Reading with one's brain and not one's eyes is the number 1 rule everyone must observe. The sad thing about Feng Shui education is the bad habit of "authors" copying mistakes from other books ruining the entire industry.
One such example is the teaching of timeliness of the nine stars in the San Yuan Jiu Yun system.
The first book that talked about this topic could have something like this:
If today we are in the 8th Yun 八運 of the Lower Yuan 下元, then the ruling star (Ling Xing 令星) is #8 White Star Zuo Fu 八白左輔. #9 Purple Star You Bi 九紫右弼 is the next ruling star while #1 White Star Tan Lang 一白貪狼 is the distant future ruling star. These three stars are timely. The current ruling star is Wang Qi 旺氣, the other two are Sheng Qi 生氣。
#7 and #6 are considered Weakening Qi 衰氣, #5 and #4 are Dead Qi 死氣 while #3 and #2 have been dead for a long time and are considered Sha Qi 煞氣.
So far, so good. Names, perhaps suggestive, do not really matter if the proper understanding is taken care of.
What is detrimental is the following "rule":
Stars have characters, some good, some bad. No star is perfect. When a star is timely, it exhibits its good nature and brings fortunate things to people. When a star is untimely, it exhibits its bad nature and brings misfortune to people.
Then a table describing the good and bad natures of the stars is given. Practicing Feng Shui becomes routine work following instructions to "activate" the timely stars and "cure" the untimely stars. This has the beautiful Xuan Kong Fei Xing Feng Shui 玄空飛星風水 degenerated to the lowest form.
To make the practice a little more complicated, the so called 81 combinations of stars are tabulated with the expectation of the star combinations explained and "cures" recommended.
Thus, stars are compared with fresh apples and rotten apples with the former giving nourishment to people and the latter poisoning people by the "dead qi".
Well, comparing stars with apples is not much better than comparing apples with oranges. The ancients, however, have already given sufficient suggestion of making a valid comparison. The term Ling Xing 令星 implies that the ruling star is timely and in power 當時得令. He is like the prime minister heading a government on behalf of the emperor. The other two timely stars become his assistance and learning how to rule and give orders to other stars. The untimely stars can be looked upon as officers not on duty. Does it make sense to you that officers off duty all become bad guys bringing people misfortune?
It is really unfortunate that such false ideas have been spread because of "authors" copying the mistakes from other "authors".
No wonder there are "masters" openly denouncing the Fei Xing system. The reason is simple: I have been trying hard to convince the frog in the well the sea is much larger than the well. I have also been trying hard to tell summer insects that water will form ice in winter. All such efforts are in vain.
It takes a lot of courage to write this article. Well, I remember the teaching of the ancient saints: 自反而不縮, 雖千萬人，吾往矣!
One such example is the teaching of timeliness of the nine stars in the San Yuan Jiu Yun system.
The first book that talked about this topic could have something like this:
If today we are in the 8th Yun 八運 of the Lower Yuan 下元, then the ruling star (Ling Xing 令星) is #8 White Star Zuo Fu 八白左輔. #9 Purple Star You Bi 九紫右弼 is the next ruling star while #1 White Star Tan Lang 一白貪狼 is the distant future ruling star. These three stars are timely. The current ruling star is Wang Qi 旺氣, the other two are Sheng Qi 生氣。
#7 and #6 are considered Weakening Qi 衰氣, #5 and #4 are Dead Qi 死氣 while #3 and #2 have been dead for a long time and are considered Sha Qi 煞氣.
So far, so good. Names, perhaps suggestive, do not really matter if the proper understanding is taken care of.
What is detrimental is the following "rule":
Stars have characters, some good, some bad. No star is perfect. When a star is timely, it exhibits its good nature and brings fortunate things to people. When a star is untimely, it exhibits its bad nature and brings misfortune to people.
Then a table describing the good and bad natures of the stars is given. Practicing Feng Shui becomes routine work following instructions to "activate" the timely stars and "cure" the untimely stars. This has the beautiful Xuan Kong Fei Xing Feng Shui 玄空飛星風水 degenerated to the lowest form.
To make the practice a little more complicated, the so called 81 combinations of stars are tabulated with the expectation of the star combinations explained and "cures" recommended.
Thus, stars are compared with fresh apples and rotten apples with the former giving nourishment to people and the latter poisoning people by the "dead qi".
Well, comparing stars with apples is not much better than comparing apples with oranges. The ancients, however, have already given sufficient suggestion of making a valid comparison. The term Ling Xing 令星 implies that the ruling star is timely and in power 當時得令. He is like the prime minister heading a government on behalf of the emperor. The other two timely stars become his assistance and learning how to rule and give orders to other stars. The untimely stars can be looked upon as officers not on duty. Does it make sense to you that officers off duty all become bad guys bringing people misfortune?
It is really unfortunate that such false ideas have been spread because of "authors" copying the mistakes from other "authors".
No wonder there are "masters" openly denouncing the Fei Xing system. The reason is simple: I have been trying hard to convince the frog in the well the sea is much larger than the well. I have also been trying hard to tell summer insects that water will form ice in winter. All such efforts are in vain.
It takes a lot of courage to write this article. Well, I remember the teaching of the ancient saints: 自反而不縮, 雖千萬人，吾往矣!
