I met someone the other night who upon hearing that I practiced BaZi, asked me if it was difficult to live my life ruled by astrology. This was because I had been joking that I was surrounded by two Snakes that night and they were going to be the bane of my life seeing as I have a Pig in my chart. These two Snakes happen to be very good friends and drinking buddies.

One of the great misconceptions about BaZi is that it variously takes the surprise out of life, the joie de vivre as it were, and that one lives one life entirely bound by some mysterious notion about what people are and what they will be like.

BaZi does not stop anyone from making stupid mistakes. I don’t think it’s possible to entirely subcontract mistakes out of your life, simply by using BaZi. BaZi is only 30% after all. The other 30% that is man luck (aka, fuck ups that you do to yourself) is the reason why crap hits the fan as it were. Add that to the wrong flying star in the wrong palace or some other feng-shui related factor that could alter the balance, and wallah – you have mistake/screw up/error/blue screen of death. BaZi explains our mistakes to us, in the hopes that by understanding what went wrong, we can avoid the error of our ways. And even then…it is not infallible.

So by the same extension, BaZi does not take the fun or unpredictability or spontaneity out of life. BaZi suggests that a particular action may carry certain consequences. This level of suggestion varies from 100% (FOR SURE THIS WILL HAPPEN) to as low as 50% (COULD BE X or Y, depending on what you do and how you react to A, B and C). Whether it is with the low probability scenarios (the 50-50 situations) or the FOR SURE scenarios (100% guaranteed outcome will be bad), there remains some experience to be gained from it. The problem is human beings define fun, spontaneity and unpredictability in an optimistic context but never in a negative context. Meaning, everyone wants spontaneity and unpredictability to yield experiences that are positive, but absolutely no one wants to have the ‘negative’ great experiences that arise out of spontaneity and unpredictability! You can’t have it both ways unfortunately.

It is my rule as a consultant never to tell a client what to do. As I often say, I am only here to advise and offer options and considerations. The final decision, the life that must be lived, is in the hands of the client. To put it in a more down to earth fashion, everyone is free to step in dog poo, as long as they don’t mind cleaning their shoes. My role is merely to offer options and probability of success/failure of a particular course of action.  The client’s role is to decide what matter to them, but more importantly, to be able to make something of whatever their choice is. Oftentimes, that means living with a bad decision or being able to move past a bad decision or simply accepting that bad decisions have lasting consequences. The key is not to be ruled or owned by those decisions, but instead, try to “rewrite the narrative” (as political analysts are so fond of saying).

The other misconception about utilising BaZi is that it means you cut certain people out of your life or you decide who are your friends based on their charts. Again, this is not the case. One makes friends with all sorts of people in life although our individual BaZi will invariably dictate a preference or a pattern of that preference. I don’t decide not to connect with someone because of their chart. BUT, I will modify how I work with someone or change my expectations of the person, or simply be more tolerate of certain behavioral traits by virtue of knowing their BaZi. One can be friends with the greatest rogue in the universe, without necessarily compromising on the knowledge that they are a rogue!

So on the contrary, BaZi does not take the fun out of life or the unpredictability. Rather, it simply converts the challenges of life from being about stumbling into a situation half arsed, to focusing on how to manage it proactively or to come up with solutions.  It is about being in control of a situation, even when it is out of your control. It adds a layer of explanation to those things which we often assume to be inexplicable, ranging from the Law of Attraction to Sod’s Law. That doesn’t mean we don’t have stuff to figure out when it comes to life – there are still decisions to be made. But it affords it some insight into what MIGHT happen if we decide one way or another, in the hopes that we will make a decision we can live with. Because really, it all comes down to that – living with the choices one has made.

POWER BAZI is a 4 day hands-on class on BaZi or Four Pillars of Destiny taught by Bernice Low, an established BaZi practitioner and author of the BaZiqueen, one of the leading Internet resources on the topic of BaZi.

WHAT IS BAZI?

BaZi is one of two systems of Chinese Astrology, the other being Purple Star Astrology. Both these systems fall under the study of Destiny (Ming 命), within the broad umbrella of the subject known as Chinese Metaphysics.

For the average person, Chinese Astrology comprises of what are in essence, personality traits, associated with the 12 Animal Signs as they are known (Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig). Most people think that the sum total of Chinese Astrology rests on their Animal Sign, determined by the year of their birth. Whilst there is some historical basis for this, the reality is that basing a person’s personality on the year of their birth is HARDLY the sum total of Chinese Astrology. In fact, BaZi is MUCH MORE than just your animal sign – it is more than just Dragon-born people are always successful and Dog-born people are loyal.

So what is BaZi then? BaZi is a highly sophisticated, supremely accurate method of personality testing, psychometric and behavioural assessment, and a highly accurate system for forecasting outcomes and managing risks. It is the original ‘Science of Success’, a precise and tested system that explains what books like Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘Outliers’ attempt to figure out and answer: how and why does a person achieve success?

WHO SHOULD LEARN BAZI?

Conventionally, the kind of people who have been attracted to learning BaZi have tended towards the kooky or those with spiritual inclinations and in a number of instances, people who are nothing more than busybodies interested in other people’s lives.

The reality is however that BaZi is a very useful strategic skill for individuals looking to gain a professional and personal advantage in life and those who are seeking an extra edge when it comes to personal and career success.

Here’s why:

Managing relationships and people is an integral part of every person’s life. And the hardest part of life.

Everyone manages someone in life – spouses, parents, staff, superiors, clients – and is managed by someone. Even CEOs have to answer to someone – the Board of Directors. Each year, new books hit the market, designed to teach us how to effectively, manage our relationships.

BaZi offers the ability to gain instant insight into a person’s innate character and personality as well as deep understanding of their psyche and behaviour. Understanding a person and what makes them tick is the hardest part of any relationship – BaZi lets you do this without the ‘getting to know you’ game or spending hours or years with the person. In fact, you don’t even have to ask a single question – all you need is their birthday. Get over who they are right away, so that you can get on with working with them in the best way possible

Life is all about risk management

Everything we do in life comes with an accompanying risk and managing risk is all about forecasting and informed decision-making. BaZi gives you an added edge when it comes to managing risk in your life (from investments to relationships to collaborations and partnerships) by enabling you to forecast with accuracy a finite number of outcomes of a given decision, choice or action. With BaZi knowledge, nothing you ever do will be a case of throwing the dice, but instead, will transform into a calculated bet. You’ll understand what your attitude and outlook on risk is, your capacity and ability for risk management and finally, how to manage risk in your life. You will learn to work with winners, and stay away from the losers and bozos.

Understanding Luck and Capitalising On Luck

“Of course, we should keep celebrating the talented, hard-working people who have succeeded in their businesses or careers. But the research provides an important moral lesson: that these people might also do well to remain more humbly mindful of their own good fortune” – Robert H. Frank, Professor of Economics, Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University.

No successful person discounts the value or opportunity presented by luck in their life. Unfortunately, Luck is often ill-understood as a random or chance situation, an opportunity that presents itself without notice or warning, with no true form. A significant portion of BaZi is actually about understanding the concept of Luck and how it is NOT a random occurrence, but one that can be forecast and timed, but aptly and correctly exploited and utilised for maximum personal advantage and benefit.

WHO IS THE CLASS DESIGNED FOR?

Entrepreneurs, the self-employed, CEOs and managers and human resource managers will benefit substantially from this class. However, any person who is in the business of talent management or who is interested in achieving success in life, will find this class useful to their own goals.

The focal point of the class is to enable participants to utilise with clarity and confidence the information provided, the structure and syllabus of the class is orientated around maximising practical use of bare basic technical information. As such, the syllabus has been culled to keep it very tight and lean, with a strong emphasis on practical analysis and reading skills. Due to the strong emphasis on ensuring all participants are able to effectively learn and master the techniques taught in the class, the size of the class is capped at 15 participants, to ensure a high level of personal attention. The class is also split into two weekends to enable participants to adequately digest the contents of the first two days.

For these reasons, individuals looking to become consultants or practitioners or who are learning for novelty purposes will not find this class tailored to their needs.

The class combines both theory and practical application so participants will be expected to engage with the facilitator of the class, answer questions, ask questions and also participate in group discussions and practical sessions. Learning will combine lectures delivered with accompanying slides, and Socratic method sessions.

At the end of the 4 days, participants should be able to confidently do the following:

• Gain instant insight into any individual’s fundamental character and psyche using the BaZi chart

• Ascertain the flaws and strengths of an individual, including quirks, gifts and talents

• Engage in a very simple, pre-formated annual assessment of their own chart to identify opportunities for Career, Wealth and Relationship.

Specific questions that you should be able to answer from your own chart at the end of the 4 day class include:

• Suitable years/months to seek a promotion, change jobs/career

• Suitable years to invest, divest and when you should divest/reinvest

• Suitable years for marriage/relationships as well as business partnerships

• Determining the financial and career  opportunities that are afforded by the incoming year

• Determining the personal pitfalls of the coming year

The full syllabus and content to be taught in the class is available here

LIMITATIONS OF THE CLASS

We’re going to level with you here and be upfront about what you won’t be able to do after taking this class.

Precision forecasting which provides exact timing and precise details of opportunities and pitfalls, high level character interpretation and analysis and the development of solutions to problems  is not possible with the information and methods provided in this class. You will NOT be able to achieve the level of accuracy and precision of a BaZi consultant from taking this one class. In fact, you will not even come close to a professionally trained consultant.

There are two reasons for these limitations: firstly, the syllabus has been trimmed to keep it lean and focus on getting students up and running with usable information. As such, information in chart interactions has not been included in this class and will be taught in a follow-on class. Secondly, it is not possible for students to master the basics, intermediate and advanced aspects of BaZi in a single class, without having engaged in any practice in between. BaZi is like any sport – you have to learn all the components of the game before you can play it.

However, with POWER BAZI: START UP, the goal is to familiarise you with the key tenets and principles of BaZi and get you started in using BaZi in a controlled and specific manner. With subsequent classes you will add depth to your knowledge and understanding, giving you a high degree of accuracy in your forecasting skills and your ability to read and assess a person’s character.

IMPORTANT: This class is a strictly introductory level class designed to provide a intense introduction to the topic, and provide practical training on ways to utilise BaZi with limited technical information.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE CLASS?

The class has been designed to enable you to get up and running with the subject. So even if you don’t go on to take the subsequent levels of the class, you will be able to utilise BaZi in your day to day life to better understand the people around you who matter but more importantly, those who matter but whom you dislike. You may not understand them perfectly or completely, but you will certainly understand them BETTER and in a new light,  but more importantly, you will gain insight into who they truly are.

BaZi is an intellectually rigorous art that requires continuous practice in order to gain significant mastery of the topic. Upon completing the class, participants need to immediately put into practice their knowledge by tackling a minimum of 50 charts and doing trial readings, usually with individuals whom they are familiar with in order to gain confidence and also, test their understanding of the subject.

Participants of this class will further supported via a Facebook-powered student’s page that will enable collective learning in a moderated environment. The facilitator of the class will be running the page, and providing guidance as you get to grips with the topic, and you will have the opportunity to also share your personal findings and challenges with your fellow participants.

THE NUMBERS

This is a 4 day class taught over two back-to-back weekends.

Date: 1-2 June [Sat/Sun], 8-9 June 2013 [Sat/Sun]

Time: 10am-5pm

Venue: Mont Kiara Solaris

View Larger Map

Price: RM3500, RM3200 (Early Bird Price)

CONNECT

To register, learn more, ask questions or find out more details about the class, contact me via email. You can also connect, ask questions or find out more via Facebook

The Art of the Annual Assessment used to be a class I taught back in the days when I used to teach at the Mastery Academy. It’s still pretty valid in terms of a lot of the ideas and provides some terms of reference to clients in terms of what consultants typically are doing or looking at when they are doing an annual assessment. And for those of you who are looking to use your BaZi knowledge to do your own annual assessment, some food for thought. I’m giving away the slides because I don’t teach this class any more, having moved on to more fun topics although I still give this to students who have take my Practical BaZi Magic class.

Many people often wonder if there is a benefit to doing an annual assessment. Actually, for the salaried employees of the world, an annual assessment is not necessary unless you are very senior in the company ie: Executive Level. In other words, unless you have more than 5 minions under you, an Annual Assessment is not necessary. In most cases, a BaZi consultation once every 5 years or once per Luck PIllar will suffice. However, for the self-employed or entrepreneurs or those in very high level management jobs, an annual assessment will be useful by way of assisting in strategic planning and management of goals and objectives in a given year, as well as risk management.

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In the course of putting together my first beginner’s BaZi class, I’ve had to spend a lot of time writing marketing materials. And in so doing, I’ve had the opportunity to revisit some topics which oftentimes, I take for granted because to me, it seems to obvious, the answer to questions like: “Why Learn BaZi?”. I suppose it’s a bit like someone who goes to the gym or works out or asking a personal trainer ‘why go to the gym’ or ‘why have a personal trainer’. We are rather sold on the idea and so don’t really realise the rest of the world doesn’t see what we see.

In any case, whilst writing my answer to the question ‘WHAT SHOULD YOU DO AFTER THE CLASS”, I was endeavouring to figure out what I would say to a class participant who has no intention of going beyond the beginner’s class. What could someone who knows the bare basics of BaZi and has some ability to read a person’s character, be able to do with that knowledge?

It was then that I remembered this very moving segment of the Nobel Lecture by Aung San Suu Kyi, delivered in Oslo on 16 June, 2012 (text) – I have included the video further down for those who would like to hear the words themselves, delivered perfectly by a lady who exudes grace thanks to her Six Elegance Day Master which is 己 未 Ji Wei. In her lecture, Aung San Suu Kyi speaks of the concept of ‘suffering’:

A positive aspect of living in isolation was that I had ample time in which to ruminate over the meaning of words and precepts that I had known and accepted all my life. As a Buddhist, I had heard about dukha, generally translated as suffering, since I was a small child. Almost on a daily basis elderly, and sometimes not so elderly, people around me would murmur “dukha, dukha” when they suffered from aches and pains or when they met with some small, annoying mishaps. However, it was only during my years of house arrest that I got around to investigating the nature of the six great dukha. These are: to be conceived, to age, to sicken, to die, to be parted from those one loves, to be forced to live in propinquity with those one does not love. I examined each of the six great sufferings, not in a religious context but in the context of our ordinary, everyday lives. If suffering were an unavoidable part of our existence, we should try to alleviate it as far as possible in practical, earthly ways. I mulled over the effectiveness of ante- and post-natal programmes and mother and childcare; of adequate facilities for the aging population; of comprehensive health services; of compassionate nursing and hospices. I was particularly intrigued by the last two kinds of suffering: to be parted from those one loves and to be forced to live in propinquity with those one does not love. What experiences might our Lord Buddha have undergone in his own life that he had included these two states among the great sufferings? I thought of prisoners and refugees, of migrant workers and victims of human trafficking, of that great mass of the uprooted of the earth who have been torn away from their homes, parted from families and friends, forced to live out their lives among strangers who are not always welcoming.

I was particularly intrigued by the section underlined above, specifically the notion of being forced to live in propinquity (or nearness, for those of us who need a simpler answer) to those who one does not love.

Many a time, people come to learn BaZi to find out about the people who they care about – the oft stated goal of many people is to help themselves or their family members. Yet I think one of the least considered advantages of BaZi is the knowledge it confers about those who matter in your life, but whom you DO NOT LIKE.

A lot of people have difficulty wrapping their heads around the notion of a person who matters but they do not like. After all, if they don’t like the person, how can this person matter right?

Well, think of it this way – a prisoner does not like their jailer, but the jailer is responsible for delivering their food, letting them out for their exercise and ensuring their experience in prison is not too miserable. The jailer is not someone the prisoner LIKES, but the jailer MATTERS.

As Daw Suu Kyi and the Burmese puts so elegantly, to live in propinquity with someone who one does not love.

That boss who you hate, but who does your performance assessment? You don’t like him, BUT HE MATTERS.

That annoying family member who you loath, but whom your mother can’t seem to stop listening to? Well, SHE MATTERS.

I always like to think that we should spend less time trying to figure out the people who we like and who matter. After all, since we like them, we’ll put up with their nonsense anyway and if they like us back to some degree, they’ll put up with ours. But the people who we dislike or dislike us and MATTER?

PAY ATTENTION TO THEM.

So I found myself concluding my little explanation to the participants-to-be of my POWER BAZI:START UP beginner’s class as follows:

You may not understand them perfectly or completely, but you will certainly understand them BETTER and in a new light,  but more importantly, you will gain insight into who they truly are.

 

Ah, I’m totally getting into this now. One House down, 9 more to go!

As a quick note, the mottos, the colour choice of the icons, and the overall composition of the Sigils do have some BaZi significance. Have fun figuring them out.

So time wasted again but these Sigils are such fun! I’m now doing the 60 Jia Zi, which in GoT context, would be the Bannermen. For the unintiated, Bannermen are lords who follow a particular leade r.

This is a sample four that I made. Will finish all 60 before releasing them!

A personal favourite:

So, nothing like some time wasters to get the week going. I personally love the HBO Series Game of Thrones ( and the book) and have been thinking of doing a Game of Thrones BaZi series, explaining the characters in the context of BaZi. But in the meantime, found this website Join the Realm and had fun creating a bunch of sigils.

So here are the Sigils for all 10 of the ‘Elemental Houses’.

This is one my personal favourites:

For some reason, I was inspired to make two House of Ding:

The easiest one to figure out:

And last but not least:

Many people have noticed the year 2013 has started very awkwardly with many people feeling a sense of disconnect or disjointedness. Much of this is because we have experienced a prolonged conclusion to the Dragon year, and there seems to be ‘fighting energies’ in the first quarter of the year, as this very apt animation, done for AXN Asia, perfectly illustrates.

AXN CNY Snake Greeting from Ivan Chua Associates on Vimeo.

This tussle for energy domination will probably go on till April 2013, wherein the Dragon Year can truly be said to be gone, and the Snake enters in full force. But until then, we must put up with these two fudging up the energies of the year.

The following question appeared in my inbox today.

I have just recently read about Bazi and find it very interesting. However I am confused about something. Let\’s say someone\’s day master is Fire and their favourable elements are fire and wood. So their Wealth factor is metal. Metal is one of their unfavourable element. There is metal on their day and month pillar. What does this mean? Can you please help?

I wanted to discuss this question because this is a very TYPICAL question that I often get or which often gets posted on this blog. And it also raises a few points which are very typical for BaZi newbies.

First off, the ‘confusion’ issue. It is very NORMAL to be confused after you have had your first exposure to BaZi. Typically this is an excited confusion as opposed to a depressed confusion. It’s an oh wow, so much information, oh wow…it’s like the dog that catches 50 different scents and doesn’t know which one to follow because they are all so interesting! So, confusion therefore is par for the course.

[For those who have gone through a Mastery Academy BaZi module 1 - if you are confused, this is NORMAL. Keep on going. By Module 2, you won't know which way is the sky. But first there must be confusion for there to be clarity]

Secondly, the person in this question has discovered that thing called ‘Favourable and Unfavourable Elements’ and is now excited, thinking that there is some revolutionary piece of information in this revelation.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but knowing your Favourable and Unfavourable Elements is like knowing the first three alphabets of the entire series of alphabets. As such, the expectation that such information will somehow yield something exponentially revealing is a rather over-enthusiastic expectation.

Your favourable and unfavourable elements tell you exactly what: what are your favourable and unfavourable elements. Whilst a BaZi consultant could make some sense of that information, you, the BaZi novice, are unlikely to be able to decipher any USEFUL INFORMATION THAT YOU CAN ACT UPON. In other words, the fact that a certain element is favourable means exactly that – that particular element is FAVOURABLE. Same goes with the UNFAVOURABLE element. It means exactly that – that that element is UNFAVOURABLE.

This is not to say that Favourable and Unfavourable Elements is not useful information or is somehow irrelevant or that you have somehow been conned into learning something that seemed useful but is not. When you have more pieces of the BaZi puzzle (more letters of the alphabet, more Bazi vocabulary) then it can make sense. Those pieces, for those who are curious, are an understanding of the 10 Gods, and an understanding of the 10 Day Masters in greater depth.

Sidenote: 90 percent of the time, when a novice/newbie to BaZi tells me that they have worked out their fav/unfavourable element, I don’t take their word for it. Figuring out the strength of the element often confounds many students, and some students never really get past that point. Thus, when someone tells me their fav/unfav elements are [x,y and z], I cannot assume it is correct. It might be wrong. Which is why, it is not possible to provide an answer as to what is the meaning of the unfavourable elements in the month/day because that requires an assumption that the elements are actually UNFAVOURABLE.

The component of the question that asks about the positioning of the unfavourable element is not so much a difficult question as it is simply an unanswerable question. Which Metal element is it? (yin or Yang?) What is it located within? (which Earthly Branch? Monkey 申 ? Dog 戌? Ox 丑? Snake 巳?Rooster? 酉) and most importantly, WHICH IS THE DAY MASTER? Bing Fire or Ding Fire? And of course, that’s not taking into account the assumption of favourable/unfavourable element identification being correct.

SO, what should a BaZi novice who is at the above level of questioning do?

Well, for starters, learn a few more letters of the alphabet first. No one asks why they can’t read the Encyclopedia Brittanica after they learn the first 12 letters of the alphabet but everyone assumes that some gospel information will appear when they learn the 10 stems, 12 Branches and Favourable/Unfavourable Element. As the song goes – the road is long, with a many a winding path…

Finally, if one looks at the above question, one will realise that there is NO QUESTION.

The relevance of Metal (presumed unfavourable) in the month and day pillars can only be defined upon the provision of a question that relates to that element. In this case, since the question relates to the Wealth Element, the relevance of Metal (presumed unfavourable) in the month and day pillars will only come into play if there is a question ABOUT WEALTH or WEALTH MATTERS.

Posing a technical question (consider this entry on How to Ask a Technical BaZi question) is not easy Oftentimes, students must be clear in their mind WHAT THEY ARE ASKING. Indeed, I often begin all my seminars and classes with this question: WHAT DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND?

This is my new upcoming class in March 2013. For more details, email me at bazibuzz@gmail.com .

Should I go into business?

What kind of business should I do?

Is this partner a good match?

Should I hire this person?

Can I collaborate with this person?

Can I trust this person I am about to hire?

How do I handle these subordinates/clients?

Are these the questions you find yourself deliberating but not able to find an answer despite having BaZi knowledge? Business BaZi is a class specifically designed for SME owners or entrepreneurs who want to make use of BaZi for strategic HR and personal career management purposes.

INFO

Dates: 29, 30 & 31 March 2013

Minimum Mastery Academy Requirement: M3/M4
Price: RM2500

Class Size is limited to 10 pax. There will be 2 tea breaks on each day. Lunch will not be provided.

CLASS METHODOLOGY

The class will comprise of a morning lecture sessions and an afternoon of practicum wherein students will learn to apply what they have learnt to real life situations and scenarios. Day One will focus on the issue of Entrepreneurship and Suitability for Entrepreneurship whilst Day Two will focus on using BaZi for HR purposes. Students are encouraged to bring their own collection of charts and engage in intellectual sparring with their classmates and the facilitator in order to learn how to solve real problems within the corporate and business context. Charts and sample cases will also be provided by the Facilitator for discussion.

CONTENT:

DAY ONE: Beyond Indirect Wealth – determining the BaZi criteria for business/entrepreneurial capacity, ascertaining suitable businesses based on skillset and 10 Gods, evaluating issues such as partnership and collaboration

DAY TWO: Hiring and Firing with BaZi – how to use BaZi within the workplace to ensure optimum placement of individuals in the correct and suitable positions for their roles and understanding how the superior/boss’s chart impacts on HR challenges

DAY THREE: Case analysis using chart samples from the facilitator and the students using the methods and techniques discussed with a focus on problem-solving and developing solutions specifically for HR challenges