LEARNING “BA ZI”: KNOWING THE PURPOSE OF LIFE AND WHAT IT MIGHT CONTAIN: A CASE STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF COMBINATION-DESTRUCTION IN PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

Certain things happened for reasons, and Ba Zi would give you a clearer picture on your destiny even though it only makes only 33% of your total destiny!

Alright, let’s go to the core of our issue—Learning Ba Zi. I won’t reveal my Ba Zi chart to you for the moment, since I consider it to be more personal in nature, but no worries, since I will share some parts of my Personal Chart and show you how Ba Zi can be utilized to maximize your potentials to its fullest!  My Ba Zi chart clearly shows that my present 10-year luck is not quite a promising one, even though there are some “favourable elements” do play their parts. I would like to pin-point this issue to one issue only--personal relationship. There is a very clear and permanent indicator in my own 8 Pillars of Destiny that says “It is better to stay away from relationships and even if there is one, it will never last for long”-TRUE! This is one of the checkpoints of Ba Zi where one of my unluckiest encounter did occur exactly on the time indicated in my Luck Pillars.

Based on the advanced concepts of Ba Zi, one very important point that I would like to focus on is what the Ba Zi experts called as the “Monkey-Snake-Tiger Combination” that occurs somewhere a few years ago that gave me a deep grief; even to this day. It was worsened by:-

(a)  The existent permanent clash that in the Spousal Pillar;  the Yin Fire Snake in the Day Pillar clashes with the Yin Water Boar in the Month Pillar!

(b)  This clash occurs in my Personal Eight Pillars Chart; that means this clash will occur throughout my entire life! The presence of the Direct Wealth star in the spousal pillar clearly shows that I will be in direct confrontation with the person whom I considered as my soul mate.

(c)  This type of clash is considered as a severe one since the same polarity (Yin Snake –Yin Boar) clashes are more serious than the different polarity slashes (e.g Yin Snake- Yang Rat).

No matter how "perfect" is your new boyfriend, if he is not meant for you, then does it, understand?

This already explained why any kinds of spousal relationships will never come to a good ending---despite whatsoever effort or good luck Feng Shui trinkets used to heal the situation. What’s the only solution? Stay single for the rest of my life---I guess..LOL!

A full-screen capture of my eight pillars of destiny chart. For confidentiality, I have deleted some of the information to avoid people from manipulating my Ba Zi.

I am sure those who practice Classical Ba Zi will realize that the only solution to heal or at least to minimize its bad effects is by introducing a certain “animal sign” into the clashing animal signs in the Ba Zi chart. In most cases, where no other combinations involved, a relationship can be healed, but in my case, for instance, it wasn’t as easy as suggested. The year of the Tiger (2010) which was supposedly to “heaI” the clash actually worsened the condition. WHY? The Fire Snake from my Day Pillar combines with the Yang Metal Monkey from the 10-year luck pillar (age 30-39). This pair is known as the Combination-Destruction structure.

As the Combination-Destruction pair entered the Year of Tiger (2010)…you will get the super-worst Snake-Monkey-Tiger combo! You got the picture right? The Tiger can only act as a ‘saviour’ only after I have moved into another 10-Year Luck Pillar, which is going to happen in another 8 years! As I did further reading in a book on Classical Ba Zi,  the events and the person involved in the combination were accurately depicted!  Let us go into each animal sign. For those who are used to the directions of the 12 animals, surely they know that the Snake’s location is the South East; the Monkey Southwest and finally the Tiger, Northeast. Then how could the directions tell me the origin of the persons involved in this formation? I will list out each detail as follows:-

(a)  The Snake represents my Self (homeland) which is Sarawak; exactly located southeast of Malaysia. (check my birth certificate; surely it is 100% TRUE!)

(b)  The Monkey (10-year Luck Pillar) represents where the relationship first took place (spark); yupp you get it now, southwest of Sarawak is exactly its capital city, Kuching (read the map if you’re saying that I’m bluffing around)

(c)  The Tiger (the Year Pillar—so-called “savior”), specifically mentions the origin of the person involved (origin)…(Northeast of Sarawak/Borneo?)---I’m not going to purposely annoy someone for this; but you should know how to read directions, right?). 

This is the permanent clash that I meant just now; the Yin Fire Snake in the Spousal Palace clashes with Yin Water Boar

This depiction was so accurate that I totally awed years after the incident! It clearly explained that a supposedly “healing animal sign” becomes the one that causes destruction in a relationship. Was that possible? Yes, it was. Further reading of the book explains that this combination means that the “right person” who is considered as a “savior” was the one who betrays and kills the short-lived relationship. As we go deeper into the analysis, it was also revealed that another Combination-Destruction structure exists as the Snake-Monkey branch was formed throughout the present 10-Year Luck Pillar. The Combination-Destruction can be interpreted as a good beginning with a tragic ending vice versa. 

The original screen-captured view of how the Day Master (Yin Fire Snake) forms the Combination-Destruction with the 10-year luck pillar (29-39 years old!)

    (a)  Fire Yin Snake represents Friends and Companions while the Metal Yang Monkey represents the Wealth Element.

    (b)  The favorability of a combination depends on the type of new element produced. In my case, the Snake-Monkey Combination produces a new element; which is Water and surely this is my most unfavorable element! In a nutshell, this Combination is like adding a salt to the wound!

Since I am a weak Yin Fire, the presence of the new Water and Metal Elements will further weaken my Self Element and definitely I was totally extinguished! When we interpret it into a real life situation, it clearly means that the purpose of gathering wealth (money; and since its polarity is Yang, it means money gained from a “moving source”, which is salary) is to impress my friends and colleagues around me. Since I can’t gain control over my Wealth, instead of making me feeling happy, it became a source of burden and suffering for me. The new Water element represents authority and that represents an “extinguishing task”. Luckily, even though I was feeling demotivated by the incidents that occurred around me that time, my friends and colleagues never took advantage on me since the Companion element was direly needed in this crucial situation.

I am not cynically pointing out my ex-lover’s fault, but rather I would like to prove that things did happen despite whatsoever effort that we put on to “save” the relationship. Yes, after almost a decade since my last breakup, I did know someone during that particular year which I believed as “the one” who was going to change my life forever but….alas! Our unexpected web-based love relationship which was initially for lust satisfaction suddenly turned into an almost-serious relationship; it was almost a near-perfection version of the person I was looking for; as that was truly an Utopian manifesto. Serve me right, I was too carried away by my lovey-dovey feelings and heeded all the warnings that were clearly indicated in my Ba Zi! As an end result, I fell into the bottomless pit and I was totally out of sync! I was ignorant and say ‘nay’ to the warnings portrayed symbolically in the Ba Zi chart that time and to my surprise, it did happened!  As you read this, I would strongly encourage those who are still learning the knowledge of the Ba Zi to practice what you have learnt, never ever be a pharisaical person, who is good at preaching doctrinal values but never practice it! I was, but I will always remind myself that it won’t happen again next time.

Years that follow (be it the years of the Snake-Boar) will not even promise anything either, even the luck of the present Dragon year won’t do any good to heal the permanent clash in my Ba Zi chart. Neither the next 8 years in my present Luck Pillar. In the other hand, I should concentrate on other aspects of my life such as career (and definitely the partnership type career) and financial planning for the future. By the way, the next 10-year luck pillar will promise a better future. At that time, my most favourable element, the Yang Wood which represents the Resource Element will push my dreams to the limitless skies! Hopefully my luck will change for good as my age will turn 39…hmm…that means I have to wait for another 9 years for my luck to be truly ripen and bear its sweet fruits..:). I won’t mind at all if my hair will turn grey that time. The Wheel of Karma will always spin; it solely depends on our past and present karmic actions that will determine whether it’s going to move faster or slower.

Many people asked me when I am going to have a settled life and a family of my own. Since I’m not a “waiting silently” type, so I know exactly how to respond to this irritating but yet can be answered in a simple manner:--“I’m searching but I found no one that suits my taste. I don’t want to just simply marry anyone and regretting myself spending my lifetime with the WRONG TYPE OF PERSON!” By the way, I’m not really concerned about getting old; many couples married at a relatively “later” age, but yet they enjoyed a prosperous and joyful life. There are also some couples who got married at a very young age and ended up with divorce and another chain of marriage-divorce-remarriage dilemma.  I learnt my lesson that love s not simply just marrying a person; but to love and cherish your spouse for all days of your life. It is not necessarily old means worn out or out of date, but rather it means an age of maturity. Cross my fingers, I am working ahead towards it, I know I can! 

LEARNING FENG SHUI AND THE EIGHT PILLARS OF DESTINY: A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

Hello everyone, how things went on all these days? Weren’t they beautiful days to be enjoyed, or nothing but gloomy days where most of the times keeping oneself shunning himself from reality? I won’t dare to say anything about that, but surely my boring blog which do not attract any followers would have something else to offer which outweighs everything else; KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE. Please stop by and read what I have to offer for all of you. As you read, you will come to a realization that my writings are completely consist of genuine ideas which I have amalgamated from various sources—be they are from the web, written articles or books written by countless numbers of authors.  As usual, for copyright purposes, I would cite other people’s quote in brackets to differentiate them from my original quotes. As far as I concern, any similarities found here are purely non-intentional and if they do, the phrases cited here were actually just came across my mind.

Sadly enough, there are some people, no matter what their intentions are, questioned my proficiency in the English language. They said that my superbly-written articles were extracted from somewhere else either from the net or much worse; I am falsely accused as a copycat! I am really wishing to know this person and ask him (or her) to pin-point his evidences to proof that I am an expert in plagiarism. Copy and paste my whole article and put it in the “Google Search Box”. Would you find any similarities? Can they list put any books or articles that I had copied into my blog? I bet that your effort will come to the highest point of disappointment when they finally realized that my ideas are 100% authentic out of from the frontal cortex of my cerebrum! 

I am not sure the motives of these ill-intentioned people, but surely it will never stop me from sending up blogs to be shared with those who are still interested. Amazingly, as I checked my blog-review statistics, I have viewers not only from Malaysia, but from all over the globe; Russia, China, United Kingdom and there are from the Unites States of America throughout the past 3 years! I was so surprised to know that there are some westerners who would like to take a glimpse on my simple articles which I simply wrote in a quite ‘merry-go-round’ style. I have to inform that my writings are not done in a professional manner. If I choose to do so, I would apply for a Master’s Degree Course in the University of Malaya where I can truly utilize my potentials to its zenith. I am not able to trace these kind readers but I prayed that blessings and good tidings shall be showered by you by the Higher Being above. Perhaps they are looking for the flip side of their life. I don’t know for sure, but you know the best, I bet.

Most people feel contented with their life without knowing their potentials and how to utilize them to the fullest. They just say “It’s already fated and there’s nothing much that I can do about it” or “God has fixed everything for me; and no matter how hard I have tried, I can’t alter His decision.” Well said, but it’s purely nonsensical. First, God or whatever that “Higher Being” might be called in other faiths, never fated something terrible to happen in our life. Correct me if I am wrong, but as far as I know, most religions, or if not all, believe that GOD is an All-Good and All-Perfect Being, and definitely when we say that He is “Good”, then by logical means He will never let such bad things to happen to us.

So, how bad things could happen and what is their purpose on us? Why certain people are tremendously rich despite their minimal effort and why are some people who aren’t? There are people who lived a moderate life but yet they are contented with their happy marriage life. The term “happiness” is subjective; but people; especially modernized people will define this term in much less common than its actual meaning. They tend to associate it with “big money, big car/s, big house/s and a handsome/beautiful K-Pop star-like spouse”. They think that the purpose of their own life is to impress others, but the ugly truth is never to be revealed…yet.

If you followed my previous articles in my blog page before, you will realize that I wrote an article on Symbolic Feng Shui which I heavily practiced all this while. As we go into another level, we will add another different but related field which without it Feng Shui practices are incomplete. Here I present you the package: The Knowledge of Feng Shui which is intricately merged with another related field of Chinese Esoteric Knowledge: The Ba Zi or better known as “The Eight Pillars of Destiny”; though some Classical Feng Shui Practtitioners  do not agree with the this translation but at least it is the nearest to the actual meaning of this field of knowledge.

Most Feng Shui practitioners will suggest their clients to have their personal Ba Zi to be read in tandem with the Feng Shui chart of their homes. Like Feng Shui, the Five Elements and Yin Yang concepts are also applied in reading one’s Ba Zi chart. A deep knowledge in The Productive, Destructive and Exhaustive Cycles of the Five Elements of a Feng Shui and Ba Zi practitioner will be a determining factor between a professional and an amateur. Learning Ba Zi can be likened to peeling an onion; you removed one layer to find out that there are actually many other layers inside. It is totally a never-ending knowledge on learning the destiny and purpose of our life. At first, I was totally perplexed by the difficult terms, but soon, as I finally grasped the actual meanings through a lot of readings and searching in reliable-web sources, I began my quest to plot my Ba Zi chart and learn it, bit by bit until I finally get a clearer view on my own purpose of life. For the unlearnt, the Ba Zi chart is nothing more than a piece of paper with unknown Chinese characters; and even if is translated into the English language, it is still incomprehensible and definitely a big headache for the newcomers. Thank God, due to my exceptional level of command in English, reading these translated versions of Classical Feng Shui books is obviously no big obstacle for me.

Learning Feng Shui and Ba Zi is never an easy thing for me. I have to do a lot of readings; and since my own understanding in the original tongue of this esoteric knowledge is near to none, I only have a knee-deep expertise in consulting people who were intrigued by my practice. They are so keened when they saw my “Fly on a Horse” figurine on my work table, the Kalachakra Mandala Plaque above my doorpost or even my “Wish Fulfilling Gold Plated Pendant” that I am wearing all this while. I am saying that I am reluctant to give any advice to them concerning Feng Shui and Ba Zi, but from what I have read, I realized that many professional experts, especially those from the classical schools of Feng Shui claimed  that the “Do-It-Yourself Feng Shui” which is gaining popularity due to its simplistic and hassle-free methods pose more risks than its benefits. I won’t explain this for the moment since it’s going to make this blog another Iliad and Odyssey epic story. I prefer simplicity even though the fact proves that the Feng Shui is a never-ending subject. No wonder why it took not hundreds, but thousands of years for this intricate knowledge to develop into what we have known today.

The Feng Shui and Ba Zi books were originally written in classical Chinese and most foreign readers, including Westerners who are highly interested to learn them get access via books translated by popular Chinese Feng Shui Authors who are very well-versed in English. I won’t give any reviews on their books or discuss about commercialism issues since me myself is a baby compared to those mega-fabulous Feng Shui ‘Masters-cum-celebrities’. In the other hand, my Feng Shui knowledge is still far from better and can be considered as only on the surface level. There’s still a lot more for me to learn in this unending field of knowledge.

I did some research on Ba Zi from various books translated from the Chinese to English; in a layman’s language. There are several series of books on Classical Ba Zi which are very modestly written. No worries, if I can read them, so are you! You can take a glimpse on the contents of these books and their prices are quite reasonable too!  The knowledge on Ba Zi worth more than your pocket and you won’t regret it either. These books are very easy to be read even for beginners who are totally alien to the terms and concepts of Feng Shui or Bazi.  I started out learning the Five Elements, how they interact with each other and finally the practical aspects of Ba Zi. I earnestly follow the guidelines set by the author from A-Z and even I was doing so, it was still far from enough. My thirst in pursuing knowledge made me feel more intrigued to learn this art of studying one’s path of life in detail.  

I still remembered the first day I encountered Feng Shui; about 8 years ago when I accidentally read a book on Symbolic Feng Shui written by a local Feng Shui authoress. I’m sure Destiny did played its part in making sure that this special moment arose or else I won’t have a chance to learn and practice Feng Shui! My mother bought the book as its title attracted her lot. I knew nothing about Feng Shui at all at that time, and to my amazement, I fell in love at the first sight! My knowledge in Ba Zi comes later after learning various Feng Shui branches; be it from the Classical or New Age Feng Shui. I believe that Feng Shui is no longer a secret thing since that all people are now gaining access to this always-on-a-high-demand thing. With the advent of smart phones and tablets, plotting a personal Ba Zi chart is no longer a hassle anymore; a single click and walaaa…your destiny can be overviewed just at your fingertips!

A few thoughts to be shared

I never thought that there are some people; not only from my own country, Malaysia, but from all over the world did take a glimpse or even read my posts. I wouldn't mind at all if my blog site has no followers. What's more important for me now is to share my views on this life. God bless you all and I hope that you will continue and to correspond with me for further inquiries. I will try my best to give the best answers for questions asked since my work schedule is so packed.

I am not a Buddhist, but my way of thoughts especially regarding the meaning of life and death has awaken me to a level where I have to accept things as they are in my life. It is somehow what we have known as "positive thinking" or "mind over matter" concepts where human beings have control over their life despite the fate that has been "fixed" on them. Karma cannot be changed; it's degree of intensity can either be increased or be reduced depending on the actions that we have done in our past lives.

My own "Winstedtarianism" philosophy is not a religion, but was obtained from my observation from the people who lived surrounding me. They not only influenced my life, but they did gave me the true meaning of human's sufferings and their causes. I hope that those who will read this will be clear up their mind from ignorance and selfishness.

1. Human wisdom can be likened as a dry seed. If you keep
    or hide it, it will remain as a seed and nothing more. When 
    you water it, it will grow and become a seedling. You keep
    watering and nurturing it, and it will continue to grow. Soon
    it will grow into a big and tall tree where green leaves will
    appear and forms a shade for the passers-by. Who knows,
    an enlightened person may take his refuge under the tree! 

2. No one can escape death; nay. Even a prince who ruled 
    over a vast nation; his crown was made from pure gold
    and adorned with precious jewels from all the nations that
    he conquered, his fame was feared even unto the ends of 
    the earth, but woe, when he died, his body will rot, his 
    flesh will be separated from his bones. A sage full of 
    wisdom, whose knowledge pulls people from all over the
    world. Whom through his mouth all the precious teachings
    were delivered, where people will sought his advice. Nay,
    as his body decayed, nothing much is left for him. His 
    bones no longer speaks, his eyes who read the most 
    precious knowledge now dissolved. Nothing can stop his 
    lips from decaying; his teeth loosened from his jaws. No,
    not a single being can be spared from death, no matter 
    how much he boasted living his life on earth like living 
    for eternity.   

3. On the fragility and temporal meaning of life: It can be 
    likened as a dew at the end of each grass. As the morning 
    sun shines on the meadows, some of the dews vanishes
    into thin air; never to be returned. Some remains, because
    there are some shorter grasses hindered by the taller 
    ones, thus their times are delayed, but not for too long. It 
    will vanish too, nothing is spared. The tall and big tree
    must shed its leaves, the old and dried ones fell from its
    branches; to be replaced with young and green ones. In 
    the end, the tree itself will die and be submissive to the 
    earth where it started its first moments of life. That's what
    will happen to our human life, no matter how great we 
    have lived our lives, it must come to an end...

* #3 reminds me of the final scene where the ghost Nang 
  Nak cried after hearing the Grand Monk's discourse which 
  was uniquely represented with symbolic images from the 
  nature. She realizes her wrongdoing of going against the
  reality of life and death; where the dead must move on to 
  next life without interfering with those who are still living.