Feng Shui and the Black Sect Tantric Buddhist (BTB) School

Feng Shui is the practice of reading and understanding the movement of energy (or qi) through an environment.  It’s an art and a science of discovering the most beneficial way to achieve maximum harmony with nature.  The development of Feng Shui is said to date back to at least 5000 BC in China, with a great flowering taking place during 770-475 BC under the Zhou dynasty. 

Feng Shui is a Chinese phrase that translates literally to “Wind Water”.  Wind and Water are the two currents that move through and shape our greater home (Earth), and the reading of these energies was used to choose the most auspicious areas for burial sites, palaces, and communities.  Philosophies of Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism shaped Feng Shui over the millenia. Many principles of Feng Shui are based on the building blocks of the I-Ching, also known as the “Book of Changes”, a Chinese text that dates back to around 1050 BC when it was divinely revealed to King Wen, and serves as a kind of manual for how to live in an upright way.  

Interpretations of the I-Ching and Feng Shui have developed into many schools of thought and practice over thousands of years.  These ideas have long been shared all over the world, and they began to have a stronger presence in the western world in the 1970’s.  Thomas Lin Yun Rinpoche (lovingingly known as "Professor") came to the US from Taiwan in the 1970s to share the wisdom of Feng Shui and the lineage of the Black Sect Tantric Buddhist (BTB) school and continued to teach all over the world.  This is the type of Feng Shui that I study and practice.  

BTB has deep roots in Tibetan Buddhism, the Bon Religion of Tibet, Taoism, and Chinese cultural and mystical practices.  Professor Lin Yun sought to honor this strong lineage and also adapt it to the modern and western world.  As a student of BTB, I was welcomed into the lineage and golden chain of widsom of BTB by my teachers, Anjie Cho and Laura Morris.

Because much of our modern world here in the US is already “built”, BTB looks at how energy flows in and around your built environments, rather than using the cardinal directions to determine auspicious placements and building sites.  Instead of cardinal directions, we use the front entry of a space, or "mouth of qi" to determine energy flow. BTB Feng Shui also emphasizes the importance of spiritual cultivation and offers many transcendental solutions.

There are many other schools of Feng Shui including Flying Star, Form and Compass, and they all work with similar elements at their core, but have different applications and approaches.  We are taught in BTB that no schools of thought are "wrong" and all are valid, but each is simply a different approach to reach the same goal of creating a harmonious space and life. It's always best to follow what resonates with you.