Does religion have a role in Feng Shui?

This is a frequently asked question.
The answer is: No.  Feng shui is not a religion nor has it ever followed any religious tradition or practice.

However, most religious groups do apply feng shui principles in building their temples and monasteries. Most Taoist and Buddhist temples in China are built on a site that nourishes spiritual energy.

Headmaster Monk, Dr. Hsu and group at Temple Site

Last November, I was invited by the headmaster of Yunjui Shan (雲居山Cloud Residing Mountain) ,in Jinagxi, China,  to locate a proper site to build a new meditation and training center for the monastery. This Ch’an (zen) monastery, was established during the Tang dynasty and has over 1200 years of history.  The headmaster was very much into feng shui and I found him also sensitive to the energy of the land.  Since my suggestion was very much in accord with what he had in mind, he was very happy with my visit.

This past March, he once again asked me to help with the proper positioning of the gate for a new temple. High up in the mountain, in the rain and cold, the master walked so briskly through the woods and muddy ground, that I had to pay attention to keep up.   Overall, it was a most interesting and rewarding experience.

Dr. Hsu with Headmaster monk

From all the Buddhist and Taoist temples I have visited, I hardly find a temple without good feng shui.  Although in general, the energy at such sites is more supportive of spiritual cultivation and may not necessarily support business or commerce.

Good feng shui for business requires a more mundane energy, which in general means sites are on low ground, such as cities close to bodies of water.  Temples, on the other hand, are for spiritual cultivation, thus are mostly located on mountains or higher ground in a city.

Balance with the intended purpose is one of the key considerations of feng shui design.

Shan-tung Hsu Energy, Feng Shui

On April 12, 2006 Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt, formally announced Google’s business name in China;   谷歌 (Guge)。During recent months there has been a soap opera played out between the Chinese government and Google, over which Google made the decision to move its operation to Hong Kong.   Then on April 3, 2010,   Google decided to discontinue using its Chinese company name and replaced it with “Google in China”.  The Chinese name, Guge, was used for just under 4 years.

A name as well as logo represents the information level of a company, for everything in the universe has matter, qi-energy, and information attributes.  Therefore, all successful companies have a good logo and name. When Google’s Chinese name was chosen and announced four years ago, I was very surprised and commented it was not a good sign for Google’s operation in China.  Google could have easily chosen a better name.  I wondered who was behind this naming? Doesn’t Google have better talent in its Chinese team to foresee the future difficulty by using this name?  I was puzzled.

The Chinese word Gu means Valley, Ge means Song or Singing. To sing and to have the energy extended, to have the song heard in a big way, one should stand on high ground, on top of a mountain or on top of the Great Wall, not in a valley. A valley means one is confined and trapped.

Things always begin on the information level, moves to the qi-energy level and than on to physical manifestation.  What happened today for Google was already determined when it chose its Chinese name four years ago. It was destined to fail.  Maybe by restoring its name to English it will have a 2nd chance in China.

Shan-tung Hsu Energy