Feng Shui ..buffology.. McDonald KFC…myth..business..con

I have not visited book shops for quite some time. Possibly it is not so fun anymore. These old eyes get tired very fast and are not as sharp as they used to be. But mainly, there comes a time when time becomes a valued quantity and it is better wisdom to use it in other ways.

While waiting and with nothing to do at the shopping mall, I wandered into the bookshop. It was either that or Starbucks. There were many new books, all colorful nowadays with the latest printing technology. As far as fengshui books are concerned, the same old writers are still there on the shelf but this time with more new additions. This brings me to the point of this scribble.

Feng Shui has become a business. It has been rebranded and with clever branding and marketing has captured quite an audience. Writers become instant masters simply because they have a few books to their name. Seminars and talks add to the aura of being the authority on such subjects. I remember friends inviting me to a talk where hundreds if not thousands of tickets have been sold. A nice way to make some money and ride that gravel train.

It is not the offer of fengshui to the public that is the issue. Rather, how much of that is really feng shui. Pathetic how many gladly part with their money for what is roughly general advice or worse.

Books, both the printed ones as well as ebooks are churned out like instant noodles off an assembly line. It is amazing how fast a book can be written. If you care to look at them, they are not worth much. Politely that is. There is no difference between one book of one writer from another. Someone is plagiarizing another. The only difference would be presentation and newer pictures and diagrams. Whichever way you look at it, it is still plagiarism. And wonderfully, people pay money for it. “He/She makes fengshui so simple, I can apply it straight off the book to my house/office. “  you hear them say. Really!??

If there is one thing I may say is that most of these books hardly offer anything new. They just copy and reproduce off each other. Educationist may simply say these are just assembly line productions – no divergence of ideas, no initiativeness nothing new. But of course, give what the customer wants! Even if you can’t tell the true from the false.

There is a KFC McDonald similarity here. They are ubiquitous, everywhere. Same formula, many repeat customers. That’s Feng Shui of our time. Compare this to Old Feng Shui Masters Jiang and Yang who respected the sanctity of their gift of knowledge. They probably knew that it was truth which was difficult to understand and not to be used for aggrandizement or doubtful pursuits.

Let me tell a story. This story tells of the metaphysical power of Feng Shui . This is the story of The Old Master Ke Pu who was executed partly for his prowess of divination.

Ke Pu wrote the Book of Burial (though some say the book was not written by him). That was during the time of the Eastern Jin dynasty which, of cours,e is a long long time ago. You can also say that Feng Shui metaphysics has been around that long.

For his great knowledge and mastery of the art of divination, he was recruited  by the powerful general Wang Ke. As it happened, Old Master Ke Pu advised the general against war. That was not good advice as generals like battles and to tell him not to is terribly offensive. But Old Master is a man of principle so he just had to tell what the heavens foretold.

That was not so bad. When challenged to divine how long the general had to live, Old Master told the general that it was not going to be very long if he proceeded against advice. This, you can imageine, was terribly upsetting to the general, to say the least. Enraged, he countered by asking our Old Master how long Old Master will live. The answer was that very day at noon. Well …  you can see the tension building up, a beet root faced general flushed with anger and a defiant diviner in front of him. Generals are not to be messed with and one o f their favorite phrases is “Off with his head!”.

Ke Pu was executed that day at noon at a place called Nan Gang. However that is not the end of this tale.

He had earlier instructed his family to prepare his grave and to be ready to receive his corpse on that very day. A morbid way to have the last laugh. He knows but subjected himself to play out the drama (after all, as Shakespeare said, life is a stage).

Metaphysics is a strange art. It seems to be very powerful, at least that is what this story suggests. To add a little twist to the tale, it was told that he was seen around the town after his burial by friends and family chatting. When the general heard that, he had the grave dug up and you guessed it. It was empty. An ancient resurrection?

In telling this tale, I wish to point out that Feng Shui as one aspect of the metaphysical arts, is a very profound science. It is quite unlike what the easy to use, quick to cook, fast to eat kind of Feng Shui that is often encountered. Others may choose to hop on the bandwagon of the gravel train but it is up to you to decide whether to buy the merchandise.

There are a few tips to check what is true or false.:

1. Offer of fengshui products that can cure or solve your problems

2. Fengshui “masters” produced and relying on formula and methods which you can find if you visit the bookstore.

3. New concepts of fengshui.

4. New variations of common themes like new designs to ‘harmonise the five elements’ or ‘balance the yin and yang’.

5. Writer of fengshui books does not make one a master. It makes one a factory regurgitating or recycling old stuff. Only that Rubbish in Rubbish out.

6. Great charts and diagrams even computerised analysis are impressive but not necessary. Computers can in no way be like Ke Pu in the story earlier.

7. Smart coat and jackets, be it western or chinese lend a professional image but look at those in coats and ties ruining our economy and you get the message. Marketing, marketing…

Tagged as: Book of Burial, Chinese metaphysics, Ke Pu, KFC, McDonald