Trapped in a Golden State, away from Boston’s snow
By Alex Beam
istockphoto/globe staff illustration
OJAI, Calif.
I woke up here a few days ago and shared a salubrious “golden milk” concoction (turmeric, ginger, and almond milk) with my Tibetan Buddhist pals. There’s a reason that spiritual wanderers flock to the Ojai Valley, about 80 miles northwest of Los Angeles: It’s beautiful, cool, and serene.
The sun was shining and the air was clean. We were late for our appointment with the Korean foot masseur. I’m happy, but I’m not happy, I told my friends. My wife, my neighbors, and my colleagues in Boston are really suffering right now. I can’t say I want to be there, but I’m feeling anxious about them.
“Ah,” a friend said. “You are experiencing survivor’s guilt.”
Really? The term, which has flitted in and out of psychiatry’s wiggy Diagnostic & Statistical Manual over the years, is usually associated with more traumatic events, such as genocides or airplane crashes. But natural disasters indeed qualify, and Boston has been experiencing this month-long natural disaster without me.
I’ve missed three of the four weeks of Boston’s horrible February. I traveled to Florida at the beginning of the month, and then headed to Southern California, as I always do around this time of year. I almost certainly suffer from seasonal affective disorder, but I treat my symptoms with airplane tickets and Airbnb stays, not with pills.
So — forgive me — the past few weeks have been absolutely glorious. Last week, I realized one of my dreams, an evening picnic at Dockweiler Beach, directly underneath the outbound runways at Los Angeles International Airport.
When the Emirates double-decker Airbus 380s lumber out for the antipodes, you can almost feel the landing gear caressing your hair. Yes, I’ve stood on Bayswater Street under Logan’s 22L and 22R approaches, but this was like Disneyland compared to the Topsfield Fair.
The day before the picnic, a friend took me sailing in the bay off of Marina Del Rey. Off to port, we spotted architect Frank Gehry at the helm of his 44-foot yacht, the Foggy, puttering out of the same channel. Yes, there were dolphins aplenty, a contested whale sighting, and even a few hardy souls swimming at Santa Monica Beach.
That was the day your gutter fell into your backyard, weighted down by hundreds of pounds of ice dams. I’m sorry. Believe me, my house is a complete wreck. It’s just that I’m not living in it right now.
Earlier this week, I checked the daily Los Angeles Times e-mail digest that lands in my inbox. “Record Heat in California,” the headline read. Then: “The West Coast continues to enjoy its warmest winter on record, while the East Coast remains buried in snow with record-low temperatures.”
That was the day my wife called to say there was a power outage on our block.
That very morning I had sent her a picture of the South Pasadena canyon, where I was spending a few nights. Eucalyptus and palm trees ran downhill as far as the eye could see. I think that qualified as a random act of cruelty.
Back in Ojai, we blew off church last Sunday to learn our future from the I Ching, also known as The Book of Changes. The Buddhists had gathered to throw the divinational coins at the start of the Tibetan New Year. “It is time to open the gates and leave the courtyard,” was the message from the venerable book. “This will lead to great joy.”
But the courtyard is walled in by 10 feet of snow! I objected. Joy postponed, as usual.
Tien Sum posted in: Xing.com Feng Shui in der Praxis
Feng Shui Luopan 羅盤
Feng Shui Luopan 羅盤 , regardless of their different sizes, can be classified into 2 or 3 types:
1) sam he luopan 三合盤
2) sam yuen luopan 三元盤
3) sam yuen and sam he combined luopan 三元三合混合盤
Sam yuen luopan is commonly used nowadays, mainly by sam yuen flying star and trigram stream practitioners. Sam he luopan is rarely used nowadays except for few old masters still expertise in the sam he stream.
In fact, sam he stream and its luopan has a far longer history in fengshui than the sam yuen. Sam yuen stream and its luopan were made known in fengshui history only since late ming dynasty to early ching dynasty onwards in china.
How to differentiate sam he luopan from sam yuen luopan?
There are 2 simple ways so, doing with the design of 24 mountains
sam he luopan has 3 layers (heaven, earth, human) of 24 mountains, whereas a pure sam yuen luopan has only 1 layer (earth) of 24 mountains
sam he luopan has 24 mountains in red (yang) and black (yin) color but locates not evenly (not 3 red follows by 3 black constantly). A pure sam yuen luopan has 24 mountains with yang and yin color in sequence of 3 red and 3 black evenly.
This is due to sam he and sam yuen are having differnt theories and methods for classification of the 24 mountains into yin and yang.
Tien Sum posted in: Xing.com Four Pillars of Destiny in der Praxis
三合擇日法 - 納音五行 Sam He Auspicious Date Selection - nayin element
There are various methods for auspicious date selection had been passed on from china ancient time to nowadays. Some popular and commonly used ones by chinese feng shui and fortune telling practitioners are, such as bazi 4 pillars四柱, dong gong董公, zi bai flyingstar紫白, sam he nayin三合纳音, xuan kong dagua 玄空大卦methods, etc. Some may use just the chinese almanac book "tong sheng 通勝 (tong shu通書)" for simplication.
A very famous top ranked feng shui master Mr Chan Pui Sang （1924-2014）, the founder of his Miao lineage(妙派) of the Sam Yuan Xuan Kong DaGua （三元玄空大卦派）stream, passed away last year. Master Chan had also mastered the Sam He feng shui science since young .
The old master Chan ever said, in sam he science, where the auspicious date selection method is very concerns about the relationship on nayin elements between the client's (yin or yang mansion master) birth year pillar and the selected date day pillar. Only the selected day pillar nayin element produces生 (give birth) or make strong旺 the client's birth year pillar nayin, then would be considered as auspicious date for recommendation.
Those selected dates' day pillar nayin element:
produce the client's birth year pillar nayin element, is named "birth qi" day
control (kill) the client's birth year pillar naiyin element, is named "killing qi" day
being produced by the client's birth year pillar nayin element, is named "retreat qi (drawback, exhausive) day
being controlled (killed) by the client's birth year pillar nayin element, is named "wealth qi" day
is the same as the client's birth year pillar nayin element, is named "strong qi" (prosperty) day
Sam He feng shui methods using 12 life stages - a simple intro example 三合風水法與十二長生訣
Sam He methods have a very long history in feng shui science in ancient China. One of its famous represnetative methods is the "four big water application sets" 三合水法四大局(3 combination water, fire, metal, wood) used for water dragon.
As you can see in the diagram, 24 mountains can be defined into 12 life stages where each stage consists of 2 mountains. This is named "double mountain into 5 elements" method. 雙山五行
What shown in the diagram is the 3 combination fire set, where taking the prosperous stage at double mountain (bing, wu) for facing, the water comes in from the birth stage at mountain (yin, gen), and out at the tomb stage at mountain (xin, xu).
The above-mentioned 3 combination is the same as used in bazi, eg. Yin, wu and xu EBs then form into the 3 combination fire set. In addition to this, the 3 mountains gen, bing and xin are also being grouped under the 3 combination fire sets.
Tien Sum posted in: Four Pillars of Destiny in der Praxis
12 life stages and zi wei dou shu - a simple example for their relationship 十二長生與紫微斗數
12 life stages are akso being incorporatef into one popular fortune telling method "Zi Wei Dou Shu" for arranging plate for a person.
The basic structure of Zi Wei Dou Shu is based on the year, month, date, and time of the birth. Put 14 master stars and others stars (over hundreds) on the 12 palaces wall separately and then determine the five elements, later fix the position of Zi Wei star. Other master stars will be fixed positions following with Zi Wei. The process for this action is called Starting Plate 起盘 (Qi-Pan) (or Arranging Plate (Pai-Pan)).
When the arrangement of the stars is finished, it is called Tian Pan 天盘. From the relations among the stars in the plate, divinatory can estimate and calculate the favourable or unfavourable turns in life or good/bad fate in life.
As per below example, the person was born in the year of HS xin. Xin is classified as yin, so the person is defined as yin male 陰男for the plate set-up.
The birth time was mao in the 4th month, so the life master locates at yin palace.
With the info " birth year = xin, life master = yin", then enable for determination of the 5 element setting for the person, belongs to the Wood Three Setting.
With the known of Wood three Setting for a yin male, then enable the placing of 12 life stages into the 12 palaces according.
Tien Sum posted in: Xing.com Four Pillars of Destiny in der Praxis
12 life stages and 10 gods into relations for bazi reading. Few examples
When Daymaster jia甲日主 on the EB
zi 子is at birth stage長生, zi has hidden HS gui癸, gui is the DR正印 for jia. This person could be kind of scholar-personality, full of sentiments, passion.
chou丑 ia at young stage冠帶, chou is the tomb stage墓庫 for xin辛, and xin is the OF正官 for jia. So, OF is at tomb stage官星入墓. The person could be highly relying on others, lack of initiative. In case of lady, could be her hubby star at tomb.
mao卯 is at prime, prosperous stage帝旺, mao has hidden yi乙, yi is the SB劫財 for jia. If lack of geng庚, the person could be just full of ideas, idealistic thinking but not into practical execution, so hardly have achievements.
chen辰 is at decling stage衰, chen is the tomb墓庫 for HS gui癸, gui is the DR 正印for jia. So, DR is at the tomb stage印星入墓. The person is being observed with appreciations for his office work performance and righteous personality.
Above were just using single pillar for simple judgement. Certainly,the accuracy and comprehensive of the person's personality and destiny profile would still require the consideration of his entire 4 pillars for analysis.
Feng Shui consultant Sharon Vogt stirred some interest back in May within a workshop at the Women's Center. When Vogt works with clients in their homes, she utilizes an eight-sided tool, consisting of nine sections, called a bagua ("bog-wah").
Ancient Chinese utilized the bagua before constructing homes, to ensure proper placement within the natural environment. A transparency of the bagua is placed over pre-sketched floor plans.Each of the nine sections of the bagua has a most powerful characteristic, element, body part, and color.
For example; the "Fame" section represents the element fire, the body part eye, and the color red. Without going into so much detail, the remaining eight sections are: "Relationships/Marriage/Mother, Children/Creativity/Future, Helpful People/Travel/Father, Career, Knowledge/Spirituality, Family/Past, Wealth," and "Earth."
In modern America, houses are mass produced and laid out in sub-divisions with little consideration for said environment. Nonetheless, there are "cures" for most problems haphazard construction may cause, including the use of water, crystals, live plants, mirrors, and even color.The application of cures and techniques, then, would tend to vary, depending on the home's main entrance and how energy flows within each room.
ogt might interview her client regarding what area(s) of their life may need new or changed energy. There may be health issues within the household – a result of stagnate energy. Then, the work would begin, focused on that section of the home and resulting in the implementation of the proper cures: Elements, colors, placement, intentions, etc.
With all that in mind, zoom out!The accompanying image puts a map of Abita Springs underneath a transparent bagua. Might this ancient tool explain why the energy here feels so good? Water being a Feng Shui cure, maybe it's no mistake the area is known for its "healing waters."
With this evidence, let's explore that theory because-- admit it-- some towns and places can give off pretty bad vibrations. Yet, here, it appears that the Women's Center for Healing and Transformation falls, appropriately, into the "Knowledge/Spirituality" section. A school, the Trailhead, Park, and history Museum, are in the "Family/Past" section. Abita Brewery and other businesses are in the "Wealth" section. Most of the residential areas are in the "Relationships/Marriage/Mother" section.Another school and the ball parks are in the "Children/Creativity/Future" section. The Trace, heading out toward Mandeville is in the "Travel" section. What's left? Oh, "Fame!" Do you know of anyone famous living in the northern section of Town?"Career" is the southern section, and I've heard it said that Abita Springs keeps its small town flavor by not allowing itself to get too big. It is what it is, and it feels just right, because of the positive energy flowing from the people and the environment.
Within the center section, the "Earth," sits Town Hall. Throw in a cemetery, and it doesn't get earthier than that.You know, maybe there is something to this ancient art and science of placement, energy flow, and intentions. It would be interesting, now, to consider the entire State under the bagua.
People tend to dismiss something they do not quite understand or comprehend sometimes out of sheer ignorance as superstition.The jargon used in Chinese metaphysics is hard to understand if one does not understand the Chinese language, in particular how some of the words are formed.I wonder if Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg who spoke and did a question-and-answer session in Putonghua with students at Tsinghua University in Beijing in late October really does understand Chinese?
It is easy to understand the concept of yin and yang, but to grasp the "five elements," used in feng shui and traditional Chinese medicine, is rather harder.I will try to illustrate what the five elements are and the rationale behind them.Ancient Chinese normally identify them as north (water), east (wood), south (fire), west (metal) and central (Earth), and it is an understanding that persists to this day.Ancient wisdom would also associate the five elements with the seasons of the year and so on.Let's start by understanding the word dongxi, or things.The word is made up of dong, or east, and xi, or west.
East may be associated with wood and west with metal, but for those who know Chinese, most things connote wood and metal, since they are made of these two elements.The north is traditionally associated with water as it is colder, and the south with fire and heat, which starts to make sense when one considers the north is cooler.From a geographical standpoint, the sun rises in the east and the moon in the west. East represents wood while the sun is fire, so wood creates fire. West represents metal, while the moon is water, so metal breeds water.We also see in mainland China that gigantic rivers originate in the west and flow to the east. Therefore, west (metal) breeds water that flows to the east, which breeds wood.We have sun and its fire creating Earth, and from Earth we can dig out valuable minerals such as metals.
Thus a cycle of creation or generation of life can be perceived.We have water>wood>fire> earth>metal>water and so on.
Chinese metaphysics like its medicine, cosmology, feng shui, life reading and the I Ching use the five elements as the basis for core essential beliefs.So next time, before you decide to associate Chinese metaphysics with mere superstition, think again and try to understand the 5,000-year-old wisdom of our ancestors.
Kerby Kuek has published 15 books on feng shui, inner alchemy, Taoism and metaphysics.
