Chiyang Daoren, Eastern Taoism
Although each person's life has its own laws of motion, and it may seem that the good and ill fortune, long life or early death, and wealth or poverty of one's whole life are already settled, Taoism does not hold that a person's destiny cannot be changed. The Scripture of the Western Ascension (Xisheng Jing) says: “My destiny lies with me, not with Heaven.”
The Tao Te Ching says: “So the Tao is great, heaven is great, earth is great, and humanity too is great. Within the realm there are four greats, and humanity is one of them.” This shows that every person has great power within and a strong capacity for initiative. At the same time the Tao Te Ching says: “Humanity follows earth, earth follows heaven, heaven follows the Tao, and the Tao follows what is so of itself” (chapter 25). This shows that people should model themselves on heaven and earth, follow the Way of Heaven, and accord with the laws of nature. How should we do this in practice? The I Ching (Book of Changes) tells us: “Heaven moves with vigor; the noble person accordingly strives ceaselessly for self-improvement. The disposition of earth is receptive; the noble person accordingly carries all things with generous virtue.” This tells us that the noble person should model himself on heaven—resolute and vigorous, constantly spurring himself on, forging ahead day and night, daring to take responsibility—and at the same time model himself on the earth, cultivating a generous and profound character, humble and tolerant, bearing all things, and gaining a greater capacity to serve society. Then his destiny will surely be changed.
According to the Taoist idea of the resonance between heaven and humanity, together with each person's BaZi (Four Pillars of Destiny), the feng shui of the Zhouyi, and yin and yang and the Five Elements, if these factors that influence one's destiny are brought together to their fullest effect, destiny can be changed. The following are methods that have been proven in practice and have a clear effect in changing destiny.
1. Change Your Destiny by Doing Many Good Deeds
As the saying goes, “One good deed dissolves a hundred calamities.” If you feel that nothing goes your way, your fate is full of setbacks, and your body is weak and often ill, this shows that your fortune is very poor and your own energy is low and weak. You can then improve your destiny through donating money (or goods) for disaster relief, relieving hardship and helping the poor, aiding and caring for widows, orphans, and the lonely elderly, helping children who have dropped out return to school, building bridges and paving roads, donating blood without pay, public-welfare work, and releasing and saving living creatures. This is the method of changing destiny by doing good!
2. Change Your Destiny by Honoring the Ancestors
There is a deep energetic link between offering sacrifices to the ancestors and changing one's destiny. In essence, by honoring the ancestors one can “practice filial piety well, nourish one's life by connecting to the roots, shelter one's descendants, and improve one's destiny.” That is why in every dynasty in China, from emperors, kings, generals, and ministers down to the common people, all attached great importance to offering sacrifices to their ancestors.
From the perspective of traditional feng shui and the study of energy, the ancestors are the “roots” of the family and the descendants are the “branches and leaves.” Honoring the ancestors repairs the links of the family's energy and connects one to the ancestors' “energy pool.” When the family's energy field is repaired, one's personal fortune (career, wealth, health, and so on) receives a positive boost accordingly.
Traditional Chinese culture holds that the state of the ancestors in the underworld acts back upon their descendants. If the ancestors cannot rest in peace or harbor grievances, they may bring negative “entanglements” or “sickly qi” upon their descendants. By comforting the ancestors through sacrifices (such as burning paper money, offering food, and holding a ritual service for the ritual deliverance of the dead) and resolving their grievances, one can remove negative energy and fill oneself with yang qi, and so improve one's fortune.
The theory of “inherited burden” (chengfu) in traditional culture holds that when the ancestors accumulate virtue, it shelters their descendants, and when the ancestors are in distress, it may drain their descendants. Honoring the ancestors is the highest expression of filial piety: through devout worship, gratitude, and the accumulation of virtue, one tops up the family's “bank of blessings,” and so changes one's personal karmic rewards and the course of one's destiny.
3. Change Your Destiny by Adjusting the Feng Shui of the Ancestral Graves
The traditional Taoist metaphysical theory of energy fields holds that the origin of the world is qi. From the heavenly bodies of the universe down to microscopic matter, everything is made of this basic particle-like form of matter called qi. It exists between heaven and earth and has the two attributes of yin and yang. Qi is therefore regarded as the most basic substance composing heaven, earth, and all things. “So fine that it has no inside, so vast that it has no outside, it fills the space between heaven and earth.” Understood from the viewpoint of modern science, qi is in fact a kind of energy wave, an energy field, an invisible force. Qi may be still, or it may flow and change; stillness is relative, while motion and change are absolute. Actually this understanding is not quite exact: qi should be something close to the energy of “dark matter,” filling all space in the universe, from the heavenly bodies, sun, moon, and stars down to a drop of water, a grain of sand, even invisible dust. Qi is the most basic and subtle form of matter in the world, equivalent to what Taoism calls the Supreme Ultimate (Taiji)—that is, what Taoism calls the Tao—and close to what the ancients called “nothingness.” From qi evolve the qi of primal chaos, the one qi of prior heaven, the qi of yin and yang, the qi of the Three Primes, the qi of the Four Symbols, the qi of the Five Elements, and the qi of the Eight Trigrams, and thus all the things of the world take form.
Therefore Taoist feng shui holds that the heavenly bodies of the universe—the sun, moon, and stars, the forms of yin and yang—all possess a kind of energy, qi, and constantly release this energy (qi) toward all kinds of matter on earth. The earth itself also has a magnetic field (that is, a qi field), and the mountains and rivers, seas and lakes, flowers, grass, and trees, people and animals on earth all possess a certain energy (qi).
The qi field of a dwelling of the dead (yinzhai—a grave or burial ground) is naturally deeply influenced by all these kinds of qi. The feng shui (qi field) of a dwelling of the dead can affect the consciousness (awareness or soul) within the remains of the dead buried in the grave. If this combined qi field is favorable to the dead in the grave, it is an auspicious dwelling of the dead, and the living, responding to it, receive the protection of the dead in the grave—for example, a thriving family line, promotion and wealth, a smooth career, health and long life, and good fortune in all things. If the qi field is unfavorable to the dead in the grave, it is a dwelling of the dead with inauspicious qi, and the living, responding to it, will see their family line dwindle, their family fortunes decline, poverty and destitution, lowly status, bullying by others, many disasters and hardships, and nothing going their way.
Since ancient times, in China and abroad, emperors, kings, generals, and ministers of every dynasty, common people, and even the tribes of various peoples have all attached the greatest importance to the choice and construction of burial places. The Egyptian pyramids in the West and the many burial sites in the East such as the mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin all show how highly the ancients and early peoples regarded the dwellings (tombs or graves) of the dead.
Among the forces that influence the destiny of a clan, a family, or an individual, the dwelling of the dead is undoubtedly one of the most important factors. That is, whether the feng shui of the burial ground where the ancestors' remains lie is auspicious or inauspicious can be said to greatly affect the descendants of the dead in the grave, and the wealth luck, official career, achievements, status, fame, fortune and misfortune, studies, career, and health of the living. So if you feel that nothing goes well, disasters keep coming, you are often ill, your spirits are low, or you lack offspring, you should consider whether there is a problem with your family's ancestral graves. You can engage a professional feng shui master to survey and adjust them, striving to bring the dwelling of the dead (the ancestral grave) into the best site, position, and orientation, and thereby change the fortune of your clan, your family, and yourself.
4. Change Your Destiny by Understanding Your Own BaZi
Ask a professional BaZi destiny reader to help you understand the basic picture of your own Four Pillars and eight characters. Then, according to the yin and yang, Five Elements, and chart pattern of your BaZi, analyze its Five Elements attributes, the strength or weakness of the self, the Favorable God and Useful God, the Unfavorable God and Inauspicious God, and the trend of your destiny; and, taking into account your Major Luck Cycles and Annual Luck, pay attention to matching your BaZi in matters such as investing and starting a business, choosing a career, choosing a spouse, choosing a city, choosing a home, and the colors of your clothing. Make favorable choices, prepare for a rainy day as far as possible, and seek good fortune while avoiding misfortune.
1. Choose Colors to Improve Your Luck
According to the elements of the Favorable God and Useful God of your Four Pillars, and the colors corresponding to those elements, take care in your everyday clothing, shoes, and socks to choose items in the colors of the elements of your Favorable God and Useful God, so that your attire complements your chart. For example, if your chart favors Fire, and Fire is red, you can wear red clothing; if your chart favors Water, you can wear black or blue clothing.
By the same reasoning, the items you use in daily life and work—furniture, bed sheets, bedding, tablecloths, wallpaper, floor tiles, pencils, pens, ornamental plants, and so on—should all be chosen with an eye to colors that match you.
2. Choose the Direction of Your Work and Residence to Improve Your Luck
(1) If your Four Pillars take Wood as the Favorable and Useful God, it is best to seek your fortune to the east of your birthplace.
(2) If your Four Pillars take Fire as the Favorable and Useful God, it is best to seek your fortune to the south of your birthplace.
(3) If your Four Pillars take Earth as the Favorable and Useful God, it is best to seek your fortune in your birthplace.
(4) If your Four Pillars take Metal as the Favorable and Useful God, it is best to seek your fortune to the west of your birthplace.
(5) If your Four Pillars take Water as the Favorable and Useful God, it is best to seek your fortune to the north of your birthplace.
3. Choose the Orientation of Your Home to Improve Your Luck
(1) If your Four Pillars take Wood as the Favorable and Useful God, your home should sit in the west and face east.
(2) If your Four Pillars take Fire as the Favorable and Useful God, your home should sit in the north and face south.
(3) If your Four Pillars take Earth as the Favorable and Useful God, your home should sit in the north and face south.
(4) If your Four Pillars take Metal as the Favorable and Useful God, your home should sit in the east and face west.
(5) If your Four Pillars take Water as the Favorable and Useful God, your home should sit in the south and face north.
4. Choose Numbers That Match You to Improve Your Luck
The numbers of the Five Elements: Wood is 1 and 2; Fire is 3 and 4; Earth is 5 and 6; Metal is 7 and 8; Water is 9 and 0.
According to the numbers belonging to the elements of the Favorable God and Useful God in your Four Pillars, you can choose numbers beneficial to you as a remedy—for house numbers, license plates, telephone numbers, mobile phone numbers, floors, employee numbers, and so on.
5. Choose a Career Favorable to Your Own Element to Improve Your Luck
You can choose your occupation and work according to the element of the Favorable God and Useful God in your Four Pillars. Because every occupation and job also has its own element, you should choose industries, occupations, and jobs whose element is favorable to you.