The Feng Shui of Abundance

Feng shui is choosing, designing and building the safest and most suitable living and working environment. --Professor Lin-Yun

The purpose of feng shui is to site a city or building in the most harmonious and auspicious place given the lay of the land.

Feng Shui is a system of determining and plotting the energies of the land based on the ancient Chinese Book of Changes, the I-Ching which dates back over 4,000 years.

Historical records indicate that the first use of feng shui was for the siting of ancestoral grave sites, specifically those of the Emperor. Feng shui was used to auspiciously place The Forbidden City, in China.

More recently the focus of feng shui is on the placement of the people and activities within a building. Ideally, before ground is broken the architects and builders have read the "lay of the land" from an energy flow perspective.

Initally a Feng Shui Master looked at the "lay of the land" and all of it's aspects both mundane, where the animals moved and how the water flowed, and the esoteric, the feel of the land from a whole-body perspecitve.

Feng Shui Masters advised the Emperor and his Military Advisors on how to wage war, secure peace and ensure prosperity. If you know anything about stragety, the first use of feng shui was not written down, or if it was ... those "documents" were destroyed when leadership changed.

Ascertaining the "lay of the land" focused on the actual land, and how to enhance the agricultural aspects of the various leaders and the Emperor's domain. Feng shui also included the political aspects of the "scene," who was positioned where, and which people were angling for what position. As you might imagine, this information would be quickly destroyed when regimes changed hands. This is still true in the East as well as the West.

In business, we still use the phrase "getting the lay of the land" referring to developing a sense of what information is hidden and which closet not to probe. More importantly, to get a sense of what projects and people to avoid due to their historical challenges or catastrophies, the ones that still cover any activity in that business. In feng shui we often refer to Predecessor Energy. Dealing with someone who understands all of the ramifications of a predecessor is the ideal.

Feng Shui Masters held their secrets close to their heart and within a very tight circle. You had to enter inside the Emperor's confidence to even know this information existed. Now it's officially banned in China and much of the Far East.

That's good news for the West. The protected walls fell down and the Feng Shui Masters were sent outside. Sometimes very rudely and without little support.

What they found outside the walls was that Western men wanted immediate action. Often they didn't care about a long-term stragety that may show little results for three or six months and then kick in for the long haul like a bolt out of the blue.

The Western business motto of Ready! Fire! Aim! Quick collect the money and dump the bodies. Only later think about the intention and long term goals. Having lots of bodies to bury very quickly is most inauspicious to the Oriental mind. Better to inspire people to join your cause and contribute to a greater good ... and be seen and known as a wise and generous leader.

Western women? Well many western women had been waiting for so long -- that they were and are willing to listen first, consider their intention and their goals first -- and act later.

It's a long-term strategy found in the ancient wisdom of the I-Ching.