FengShui Basic - 8 Aspirations

In the discourse of Internal FengShui, you will term with 8 aspirations school: there will be sector for academic, wealth, health, romance and so forth. The 8 aspirations school is a modified method. If there is a basis for Life Palace analysis in XuanKong, there must also be the basis of Wealth, Health, Academic, Romance and so forth. These are the specific purpose. The problem is we seldom ask beyond what has been given. 

While we spoke about specific purpose, the 8 aspirations are the common needs within a household. The question is, have we not achieved the aspirations after investing our hard earned money into learning FengShui? Is it the theory we learnt is faulty or the teacher simply doesn’t bother to teach the correct applications? Such, I leave it for you to contemplate.

Aspiration is personal. Unfortunately, in modern times, money is the yardstick. Predecessors liked Yang - the Savior of the Poor to Lai - the Wanderers in Cotton Robe, live in low profiles and avoid glamor. Maverick Jiang – the Keeper of Heavenly Secrets has to have his disciple sponsor his retirement home. By the same token, if honest masters were to walk their forefather’s path, wouldn’t they too end up in such a situation? Contrary, the “CON-sultants” who will live a posh life from Giorgio to Armani, while promoting FengShui as expansive hobbies.

We came across a place dedicated to a FengShui "extremely low profile" grandmaster of the past. He conceals himself as a beggar and helps the poor to have better lives based on the principles of affinity. One question remains, why wouldn’t he use his knowledge to make himself fabulous? Would a rich client come to him for FengShui advice? Such, I also leave it for you to contemplate.

Look around us today. If one takes FengShui as a career, the good one will end up liked their forefathers - childless, die-young or ultimately, live a pauper. If one takes FengShui to prosper oneself then to help others to achieve the same, it is no longer a career but a charity. Charity must always stem from education. So, why shy away from teaching others the correct path and learn from our past mistakes? 

In doubt, affinity is always the guiding principles – that is what QuanYuan is all about.

FengShui Basic - The Alchemy of FengShui

Internal FengShui is modified from FengShui of the external. A grave has only one room but a House has many rooms. Does it translate into many sittings and facings? Each and every room has its own “Flying-Star” chart? Each door leading to the room is the reference point? 

Observing SanHe practitioner at work is thought provoking. He spends his time measuring every inch of the walls while a XKDG practitioner may just measure door. Wouldn’t these two diverse methods bore different results?

Chinese nuances may differ in its meaning of “sit” and “seat”. So the question of measuring the sitting of the house, door, et-cetera may eventually differ from that of measuring seating of the house, door, et-cetera. So, when we look at FlyingStar chart, do we consider sitting mountain as “seating” mountain instead? But, most importantly, how do you define a “seating mountain”?

Perhaps seating is confusing, let us investigate facing instead. Searching the internet for methods of establishing facing, one will be amazed that there are many ways to go about it, from the main door as facing to the main facade as facing. What if all the 4 facades are identical facing an empty land? I guess, that will be the nightmare for FlyingStar practitioners. 

The onset is fundamentally simple. Each has its own TaiQi. Before that, How to establish the TaiQi spot? How Qi flows? The intricate part, how to receive Qi or acquiring Qi. Both differ depending on techniques. Worse of the lot is to believe that this element grows this element, If I am this element, then it grows me, this is call ShengQi! I call it BullShit!

Internal FengShui is similar to Internal Alchemy. Contemplate such: -

Jing (Essense), Qi (Energy) and Shen (Spirits) affect one another. When it follows the flow it forms the Coporeal Form; when they invert the flow, they generate the Elixir. The flow is the one begets two, two beget three, three beget the ten thousand things…inverting the flow, the ten thousand things return to the three, the three returns to the two and the two returns to the ultimate one. Those who know the way, look after their Coporeal Form, they nourish their corporeal form to refine their Essense, accumulates it and transmuted it into Energy, refining such to merge it into their Spirits to revert to Emptiness.

Now, the question is what is the Jing (Essense), Qi (Energy) and Shen (Spirits) of your living abode?

FengShui Basic - To Move or Not Move

Movement and Stillness, these are the two words that are simple yet complicated. 

"It begins with movement; hardly can see a thing, when it comes to stillness, all begin to understand. When one sees stillness as the essential marvel, how may one knows that movement is the foundation?"

A competent practitioner would utilize an unfavorable sector to his advantages. A competent BaZi consultant would also use the negative gods. Beginners’ mistake is to equate the use of Eight Mansions with Flying Stars. These are two methods with different fundamentals. Eight Mansions stem from Early Heaven while Flying Stars stem from Later Heaven. Not surprising if someone were to asked, “What if the sector has a JueMing but yet a favorable 8 wealth star?”

Eight Mansions talked about Gua Qi, elemental relationship. Flying Stars talked about GuaXiang, imagery. The Classics state, “The Gua imagery is established on the basis of their meanings; understand the images and forget the words – the idea is clear of itself. The whole world delusively clings to the imagery; uses GuaQi and rise in levitation.” The elusive meaning of GuaQi remains the key, which many teachers refused to depart.

Evaluating internal spaces, GuaQi remains an important factor. What would be the reference for the interior? Such is called the YinYang boundary. It is the point to distribute the stars. The strangest thing is why must the reference be located at the center? Why must the Wedge be placed at the center? Why must one even smack the 9 Grids forcefully into the house plan as though there is a physical boundary between Qi? What if the physical demarcation of architectural walls differs from the 9 Grids? Why must there be even Grid Vs Wedge? Such reflects the lack of understanding in FengShui fundamentals.

The grid and wedge are simultaneously deployed. The wedge referred to the art of LiPan, establishing the LuoPan. The Grid is an aid of accessing Qi maps. While drawing up Qi maps and establishing the LuoPan became the integral part of a competent practitioner, many were not taught the proper way of doing such. To convince one that Qi moves as LoShu would not guarantee one’s application of eight mansions or FlyingStar is correct. The key is not with LoShu, but to understand how Qi spirals in 3 dimensions and work thereof. Such will work perfectly with whatever given architectural plans.

Only then, would the knowledge of stillness and movement work within the misconstrued Direct/Indirect Spirits, another malicious subject. In summary, Internal FengShui is all about the art of identifying internal Qi maps, activating, receiving or transforming  through the various essentials of a Yang Dwelling.

Saying thus, the success rate is still within its external!

FengShui Basic - Learning To Unlearn

When comes to learning FengShui, one of the most regrettable aspect is to hastily put to test what one has learned and easily discard it when good results are not seen. Sometimes it is always the hype that what is learnt is always better then what has already known. Doubt is always the best teacher as it is the devil and angel in the same package. For instances, internal Qi manipulations will not work if one does not know how to receive or acquire Qi from the greater external. That is why FlyingStar, 8 Mansions and the sorts are just as good theory on paper. A Qi container (house) will always remain empty unless one put something into it. It reminds me of the following sayings: -

“Swallowing saliva and acquiring breath are human actions; only when one knows the Way, one is able to form and transform, just liked in a Ding (tripod) there is no True Seed, liken to use water and fire to boil an empty pot”

So, when one fails to see result, we blame the method that was taught was incorrect and we fails to see that it is the reluctant of the teacher to pass on the “key”, for whatever reasons. It is only upon seeing and watching carefully of how a teacher executes his work in real life audit, would then one able to know the conditions for a method to work. Such will traditionally comes with a bucket load of insults and intimidations from being a coolie to someone holding the teacher’s bag and umbrella. In the modern context, it will be par on material gains which is nothing to be surprised of.

The complexities of residential FengShui is such that if nothing could be done to the Main Door and the Bedroom or even the Kitchen Stove such as a portable stove over a fixed stove so as to get a “perfect” XKDG hexagram, what else could be done? One friend from France suggested that to take a hammer to activate all the good SanSha points and at the same time digging all the relevant parts in the yard to challenge the 5 yellow. Such is not always the way. 

Another case in example, a gentleman passed his prime and ended up retrenched with a family to feed. What would be the specific purpose in this case? Food on the table is the priority. Does one go about tilting doors, tables, stoves and maybe beds? This family has not enough money to do the necessary and one strange thing was even the bed was built-into the wall. A simple intervention of changing the joss urn made it possible for the gentlemen age 50 to be employed. Can such be considered simple achievement for a specific purpose? 

A competent practitioner never stop learning and practicing. By practicing on the fields he learns something new and unlearns something old. Every case has its own set of challenges and limitations, if it is not carefully dealt with, it may haunt you forever. Yet, when you know that the FengShui methods you used, improve the lives of the many such as healing the sick, putting enough food on the dining table, getting childless couple to finally have children and helping your peers and students to have a decent promotions, the satisfactoriness of such meritorious deeds are far better than creating the number of millionaires. 

Perhaps, such wisdom  may appease our doubtful minds: -

"It begins with movement; hardly can see a thing, when it comes to stillness, all begin to understand. When one sees stillness as the essential marvel, how may one knows that movement is the foundation?"

FengShui Basic - Specific Purpose In Generic

It is very common for householders to suggest generic needs such as the well-being of the family while residing in the house. I would say it is generally accepted norms to prioritize well-being as the first criteria in residential FengShui. However, the notion of well-being is far too generic and it became the burden to the practitioner of not defining such in the onset of their audits. So, as a prudent measure, seasoned practitioners would qualify further assuming: -

1. Family Harmony ranks priority

2. Health Improvement for the Elderly

3. Wealth opportunity for the Bread Winner

4. Academic achievement for the school going children

These became the so called “specific purpose” which may have been silent in the pretext of “good health and good wealth” generic needs. Saying thus nothing is deemed to have been cast in stone, as this is a living art, best demonstrated by the following example.

We audited a small family where the gentleman is living with his mum while his dad had passed away. So, we only have 2 variables to deal with, one, the bread earner and two, the elderly mother. The gentleman is single and working in a multinational company. Needless to say, opportunity for promotions and meeting the opposite sexes would automatically be the priority while for his mum, health improvement ranks supreme. At this juncture, we are able to narrow down to a specific purpose and with very simple alteration using the so called “kindergarten” 8 mansions, he was promoted. We also observed there is a better change in his attitude towards other which results in him attracting the opposite sexes. His mother, on the other hand, has less sleepless night and less worry. We could not believe such a simple method would bring about good results and more importantly his dad has a permanent place within his blessed home. When identifying water mouth became difficult, use Heaven Qi approach, as this art is a living art.

Residential FengShui is more challenging in that forms as compared to Commercial FengShui, where the bottom line is profitability. As we grew wiser in our practices, we noticed that a good practitioner is able to intervene in any given situation. He does not run away when situation does not present upon him an ideal situation such as what if the Killing Forces in the area is overly strong? Move away? What if he cannot afford to do so? What will be the better alternatives? Drop the case and ask him to look for other practitioners instead? 

Any competent practitioners would have made mistake. More importantly, he must be humble enough to learn from it. The Chinese Ideal of first Destiny, second Luck, third FengShui, fourth Meritorious Deed and fifth Education had been greatly misunderstood. For example, Education is a reserved privilege for the male gender in the aristocratic Chinese community. Does it means to say, female is devoid a chance to improve on their Destinies, for not being given the opportunity for education? No, education in the simple Chinese nuance means learning from one’s mistake and takes step to improve oneself. This is the very basis of doing meritorious deed to oneself and others will naturally comes its way. 

“The cosmos lies in one’s hand, the ten thousand transformations are born from oneself.”