featured this month in Over the Moon
Deepak Chopra shares a fascinating story in the introduction to his book, Creating Affluence, about how to attract abundance. The story begins with a young person asking his teacher how he can create wealth in order to “help and heal the world.”
The teacher shares with the student a secret: there are two Goddesses within each of us—Sarasvati, Goddess of Knowledge, and Lakshmi, Goddess of Wealth. In the story, the secret is that if you seek out the Goddess of Knowledge, the Goddess of Wealth will become jealous and follow you, creating unlimited wealth.
Inspired, I began my pursuit of Sarasvati (and knowledge) by painting her images and symbols. They now reside in the Benefactors area of my home (according to the feng shui Bagua map, this is the front right corner of your floor plan). There is also an area related to self-knowledge and wisdom on the feng shui Bagua map. Besides painting the image of Sarasvati, you can activate this knowledge area of your home and/or workspace to attract wisdom.
It’s easiest to lay the bagua map on your bedroom, so let's start there. If you stand in the doorway of your bedroom facing inside the room, the corner just to your left is the knowledge area. Similarly if you want to activate this area of your desk, you can sit at your desk, divide your desk up into a 3x3 grid, and it’s the bottom, left corner, closest to you. If you activate the bedroom knowledge area, this will improve your personal self-knowledge and cultivation. If you do this on your desk, the activation is related more to your work or career.
Three great ways to activate the feng shui knowledge area are with plants, Sarasvati and the element of fire. Living green plants represent growth and life, and when added to the knowledge area, they can expand your self-knowledge and provide support and freshness to this part of your life or work. Locating an image or representation of Sarasvati in this area would also support more wisdom. Finally, the addition of something triangular or red is beneficial in this area because, according to the five element theory, they represent fire energy. The fire energy supports knowledge, because the knowledge gua is an earth area. Fire also provides brightness, clarity and passion. A new light bulb or light fixture would also do the trick!
One of the most popular requests I get with feng shui consultations is for more wealth, but many people don't realize you can welcome more abundance into your life in an indirect way as well. If you're seeking wealth or knowledge, take a look at your space and the recommendations above, and see if you can make an adjustment in your knowledge area(s) to attract wealth and knowledge.
