Thursday, October 29, 2009

Numbers Game

Numbers are really funny when you play with them. A Feng Shui master in Toronto lives in a house with number 14. When real estate agents ask him why he live in a house with such an unlucky number, he explains that it is supersititious to consider the number 4 as unlucky. Number 14 for a Feng Shui master means career success and romance, he further comments. Well, what about 25 and 23? Can we apply flying stars to house numbers?

It so happens that I moved into a house with number 26. Well, 2 is Kun and 6 is Qian in Hou Tian Ba Gua. It matches the fact that there lives grandpa and grandma.

If you are young and lives in number 26, then I will quote from Xuan Kong Mi Zhi 玄空秘旨:

富並陶朱,定是堅金遇土
Wealthy as Tao Zhu - it must be firm gold meeting earth.

The famous Tao Zhu Gong 陶朱公 was a real business expert who became the wealthiest man in the Kingdom of Qi 齊 in just a few years time after leaving the Kingdom of Yue 越. Tao Zhu was the famous Fan Li 范蠡 who helped the King of Yue to defeat his rival King of Wu. That is a beautiful story.

Play with numbers in anyway you like with a positive approach. It stimulates sheng qi in your mind and the good wishes will come true. The numbers themselves become the most powerful talisman.

JY

Thursday, October 22, 2009

The three classes of Feng Shui Masters

There is a famous saying:

The upper class Feng Shui masters watch the stars, [上等地师看星斗]
The middle class Feng Shui masters watch the water mouths, [中等地师看水口]
The lower class Feng Shui masters roam in the mountains. [下等地师随山走]

The term 地师 can be translated as "Earth Master" meaning a person whose profession involves analyzing Earth qi. A person whose profession involves communicating with Heaven is known as 天师 (For example, the daoist grandmaster Zhang Dao Ling 张道陵 is better known as 张天师). A person whose profession is teaching is known as 人师 (For example, to take up the teaching professional is called 为人师表). Obviously, an Earth Master is better known as a Feng Shui Master.

Most people misunderstand the saying as classifying Feng Shui masters into 3 categories. In fact, it tells the three stages of training of Feng Shui masters.

The lower class refers to the beginners. They have to follow the master to feel the earth qi by walking the dragon. I went through this stage without knowing when I was a child playing in the mountains without shoes. In those days, wearing shoes is a luxury.

The middle class refers to apprentices following the master learning how to measure water mouths using the luopan. This includes measuring the incoming mountain dragon and the facing to erect a monument stone. This part is mainly studying the landforms.

The upper class refers to the third stage when the disciples learn the Li Qi part of Feng Shui. The stars refer to the nine stars different schools use in their Feng Shui practices.

Only when the three stages have been completed one can be called a Feng Shui master.

If you miss first stage, please start visiting the mountains.

JY

Sunday, October 18, 2009

The fishing skill, not the fish

The way I learned Feng Shui from my master was through:

(1) Observation
(2) Asking questions
(3) Searching for an answer from ancient Feng Shui classics
(4) Presenting my understanding
(5) Repeating (3) and (4) until my master was satisfied

My master was a great master but he did not teach me in the way most people call "teaching". This is the most solid form of teaching.

Did he pass onto me some well-kept "secrets" of Feng Shui? Yes, and I have already disclosed the secret in this posting:

It is the fishing skill, not the fish.

JY

Friday, October 16, 2009

The Feng Shui Lineage Game

Feng Shui was not passed on by aliens.

One of the commercial gimmicks Feng Shui masters are fond of using is "lineage".

Indeed, Feng Shui was taught through a master-disciple system. The disciple would be loyal because of the belief that the master would pass on to him the top secrets before his death. Whether it is true or not, no one knows but the game plays on.

Who was the first Feng Shui master then? How did he create the secrets of Heaven and Earth?

The answer is simple. There is no first Feng Shui master. Some people claim that Feng Shui knowledge was passed down from Guo Pu (276-324 AD) in his Burial Book. Yang Yun Song (834-906 AD) is another important person in the history of Feng Shui. According to the history documentary 《赣州府志》written in 1536 AD during the Ming Dynasty, Yang served Tang Emperor Xi Zong 唐僖宗 as the Gold and Purple Light Prosperity Officer 金紫光禄大夫 that took care of Earth Rational Affairs of the Spiritual Platform 灵台地理事. In today’s language, he was the Imperial Feng Shui Adviser.

When he was 45, the rebellion led by Huang Chao 黄巢 attacked the Imperial Palace and he escaped with important books kept in the Imperial Library. He used the technique he learned from the books to practise and teach Feng Shui. Because he was able to help the poor with his Feng Shui practice, he was known as Yang Jiu Pin 杨救贫 (Yang Saving the Poor). Today, a lot of people claim to be holding his lineage.

It should be noted that no one has mentioned who was Yang Yun Song’s master and his master’s master. According to reliable historical documents, he studied the books he took from the Imperial Library and became the most honoured Feng Shui master in history. Obviously he studied the principles but invented his technique. Unfortunately, no one holding his lineage learned Feng Shui the way he did. Instead of standing on the shoulders of giants, people today want to peep through the legs of giants.

JY

Thursday, October 1, 2009

The person, not the star

I remember the house I bought when I first set foot on Canada. It was a Period 7 house facing Ren (N1). The bedroom in the NW had the stars 1 and 4 and I assigned it to my elder son who was about to graduate from high school. Well, he improved a lot from the days when he was in Hong Kong and was admitted into the University of Toronto. What was more amazing was that he was never short of girl friends. As a result, his academic achievement was quite limited.

Then I assigned the room to my younger son. He was always among the best in high school and university and got a good job after graduation. He also got married with his high school sweet heart.

The same stars when used by different people will generate different results. Some people can use the star for academic achievement while others may use the star to become an artist. The same stars can also be used by some people to become romantic people flirting all the time.

The nature of a star does not change, the outcome depends on the user.

JY