PureInsight | October 20, 2024
[PureInsight.org] In history, Zhang Sanfeng was regarded as a Tai Chi master, a martial arts legend, and a true immortal in Daoist cultivation. At the same time, he was also a grand master of Feng Shui. In the "Geomancy" chapter of the "Tiankou" section in the "Complete Works of Zhang Sanfeng," Zhang Sanfeng said, "Only the heavens cover good and evil, only the earth carries good and evil, only the immortal teacher buries good and evil in the heavens and the earth. The heavens cover without bias, the earth carries without bias, and the immortal teacher has no selfishness. When people have selfish desires, they cannot see reason. The principles of the earth are the principles of heaven. When there are heavenly principles, there are no human desires. Therefore, only the wise, honest, saintly, and virtuous can speak of this path." From this, it can be inferred that the role of a Feng Shui master is to act on behalf of the heavens and has strict requirements for their mindset. Even the great Daoist Zhang Sanfeng respected them and called them "immortal teachers."
A Feng Shui master must have the true transmission from their master, possess the ability to communicate with spirits, and be able to observe the "form." In ancient China, some Feng Shui masters had undergone great physical changes after reaching a certain level of cultivation. In many legends, these masters were impervious to cold and heat, did not sweat much during the hottest summers, and did not feel cold in a single layer of clothing during the winter. Some could even fly and disappear before people's eyes. Feng Shui masters often travel through mountains and forests, covering hundreds of meters in a single step and flying around in the woods. This is described in the "Gong Liu" section of the "The Book of Songs" and "The Great Odes of Qi" and is why some people call Feng Shui masters "earth immortals."
In the folk tradition, people believe that a Feng Shui master is someone who can read Feng Shui, also known as Yin-Yang master or Feng Shui master. Throughout history, many charlatans have learned a little bit about Feng Shui and used it as a means of making a living. However, there is a clear difference between a Feng Shui master and a charlatan. Charlatans do not actually practice Feng Shui; they only have some technical knowledge and skill, and they mainly use the knowledge accumulated by their predecessors to make a living. They primarily provide advice to ordinary people and help them understand the basic principles of Feng Shui.
Although there is a big difference in skill between charlatans and Feng Shui masters, why have charlatans existed in Chinese society since ancient times? The reason is that people are divided into different social classes, and ordinary people do not have a deep understanding of Feng Shui. The abilities of charlatans are enough to meet the needs of ordinary people. In general, within a radius of one hundred li (Chinese mile), there are often individuals who possess extraordinary abilities, such as understanding Feng Shui, divination, and numerology. These charlatans, although not fully knowledgeable, can still help promote the ideas of genuine Feng Shui masters, who emphasize the importance of following the laws of nature and accumulating good karma over several generations to obtain a good burial site that can benefit future generations. Overall, they play a positive role in maintaining social morality.
Because ancient morality followed the guidelines of sages, people tended to accumulate good karma or, at the very least, act morally. Therefore, even though some charlatans did not have a master to teach and guide them, they would still meditate and practice breathing exercises, which were beneficial to their physical and mental health. If they were truly sincere, they might even be inspired by a higher power and become a genuine master themselves. However, there are also charlatans who seek fame and fortune, and they are often aided by supernatural forces such as fox spirits. This is particularly true of modern charlatans who practice fortune-telling or Feng Shui. They do not necessarily seek the power of these fox spirits, but rather they are drawn to these practices for the sake of money, which is quite unfortunate.
Some people have learned about the role of "feng shui" in ancient times, but because it has been lost to the public for many years, they are often ignorant and often seek help from some wandering sorcerers who claim to be "feng shui masters" to help them look at this and that, and are often deceived. Some of these wandering sorcerers even have set prices, charging different amounts for different places, ranging from tens of thousands to millions. Isn't this selling "land gods"? Can they really see the real land?
Zhang Sanfeng once said, "Today, people talk about feng shui recklessly, disrespecting the mountain spirits, using the bones of their ancestors to seek good fortune, consulting fortune-tellers to discuss good and bad luck, searching for answers themselves or hiring others to do so, and making money by deceiving others. How can such people understand the ways of heaven? Ten geomancers out of ten are poor; what's there to be surprised about?" Even a pure and genuine Daoist like Zhang Sanfeng disdains these deceitful and money-grubbing behaviors, as evidenced by the tone of his criticism.
The level of underground cave is related to morality. Whether a good cave can be found, what kind of cave can be found, and the moral character of the geomancer are closely related. Without a high level of morality, one cannot truly accomplish anything. Many charlatans use superficial knowledge of geomancy to deceive people while posing as geomancers. They are able to deceive people for money because they take advantage of the greed of others. People who seek the help of a geomancer hope to use the power of geomancy to become officials or make a fortune, and are even willing to pay a high price for a good piece of land. However, this is just wishful thinking. Since ancient times, the prosperity of a person or a family is due to their accumulated virtue and blessings, which cannot be obtained by a momentary effort or by spending money. It is a natural law of the universe. Even if someone without blessings occasionally obtains good land, it will eventually be destroyed by the will of heaven.
People who use money to buy land are mostly wealthy or high-ranking officials. Nowadays, corruption is rampant and morality has declined. Some of these wealthy people have acquired their wealth through unjust means such as speculation, embezzlement, oppression, and exploitation of the righteous. How can people without righteous thoughts and good intentions ever hope to obtain good land? There is also a natural law at play here: even if a person with good fortune and virtue acquires good land, if their descendants harm society, the land will be destroyed prematurely before it reaches its ultimate destiny. Therefore, the land purchased from these "jianghu" practitioners is often dilapidated and will quickly consume the accumulated blessings, resulting in a situation where people lose both their money and fortune.
A true Feng Shui master helps people with a kind heart, without considering fame or fortune, and without asking for money. They follow the will of heaven and often the location they choose to evaluate is closely related to the rise and fall of dynasties and historical changes, so they don't just evaluate one piece of land, but rather they lay out a whole plan. Because they have attained the Tao, they possess energy and the ability to "fix" things, which is something that the charlatans can't do. Of course, this "fixing" is based on the comprehensive consideration of various factors such as changes in celestial phenomena and blessings and merits.
Some people do not believe in Feng Shui, and their most common argument is: If Feng Shui is so powerful, why are Feng Shui masters still so poor and few have become wealthy? Those who hold this belief are simply ignorant of the truth. Feng Shui masters who have expertise in Feng Shui have helped many families prosper and even dominate the world in their later generations. For example, among the ancestors of the Ji family in the Zhou dynasty, many were experts in various arts, and they laid the foundation for the Zhou dynasty's prosperity for eight hundred years by setting up Feng Shui arrangements many years ago. Of course, those who can do this are also destined, and their families are also chosen by heaven.
We humans are a part of the Earth's ecological cycle, and a cell of nature. The Earth is a tiny planet in the solar system, which in turn is a part of the Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way is a component of the universe of galaxies, so one can say that the Earth is a cell in the movement of celestial bodies. This is similar to genetics in modern biology: every small cell in the human body contains all the information of the entire body, and each cell corresponds to the whole body. Therefore, based on this relationship, one can see the whole from the part, and know the general from the particular.
For example, a Feng Shui master, because of their cultivation, has meridians in their physical body that allow for energy flow. Similarly, the earth is like a human body, with meridians called dragon veins and energy flow. Likewise, it's possible that the cosmic system also has meridians and energy flow. There may be many different types of these meridians. We know that the movement of the planets in the solar system around the sun is very regular, and the solar system itself is also rotating according to a fixed pattern, as is the Milky Way. These celestial bodies and their interactions, as well as certain special meteorological phenomena, have been found by scientists to be very precise and were thought by Newton to be created only by God. In ancient China, these overall movements were called "heavenly phenomena," which represent the will of heaven. If there is a God, a deity, or a higher form of life, then this may represent their intentions.
At different times, the various star systems in the universe will produce different changes in movement, representing different divine wills. And divine wills require different driving forces in different spaces. For example, when the celestial phenomena change and it's time to change dynasties, a certain family or person below who has accumulated sufficient virtue and blessings can become the emperor. A Feng Shui master can communicate with heaven and earth, receive divine edicts, and search for the dragon veins and burial sites for this family's ancestors. When "man" and "earth" are in harmony, they correspond to the "heavenly" realm, where heavenly beings (or advanced practitioners who have accumulated great merit) are arranged to be reincarnated into this family, and eventually become the emperor. This ensures the success of this divine will by merging the three elements into one.
In practice, we have found that many families who are selected for this purpose have ancestors who were practitioners with successful cultivation, and many of them also had knowledge of Feng Shui and could locate the burial sites with their abilities or divine powers.
(To be continued)
Chinese version: https://www.zhengjian.org/node/126123
