FF: So how does it feel being number ONE in the USA ?
LT: Feels scary ... it also feels good that many people can benefit from my books on feng shui
FF: What got you started writing about feng shui?
LT: ... Well, as you know darling, after I retired and you started growing up on me, I had to find something to do ... so I decided to be a writer. FF: Yes, but why feng shui ? Why not a novel ... a steamy fiction ... based on the glittering corporate world of big money that you knew so well?
LT: No, I simply am not good enough to write fiction ... (laughs) ... besides, I wanted to
write on a subject which could help people ... and since I knew so much about feng shui, and I could honestly say hey .. here's something that really works ... FF: But weren't you afraid to give away too many secrets ?
LT: I didn't see it that way ... besides, I also wanted to preserve a small part of my Chinese cultural tradition ... make it freely available, especially for a whole lot of Chinese people
living outside China or Hong Kong ... people like me ... Western educated Chinese who could lose out on our own traditions ... FF: You have
written now what ... 18 books ... counting your new FUNDAMENTALS series of nine books ? .... That's very prolific ... where do you get your inspiration ?
LT: .. Yes, I suppose it is ... * grins * Inspiration? From all my fan letters of course ... I get so
many letters from people who have used my books successfully for feng shui. There is nothing more inspiring than that! FF: Mummy, tell
them also about Rinpoche ... how feng shui brought Him into our lives.
LT: Yes, of course, The best thing about my feng shui books is that they brought ~Lama Zopa Rinpoche
to us ... He read my books, contacted me and invited me to go to Bodhgaya (this place in India where the Lord Buddha gained Enlightenment) ... FF: You mean he just called you from out of the blue ?
LT: Yes, it's wonderful isn't it? He wanted me to do the feng shui for the buildings to be built around the giant MAITREYA STATUE which His organization is planning to build in Bodhgaya. FF: And you went ?
LT: Yes, I went with Uncle Yap ( Master Yap Cheng Hai._ Feng Shui grand master) .... It was a stunningly inspiring trip ... a pilgrimage and I met Rinpoche ... such a great Dharma Master.
We are so blessed and I, so privileged to be His student, to be able to learn the Dharma ( Buddhist practice) from Him ....
FF: So you are a Buddhist ?
LT: Yes I am FF: How does that fit with what you say ... that feng shui is not a religion?
LT: Feng shui is a science, a method a technique for arranging your living space to have a better lifestyle and a more comfortable life .... Religion is a spiritual practice,
aimed at transforming the mind and the attitude towards helping others and attaining enlightenment in order to be able to help others ... the two are different practices but they complement each other. FF: There is no conflict then ?
LT: ... Oh no, not at all * shakes head vigorously * FENG SHUI does not require faith. You don't have to believe in feng shui for it to work ... just get it right and you will benefit from
the good energy around you. Get it wrong and you will be hit by the killing energies of the environment. Treat feng shui like a subject you learn at University ... I used to look on it as an additional management tool .
FF: What is your favourite food ?
LT: I don't have favourite foods. I love many different types of cuisine ... but I guess you could say I am partial to Italian cooking. FF: and your favourite car ?
LT: * thinking seriously * I think nothing beats the Merce ...(Mercedes Benz)
FF: and your favourite designer ?
LT: It's got to be Issey
Miyake, whom I think is incredibly creative. I also like Versace and DKNY a lot .. and also Moschino ... but these days I am too fat to look good in any of their clothes ! * rolling eyes upwards * so now I wear Marks and Spencer a
lot. They make sensible nice clothes. Not as glamourous as the designers but just as good. FF: .. And your favourite movie star?
LT: I like Harrison Ford a lot ... and I love his movies. They entertain and they're wholesome.
I especially liked him in the Indiana Jones series - great adventure stuff ! FF: Finally, what would you like to be remembered as ...
LT: That's easy. I want to remembered as a very excellent mother to you,
my darling, as a great home maker, and as a great friend to all my friends. |
