Joseph Yu 余若愚 thinking aloud

Feng Shui Research (4) – On Research

2012-02-06T18:11:00.000-08:00

According to Wikipedia,

<<Research can be defined as the search for knowledge. Three types of researches are mentioned:

(1) Scientific research

(2) Research in the humanities

(3) Artistic research

Artistic research has been defined by the University of Dance and Circus (Dans och Cirkushögskolan, DOCH), Stockholm in the following manner - "Artistic research is to investigate and test with the purpose of gaining knowledge within and for our artistic disciplines. It is based on artistic practices, methods and criticality. Through presented documentation, the insights gained shall be placed in a context." Artistic research aims to enhance knowledge and understanding with presentation of the arts.>>

If we replace the word “artistic” by “metaphysical”, the definition will read:

"Metaphysical research is to investigate and test with the purpose of gaining knowledge within and for our metaphysical disciplines. It is based on metaphysical practices, methods and criticality. Through presented documentation, the insights gained shall be placed in a context."

The last sentence in the quoted paragraph will read:

“Metaphysical research aims to enhance knowledge and understanding with presentation of the various fields of metaphysics.”

Therefore, please do not demand that metaphysical theories to go through the steps of validation by independent scientific tests.

Well then, how do we know that the theories are true? Through research we can enhance our knowledge and understanding. We can scrutinize documentation by our predecessors. We can practice to see whether we achieve a result and document our findings. Since the knowledge of metaphysics is not a collection of some rigid rules, it can be enhanced to perpetually improving without the goal of perfection because perfection in metaphysics does not exist.

The word Science comes from Latin scientia, meaning "knowledge". The science as defined today is only one kind of knowledge that can satisfy certain definitive rules. If someone demands all other kinds of knowledge to go through the same rules, then a religion called “Science” is established. Do you want to be the founding infallible Pope of this religion?

Feng Shui Research (3) Human Qi

2012-02-05T19:39:00.000-08:00

One of the basic concepts in Chinese Metaphysics is Heaven, Earth and Man the meaning of which depends on the context. The three form an integral part in all situations and it is the Man part that makes it impossible to set up scientific tests.

We leave the term "human qi" as undefined and its existence originates from a living person. The Chinese way of saying is that qi is born at the heart. The "heart" here does not refer to the heart we know in human anatomy. It does not refer to an organ but it is not the mind. That is why we leave it as undefined. The existence of human qi is obvious observation. When a person walks in, we can feel the qi he brings in. Sometimes we feel the qi of joy, sometimes the qi of bitterness and sometimes we feel sha qi. Sometimes even in the virtual world of the internet we can feel the kind of qi from a person's writing. There is another Chinese saying, "The facial appearance is given birth by the heart 相由心生". This actually means that the heart gives birth to qi and the kind of qi will appear on one's face.

Since human qi originates from the heart, belief or disbelief of something will affect the outcome. Do not underestimate this human qi that comes from the heart. There are many case studies of a dying person prolongs his life because he wants very much to wait for someone to come to say goodbye.

This leads to the use of placebo effect. Medical doctors usually use positive words to tell the patients that they will get well because of the right medication. If the patient trusts him, the effect of the medication is more powerful. Some doctors after diagnosis tell the patient that he is not sick and therefore does not need prescription. The patient is told to do more excersice and eat healthy. Most people will leave the doctors office happily. However, there are people who need given some pills or even injection otherwise they always think they have not been cured. Some doctors in Hong Kong give the patient vitamin pills or even inject distilled water and the patient recovers in no time. If it helps the patient to get well, why not?

In practising Feng Shui, some practitioners tell their clients to put a three-legged toad (also called a money frog) to attract wealth. This definitely has nothing to do with Feng Shui just as providing vitamin pills or water injection is not medical practice. The thing is, some clients report that it works well. Some who do not believe in such things merely refuse to buy the toad. They may even tell the practitioner the toad is ugly. This may also lead to the practitioner losing business. Well, well, I myself would not recommend such things. However, I have no objection to such practice as long as there is no claim that this is a Feng Shui practice.

It is not nonsense.
It is not Feng Shui practice.

You can say that it is loosely related to Chinese Metaphysics because it is the qi from the heart that makes it work. Since there are better ways in Feng Shui practices, why bother to use this? But as long as it does no harm, why bother to condemn it?

Some unethical practitioners may be selling a three-legged toad for a very high price claiming he has "opened the light" for the toad and it is very powerful because of this. The term is "Kai Guang 開光". This is to be condemned.

JY

Feng Shui Research (2) - Logic and Common Sense

2012-02-04T12:28:00.000-08:00

Even though Feng Shui is not science, the theory goes through the same steps as science theories are developed. It begins with undefined terms and principles. The theories are then developed logically.

Many years ago, a client asked me, "What is the most basic principle in Feng Shui?"

I said, "Whatever beautiful is a source of Sheng Qi."

The client said, "Isn't it just common sense?"

"Exactly," I said, "If something goes against our common sense, it is nonsence and Feng Shui is not nonsense."

If a Feng Shui practitioner claims that he can make you a billionaire with Feng Shui, this is nonsense. Why? If he can make you a billionaire, why has he not made a billionaire himself? This is logical deduction. Making such claims is nonsense and by logical deduction we can say that he does not know Feng Shui.

However, using logic does not make Feng Shui a science. Whoever accuses me of contradicting myself makes a fundamental error in logic:

(1) Science uses logic.
(2) Feng Shui uses logic.
Therefore, Feng Shui is sicience.

JY

Feng Shui Research (1)

2012-02-02T16:48:00.000-08:00

When I founded Feng Shui Research Center, I expected my students to join me researching the validity of Feng Shui theories in practice. Some people expect the research work to satisfy scientific requirements. We must understand and agree that Feng Shui is not a science. It is not a pseudo-science. It is a branch of studies in metaphysics - something that exists but not obeying the laws of physics. To help people understand a little of the Feng Shui theories we use analogies that most people are familiar with. For example, we start with qi but we do not attempt to define what it is. We use it as an undefined term but describe it as something that "rides the wind". This approach is like science. But you can see that this is just an analogy. "Wind" here includes any moving object, not necessarily air molecules from a physics standpoint. Then at some point, we use the word "star" to mean some kind of qi with "personality". At this point, we see there is a huge gap separating physics and metaphysics.

How can we expect that our research work has to meet with the criteria scientific research work has to undergo?

Some may say to prove that Feng Shui practice works we can design some simple experiments to test the effect of placing an aquarium in a house according to Feng Shui practitioner's recommendation with a control experiment without the aquarium and repeat the experiment for many other pairs of houses. By the effects we may mean "the amount of money made" by the people for the same time period.

Well, in the first place, activating the qi only helps people use the qi in doing their work. To make more money we still need other factors like the general economy and how it affects different kinds of business. It still depends on how the "star's" personality affects the people's work. It is not "water = more money" or "1 + 1 = 2".

To say that such experiments are irrelevant is not evasive of valid "tests" to prove or disprove that Feng Shui works.

JY

Metaphysical Prediction and Weather Forecast

2012-01-23T15:53:00.000-08:00

Weather forecast is made based on studying the current factors affecting the future weather. Wind speed and direction carrying moisture, dry air, hot air, cold air. ... towards the place where the future weather is of interest are taken into consideration. Calculation is made towards forecasting as accurately as possible with the assumption that the conditions do not change dramatically. Even with the most advanced technology, weather forecasts are frequently laughed at as being inaccurate. This is because the world is changing every moment. The current conditions are changing continuously.

Metaphysics predictions are made based on theories that contain the human factor as metaphysics always talk about Heaven, Earth and Man. The last factor is the part that contributes most to the inaccuracy of metaphysical predictions.

As metaphysics deals with cycles, conditions according to metaphysical formulas may repeat when a cycle is complete. However, we are not dealing with one type of cycles. There are cycles superimposing on cycles making predictions different even when one type of cycle has come to the same point in history. Besides, the human factor is totally different. For example, the world political situation may be different. The world leaders have changed and they are the people making the final decision. For example, you do not expect George W. Bush to make the same kind of decision as Barack Obama.

When we read something like New Year Predition, do not read it with a one-track mind!

JY

New Year Predictions.mp4

2012-01-23T12:56:00.000-08:00

For the 10 videos for the 10 types of people, please view:
http://www.astro-fengshui.com/misc/2012%20Predictions.html

JY

Wu Ji Du Tian 戊己都天

2012-01-20T14:30:00.000-08:00

In the Feng Shui Tips 2012 video, I mentioned Wu Du Tian and Ji Du Tian. Some of my students asked me how to calculate these two Shen Sha 神煞 but I purposely did not give them the formula. Why? Shen Sha is not an elementary topic. Shen Sha is not an advanced topic. It is not in between. Then what is it? The best term to describe Shen Sha is "controversal". Giving out a table so that people can look up these controversial "gods" and "devils" is easy. It does not clear up anything. The reader may be rejoiced to claim he knows how to do the calculation now. As a matter of fact, such tables are found in the Tong Shu 通書. This title means "The General Book". It covers quite a lot of folklore information and that is why the title. It is also mentioned that the directions are not to be disturbed by such activities as digging otherwise it will bring disaster to people living in the house with the earth sha irritated.

When the luopan with 24 mountains ring is used, there is one mountain between Wu Du Tian and Ji Du Tian and a third sha called Jia Sha Du Tian 夹煞都天 meaning "the Sha located between Wu Du Tian and Ji Du Tian" is invented. It is mentioned: "Wu Du Tian kills a male and it is fast to happen. Ji Du Tian kills a female and it is slow to happen." Jia Sha Du Tian is less evil than these two.

To see whether such information is credible we have to understand where do these sha come from. We have to understand how the formula is derived.

It is derived from the stem and branch of a year. For example, the coming year is Ren Chen year 壬辰年, the month Yin is assigned the stem Ren. The months are then Ren Yin 壬寅, Gui Mao 癸卯, Jia Chen 甲辰, Yi Si 乙巳, Bing Wu 丙午, Ding Wei 丁未, Wu Shen戊申, Ji You 己酉, ..... The stems Wu and Ji stand on the branches Shen and You. The branches are then called Wu Du Tian and Ji Du Tian. These two are the months with Wu and Ji stems. The question is: What is wrong with earth stems? Why are the branches considered evil directions just because they carry Wu and Ji as stems of the months? It is now further extended to Shen and You days of the year and consider them inauspicious days. To justify this "theory", it is mentioned that swallows never build their nests in these directions and bees never go out from the beehives on such days. Some other books say that swallows do not build their nests on such days. This is a bit more reasonable as directions refer to the center of the house and not the nest itself. It has nothing to do with the swallows.

Anyway, it is a good topic for research work. Just find out where swallow nests are built and ask people to watch them for a few years to verify this.

I bring this out in my video just to arouse the interest of people today about folklore belief without mentioning the horrible things found in some books. It is also a message to the public how information should be examined with logic.

This is the reason why I classify such topics as "controversial" and will not teach in formal courses.

JY

2012 Feng Shui Tips

2012-01-14T15:22:00.000-08:00

Tian Gan Di Zhi 天干地支

2012-01-13T11:18:00.000-08:00

This is an old posting back in 2005 in a mailing list that I have deleted. It is an important article for real understanding of the basis of Four Pillars of Destiny.

Tian Gan and Di Zhi have been translated as Heavenly
Stems and Earthly Branches but it does not give the
proper image of the two. In fact, this is bad
translation but the translator is not to blame. This
is because the mistake actually originated in quite
ancient Chinese books.

Each Chinese character can carry a lot of meanings.
Gan can mean Stem and Zhi can mean Branch. This is the
visual meaning of the two characters. However, they do
not give the meaning of what they should represent in
the study of Four Pillars.

The visual relationship should be the visible part of
a tree and the underground part of the same tree. But
it is inappropriate to translate Gan and Zhi as Stem
and Root because Zhi does not carry the meaning of the
root.

The answer actually comes from a semi-visual meaning
of the two words.

Gan = to work/act
Zhi = support

So, Tian Gan = Heavenly Work/Action
Di Zhi = Earthly Support

Tian Gan is the qi from Heaven that does work.
Di Zhi is the qi from Earth that supports the work (or
interferes with the work).

That explains the two terms perfectly but since stems
and branches have been used for such a long time, it
is difficult and may be unnecessary to correct it.

JY

2012 Na Yin Calendar

2012-01-06T20:35:00.000-08:00

Na Yin Wu Xing 纳音五行 is an important fundamental concept in Chinese Metaphysics. It has wide applications one of which is to help understanding your daily luck. The 2012 Calendar is a free tool I provide on my website:

http://www.astro-fengshui.com/misc/2012%20Na%20Yin%20Calendar.html

JY

Beginning of the year

2012-01-03T18:23:00.000-08:00

The day begins at the middle of the Zi hour. This is the point when yin qi is strongest and yang qi begins to grow. However, it does not mean that the beginning of the year follows this rule.

In fact, according to the Yijing, the beginning of the year is at the beginning of the Tai Gua - San Yang Qi Tai 三陽晵泰 - the hexagram with Kun on Qian. The year then begins at the beginning of the Yin month 寅月. This usually falls on the 4th of February called Li Chun Jie 立春莭。The mid-point in between two Jie is called Zhong Qi 中氣。It marks the middle of the month. Therefore, it is not natural to consider the middle of the Zi month as the beginning of a year. The following diagram describes how the twelve months correspond to the twelve hexagram.

This diagram reads outside-in.

Continue guessing

2011-12-20T07:40:00.000-08:00

This is a piece of land for growing grass. President Hu visited the place in September 1986. The said company that invited him there erected the monument in August 2004. It looks like a tombstone. Some Feng Shui masters also use this to "plant the life base" for a living person. The details involves putting something like finger nails and hair together with some other things in a miniature coffin to be buried underneath the monument. It is said that in this way if the location is a "dragon qi node 龍穴", then the living person will capture the dragon qi to bring him good health and fortune.

However, the location does not qualify to be a "dragon qi node" from a Feng Shui point of view. It is unlikely the work of a Feng Shui master. Then what is it?

JY

Guess what this is!

2011-12-19T21:24:00.000-08:00

The first three characters in the central column is the name of the President of China, Hu Jin Tao. Can you guess what this monument is?

JY

The illness of men

2011-12-13T15:48:00.000-08:00

When I was young (in the twenties), due to success in studies and writing books, I was very proud of my achievement and the ability to understand things I wanted to learn. When I studied ancient books on Chinese Metaphysics, I thought that I knew much more than all those who had been practicing for 30 years. In a way it was true. But when I continued to study, I was alarmed at the fact that I actually knew very little.

Today, I see my shadow in some talented young men who are teaching Chinese Metaphysics in the west. It was lucky that I did not teach until my master allowed me to - 10 years after his death. Why? Otherwise I would have passed on a lot of immature materials that could be harmful and created bad karma.

There is a famous Chinese saying (maybe from Confucius): The illness of men is that they love to be teachers of others (人之患在好為人師). This is the origin of the term : The illness of men (人之患) to represent "teachers".

Therefore, I demand my students to teach only after they have practiced for at least 2-5 years depending on the amount and quality of the cases. It is not practical to demand that my students teach 10 years after I die!

Today, there are a lot of people who start teaching after attending a weekend course. There are people who, after taking a few lessons, claim to have mastered the entire true teaching passed down from Yang Jun Song 楊筠松 (honoured as Yang Gong 楊公).

Beware!

People today use a lot of cooked up stories to tell how effective their practice (with no theoretical background to support) is. When the practice brings misfortune, they would say that without the practice, it would have been much
greater disaster. The practice actually saved peoples' lives so that they are only hurt, not dead.

An incompetent doctor can kill a patient. An incompetent feng shui practitioner can bring misfortune to a family. What can an incompetent feng shui teacher bring?

JY

What is and what is not Feng Shui

2011-12-03T10:10:00.001-08:00

Undeniably the term Feng Shui has been abused in recent years. Here I am referring to both yin and yang house Feng Shui, particularly the latter.

The scholarly term of Feng Shui is Kan Yu 堪輿 which means the way of Heaven and Earth.
One can loosely connect wind to Heaven and water to Earth. We can say that Kan Yu is the study of the way of living in harmony in any particular space at the current time.

The basis of the study and practice is that qi 氣 comes to a house according to the orientation of the house and the location of mountains (walls) and waters (doors and windows). It is about the approach of yang qi towards yin qi and the characteristics of the embryo formed as a result of the intercourse. These characteristics change with time. These characteristics also change with the environment. The environment includes the forms outside and inside the house.

By the forms we mean the mountains and waters, the buildings and the roads. the partitioning walls, large objects and the interior pathways, doors and windows inside the house. These affect the characteristics of the qi coming into a house. These also affect the qi generated in the mnds of the occupants.

Religious beliefs and shamantic practices that have no relationship with the environment should be excluded from the Feng Shui realm. No one has the right or authority to define what is and what is not Feng Shui just in the same way as to define what is and what is not Science (remembering that it comes from the Latin word "scientia" meaning "knowledge"). However, we must respect the origin of the term and the way the knowledge is developed through time. At times, the development may be led to the wrong path and it is our responsibility to bring it back on track. The path should not depart from the study of environment and its changes with time.

If we do not put a stop to the wrong path, black magic and voodoo will be considered Feng Shui in no time.

How do we know that Feng Shui works?

2011-11-26T17:43:00.001-08:00

I am quite happy to share some evidence from my files.

Case 1. This is a consultation I did in 1998. It was an apartment unit which was occupied by a medical doctor and his daughter. The daughter asked me to fengshui their home.

I am going to omit the details of the theoretical part. After analyzing the qi pattern, I told the lady that the occupants of the house would easily get into uninvited financial troubles. Before I was going into a little more details of what I meant, the lady told me with excitement what they were facing.

They bought the apartment unit three years ago and was always paying the mortgage on time. two years ago, they were notified by the bank that their payment was in arears and asked for immediate payment. They went to the bank showing the receipt and the bank manager apologized and told them that the records would be straightened out. Two months later, the same thing happened and they went to the bank complaining for the inconvenience caused. They got another apology from the manager and were confirmed that it would not happen again. Well, six months later, on a Friday evening, when they went home, they were not allowed to go into their home by some authorized people - the house was seized. They asked to go in to get their payment receipts to go the bank and were allowed to do so. It was a Friday and the bank was closed by the time they got there. They spent the weekend in a hotel and went accompanied by a lawyer to the bank. It was again the bank's mistake but this time they were very angry and asked the lawyer to sue the bank. They demanded a huge sum of money for compensation. The bank's legal team tried to drag on with the case.

What I did was to place a mirror somewhere so that the light from one window could be reflected into a room that they used as an office where they did their work. It was the easiest way to get the powerful timely qi to reach the area where they did the accounting influenced by the qi that caused the problem.

To cut the story short, two weeks later, they were offered something they could not reject from the bank for settlement.

It may be a coincidence as no control experiment can be designed and you cannot go back in time to prove that it is only a coincidence. Of course, you can say that it is not a valid proof that Feng Shui works. To me, I am just satisfied with the result. So did my clients.

JY

Autumn scenes

2011-11-26T12:00:00.001-08:00

Air Show

Autumn

Dogmatism

2011-11-21T19:54:00.001-08:00

This is an article I wrote 10 years ago:

"The central idea of Yi is "change". This means that the world is forever changing. There are forever new things and new situations. We are to deal with the ever changing world and to cope with the changes.

The teaching of Feng Shui is no exception. There are things and situations today that the ancients could never have imagined. If we practise exactly the way the ancients did, then we are simply outdated.

As a matter of fact, Feng Shui is a living knowledge and from time to time there are great masters who surpass their predecessors. It is not that they are better, it is because they are standing on the shoulders of giants (Sir Issaac Newton's words).

Inventions are good but they must be based on sound principles well established by the ancients (unless such principles have been disproved and overruled). Only in this way can Feng Shui become a respectable subject to learn.

The ancients never had the problem of using boxes or wedges because these are new inventions. They are inventions to help people understand how to deal with the qi in a house. They are invented for convenience of presenting the picture. Unfortunately, they have
been taught in a dogmatic manner.

In books and on websites, we cannot expect the teacher to use a lot of words to explain how the diagrams explain the qi pattern. So it leads to the misunderstanding that the stars are confined to 9 boxes or 8 wedges. My students all understand what they are and how they should be used. This makes the distinction between learning from books and from a
living person.

To be able to read the ancient books and apply the knowledge to fit the modern situation is the way to Feng Shui. To denounce anything that the ancients did not do in their Feng Shui practices is dogmatic. It only hinders the progress. Since the ancients invented a lot of things, why should we not do the same? However, it does not mean that baseless inventions are good. We only respect those that are based on established principles and have practical results."

JY

An inspiring case study

2011-11-14T20:43:00.001-08:00

More than 10 years ago, I gave a Zi Wei Dou Shu seminar in India. A student asked me to read a chart in class. I told him that the person should do well in the military force if that was the career he pursued. He should also do well if he ran a business with a lot of people working under him and the business was competitive.

The student said that it was his chart. He was not doing too well although he owned a factory with quite a lot of workers. When I asked more about his business, he told the class that he did not have to compete with other factories because his product was quite unique. He made money but he did not have much job satisfaction as he did not have the feeling of beating his rivals because he had no rivals.

On the other hand, he pointed out that his twin brother decided to join the army and became a famous general.

We can see that life reading only unveils an image. The person's decision affects the outcome. Another person with the same chart may decide to do nothing and becomes a beggar on the street. However, he may become a leader of a lot of beggars as if he is the king of beggars who rules a certain domain.

Good advice well taken will bring a person's potential to the highest level. This is the value of life reading.

JY

New video

2011-11-09T15:06:00.001-08:00

An Old Post I wrote 10 years ago

2011-11-04T13:40:00.000-07:00

The following is quoted from a Buddhist book. You will
find the situation amazingly similar in Daoism,
Confucianism and Feng Shui.

"Buddhism was regarded as an educational system, and
not a religion when it was first introduced into
China. Regretfully, about two hundred years ago, the
practice of Buddhism had taken on a more religious
facade.

Buddhism is a special kind of knowledge; it is not a
religion. In order to derive true benefit from it, we
have to understand its true nature.

Buddhism is the teaching of Buddha Shakamuni as he was
its founder. We call Him the "Original teacher". The
relationship between Buddha and ourselves is a
teacher-student relationship, which is not religious
in nature. The relationship between a Bodhisattva and
ourselves is a senior schoolmate-junior schoolmate
relationship.

A teacher can only educate us about the principles,
tell us of his/her experiences in practice and
attainment, and suggest various methods for our
attainment. The rest ultimately depends upon us."

Well, well, in Feng Shui education, what we learn is
the teaching of the great masters in the past. We are
learning from the great masters themselves through
their written work. A teacher is responsible to
educate his/her students about the principles, and
tell them of his/her experiences in practice and
attainment.

The first part is fundamental. The second part is only
a guideline and sharing experimental results.

A good teacher must teach the fundamental principles
and his/her experiments (practices) must be based on
these principles. It is not sufficient to say that
this is what my teacher told me and he is the most
experienced teacher today.

Anything not based on principles is not worth trying
because it is dangerous. An experiment is only to
verify a theory. We should not practise anything
blindly without a theoretical background.

JY

If you know "what", then you know "how"

2011-10-21T19:45:00.000-07:00

My friend Howard suggested that I should write about "How does Feng Shui work". He mentioned that his Russian translator studied FS for more than 10 years from different masters and still could not work out how it was supposed to work in practice.

The simple answer is, "If you do not know what Feng Shui is about, then you will never know how to practice to have results."

Let us go back in time to see how Feng Shui was practiced according to a poem in Shi Jing 詩經:

篤公劉既溥且長既景迺岡相其陰陽觀其流泉

Honourable Liu brings us to the land that is broad and long. He measures the directions of shadows as he climbs up the hill. He examines the sunny and shady sides of the mountains. He watches how the stream flows.

During the reign of Xia Jie 夏桀 (the last emperor of Xia Dynasty), the tribe with family name Ji 姬 had a wise and honourable leader Liu. He led his people in search for a piece of land where his people could live happily. The poem describes how he did it. This is the first written record of how to practice Feng Shui to have good results. His tribe lived in prosperity thereafter. Many centuries later, they established the Zhou Dynasty.

Obviously Gong Liu did not use the flying stars or the hexagrams because at that time, such sophisticated technique was not known. Feng Shui is a living knowledge that grows with time but the ancient technique used by Gong Liu is still the most fundamental part in our practice today.

Since many different ways are invented over time, most of the inventions are useless but they are being taught by different teachers. To mention a few: use a three-legged toad (the money frog) to bring wealth, create a money vase, use the bagua mirror to cure sha qi, hang a flute under a beam, use a sleeping elephant to make your child obedient or to make your customer to listen to you etc.

JY

Feng Shui is not '1 + 1 = 2'

2011-10-19T18:33:00.000-07:00

Some of you may ask sarcastically, "Feng Shui is '1 + 1 = 3' then?"
The answer is simply that Feng Shui is not a piece of mathematics. We cannot use an equation to describe Feng Shui. In the same way, Feng Shui is not a force, not an energy, not equivalent to any scientific terms. What is it then?

Feng Shui analysis is a description of the kind of metaphysical "energy" called qi entering a house and its interaction with the occupants to generate various outcomes depending on who lives there and how the person reacts to the qi. To make it simple, let me explain in simple terms.

Let us say, a certain kind of qi comes into a house. This kind of qi is capable of helping people to make money with art. Obviously if there lives an artist, he will find a lot of inspiration to help him create highly appreciated art and he can get rich because of this. He/she can be a movie star, singer or dancer and the house helps him/her to gain fame and fortune. If the occupant is a wealthy man who is uneducated and does not know how to appreciate art, the qi in the house can bring him a lot of beautiful women going after his money. He enjoys flirting around and spending his money like flowing water. The occupant can also make money by prostitution too and the qi there helps him/her to be charming and sexy. How can we design an experiment with houses having same qi pattern built in the same environment then? Someone living in the house can create a lot of beautiful products. Another person can give birth to a lot of beautiful children. It is not true that we can predict what happens in a house "accurately" based on Feng Shui analysis of the house. The case studies found in books are just matching events with star charts in a post-mortem.

A Feng Shui practitioner should know the clients well. The job is to find the most beneficial qi pattern for the client to help him live a successful and happy life.

Demanding a scientific proof that Feng Shui works only proves that you do not understand the nature of Feng Shui. There is no room for argument.

JY

Does Feng Shui Work?

2011-10-17T13:56:00.000-07:00

A simple question but the answer cannot be simple. The answer depends on what you actually mean by "Feng Shui works".

If you live and work with support from behind and facing a lot of opportunities and you can also get help from people who are your left and right hands, obviously you will have a very good chance of success. This shows that the arm-chair principle of Feng Shui works. If further, there is vibrant energy coming to you that helps you do your work well, and that you can bath in the energy that helps you live a healthy and happy life, obviously you will enjoy a wonderful life. This requirement is provided by the good water star and mountain star that are invisible and not measureable. I can only say that with my numerous case studies throughout my 30 plus years of practice, this is a modest but true experience.

Wild claims like "Bury in the Yin year and get rich in the Mao year 寅葬卯發" is not uncommon by Feng Shui masters. Listen to Master Jiang Da Hong's proud words:

On this piece of land, other masters bury the dead will yield robbers.
When I bury the dead, it will generate kings and dukes.

人葬出賊頭我葬出王侯

I don't know what he would have said when asked, "Why didn't you bury your parents to make yourself a king or duke?"

Yang Yun Song 楊筠松 was the imperial Feng Shui master. Yet the imperial palace fell to the hands of the rebels with the emperor fled and him ordered to cut his hair and walk the dragon in Kun Lun Mountains. If Feng Shui under the hands of the supposedly best Feng Shui master of all times could not even protect the emperor, how can one claim that it works?

All I can say is that Feng Shui works but not in the way people claim it to work. I will never say that with the help of Feng Shui, a Feng Shui master can create billionaires. Well, at least the Feng Shui master who makes such claims has not become one yet.

JY

Lu Ban 魯班 (2)

2011-10-12T11:59:00.000-07:00

The two sides of the Lu Ban Che are divided into eight parts. On one side, the eight parts are labelled:

Wealth Wood Star 財木星

Sickness Earth Star 病土星

Separation Earth Star 離土星

Righteousness Water Star 義水星

Officer Gold Star 官金星

Robbery Fire Star 劫火星

Harm Gold Star 害金星

Fortune Gold Star 吉金星

On the reversed side, the eight parts are labelled:

Honourable People Star 貴人星

Heavenly Calamity Star 天災星

Heavenly Misfortune Star 天禍星

Heavenly Wealth Star 天財星

Fame and Fortune Star 官祿星

Lonesome Star 孤獨星

Heavenly Thief Star 天賊星

Prime Minister Star 宰相星

If we compare these stars with the stars we are using today:

Tan Lang 貪狼

Ju Men 巨門

Lu Cun 祿存

Wen Qu 文曲

Lian Zhen 廉貞

Wu Qu 武曲

Po Jun 破軍

Zuo Fu 左輔

then there are a lot of similarities and quite a bit of discrepancies.

1 White Tan Lang is water today. In Zi Wei Dou Shu, Tan Lang is water and wood in nature.

2 Black Ju Men is earth and is related to illness.

3 Jade Lu Cun is wood but in Zi Wei Dou Shu it is earth. It is wealth related but it is also troublesome and lawsuit related.

4 Green Wen Qu is wood today but in Zi Wei Dou Shu, it is also water. Today this is a literary and art star. In the old days, these two qualities laid the foundation for opening the door to political success.

5 Yellow Lian Zhen is earth today. In Zi Wei Dou Shu it is yin fire. This star is a powerful fame and fortune star. Probably because it is too powerful, it is easy to get disaster when abused.

6 White Wu Qu is metal today and is a lofty and lonely star. The negative side can also bring lawsuit, injury and robbery.

7 Red Po Jun is metal today and is considered a thief star. Of course, the positive side is winning in the battle field (and life is like a battle field).

8 White is earth today. It is considered the most gentle and fortunate star.

We can see that metaphysics is a living discipline. It grows and develops over the centuries and should be considered living and growing today.