Feng Shui for the Dead

Caption : The tomb of the late Ong Sam Leong - a renowned entrepruner (Singapore)

(Disclaimer: I'm not a professional geomancer and thus the interpretation is solely my own views)

What actually got me interested in fengshui is the study of the Yin fengshui (阴宅) the art of selecting the abode for your ancestor. However, due to land limitation and other method of disposal such as cremation, this art is not often practice today. (absolute none in Singapore, if I may say). Furthermore, the context of today fengshui is more practiced on the living abode and sadly, all all about garnering wealth and material needs.

In search of the Lost Horizon - Shangri-La

When I was a little boy, I read a book and a movie made in 1973 titled "The Lost Horizon by James Hilton" that leaves me with a burning desire to go venture into the unknown, a time travel, a dream into the Himalaya that brings you into another world. The descriptions from the book and the movie described Shangri-La as an ancient Tibetian legend of Shambala (Buddhist Pure Land), a fabulous kingdom whose reality is visionary or spiritual as much as physical or geographic. All these points to the Himalaya Region of Southwest China (Yunnan, Kunming and Sichuan), Tibet, Bhutan, Himalayan India (Dharamsala, Lahaul, Spiti, Ladakh, Zanskar, Leh and Sikkim), Nepal and Pakistan.

These regions remain pretty inaccessible until very recent. With all the power struggle and military confrontation in Tibet and India, China finally opened its door to Tibet in the year 1985.Unknown to me, I finally set foot into what may be the Lost Horizon, the Shangri-La in 1987. Right into the heart of Tibet - Lhasa. This also ignite the desire to venture to the rest of the region in search of the legendary Shangri-La.

四书五经

During the ancient, all confuscius scholars need to learn the 9 books also known as the 四书五经. These 四书 consist of 论语、孟子、大学 and 中庸；and the 五经 is make up of 诗经、向书、礼记、周易 and 春秋.

However there is this book of 周易or the I-Ching (also known as the Book of Change) is a manual of divination based on the eight trigrams attributed to the mythical figure Fuxi (by the time of Confucius these eight trigrams had been multiplied to sixty-four hexagrams). The I Ching is still used by modern adherents of folk religion.

紫微斗数 - Purple Emperor Star

A teacher I met offered to teach me the art of Zi Wei analysis and since then I had been under his guidance for almost 2 years now. He had explained that destiny is not fixed or fated but how you decide it should be and you work towards your goal. (知命造命） Astrologers observed the stars and noticed that among so many stars, only one was seemingly stationary while the rest revolved around it. As it was also the brightest, the star was named the "Emperor Star" - the celestial equivalent of the Emperor.

The the person seeking the fortune telling advice, presents the BaZi (時辰八字) to the interpreter. This information covers a person's moment of birth: year, month, day, and time. Without this crucial information, the analysis cannot take place.

Using BaZi in combination with Constellation, calculations are worked out to chart the stars into 12 different palaces or Gong (宫). This would then be one's Natal Birth Chart or Mìng Pán (命盘). By integrating the stars and palaces, their attributes, environmental factors, the Five Elements, Yin and Yang concept and all the possible combinations and variations, not only can personalities be understood, but personal and professional relationships can be predicted. The end result is a calculated translation of one's destiny in detail including events that have already happened in the past for verification purposes.

The plotting of one's birth chart is not difficult. What is difficult in Zi Wei Dou Shu is the complex system of interpretation that allows us to 'see' the blueprint of our lives.

八字学 - Four Pillars of Destiny

While studying the art of fengshui in Singapore Polytechnic, I was introduced to the art of Ba Zi (Eight Characters) or Four Pillars of Destiny as it is popular known in the West. It is a sophisticated art of Chinese fortune-telling based largely on the Chinese five-element theory, allowing us to investigate the potential and mysterious of our lives using our birth data. BaZi calculation enable us to explore the cyclical influence of our 'destiny' in terms important areas such as family, friends, relationships, wealth, fame, recognition, career, studies, partnership, business and the almost every other important aspect of our lives. BaZi can be used to evaluate relationships and to forecast the life path of each individual.

BaZi translates our birth data - Year , Month , Day and Hour of birth into four pairs of distinct Chinese Characters (called Jia Zi). Four pairs make Eight Characters (or BaZi). Each pair is also known as a pillar, hence the term Four Pillars. The eight characters are made up of the yin and yang variations of the Five Elements . By analyzing the structure, compatibility, clashes, combinations and inter-relations of these eight characters, we can learn much about our nature and our life path. An individual can make use of this information to accelerate his performance in work, strengthen his or her relationships with others, improve weaknesses, maximize talents and potentials, and make informed decisions based on forecasts of his or her upcoming cycle of luck.

Although the BaZi is easy to assemble, it is difficult to interpret and analyse.

A Typical BaZi Table with a 10 years Luck Cycle

Chinese Zodiac

There was a story to the origins of the 12 chinese zodiac animals. It was said that once the Buddha summoned all the animals to see him on the begining of the Lunar New Year and only the first 12 animals will be selected to run a race to determine the 12 zodiac animals representing time and year.

Then, the cat and the rat were good friends. But the cat was lazy and went to bed, asking the rat to wake him up when it was time to go. But the rat was selfish, believing that the cat would outrun him. So he left the cat to sleep causing the cat to miss the appointment. Thus cat was not one of the 12 zodiac animals and it was also for this reason that cats chases and catches the rats. It was also said that the rat hid on the buffalo who raced hard to reach the destination, only for the rat to spring forward to gain first spot at the race.

There was also another story, the dragon and snake was really not much of a difference in form. So in order to win the race, the dragon went to the rooster who had 3 pairs of legs to borrow 2 pairs from the rooster, promising to return them after the race. With these borrowed legs, the dragon outran the snake. After the dragon had won the race, he refuses to return the legs to the rooster. That's why the rooster was left with only 2 legs.

Now, it is believed that one would also adopt the characteristics of the zodiac animal he was born under. For example, a dragon year born person will have full of vitality and enthusiam and is a popular individual. Therefore dragon year a favourite time to give birth. Likewise, it is not favourable to have a baby girl to be born at night in the year of the Tiger as she may be fierce like a tiger who will hunt at night. However this too is too general to characterise a person born in that year.

Horoscope

While you are reading the newspaper, you may notice there is this daily western horoscope column. Often than not, you may just glance thru them under your zodiac sign based on the day you were born. You may not make anything of them until you noticed when the happening to the day fits into one of the descriptions.

However the descriptions is very general when you really think about it. How could all the people of the same horoscope but different date and year be experencing the same thing? This was the first time I got in touch and became interest in astrology