like teachings in the Jewish tradition that the earth is exceedingly sacred. She
is more the Word of God (Psalms 33:9) than the mortally transmitted scriptures: "Said Rabbi Tanchum bar Chiyyah, 'Greater
than the Revelation to our people at Sinai is the falling of the rains. For the Revelation at Sinai was to a single people
in a single period of history on a single mountain, whereas the falling of rain is [a Revelation] to all peoples, in all times,
in all places, to all animals and wildlife and birds'" (Midrash Tehilim 117:1).
She herself is the Revelation, and we need not seek it elsewhere: "They asked Rabbi Rachumai, 'The Garden of Eden,
where is she?' Said he: 'Here on the earth'" (Sefer HaBahir, Mishnah 10).
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