Date Selection using the TongShu Almanac
If there is help available why not? This reasoning is all the more correct when we are embarking on some major move that will affect our lives and well being. For this reason also, we would select a good date for the conduct of our affairs.
Every society has their particular selection methods with the chinese seeming to have myriad ways to select suitable dates. There are the special doors, three cycles, mystical dimensions and more.
I believe that the purpose of study is to educate ourselves. In older times, knowledge were limited to the very few. Only the upper class and the rich had this privelege. At the same time, the texts and mateerials available were not that many so it always was the same texts being core study material. In some sort of a way, society became shaped and the psyche of that society conditioned, which is not necessarily a good thing.
The same is happening today. The TongShu or chinese almanac is ubiquitous in chinese homes. I remember as a young child, a scholarly old man told me that it is a talisman and hanging one in the home acts as a protection against harmful spirits. My parents and grandparents said the same thing, most probably because they heard it from him too. Of course I believed him because he was once a titled scholar before he fled china after the fall of the Qing dynasty. Later I learnt that such power ascribed to the almanac is that within it are magical writings as well as codes containing the secrets of the universe.
The singular most important use of the almanac is the calendar. It may be strange that this calendar is found at the back of the book. Well you see, it is meant to be the final conclusion or distillation of all the writings, wisdom and formula before it. One thing to note though is that the chinese almanac is read right to left. English books are read the other way so front becomes back and back becomes front.
The calendar found at the ‘back’ of the almanac is a lunar calendar. Fortunately they have elected to include the western gregorian calendar as well so we will know exactly ‘when’ we are. Fortunate really if not we would have no idea at all where we would be in our real world time. The unfortunate thing though is that they are all in chinese characters!
Many of the ‘astrologers’ practising today use the almanac as the basis for date selection. It is the astrologers’ basic tool. In calling him or her an astrologer is not exactly correct. Maybe it is more correct to call him a time selection specialist but for convenience, let’s just call him an astrologer.
Many books are now out in english that shows us how to select dates. Before gleefully using the methods that are shown, it is good to know how the calendar came about.
The chinese calendar compiled today is based on the Xieji-Bianfang Shu or Treatise on Harmonising time and Distinguishing directions. Take away its high sounding language it really means that it is a guide to selecting times and orientation. The time here means a good date and orientation is used in houses and burials.
It was compiled during the time of the famous Qing emperor QianLong and completed in 1740. The compilers were the astronomy unit which comes under the Board of Rituals.
What is important for us to know is that the reason for this compilation was that the early works were found to be full of errors and also there were many conflicting ideas on the subject. As an aside it also goes that there were many conflicting ideas too about astrology as a whole. Now, this is very important. The treatise is a compilation of scholarly works and it goes to say that the chief guy in charge eventually gets to decide what is right and wrong. We can safely assume that the emperor is no astrologer and leaves that to the head of the board of rituals. He is certainly a very powerful man but there is nothing to say that this treatise is not error prone.
What has this got to do with us? Well, if you are one who cannot live without consulting the almanac, just remember that you maybe relying on an error ridden work!
The other thing that we have to know is that the book is based on certain fixed longtitude to derive the calculations. How accurate it is to you, assuming all others are correct will depend on where you are located. Kuala Lumpur is at 113° longtitude which is about 28 minutes behind if we use 120° as the base line of calculations. So you may like to take note of this. However the system does not emphasise the sun and the moon but the bevy of stars and constellations.
Having talked about the time adjustment, there is another point that needs to be considered. The astrology as used by the chinese is not strictly an astronomy work. No doubt the constellations and stars as seen in the sky are used but the impact of these cosmic entities is not the same as that used by the western astrologer. In a way you can say that the almanac is derived from a coded guide left behind by the ancient observers. How accurately the later day astrologers have decoded them is open to question.
The most common way most common folk use to check on a good day is the 12 cycles (twelve shen of the day). That is why you will hear someone saying this is and ‘open’ day which is a good day or that this is a ‘broken’ day which means that it is not a good day. You may like to know that all the days within the year are divided into twelve types. They go in a cylce. You have to ask yourself the question “Is it that simple? If so, how can my life be governed by something like that?”
The other way is that of looking at the colors of the ink used to print the words. A good day is marked by the color red. In many respects it is correct as red signifies a general all round benevolence of the energies in play for that day. Of course this good or bad is based on the mathematics used in compiling the calendar. In other words, if there is an error on day one, then that error carries through making all the rest wrong. Also, if one use the wrong theory, then all the answers are going to come out wrong.
One last thing to remember is that the calendar was and still is very agricultural and feudal based in tone. Many of the activities are rather ritual based. For examples activities like setting the mill and washing the hair. If you are content with using the almanac for its face value, what you can do is to look deeper into the relationship between the activity and the reason why this activity is no good. Most of it will be related to the twelve cycles. (The twelve cycles depict major events of a feudal community and at another time we can talk about this).
The ancient astrologers’ favorite pastime is to observe the changes in nature and attempt to correlate this to human life with the purpose of predicting the cycles of life. Through knowing at which point of the cycle one is at, preparations and plans can be made to ensure a smoother journey. Likewise, we can do the same. If we are to have the best out of life, we have to make use of the resources that we have. In taking lessons from the almanac, it is not about looking for red days or auspicious astrological dates to do anything but as a tool for self development.
The world is constantly changing. Global warming is here and what is written happen in the almanac may not be accurate anymore. To the believer of the almanac, that person will have to look at the things happening around him and relate that to the almanc to reposition oneself within this space and time continuum. The most powerful force around is still the force of the human will.
In date selection and in fengshui, the true basis is the continuous cycle of all things. Date and site selection is not to be based on some archaic formula or can be decided by a set of formulas or a round compass. It has to be based on available circumstances, the characteristics and factors in play at that point in time and space. This is true.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Do not anger
Once upon a time I attended a seminar. It was a course in motivation and self empowerment. One of the lessons learnt then was to use anger as a motivation tool. It was the belief that there is no motivation stronger than that provided by anger. Reflecting back on all that and with sincerity would now say to all that that is not the way to work. Getting things done and achieving the material status in life through the use of anger to motivate oneself is NOT the way. Period.
If it is about motivation, then there are definitely many more better and effective methods. As human beings we have our ups and our downs. Who does not get annoyed once in a while anyway?
The difference is in the approach we can take. The Reiki principles say do not anger. However may we add a little more to that? Perhaps it may be better to know the anger that is coming around and be mindful not to let it get control of us. Taking a few deep breaths is a time proven method. Once the anger is seen as such our minds clear and the cause of that anger can be worked on and presto! We have the problem fixed.
Anger by itself is like a fire that takes us as the fuel. Once this is recognized it becomes powerless. In the application of Usui Sensei’s approach it is quite simply this :- an exercise in mindfulness and control.
There are many people who do meditation that brings about calmness of the mind. That on its own is fine as things can be seen more clearly that way. However it is also important that it can be used as a tool to work with anger. By this would mean that once we note anger arising, we can use our meditative mind to look at it. This becomes then a method of mixing our meditation practice with our daily lives. Meditation is one huge subject on its own but at this point it is good to say that deep calm meditation is of limited use if we are not able to employ it to cultivate ourselves.
If it is about motivation, then there are definitely many more better and effective methods. As human beings we have our ups and our downs. Who does not get annoyed once in a while anyway?
The difference is in the approach we can take. The Reiki principles say do not anger. However may we add a little more to that? Perhaps it may be better to know the anger that is coming around and be mindful not to let it get control of us. Taking a few deep breaths is a time proven method. Once the anger is seen as such our minds clear and the cause of that anger can be worked on and presto! We have the problem fixed.
Anger by itself is like a fire that takes us as the fuel. Once this is recognized it becomes powerless. In the application of Usui Sensei’s approach it is quite simply this :- an exercise in mindfulness and control.
There are many people who do meditation that brings about calmness of the mind. That on its own is fine as things can be seen more clearly that way. However it is also important that it can be used as a tool to work with anger. By this would mean that once we note anger arising, we can use our meditative mind to look at it. This becomes then a method of mixing our meditation practice with our daily lives. Meditation is one huge subject on its own but at this point it is good to say that deep calm meditation is of limited use if we are not able to employ it to cultivate ourselves.
Friday, October 26, 2007
House Renovation Precautions
I am prompted to write this after recalling an invitation to take a fengshui look at one house which was renovated in 2003.
What happened was that all was fine and it was until after renovations done towards the end of 2003 that the family found that there appears to be something amiss. Quite a fortune must have gone into doing the renovation and refurbishment. After a detailed check, it became clear that what could possibly be done wrong was done wrong.
Although the orientation and layout was left quite untouched the latent energy patterns of the house has been redistributed.
It is difficult to imagine that renovations can have a drastic impact on fengshui, but yes, they do. You see, all things go through cyclic existence starting from bloom, flourish and decay. This is undeniable. Likewise, things move along with the flow of time and this flow by convention shifts over fixed periods of time. What this means is that different energy forces comes into play, like a power shift. We are now into a different energy cycle compared with five years ago and that is why any renovations with respect to changing of doors, hacking out floor tiles, repairing the roofs, knocking down and building new walls all provide openings for the new energy to lock in and take effect.
For the fengshui lover, may I point out that the critical year may be 2004 but from my observations, it need not necessarily be so. Time in its own way is also a fluid and versatile fellow. Its impact on different people and matter varies from case to case. If you are a fengshui lover, do bear this in mind and adjust accordingly and make judgments based on your observations and confirmations.
Good Luck.
What happened was that all was fine and it was until after renovations done towards the end of 2003 that the family found that there appears to be something amiss. Quite a fortune must have gone into doing the renovation and refurbishment. After a detailed check, it became clear that what could possibly be done wrong was done wrong.
Although the orientation and layout was left quite untouched the latent energy patterns of the house has been redistributed.
It is difficult to imagine that renovations can have a drastic impact on fengshui, but yes, they do. You see, all things go through cyclic existence starting from bloom, flourish and decay. This is undeniable. Likewise, things move along with the flow of time and this flow by convention shifts over fixed periods of time. What this means is that different energy forces comes into play, like a power shift. We are now into a different energy cycle compared with five years ago and that is why any renovations with respect to changing of doors, hacking out floor tiles, repairing the roofs, knocking down and building new walls all provide openings for the new energy to lock in and take effect.
For the fengshui lover, may I point out that the critical year may be 2004 but from my observations, it need not necessarily be so. Time in its own way is also a fluid and versatile fellow. Its impact on different people and matter varies from case to case. If you are a fengshui lover, do bear this in mind and adjust accordingly and make judgments based on your observations and confirmations.
Good Luck.
Reiki and Self-Healing
Ever so often, we forget that Reiki is also a self-healing therapy. The basic medicine is the perfection of self. To achieve perfection of self is a life time journey and goal in itself. It is true to say that no matter how much we devote to attaining this perfection, it may still remain a distant goal. However, like it is said, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going.
This healing of self applies to all practitioners, irrespective of whether we are Reiki I, II, III or no Reiki 0. If we care to ask ourself what really ails us, it is not surprising that we single out our work, our lifestyle or our attitude as the main culprits. When we begin to dissect these causes, we find that underlying our problems are many emotional conflicts that we have difficulty resolving.
Looking a little further in, we may just find the reason why we are feeling the way we do. Slowly we can understand why we react the way we do in our interactions in daily life. Maybe then, during moments like these, we can apply the principles and watch our emotions fade.
The theory of wholistic healing says that our physical ailments are manifest from our emotional persona. Given this as correct, then the principles become good medicine.
This basic self healing is not just about the healing of our physical pains but also our emotional and mental ones as well. Ultimately, we evolve into healing ourselves spiritually.
This healing of self applies to all practitioners, irrespective of whether we are Reiki I, II, III or no Reiki 0. If we care to ask ourself what really ails us, it is not surprising that we single out our work, our lifestyle or our attitude as the main culprits. When we begin to dissect these causes, we find that underlying our problems are many emotional conflicts that we have difficulty resolving.
Looking a little further in, we may just find the reason why we are feeling the way we do. Slowly we can understand why we react the way we do in our interactions in daily life. Maybe then, during moments like these, we can apply the principles and watch our emotions fade.
The theory of wholistic healing says that our physical ailments are manifest from our emotional persona. Given this as correct, then the principles become good medicine.
This basic self healing is not just about the healing of our physical pains but also our emotional and mental ones as well. Ultimately, we evolve into healing ourselves spiritually.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
house healing
House Healing
My friend, Frank Regis aka the ghost buster of the philippines gave a talk at our healing center, Tara Touch, last year on “The Unseen Dimension”.
It was a very interesting talk and many were not quite ready to leave even way after the share session was over. What intrigued me was that Frank said that problem houses possess blueprints and such blueprints manifest indisturbances to the people who occupy them. These houses require healing.
It was the use of the word healing that caught my interest. In FengShui, we often refer to solutions or remedies for houses affected by negative fengshui. Is that not healing in a sort of way? Of course, the healing here referred to is quite different from the version of healing Frank was referring to.
There is a shamanic aspect to house healing within the context of house cleansing. As in all metaphysical works, we will have to include the unseen. However, within FengShui, what we try to achieve is to determine the energies that are manifesting within the space we are looking at and once having known that, make the necessary transformation to best fit the situation. Determination is made through a practice of confirming past events and traits corresponding to the reading. Proper judgment is an essential skill apart from understanding of ancient principles.
Anything that is to be done to effect transformation is healing. That became very obvious and I liked the way that Frank puts it. Every space has its subtle energy blueprints. When Frank talked about healing homes, he was referring to properties which had inherited blueprints as a result of past activities that had happened in the home (pardon me, Frank if I had misquoted you). When I look at it from a FengShui perspective, it has another explanation. Every space that becomes an abode, either for the living or the dead, has, from the moment it ‘takes life’, has a latent energy pattern.
It is this energy pattern that is the underlying cause of outcomes that happens to the occupants of that abode. It does sound quite sinister but happily, this energy pattern can be broken or changed. Put another way, it means that the fengshui of the house determines the outcome and as long as that fengshui remains, similar events will unfold as a result of whatever energy is present. Transforming the energy will change the fengshui.
My friend, Frank Regis aka the ghost buster of the philippines gave a talk at our healing center, Tara Touch, last year on “The Unseen Dimension”.
It was a very interesting talk and many were not quite ready to leave even way after the share session was over. What intrigued me was that Frank said that problem houses possess blueprints and such blueprints manifest indisturbances to the people who occupy them. These houses require healing.
It was the use of the word healing that caught my interest. In FengShui, we often refer to solutions or remedies for houses affected by negative fengshui. Is that not healing in a sort of way? Of course, the healing here referred to is quite different from the version of healing Frank was referring to.
There is a shamanic aspect to house healing within the context of house cleansing. As in all metaphysical works, we will have to include the unseen. However, within FengShui, what we try to achieve is to determine the energies that are manifesting within the space we are looking at and once having known that, make the necessary transformation to best fit the situation. Determination is made through a practice of confirming past events and traits corresponding to the reading. Proper judgment is an essential skill apart from understanding of ancient principles.
Anything that is to be done to effect transformation is healing. That became very obvious and I liked the way that Frank puts it. Every space has its subtle energy blueprints. When Frank talked about healing homes, he was referring to properties which had inherited blueprints as a result of past activities that had happened in the home (pardon me, Frank if I had misquoted you). When I look at it from a FengShui perspective, it has another explanation. Every space that becomes an abode, either for the living or the dead, has, from the moment it ‘takes life’, has a latent energy pattern.
It is this energy pattern that is the underlying cause of outcomes that happens to the occupants of that abode. It does sound quite sinister but happily, this energy pattern can be broken or changed. Put another way, it means that the fengshui of the house determines the outcome and as long as that fengshui remains, similar events will unfold as a result of whatever energy is present. Transforming the energy will change the fengshui.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Feng Shui Tips
Tip..bed headboard. On a few occassions, I have noticed that some people are fond of leaving a little gap between the head board of their bed and the wall. The reason maybe that it made sweeping and vacuuming the area between bed and wall a little easier, like a space where the broom or vacuum hose could reach.
This is not good from the fengshui point of view. In fact it is one of the principles of feng shui that the bed must be propped against the wall. The traditional reason given for this is that, with the bed against the wall (and we sleep with our head on the wall side of course) is that there is a backing, just like the protective wall behind us. This is partly right but not the main reason.
Fengshui is correctly about yin and yang, two major qualities that rightly understood and applied, brings many benefits. With the bed propped properly against the wall then applies this neat trick of having the yin and yang in balance. The hours of sleep are when the body is recovering from the toil of the day and what better way to refresh than with the mind at total ease, free of stress or anxiety. With the bed against the wall, there is guarantee that there will be stillness as there is no likelihood of anyone moving about where our head rests. It is an area of stillness and thus is yin-perfectly ideal for the yin to nourish our sleep!
The other reason why the bed head should be against the wall is that we do not want to occupy the central section of the room. In fengshui parlance, the central portion of the room is called the central palace. It is the main activity area, so to speak, and sleep is about rest, a removal from activity. Even in a small little room, there is still a miniature central palace and when we sleep, we rest in yin. So to have a sound sleep, we make the best of what we have of the yin-yang qualities and one way is to have the bed away from the hub of activity, the central palace. Placing the bed head propped against the wall is one of them.
One malady that has become obvious in current times to to have an extended head board feature. This extends the pillow position away from the wall. This in effect is moving the bed away from the wall where it should be. A good place tostore the brandy and those sweet soft toys along with the wedding photo but a definite no-no fengshui-wise and I hope that furniture manufacturers would take note of this when they design beds!
Of course before ending this short little tip on beds, it goes without saying that bedroom layouts with beds designed off the wall is also a fengshui mis-step. This happens in large bedroom layouts and in studio apartments. They look interesting but then the subtle energies at play make this not the design of choice. It is better to go for the conventional bed propped against tahe wall layout.
Good Luck.
This is not good from the fengshui point of view. In fact it is one of the principles of feng shui that the bed must be propped against the wall. The traditional reason given for this is that, with the bed against the wall (and we sleep with our head on the wall side of course) is that there is a backing, just like the protective wall behind us. This is partly right but not the main reason.
Fengshui is correctly about yin and yang, two major qualities that rightly understood and applied, brings many benefits. With the bed propped properly against the wall then applies this neat trick of having the yin and yang in balance. The hours of sleep are when the body is recovering from the toil of the day and what better way to refresh than with the mind at total ease, free of stress or anxiety. With the bed against the wall, there is guarantee that there will be stillness as there is no likelihood of anyone moving about where our head rests. It is an area of stillness and thus is yin-perfectly ideal for the yin to nourish our sleep!
The other reason why the bed head should be against the wall is that we do not want to occupy the central section of the room. In fengshui parlance, the central portion of the room is called the central palace. It is the main activity area, so to speak, and sleep is about rest, a removal from activity. Even in a small little room, there is still a miniature central palace and when we sleep, we rest in yin. So to have a sound sleep, we make the best of what we have of the yin-yang qualities and one way is to have the bed away from the hub of activity, the central palace. Placing the bed head propped against the wall is one of them.
One malady that has become obvious in current times to to have an extended head board feature. This extends the pillow position away from the wall. This in effect is moving the bed away from the wall where it should be. A good place tostore the brandy and those sweet soft toys along with the wedding photo but a definite no-no fengshui-wise and I hope that furniture manufacturers would take note of this when they design beds!
Of course before ending this short little tip on beds, it goes without saying that bedroom layouts with beds designed off the wall is also a fengshui mis-step. This happens in large bedroom layouts and in studio apartments. They look interesting but then the subtle energies at play make this not the design of choice. It is better to go for the conventional bed propped against tahe wall layout.
Good Luck.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Tip for Today...Recently, property developers are using fengshui to promote their properties. As part of their marketing strategies, they have enlisted the help of known fengshui consultants. This is quite all right if the expertise of fengshui consultants are engaged to advise on the overall planning and development. What would become questionable is when it is promoted that the whole development has been fengshui-ed letting on the impression that the pieces of properties within it are all of good fengshui. This impression is strengthened if the fengshui consultant gives statements to similar effect.
We, as buyers, should be aware that although the development has been built along fengshui guidelines, it does not mean that every piece of property within the development has “good fengshui”.
Feng Shui actually takes into account form and subtle energies which manifest effects in myriad ways. Each and every detail has to be looked into and proper judgments made. After the proper adjustments, remedies or enhancements have been made can we say the property is fengshui-ed.
Do exercise common sense and do not just believe every promotion that you may read or hear. Remember, it is very likely the agent who adopts the fengshui line is probably not a very expert fengshui person.
To fengshui a house or property does require quite a good eye with sound understanding of principles. I hope to work on writing more of this in the future.
We, as buyers, should be aware that although the development has been built along fengshui guidelines, it does not mean that every piece of property within the development has “good fengshui”.
Feng Shui actually takes into account form and subtle energies which manifest effects in myriad ways. Each and every detail has to be looked into and proper judgments made. After the proper adjustments, remedies or enhancements have been made can we say the property is fengshui-ed.
Do exercise common sense and do not just believe every promotion that you may read or hear. Remember, it is very likely the agent who adopts the fengshui line is probably not a very expert fengshui person.
To fengshui a house or property does require quite a good eye with sound understanding of principles. I hope to work on writing more of this in the future.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Tip of the day. If your neighbour's cat has made it her habit of lounging in your porch, let her be. But as a fengshui-aware person, do keep the area clean. This cleaning up should be priority on your must-do list.
My neighbour's cat deposited some regurgitated stuff lasI night on my porch and reminded me to post this as a reminder for all of us. Fengshui is about the physical and the intangible unseen energy. These two are one and the same and are transmutable. I will be scribing more of this....
My neighbour's cat deposited some regurgitated stuff lasI night on my porch and reminded me to post this as a reminder for all of us. Fengshui is about the physical and the intangible unseen energy. These two are one and the same and are transmutable. I will be scribing more of this....
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