Hi everyone! The volume of BaZi readings and feng shui has been steadily increasing, and I realize the demographics of my clients are starting to get a lot more diverse as well, probably due to the fact that I can be found online a lot easier as compared to before. My recent BaZi and feng shui engagements have been very insightful and rewarding, allowing me to develop further as a metaphysics consultant; recent cases have been a lot more complex compared to the cases I’ve taken up in the past and calls for a much deeper level of analysis. That aside, there are a few things I would like to take this opportunity to address, especially to potential clients who are thinking of engaging me, so I’ll list my thoughts in point form below:
A BaZi consultation is not a ‘feel-good’ session
Whenever I get a request for a BaZi consultation, the client is most likely going through a rough patch, and through the chart reading process, I will be able to find out exactly why. I wish to quell the notion that by getting a BaZi reading, your problems will automatically go away. Life isn’t that simple. BaZi is for you to understand yourself better and why you’re going through some of the things you are, or if you put it in a more religious and spiritual way, what your karmic debts are. There is no point in getting your chart read if all you wish to hear are lies or shortcuts to your problems. Remember always to approach a session with courage, humility, and optimism. As a practitioner and human being, I would want people around me to live well and be happy, and I want my clients to walk away from the consultation feeling empowered and in control of their lives, but hard truths and prerequisites still exist. We cannot remain ignorant of the difficult things we have to address in our lives, and it can take the form of a difficult situation you’re facing or a character flaw you need to address – it takes a lot of courage and humility.
I’ve had clients who didn’t take the negative things I said very well, saying that they would rather not know certain things and only want to hear the good stuff or only want me to give a solution. They were a lot more open to buying items and charms rather than using the proper methods our ancestors encouraged, which is personal cultivation and developing self-awareness. Coming for a BaZi consultation and wanting to hear good things only defeats the purpose. There’s no point in getting a consultation if one approaches with this type of mentality. Items and charms seem to work because they have a very powerful psychological impact, and most people don’t realize that the real impetus for change comes from their own volition, not from charms or items.
I’m not here to predict what happened in the past. It’s not that I can’t, but people have unrealistic expectations and wish for practitioners to describe exactly what happened as a test, which I find isn’t very constructive. Metaphysics can describe how the overall picture unfolds due to nature’s laws. To point out which particular year was the most challenging is easy, but to tell exactly what happened is humanly impossible because the world is constantly changing, and so is the context used as the basis for the deduction of one’s chart. It’s like the story of how a bee farmer who owned nine farms back in ancient China had the same BaZi chart as the Chinese emperor 朱元璋, who ruled over nine provinces in ancient China. There will be parallels where you can tell the overall picture and flow of events, but you will never be able to tell the exact manifestation. BaZi isn’t everything, and there will always be other factors that determine how one’s life will turn out.
I will always give an objective analysis of a client’s chart and offer some practical advice. What clients wish to do with the information is entirely up to them.
The flaws of a house do not automatically go away just because you hired a feng shui master
Every single client of mine, except one family, only engaged me after they had bought a house. Most people operate under the impression that they can buy any house they wish, and a feng shui practitioner can come in and solve everything. That is simply not true. This misconception has been propagated for far too long, and it’s time to put an end to it. I will make many enemies by saying this, but I do not believe in feng shui ‘auspicious items’ acting as remedies. I’ve had that phase when I put my faith in items when I first started learning Chinese metaphysics, and it didn’t work. If items really worked, I would have had a perfect life. The turning point only really came when I entered my favourable 大运。 Unless you can make major overhauls to the structure of the house, such as shifting where the main door, kitchen or master bedroom is, it’ll be hard to remedy the flaws. It’s not that the house has the ability to ‘curse ‘ on the tenants staying in it – you’re fated to end up in a particular kind of house, and the quality of that house will affect your well-being for sure. The best case scenario is that you are able to control where you stay, which is why the study of feng shui flourished in the first place and why people like me are consulted.
Some practitioners may not agree with me on this, but I do believe your BaZi chart has some link to the house you end up in, and my past engagements have proven me right every single time. One such case study can be found in my blog entry here, and this is just one of the many. Houses that indicated that the couple will have a disharmonious relationship show up in the BaZi chart; houses where health problems or job loss were indicated also showed up on the BaZi chart – I will find time to post these case studies one day. The reason why I always do complimentary BaZi readings for my Feng Shui clients is that I will be able to see the overall picture much better and catch things that I might miss out on if I just look at the house alone. Doing things this way has also helped me grow a lot as a metaphysics practitioner as I piece and synthesize the knowledge from different areas and utilize it for the client’s benefit.
The belief that you can get a practitioner to come in and remedy all the flaws in the house stems from ignorance and lack of understanding of this field, and it has been further exacerbated by commercial people who just want to sell you an item and make a living. You can’t exactly fault them as everyone needs to make a living, but personally, I’m against it and wish it didn’t have to turn out this way, as the real meaning and motivation behind this art is bastardized and lost.
What is the point of a BaZi consultation?
There can be many ways to address this. Some people are just merely curious if such things have a basis and want a BAZI reading out of a pure fascination with this subject. Some people just want to be prepared for a rough patch and make plans for it. Some people use it to find hope and direction in their lives when they are going through a rough patch. From my perspective, to simplify things, I only know the universe is governed by a set of laws, and through the understanding of these laws, you can really enhance your life and make your journey in this lifetime a worthwhile and happy one.
I’ve mentioned in a previous post that back in the olden days, our ancestors also questioned the meaning of their existence, and the concept of 天人合一 is a very commonly held concept in Chinese culture. Our ancestors believed that we are, but an amalgamation of nature’s laws, and there will be consequences if we go against these laws, especially if there’s no good reason to or the reasons are impure. For example, if one does not have the capability or wisdom to hold a position of leadership and power but yet forces oneself into such a position due to ego or greed, you can imagine the kind of damage such a person might cause to an organization or country.
There is a possibility of change, and I always tell my clients that our ancestors would not spend centuries developing this art just to tell us we can’t do anything about it. However, there’s a proper way to achieve long-term and lasting change. I have my own definition of how that should be achieved, and you should find what’s unique to you too.
Can you change things after learning that your BaZi or house is bad?
Yes! Of course! But as I’ve mentioned, it will take a lot of courage and wisdom. It’s difficult to look in the mirror and tell yourself you have baggage or character flaws you have to work on – I’ve been through that myself, and I know how horrible an experience can be. Just remember, no one’s life is perfect, and we’re all going through the same things. Someone out there is going through the same thing as you are now, so don’t feel alone. If you know someone suffering, reach out and help them because the kindness you give someone will come back to you one day, too – I guarantee it.
As for ending up in a house that has bad feng shui, it’s not that the house is cursed, but rather, you’re fated to end up in a particular kind of house. Saying goes 福人居福地, so in a way, the house chooses you. I’m not saying to suck it up and stay in a bad house. If you can move out and find somewhere better, by all means, please do so, but more often than not, people don’t have such freedom and financial capability or it might just be the case that fate brought you into the house before you met a practitioner. When you’re caught in a situation where you can’t move out of a bad house immediately, don’t fall into the trap of having a defeatist attitude. Stay calm, plan, and execute! Stay optimistic and enjoy the fight. One thing I realized after reading hundreds of charts, and I believe I’ve said this before in a previous post, is that the people I realize have a specific turning point in their BaZi chart are all generally very optimistic and resilient people, and this is the paradoxical part – it’s not because that they know they have a turning point in their BaZi charts that they start to become optimistic, it’s because they are optimistic and resilient that Heavens gave them a chart that has this significant turning point. Remember, your chart is your inner world, and if you are a master of your inner world and mind, BaZi will become irrelevant to you because you’ve transcended it, and only very spiritually cultivated people with a very heightened level of self-awareness can do this. I’d recommend everyone to read 『了凡四訓』, and you’ll know what I’m talking about.
The bottom line is to stay optimistic and believe in yourself. Remember, our ancestors came up with this to help us lead better lives because change is definitely possible. They are not so foolish as to come up with all these complex studies of BaZi and feng shui so that people can be reminded of how horrible their lives are and that there’s no hope for them – what’s the point of living then? That being said, I also understand that life is complex, and sometimes things can’t change no matter how hard you try. That’s when you need the wisdom to accept things as they are, walk away, and continue to be happy. Take me for example – I’ve tried for the longest time to repair my relationship with my family, but unfortunately, the environment and people were so toxic that I decided the best thing to do for everyone was to go separate ways, so sometimes positive change does come in the form of acceptance and letting go which you will realize is easier said than done.
Can I change my fate by doing good deeds and donating money?
This is a topic that gets me really worked up because the wrong beliefs have been propagated for a really long time. Yes, you can change your fate by doing charity, but only if your motivation is right and your heart is in the right place. I’ve mentioned this before – there’s no point doing charity for the sake of doing it. So exactly what is the point of doing good deeds and donating money, you ask? It’s for cultivation and learning how to have compassion. When you can put yourself in other people’s shoes, or when you can see the world differently and question some of your own thoughts or actions, an infinite number of new doors and opportunities will open up for you. The choices you make will be different; the people you hang out with will be different; you will be able to see things from different perspectives and become wiser. Imagine the difference in your life.
I hope everyone enjoyed this read. These are very personal thoughts and beliefs that I hold, shaped by the experiences I’ve had in my life and my insights into the field of metaphysics. I had an extremely tough childhood and had a really difficult time growing up and developing as a person. I over-compensated for my issues and made a lot of horrible choices in life, and there was even a point I almost went bankrupt. I also got into a lot of toxic relationships because I yearned for warmth that I never got as a child. You might have seen reviews saying that I give good advice, and perhaps I do, but that’s also because I’ve been through whatever my clients are going through, and I can relate to it, and I’ve been through the process of overcoming these difficulties. I understand that it’s never easy to resolve issues, but it’s worth the fight. I do not have a family anymore, and my relatives are all in Taiwan, so it does get tough being all on my own at times, but whatever it is, just know that I’m only in this field because I find it fulfilling as I’ve seen how it can help people, so it does give my life and existence some form of meaning, and I can’t re-emphasize enough how seriously I take this role. As I’ve mentioned before, this service is not something that I feel one should hard sell, and I see the clients who come to me as a kind of affinity (缘份), and nothing makes me happier than knowing my knowledge can help someone.
Don’t be afraid or shy to get in touch and start the conversation. I’m extremely easy to contact!
Cheers,
Sean
