Wow, the planets must be warped for me to write three blog posts within two weeks. Oh yes, Mercury Retrograde. My favourite period and cosmic PMS – PMS not as in premenstrual syndrome, but Planetary Misalignment Stress. Saturn has always gone direct and f***ing the hell off from Pisces, so yes, I feel invigorated.
Hello again, everybody. 2025 is coming to an end, and what has everyone achieved? I know – not much, especially when you’re in HR, or life coaching perhaps.
For those who follow my Instagram closely, y’all know that I just came back from a short family trip in Chiang Mai. I was feeling myself getting burned out and really needed to get away, and boy, it was a much-needed trip and arguably the best week of the year for me. This isn’t the only trip I’ve had this year, actually. I just didn’t announce to everyone that I was overseas because it’s not something people needed to know.
The time I had with my wife and son was absolutely priceless. I’ve never seen my son so cute and engaged with not just his surroundings but also with us. The memories will stay with me forever. We visited many temples and markets and even went to the zoo, where we got to feed capybaras. We had the whole aquarium to ourselves, which made it incredibly immersive, and the fish looked way cooler than the ones we have in Singapore because they’re clearly bigger and older.
Seeing my son grow is the biggest joy in my wife’s and my life right now.
Before I get to the crux of the post, I hope everyone will make it a point to take some time off and be with their loved ones – and yes, travel. Travel to see how big the world is, how small we are, and how lucky some of us are. The money you earn is only meaningful because you get to create such memories, isn’t it?
My trip was fulfilling in more ways than one. I went there expecting it to be purely a family thing, but I got so much more from it.
Of course, fate being fate, threw me one of the best cosmic jokes I’ve experienced in my entire career. I still laugh when I think about it because how can this not be fate?
A Qimen Manifestation Getaway Was Happening Right Downstairs
Of all places and of all timings, one of those “Qimen Manifestation” or “Qimen Alignment” experts held his retreat in the same hotel I was staying in, and he was staying on the same floor, just a few rooms away.
I was halfway through my trip and was about to depart for my morning activity when the lift door opened, and I immediately recognised the person who walked out. Our eyes met briefly. This was the first encounter.
The second encounter was when I was walking back to my room as he was exiting his. I focused my gaze on him, but he didn’t dare meet my eyes and kept his head down as he walked away, which made me curious about his body language. I’d caught him exiting his room again from behind one day, and he walked with his head perfectly high.
The final encounter was on the day I was checking out, and he entered the lift with someone else who was busy gossiping about another practitioner from Malaysia.
Now, I know some people might be thinking, “Sean, you’re so f**ing shameless and presumptuous. He might not even know who you are.” That’s absolutely perfect – because whatever I am about to write, in that case, should not bother him a single bit. I only want Lisa Manobal to know me if that isn’t obvious enough by now.
I know most of my readers can’t relate, but can you imagine how someone like me would have felt knowing that some of the very things I have very strong opinions about are happening right downstairs, with a fellow practitioner sleeping less than 50m away?
Apparently, some people at this retreat recognised me, and I actually spoke to one of them. He wasn’t a participant per se, just someone who wanted to tap into the attendee pool for whatever reason, as he has an interest in Chinese metaphysics and is apparently running a related website. Accordingly to this tag-along person, I crossed paths with him many years ago virtually, but I didn’t recognise him because I couldn’t put a face to the name. We exchanged a few words, and I naturally asked a few blunt questions about the expert and what’s going on in the ballroom, to which I chuckled at the response, “He’s not teaching anything new”.
The whole encounter was very surreal because what the hell are the chances, and it’s not like I kept tabs on other practitioners and knew where they were going or which hotel they were gonna hold their event at. Even Guanyinma approved of the trip, and surely, she took this into account. I think people should know by now that I am busy with work, fatherhood, family, and friends. At this stage in my life, that is all I care about. I couldn’t care less about what other practitioners are doing unless they pick a fight, or a client that comes to me has clearly been taken advantage of.
Now, before anyone thinks this is going to be another practitioner-bashing post, it’s not. I’d like to think I’ve grown past that, and I will try to keep things as balanced and objective as I can. I am past the practitioner-bashing stage in my career because love and warmth have filled those parts that used to have the time and emotional capacity to throw a few punches at someone. Even if I do practitioner-bash again, please be assured that it is either for self-defence, or because something really, really needs to be called out upon, like when a practitioner thinks pasting pink paper on an oven is a Feng Shui cure, or climbing on someone’s table is required for a Feng Shui audit and then goes on to have the audacity to call me a “self-studied amateur” in the comments section when she got jealous that she wasn’t the one who got featured on OGS. Just so you know, yes, the person who committed the above two acts of mental illness is the same person, and until I get an apology or that she’s out of the industry, she will always be the butt of my jokes.
Yes, perhaps I have finally grown up, although, trust that I’ll still speak my mind when asked or provoked.
To be absolutely fair to the practitioner I bumped into in Chiang Mai, he has done nothing to me, and a small part of me does think he’s a nice, earnest guy, albeit having a bit of an overeager and trying too hard vibe, which some of my followers who attended his sessions agree with. I am happy that he overcame some of his own hardships that I can relate to, and that Chinese metaphysics was a guiding light for him. I cannot invalidate his starting point because mine was the same – life was shit, and I wanted to find out why.
There are some things, though, that I have opinions about and disagree with.
Whatever I say in the remainder of this post is not targeted at this particular practitioner, though there will be a few bits that relate to him. Just see this post as sharing some aggregated data and surveys, some insights, and some musings.
The Hellish Practitioner Stories That I’ve Been Getting Recently
Now, before I begin, I just want to say some of the stories I’ve been getting recently deserve a blog post instead of a mere IG story that vanishes after 24 hours. All these stories have culminated to the point that, yes, I need to take a shit on my blog and unload.
There are a few, and let me start with the first one.
The Made Practitioner Who Loves Forecasting Death
First and foremost, it is extremely taboo and unethical for a practitioner to forecast someone’s year and time of death. Even if a practitioner is good enough to see it in the charts, it must not be said. But you don’t have to worry about this because most practitioners don’t have this ability.
Unfortunately, I had a similar encounter a few years ago, which I briefly mentioned. In late 2022, I met someone who had been dabbling in astrology, and she was arguably jealous of my career and what I had in my life. She went on to act like a good person and warned that my wife would perish. Even though I have technical knowledge that this isn’t going to happen, it still sent me into a panic. This was the 2023 story I briefly mentioned, and the encounter with this Cat. 4 low-life, who is probably going to suffer for the rest of her life, is the reason I got started in Western astrology because I know I can do better.
The client above basically came to me for a second opinion, and if you read her questions in the form, you can understand why she was sent into a meltdown, because which parent would want to hear that their children will perish in a car accident or fire?
I took a look at the ‘report’ she got, and it was basically all computer-generated garbage. To have the gall to forecast death and yet no technicals were explained is something that deserves burning in Hell for.
A practitioner’s job is sometimes to give caution, but not to induce unnecessary panic or meltdowns, especially when you’re not even good enough to analyse a chart.
It seems like this ‘practitioner’ runs the same routine on most people, but what perplexes me a bit is that there was no item or ritual upsell after. So, for whatever reason, this person likes to induce fear in others; I really don’t know.
The 70-Year-Old Practitioner Who Probably Has A Divine Pen*s
This is probably one of the best and most outrageous ones I’ve heard in a while.
You know, sometimes you see a news article on some soothsayer or fortune-teller that ends up violating their client, this feels like one of them, although thank f*** I didn’t hear, “Oh, they slept together,” because I know how this 40-year-old lady and this 70-year-old practitioner look like now.
I don’t think I need to say much here because such stories are honestly nothing new. Someone claims he’s chosen by the Heavens and has special powers, but goes on to do everything unconstructively with them.
The Rest
There are a lot more stories that people may or may not know about. There’s no need for people to know because the industry is small as it is esoteric, and it’s mostly just gossip and lunchtime banter for some people.
For example, if you remember what Sunshine Empire is, which is a Ponzi scheme dressed up as an MLM company, and its head, James Phang. Do you know James Phang’s brother is a practitioner running a rather well-known Feng Shui company here?
I have no comments about the practitioner and the company. The only thing I want to know is whether Captain Pak Jiao above can see in 5-dimensions.
Of course, when a practitioner gets his wife to send a templated BaZi report to everyone, or buys fake social media followers to appear more legitimate, I have to call it out (see blog post above), and I have many years ago. This practitioner has gone MIA for a while, but I’ve been notified that he’s making a quiet comeback.
The A**hole, ‘Arrogant’ Practitioner
This will be none other than yours truly – me. I definitely deserved to be bashed in some ways, too.
I want people to believe me when I say this, and I am not being coy, but I won’t call myself a “nice” person. I will just call myself a person and a Yin side and a Yang side, and I have said many times, I embrace both the light and the dark side of myself. The dark side of myself is the part that dares to write what I write, knowing it will offend others – but for what purpose?
I get called arrogant a lot for many reasons. I unapologetically tell dysfunctional Cat. 4s to f*** off. I write such blog posts that seemingly make me look like I’m on some moral high ground.
I can understand the criticism of my curtness towards Cat. 4s, although it is wrong to have some morals and standards, though?
Arrogance is “having or revealing an exaggerated sense of one’s own importance or abilities.” Trust me, I remind myself of the definition of arrogance and the limits of my abilities. I get things wrong all the time, and I will never be afraid to admit it.
I can be very, very cocky, though, especially in situations when I know I can call out BS and get away with being completely unhinged in my criticism. There’s a difference!
I think at the end of the day, all I want to say is that practitioners come in all forms. Pick whoever you like, but just know you can’t get everything, and sometimes, you get nothing.
Now, I really want to get to the crux of the post. What I wrote above ain’t it at all.
Personally, I Find Qi Men Dun Jia Manifestation An Absolute S**tshow
I really, really want to talk about the hottest shit in Chinese metaphysics and the entire spiritual realm right now – which is “alignment” and “manifestation”.
Can someone, for the love of f***, please tell me what it is? What is this fabulous thing that instils more hope than the 3rd coming of Buddha and the 2nd coming of Jesus? Tell me, before I get my first coming of the day.
I asked A.I. what the definition of “alignment” is, and here’s what I got: “Alignment is the state of being in harmony between your inner self and your external life, where your actions, thoughts, and desires are consistent with your deepest purpose and values.”
Fine, I dig it. It sounds cool.
As for manifestation: “Manifestation in the spiritual realm is a broad concept, but at its core, it refers to the process of bringing an idea, desire, or intention from the non-physical (spiritual or energetic) realm into the tangible, observable reality. It’s fundamentally connected to the idea that everything in the universe is made of energy, including our thoughts and feelings.”
You know, this whole manifestation thing has been around for the longest time because I’m sure you’ve seen this book a long time, and it was the hottest shit everyone’s wanking off to since I was in JC.
The “law of attraction” is basically making a comeback with a vengeance, and “manifestation” is the buzzword not just for the esoteric industry, but for Gen Zs too, apparently. I’ve read the book a long time ago when I was 17 or 18, and believe it or not, I did practice it as though it was really a thing.
Now, I am all for positive thinking, but as a practitioner who is all about Yin and Yang, I need to mention that anything taken to extremes will backfire. If you are Chinese and you don’t know what 「物极必反」means, then may I wish that you reincarnate in Switzerland in your next life, perhaps.
The Psychological Trap Of Manifestation
Let’s not even bring up the philosophical or metaphysical counterargument I mentioned above; just use some common sense and science. Please just go on to Google anything about the problems with the manifestation mindset, and this is what you’ll get:
So what happens when you put all your positivity and emotions into one thing and fail? What next? Is someone just going to tell you, “Oh! You didn’t manifest hard enough! You don’t want it bad enough, and you’re not aligned enough!”
If I were to explain it through the lens of astrology, if you’ve ever met someone with 4 or even 5 planets in a sign like Pisces or Cancer – depending on the House placements, you might think that they are the embodiment of compassion or love, but I can tell you they are some of the biggest, tedious imbeciles you can ever meet. Too much of something, somewhere, is never a good thing.
Dear Cat. 4 s, Qimen Manifestation Won’t Allow You To Live Like A Cat. 1
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Astrology, in any form, is not a wish-granting tool. It is not a shortcut to your problems and desires – it never will be.
Suppose you are an uneducated and cognitively impaired Cat. 4 who attended some Qimen course, and you know the basics – it doesn’t mean you will live like someone with a top-tier BaZi chart. I’m sorry to inform you that you will always be somewhat constrained by the limits set by your BaZi, and that is something you must accept. That doesn’t mean I am advocating fatalism and that you shouldn’t try to achieve your goals, but everyone and everything has limits.
You might think that attending an emotionally charged Qimen Manifestation seminar is gonna. beenough to let you live the life of your dreams, I am here to remind you that accepting your limits in itself is also a form of wisdom, because please look at what happens when you’re given what you’re not even ready for.
You want love? You want marriage? Can you actually handle it? It’s an absolute “no” for some people.
You want to do business and earn money? Can you actually handle it? It’s also a “no” for most people.
The irony of it all, though, is that Cat. 4s are the best cash cows for such events.
I think people need to appreciate when I say that when a Cat. 1 BaZi chart-holder tries to manifest, and when a Cat. 4 tries to manifest, the results can be very different.
The Same Playbook & The Standards Out There Are Atrocious
I know how I sound and how it makes me look when I say such things, but I really want to reiterate again that the standards are atrocious, which I attribute to the wrong start point and intent, and also for the really pathetic notion that a lot of CHINESE (I SHOUT “CHINESE”) Metaphysics practitioners can’t even read Chinese properly.
The playbook is the same. Someone claims to have learned from top practitioners and eventually turned into a practitioner themselves. They will then engage a marketing agency, gather people in a hall, upsell, and scale. Do you remember the days when YouTube always showed you an ad where someone with a really f***ing annoying face goes, “Give you 15 seconds of your time and I will change your life.” It’s the same for Chinese metaphysics, basically.
Now, there are even things like “Learn BaZi in 1 Day” and other nonsense, but yet, I have not once seen them do a proper reading or case study, and then we have people who sell templated reports, and tell you what your lucky element is and call that a reading while they go off to livestream and peddle items.
You know, it’s been 12+ years since I started doing this, and even I didn’t put focus on teaching until recently, but people I know who took a few classes and have been in the industry for less than a year are coming out to teach.
Please remember that my industry is unregulated, and unless there is a clear criminal breach of trust or an offence against the government, it’s just a “willing-buyer vs willing-seller” scenario.
A lot of the Qi Men Dun Jia theories and buzzwords you see going around are also made-up to feel more palatable, but it doesn’t do jacks***. For example, I have no idea why the 9 Deities in Qi Men Dun Jia are being used to slot people into archetypes. Qi Men Dun Jia is a divination tool and should not be used to assess someone’s character or personality in depth.
This Is The Part Where I Hesitantly Step On The Qimen Manifestation Expert’s Toes
I know what I write here will step on his toes and trigger him, and it might seem as though I am here to cause trouble or break his ricebowl. Before someone tries to throw the term “defamation” here: Justification, fair comment, and I dare say qualified privilege, because by vintage and experience, I am his senior. Thank you for bowing to me as you walked by; perhaps I misread the body language.
I say this with absolutely no ego or malice; wrecking his ricebowl is not my intention, and I will never be able to. He will always have his target audience, I can assure you. The world is big enough.
What I write here is for my followers – not his. The only thing I will say is that I am a bit disappointed because I feel he could have done it better and in a more meaningful way, although he has to accept that coaching and Qimen don’t mix well.
Now, ironically, this comes from his own Facebook:
He shared a screenshot of a text from his student, and if I understand the text correctly, he was scammed and is now under a Debt Repayment Scheme (DRS). Whether or not the DRS was established before or after he or she got scammed, I don’t know.
The last text is what gets to me, and it is exactly what is wrong with the whole “manifesting” shebang. You can tell that the self-gaslighting and cognitive dissonance are there because, instead of admitting that naivete and incompetence were at play, there was some other spiritual explanation.
Is attracting financial abundance really that difficult, or does it always have to involve astrology? Because, as far as I’m concerned, you simply need to enjoy doing something.
If you approach this purely from a scientific and psychological point of view, you know the articles on Psychology Today are legit, true, and reliable. The irony is that this Qimen Manifestation expert is giving us the best example of why this whole “manifestation” mindset, if unchecked, can be dangerous.
Now, before anyone thinks that, “Ah, Sean is jealous that he doesn’t get a huge crowd in a hall and probably doesn’t as much.” Let me just say a few things.
First and foremost, my family has taught me that how much I earn doesn’t mean much if they are not healthy and happy. If I have enough, I am content. I do have some stretch goals, and I am very open with my friends that I really do wish to have a bigger house. What for? For my family and children to run around in it, of course.
Next, please peruse what’s below:
That text has been sent to me since last year, but I said nothing about it, so please believe me when I say my practitioner-bashing era is gone and I have no interest in what other people are doing. But alas, whatever happened in Chiang Mai and Mercury Retrograde was probably the reason why I think I have to say a few things – but just a few.
I don’t feel that what I do is something that should be shoved down people’s throats, and my friends will know I’m not someone who will give unsolicited advice, and even if I do, I will ask for permission. The salesy side of Chinese metaphysics is something I oppose because if someone doesn’t need astrology or Qi Men Dun Jia at this juncture of their life, they simply don’t need it. There is no need to try to inspire commitment and MASSIVE ACTION, as they always say in coaching, by making people pay $7,500 upfront, especially when, from this practitioner’s own text, some people are already financially struggling.
I don’t wish to comment much beyond saying that everyone can come to their own conclusions based on what others have shared with me. Perhaps this is why this person didn’t dare to look me in the eye. My only hope is that this person didn’t misuse Qimen to see who he can close for $30,000 because that is a clear abuse, which I guarantee you will have extreme karmic backlashes. But as I said, a part of me would like to think he’s a good person and give him the benefit of the doubt.
What I am very curious about, purely from a business operations perspective, is how he manages to get so many staff members to conduct the event. Perhaps it’s volunteers from previous retreats who are still under his coaching program, or perhaps it’s a partnership with another Chinese metaphysics company, which he initially learned from, and which I know is a valid model because of this post here.
Basically, I had a client from 2016 who went to study Chinese metaphysics with a company, spent $100,000, ended up working for the company, and was told, I think, that he had to share, I think, 70% of what he earned if he were to use that company’s brand name.
Anyway, may I just say I have never seen my industry in such a big clusterf*** of a shitshow because, to be fair to everyone, I’m going to bring in another practitioner now.
I’m sure some of you have seen advertisements of other practitioners calling “Qimen Manifestation” an outright scam. OMG THE FORBIDDEN WORD “SCAM”! And I guess with that comment, it imbued them with the right to charge an even higher amount, AND HAWT DAMN THERE ISN’T EVEN A TRIP TO CHIANG MAI INCLUDED! Come on man, you can do better. At least a trip to Sentosa Universal Studios, please!
Just as a trivia: The client who sent me the pricing card above was the one featured here.
Bro, if your boat sank every month, then please just tell someone else because you’re cursed AF. And if you’re reading this, that boat ride with my family and BBQ onboard will happen.
I have to say, if you need QMDJ that much, you really must be cursed AF.
Anyway, the last post that will make your jaw drop, although I don’t know who this practitioner is:
What’s better than a phone wallpaper? It’s a phone wallpaper that brings you good luck for only NINE HUNDRED AND NINETY NINE DOLLARS!
Again, I want people to believe me when I say I have no ego involved in all this. I am really just having a good time, laughing my a** off, seeing everyone panic about their overheads, sell merch, contradict themselves, and more.
Trust me, I have everyone’s birthdays, even their spouses. If I wanted to be an a**, I could case study it and let everyone understand why I said some charts are meant to be practitioners, and most aren’t.
I will say the fair and objective thing here that if people find whatever they bought or signed up for useful, I am no one to say it’s not.
As always, you do you.
Why Coaching And Chinese Metaphysics Don’t Mix
Now, I have long been asked by others why I don’t go into coaching or incorporate coaching into my consultations. I always tell my clients I’m not a coach or therapist – I am not trained in those. What I will do is to have a very honest conversation with you through the lens of astrology, hoping you can see a different perspective. 点醒, they say in Chinese.
If you think hard and critically enough, I don’t think I have to explain why coaching and astrology don’t really mix well. If you want to excel in one and execute it to its fullest extent, it will get in the way of the other.
Let me just give some very, very simple examples.
Internal Locus of Control vs External
Coaching shifts the client towards an internal locus of control, but astrology often compels you to believe that certain things are out of your control because, well, you’re simply not born with a certain kind of chart, karma, and life.
Suppose someone’s chart tells me that he or she cannot be an entrepreneur, but some Cat. 4 dingus wants me to coach him or her using the “Law of Attraction” or “Qimen Manifestation” to become a successful businessperson.
As a coach, I want to help people know that anything is possible and achievable. But as an astrologer, I know that is not possible. What then?
Maybe the solution is simply to start a small business and do a side gig, as I have told many people before. Then it just proves my point – I don’t need to coach you, and you don’t need to pay $30,000 to hear something like that. Just find the goddamn time and figure out how to create a website. But you’ll realise most people don’t even bother to do that, but would instead believe that some app they’ve been told to invest in is the next big thing, but got scammed instead.
Free Will vs. Determinism
This is an age-old debate that the best scientists and philosophers don’t have an answer to, and because there is no answer, coaching and astrology, in my opinion, do not go well together.
The Cat. 4 Who Shits On Everything
Let me just put things in a very concise, Sean-esque way. Everyone has seen the kind of stories I’ve put up and the kind of hopeless degenerates I deal with.
So tell me… Coach simi f***ing lanjiao?
If it’s not clear by now, I’ve resolved this dilemma a long time ago – and I will just focus on being an astrologer, and that’s it. If the stories I share and what I write move you in some ways, that is more than enough for me.
By the way, did you know $30,000 can afford you the best coaches in the world, and then even have A.I. versions of themselves now? Perhaps you could give those a try.
No One & Nothing Can Change Your Life But Yourself
I really, really baulk when I hear things like “Transforming Life With Qimen” or “Winning Every Year With Qimen” and whatever, because they’re misleading, and such things are only said when you know someone wants to close a sale.
I know it sounds cliché, but only you can change your f***ing life. Qimen cannot do that because please take a close look at the wielder, and if you are not worthy of yielding it, forget it. The notion of wanting to ‘win’ every year is also incredibly toxic because some years are meant to be tough and deliberately so, and I would go as far as to say that suffering is needed and absolutely required for some people to wake up. Yes, you can frame difficult years positively, but please don’t overdo it and gaslight yourself, avoid the negative emotions, and the lessons involved.
Also, you do know that you don’t need Qimen or pay someone $30,000 to remind you to work hard, live right, and cut out toxic people, right?
Throwback To Some Stories I’ve Shared
I’ve mentioned this somewhere in my blog before, and a few times in fact. I want people to know that I have gone through Large Group Awareness Trainings (LGATs), which use the same techniques that cults use to indoctrinate people, and I suffered a mental breakdown when my mind was torn between the emotional high and reality. That was 2007. I don’t want to say much because it’s irrelevant, but just Google what LGATs are, and also Project MK Ultra, and you’ll know where my mind has been.
Some Honest Thoughts When I Saw The Attendees
Again, what I say here is not an attack on any practitioner, nor an attempt to undermine them. They can do what they want – I really don’t care. But I will say what I feel compelled to say and what I genuinely feel.
I think most people who believe in astrology and Chinese metaphysics know that 看相， or physiognomy, is a thing. It’s not my speciality, of course, but I am quite confident in my ability to assess someone’s general vibe and character. As I always say, Cat. 4 people give off a certain vibe and look.
I was basically having an ‘out-of-body’ experience, seeing what was happening in front of me, and gazing at everyone attending the event. Unsurprisingly, most were middle-aged and older, and there were a few young people and older couples who seemed to really want to be there.
The emotion that came up mostly when I saw the participants was pity. Why? As for the staffers and volunteers: I had other emotions, but I’ll keep them to myself for now.
I cann’t help but feel that most attendees didn’t look happy. In fact, they look miserable. There is bitterness in their eyes. At breakfast, the ones I saw sat alone, looking at their phones. Those who did sit with someone weren’t talking to each other and were just paying attention to their phones. Of course, I hope that the 5D4N retreat changes that – but not that I’ll know, and not that I care.
I’m not entirely clear on the itinerary, but if this spiritual retreat involved staying in the hotel for 5 days, what a pity, because do people not realise what Thailand has to offer in terms of spirituality and that it is the Land of the Buddha?
I’ve spoken about spirituality before, and I won’t spend another essay sounding like a broken recorder. But again, anything can be spiritual. The love for your hobby, friends, and children can be spiritual because in those moments, you lose yourself, and you know life is more than just about you. Time with your loved ones is also limited and will be gone someday; it is in that loss and impermanence that it takes on meaning and spirituality.
If you are the sort of imbecile who thinks that you have to dabble in astrology in order to be spiritual. Well, you’re an imbecile.
The Most Fascinating Encounter And Unexpected Spiritual Retreat of My Own
There were moments when my wife caught me zoning out and in a daze, to which she asked, “Are you OK?” I told her, “Don’t worry, of course I’m OK. I just can’t believe what’s happening in front of me.”
I spent some time sorting out my thoughts and figuring out what I was feeling as I went about my day. We visited Wat Phra Singh Woramahawihan the day after I realised the Qimen Manifestation event was happening at the hotel.
As I was paying for the tickets to the temple, the guard asked me, “Where are you from?” to which I replied, “Singapore”. The guard had a big reaction and immediately pointed to the monk beside him, who was also from Singapore.
Of course, I cannot help but ask, “What in the f*** are you doing here?” Being me, I even asked, “Are you escaping the law or something?”, to which the monk chuckled and denied, of course.
The monk’s name is Patrick, and he used to be in IT. He told his parents he would try monkhood for a year, but it has been 17 years, and he has never turned back. He is 48, but my wife and I thought he was in his mid-30s. Clearly, stress ages most Singaporeans. I told him what I do for a living and asked him for advice, to which he gave a very practical and wise answer: “Do not get involved in others’ karma.”
I chuckled and mumbled under my breath, “Holy f*** you have no idea”.
We also spoke about Buddhism, monks, spirits, etc. He suggested going around the stupa 7 times, which I did while my lovely wife looked after my son. I should have asked for his number.
One reason I felt pity for the participants was that some of the temples here hold great significance, yet most people don’t know. I had no idea that the temple we visited was a Tier 1 Royal temple, and that it doesn’t just hold relics, but also a 1,200-year-old statue that is known to be the most 灵 (‘wish-granting’).
There is an entire world out there to explore, but people would rather be stuck in a ballroom learning about something they are never meant to understand or wield.
Anyway! Patrick, if you see this, please reach out when you’re back in Singapore!
Finding Myself In Between Two Worlds
Meeting the monk was a pleasant surprise I never expected. I can’t quite put a word to the emotion. Perhaps it’s inspiration, perhaps it’s fascination. Or maybe it’s the juxtaposition of what I’m witnessing. There I am, witnessing a hall of people who, if I may say so, think that they are going to get what they desire by learning “Qimen Manifestation”, and there I am, meeting someone who has no desires at all.
I have never met someone who is willing to just “let go” like this and stay as a monk for 17 years. I would think most would have given up and returned disrobed.
How fascinating it is to meet someone who chose the path to enlightenment, while also witnessing an entire group of people on the pathway to Hell packaged as enlightenment.
I am, at the end of the day, a Buddhist too and my practice of astrology is not separate from my beliefs. Our charts are a reflection of our karma, and as another monk puts it, “the birth chart is a picture of what we would look like as enlightened beings if we were able to transform the negative karmic mental patterns into their corresponding wisdom qualities through meditative practice and right action.”
I have always asked myself if the way I’m doing things is alright. I dare not say I’ve got my answer, but I’d like to think I’m getting closer.
What a trip.
– Sean
