Le Shan, China, April 16th, 2007. What’s 71m high, has 3m-long fingers, and shoulders 28m broad on either side?  It also rises from the confluence of three rivers, and is more than 1,200 years old! Godzilla?  Not quite. We’re talking about the world’s biggest carved stone Buddha – the Le Shan Giant Buddha (Le Shan Ta Fo)!  And yes, in this case, size did matter!

Our objective of today’s audit was simple: Instead of assessing the Feng Shui of a house, tomb or commercial property, we were here to find out how such a monument contributed to an entire city’s good fortune.  Then again, as Joey reminded us, Feng Shui was first used by Grandmaster Yang Yun Song (aptly nicknamed `Yang, The Savior of the Poor’) to save lives.  But how do you save the lives of countless people…how indeed can Feng Shui affect the lives of millions and be used to help those in need?

We took our first look at the statue – a UNESCO inscribed World Heritage Site - and went: `WOW!’… before reality set in, and we went: `Oh oh!’.  Well, no pain no gain, so gritting our teeth, we braved the 24-storey walk up (and later, down again!) the Buddha to measure its facing direction and Water Mouth.  But the view was really worth the effort, as we absorbed the surrounding country from the peak.

Our task at the Giant Buddha completed, we proceeded to track further into the hills to Fo Guo Tian Tang (Buddha’s Paradise) to check out yet another temple’s unique location.  Having spent an hour or so at this place, we gathered at a teahouse in the clearing of the forest for our debriefing and discussion session with Joey.

Putting into account the details of the Giant Buddha’s audit, we confirmed that the status itself had been intentionally located on the `Si Da Jin Long’ (4 Major Golden Dragon) axis, where the confluence of the 3 rivers form a Ju Mian Shui Formation.  The `Shau Shan’ technique was utilized to convert a negative protrusion (where Le Shan City is located) into a positive feature, thereby allowing Yin and Yang to be balanced in perfect harmony. 

As for the Ling Yun Si Temple, it is located on the two Jia Er (Noble Stars) and utilizes the mountains to establish a facing direction similar to the Buddha’s.  Both the Giant Buddha and Temple’s Feng Shui ingeniously applied precepts from Grandmaster Yang’s classics, Yi Long Jing and Han Long Jing as well as other texts such as Xue Xin Fu and Ren Zi Sui Ci.

There were so many things shared and learnt today, that it would be virtually impossible to jot them all down on this log.  But perhaps seeing is indeed believing…after all, it’s one thing to read a book (i.e. the classics), and another to see them brought to live, right before your very eyes!

We sat for dinner with hale appetites, having worked hard all day!  Sumptuous Sichuan cuisine at a restaurant in downtown Le Shan City (which as a bonus, overlooked the Grand Buddha too)…what more could we ask for?