In my previous post, I introduced you the FOUR DHARMAKAYA RELIC MANTRAS, now allow me to introduce you to another very powerful Buddhist amulet called – LAMA ATISHA PROTECTION AMULET.

This is said to be one of the most powerful protection amulet in Buddhism. According to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, simply seeing or touching a copy of the said amulet will bring a person tremendous protection against physical harm.

It functions like that of the scapular for Catholics. If a person has this on his body at that time of his or her death, it is guaranteed that he or she will have a good rebirth and will be saved from the lower realms. If displayed inside the house or office, one will be saved from bad influences of other people and it will help create harmony. It is also very good to have this amulet if one is in the hospital, to protect a person from the yin chi of the hospital, and it will also prevent you from getting the attention of the lost souls. Thus, it is also a very good amulet to have to wear when one is going to a funeral or cemetery.

I don’t have a personal story or story that I heard first hand about the LAMA ATISHA PROTECTION AMULET, but one of the most popular story associated by the LAMA ATISHA PROTECTION AMULET, and is widely accepted by the different Buddhist traditions is a story that happened fairly recently. It was suppose to have happened to a young Tibetan man and his family.

As you all know, China has invaded Tibet and a lot of people they are either doing some ethnic cleansing or is slowly erasing the cultures and traditions of the Tibetan who are still in Tibet. The man’s name is Tenzin Choejor ( the truth is Tenzin is a fairly common Tibetan boy’s name because it means ‘holder of Buddhist doctrines’, and the current Dalai Lama’s name himself is Tenzin. I was told that Choezor is not a family name but it is a second name, which means Dharma Wealth. From the name of the man, it can be concluded that his parents are devout Buddhist, but this is not unique because most Tibetans are devout Buddhist.)

Tenzin Choejor’s family is one of the many Tibetans who’ve experienced oppression in Tibet. He was born after the 14th Dalai Lama has fled to Tibet to escape the Chinese oppression, so it can be said that he has never experienced true freedom. He has always long for to escape the Chinese oppression of Tibet but has not dared to do it because all his family are in Tibet. However, his perspective changed when he got married and started to have his own family.

It is said that Tenzin Choejor has planned to escape with his parents, but in a country ruled by oppression and where paranoia is really high, the government soon found out about his plan to escape. It is said that it was possible that another relative or a friend squealed on him. Like most Tibetans who plan to escape or oppose the Chinese government, he was tortured and separated from his family and was put to hard labor for several years. Upon his release, he find it hard to start a new life, because he was considered as an ‘ex-convict’ and even fellow Tibetans who took pity on him will not hire him because they’re afraid that they might earn the ire of the Chinese government. This is when he realized and decided that the only way for him to survive and take care of his family is if they escape Tibet. This time, however, Tenzin Choejor is more careful and he only confided to his father, who told him to ask for the blessing of his grandfather, his father’s uncle, for a blessing because it will be a long journey, a very difficult one, and if caught they might be killed on the spot or if they’re not caught they might die of freezing in the mountains. His father also cautioned him to think again of his plans because Tenzin Choejor’s children then aged 10 and 7 might not survive the trip. However, Tenzin Choejor knew that’s the only way for them to have a better life, and he thought it is better to risk their lives that forever live under the Chinese oppression.

Tenzin Choejor great uncle is one of the few monks left in Tibet who has personally met the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, and because he is monk in a place under Chinese rule, it is expected that he is very poor. So he has nothing to offer Tenzin Choejor but the blessing that Tenzin Choejor seeks from him. He performed some Buddhist protection ritual, which was improvised to adjust to their situation, but then took Tenzin Choejor aside to tell him that there is one thing that he would like to give Tenzin Choejor.

He told Tenzin Choejor that he believe that the only reason he was able to escape the Chinese’s physical oppression, unlike most monks, is because of an amulet that he has kept for a long time. He told Tenzin Choejor that he believes that the amulet is one of the reasons that he remained alive under the hands of the Chinese communist government. He then gave Tenzin Choejor a leather cloth where the image of LAMA ATISHA PROTECTION AMULET is printed. He told Tenzin Choejor that the amulet would keep his family safe. It is said that Tenzin Choejor initially refused to accept the amulet, but his great uncle insisted and told him that he has no need for the amulet because of his old age and that he is ready to part with his body.

Tenzin Choejor then proceeded to escape Tibet. It must be noted that after the initial exodus of Tibetans from Tibet, the Chinese communist government has intensified border security, making it harder for all Tibetan planning to go to exile to leave Tibet. There is no exact statistics as to how many people have been killed or captured and tortured just because the seek a better life. Tenzin Choejor armed with determination and faith in his ‘religion’ decided to set out on an escape with his wife and two young children.

On his way to India, Tenzin Choejor encountered several problems, but somehow they manage to get away with it. Among these two things are an encounter with a Chinese soldiers and a fight against nature.

First, on their escape, they literally came across some Chinese soldiers, and because of fatigue and coldness because of the freezing snow, he and his wife noticed them a little too late. They came across two drunken Chinese soldiers, and was almost apprehended, in fact, a gun was already pointed at them. Should the soldiers decided to shoot at them, the soldiers won’t get reprimanded because there is a standing order to shoot to kill all people who are trying to escape. Fearing for the life of his family, Tenzin Choejor used his body to block his wife and kids, and instinctively touched the LAMA ATISHA PROTECTION AMULET given to him by his great uncle and started to call on the Buddhas. According to their testimony, Tenzin Choejor’s wife didn’t know where he mustered her courage to talk to the soldiers.

Tenzin Choejor’s wife knows how to speak Chinese, being born and raised under the Chinese communist government; Chinese has been her second language. Tenzin Choejor knows the language also but because he grew up in the countryside he understands it better than he can speak. His wife on the other hand knows how to speak it but not fluently either. But she managed to address the soldiers and pretend that she is Chinese, and when asked why Tenzin Choejor’s himself doesn’t speak she told them that her husband is deaf – mute. There are many loopholes to her cover, like how can she explain their looks and what are they doing in the mountain, but because it was dark and maybe because the Chinese soldiers were drunk they let them go. Tenzin Choejor believes that it is because of LAMA ATISHA PROTECTION AMULET.

The second ordeal was when they were in the mountain, Tenzin Choejor’s second child got really ill. Without medicine all Tenzin Choejor and his wife can do are to call on the help of the Buddhas. Tenzin Choejor decided to take off the amulet and placed it on top of his son’s body. Needless to say, the son got healed.

After weeks of travelling in the mountain they finally got to the border of Tibet and India, where they plan to go in exile and seeks the Dalai Lama’s protection. But little did they know that India besieged by thousands and thousand of Tibetan exiles and without a place to put them has made it harder for Tibetans to go inside their country. Though they don’t understand each other, Tenzin Choejor understands the problem with their facial and body language. He started to touch the amulet again and hope for the best. Soon they were met by a Tibetan who took their story. Three days after they were put on a holding area, luckily with food, they were told that they could stay in India.

According to Tenzin Choejor, and these were acknowledge by the highest ranking lamas, it was because of the LAMA ATISHA PROTECTION AMULET that Tenzin Choejor and his family survived the ordeal.

But who is LAMA ATISHA?

For that allow me to share his story using Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s own words. The following was lifted from the archive of FPMT.

Having a little bit of understanding of the life story of Atisha is very beneficial for our mind, so we can try to understand the teaching he wrote. By understanding Atisha’s life story and how he practiced Dharma and achieved realizations, devotion arises and we can feel that his teaching is most precious and pure. 1

Actually it is a very long life story, and it is divided into three parts. In order to have some idea about the great bodhisattva Atisha and how he benefited sentient beings, there are stories about his birth, his home, his birthplace and his early life. The stories explain how he achieved great knowledge and realizations with that holy body. Then after achieving the knowledge and realizations of the path, he benefited the teachings and helped sentient beings— he led the disciples and sentient beings to happiness.

Atisha’s birthplace was in Bengal, India. He was born as a prince and his family was extremely wealthy. He was surrounded by servants and workers, and there were 100,000 people just in his palace. The palace had thirteen golden roofs and 25,000 golden banners on the top, and there were also many pools, like in the West. At the palace there were 25,000 pools and beautiful parks, gardens of beautiful flowers that people could enjoy, seven bridges, and special trees that only grow in India.

When Atisha was three, he became an expert in general education—in astrology, letters, the brahmas, these things. He also became expert in discriminating the inner and outer being, so his parents wanted him very badly to take the place of the king. They tried very hard, but after some time he left with 300 horses, disguised as an army going to fight.

Many people went into the forest with Atisha to seek the guru. He took many teachings on refuge and bodhicitta, and then the guru sent him home to check up and try to understand the suffering of life. This happened three times. He came back, the guru sent him to another guru, and that guru sent him home to check up on the shortcomings of worldly life. His parents tried very hard to have him marry and take the place of a king. They invited all the beautiful women of the country to a party, and let them all dance around, but it didn’t work.

Atisha explained, “ There is no difference for my mind between this palace and a prison. There is no difference between beautiful, expensive clothes and the torn cloth in the garbage. There is no difference between delicious food and dog meat and pus. There is no difference between princesses and mara women—devil women.” Why devil women? Because they transform into beautiful bodies and cheat us. His parents listened to him.

Atisha followed 157 gurus perfectly and received many teachings, initiations and Vajrayana teachings. Once, while he was at home, Tara, the female aspect of Buddha, instructed him in a dream not to be attached to the samsaric happiness of worldly life. After this, Atisha went to see his guru. Then one day, after receiving many initiations, he thought, “There is no Vajrayana teaching left that I don’t know. I have become the most learned.” He felt a little bit of pride. That night, he had a dream that many female dakinis— transformations of buddhas who have high realizations of tantra—showed him many Vajrayana texts that he had never seen before. This made him lose his feelings of pride.

Atisha wanted to receive Mahamudra realization in his lifetime, by living in Vajrayana conduct. One of his gurus, Rahula, suddenly realized with his psychic power that Atisha was thinking this. Without any resistance, Rahula appeared in front of Atisha and instructed him, “What are you doing, forgetting all the sentient beings by leaving them? Take ordination and do great work for the teachings. This will be greatly beneficial for the teachings.” So, Atisha took ordination when he was twenty-nine years old. He was persuaded to do so by his guru and also by the buddha’s female aspect, Tara, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, Maitreya Buddha and many other buddhas and Vajrayana deities such as Heruka, in his dreams.

After some time, when he was going around the Bodhgaya stupa—the temple in India, the most holy place where Guru Shakyamuni Buddha received enlightenment— above the stupa, in space, he saw the transformation of a young woman asking an old woman a question. At that time Atisha was concerned with quickly receiving enlightenment, and in space the young woman was asking the old woman, “What path should we practice in order to quickly receive enlightenment?” The old woman said, “Train the mind in love and compassion, in bodhicitta.”

Again, when Atisha was going around the stupa, there were paintings on the walls that talked to each other. One painting asked the other what path we should follow to reach enlightenment quickly, and the other answered, “Train the mind in love and compassion, and bodhicitta.”

Again, when Atisha was going around near Nagarjuna’s caves, he saw the statues of Buddha communicating, saying, “Train the mind in love and the compassionate thought, bodhicitta.” There was one ivory statue, and it said, “Yogi, if you want to quickly receive enlightenment, train the mind in love and compassion, and the thought of bodhicitta.” Many statues spoke like this.

Atisha went to see Guru Serlingpa, and he spent about twelve years taking the complete teachings on bodhicitta. In the presence of Guru Serlingpa, he received the actual realization of bodhicitta. Then Lama Serlingpa predicted that he should go to Tibet, the northern snow land.

At that time, there was a lot of degeneration of the teachings in Tibet. The people did not know how to practice the teachings, and they were confused about the practice of sutra and tantra together. The king of Tibet, Lha Lama Yeshe Ö, sent twenty-one boys to India to study Dharma and all of them except two died from the heat. These two came back to Tibet and told the king that everyone was talking about Atisha, the pandit, and that they should invite him to Tibet to help. These two translators’ names were Rinchen Sangpo and Legshey.

As soon as Lha Lama Yeshe Ö, the king of Tibet, heard the name of Atisha, incredible devotion arose in his mind, and he decided to invite Atisha to Tibet. He sent many gold offerings to India to invite Atisha, but it didn’t work. Then afterwards, he went himself to find gold for Atisha, and he was captured and put in the prison by an irreligious king who didn’t want the spread of Dharma in Tibet.

King Lha Lama Yeshe Ö’s nephew, Jangchub Ö, came to see him in prison. The irreligious king told Jangchub Ö, “I won’t free your uncle until you find gold the size of his body.” So, Jangchub Ö found enough gold to reach up to his neck, but still the irreligious king was not satisfied. He said, “If you don’t bring gold the size of his head, I won’t let him be free from prison.” Again, Jangchub Ö went to his uncle, the king of Tibet, and explained all these things.

The imprisoned king of Tibet, Lha Lama Yeshe Ö, explained to his nephew that since a lot of gold was offered to the irreligious king and he was still not satisfied, Jangchub Ö should not offer this king even one handful of gold. King Lha Lama Yeshe Ö said he was now very old and did not have long to live, and it would be more beneficial for his nephew, Jangchub Ö, to take the gold. He said to Jangchub Ö, “I don’t care if I die in prison. Take all this gold and ask Atisha to come to Tibet and spread the Dharma.” Then the king sent a message to Atisha through his nephew, saying, “I gave up my life to invite you to Tibet. Please guide me with your compassion. What I have in my mind is only for you to come to Tibet and spread the teachings.”

The imprisoned king sent the message with Jangchub Ö with a suffering, frantic voice, and then he passed away in prison. His nephew sent a translator with many gold offerings to invite Atisha, but the kings and abbots of India wanted Atisha to stay there. Finally, Atisha received permission and he came secretly to Tibet and helped spread the Dharma there. According to his teachings, he wrote the Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment there.

Atisha spread the pure Mahayana teaching like the rising sun, and all conflict, ignorance, and wrong conceptions were destroyed. His text was translated into English by some Tibetan lamas and other translators. I am reading the translation of this teaching because it is extremely beneficial. It is so short. Atisha did great work and brought so much benefit to India and Tibet. In India he destroyed many followers of other religions, wrong paths and wrong conceptions. He did great work.

These days, many young people from the West have the chance to hear the teachings and to understand and practice these meditations on the gradual path to enlightenment. They can find satisfaction in their lives, and they can make their lives meaningful and happy. They integrate it in their own mind, and they understand that there is a chance to make their lives meaningful. All these things are due to the kindness of Atisha, the great bodhisattva.

This great bodhisattva, Atisha, lived in discipline, and had the realization of moral conduct. He kept the 253 precepts purely, and on the basis of that, the bodhisattva’s precepts, the moral conduct precepts and the Vajrayana precepts. He had unshakeable, firm, one-pointed concentration that could last for years—even if hundreds of rockets were flying nearby they couldn’t disturb or shake his meditation. He had perfect realization of shunyata, the absolute nature, and he achieved high tantric realizations, seeing himself in the form of deities.

Atisha had high tantric realization without projections, and he did not see ordinary places—we see an ordinary house built of mud or cement, an impure place, but Atisha had only pure projections and pure view, and he always saw the view of the mandala of the deities. He had high Vajrayana realizations and he was able to transform even kaka into nectar and poison into medicine.

We can meditate like this to increase devotion to Atisha’s teachings. We can do checking meditation according to that. We may find it difficult at the beginning of the subject, and it may take time to understand, but by checking and understanding more and more the various meditations and teachings, gradually it will become clear within our mind.

Please note that Choejor is also spelled as Choezor and that the story from the archive of FPMT is part of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teaching of the life and work of Lama Atisha at 9th Kopan Course in 1976.

As soon as middle of November hits, I always get a barrage of request to write my forecast. Before I would post my forecast in January only because I want people to understand that the annual forecast is really for the lunar year and not the western or Gregorian calendar. Lunar year, usually starts end of January or sometime in February, rarely it does start in early March. However, the past two years because of some very important factors in the forecast, I have posted my forecast articles sometime in December. But I think this is by far the earliest I’m posting forecast.

Why? Because for 2018 Year of the Earth Dog (Lunar Year) which happens on February 16, 2018 early preparation is key. Furthermore, since I wrote an article that gives a peak to what’s in store in 2018 lunar year, which is the Year of the Earth Dog, I have been barraged to write the whole forecast. To be fair, I have worked on the formulas and the charts already, but there are a several things that I want to be revalidated by Guru Lama and by my Feng Shui teacher in Hong Kong. After my formulas and charts has been validated, I had to compare notes with them regarding my analysis. You see, this year is quite especial, and as I always say a year is rarely all good or all bad, there some things in the chart this is a cause for concern. But I will not jump ahead of myself, I would like to present it properly so that you will understand it clearly.

Aside from the computations, analysis and validations with Guru Lama and my Feng Shui teacher, it also takes a while for me to write my posts, because I will have to organize it properly as to where I should start, and I have to choose my words carefully so that it doesn’t subject itself to misinterpretation. Writing alone of these forecasts usually takes 7 – 10 days, minimum of 2 hours day. It takes long because for me technically speaking it’s a one – man act, I don’t have a pool of staff who do the calculations, draft the charts, do the analysis and the writing. That is why it is a bit of tedious process. Nevertheless, the good news is that I’m not able to post my Feng Shui forecast for 2018 Year of the Earth Dog base on the Bazi Chart (Paht Chee Chart), Flying Star Formula and 24 – Mountain Stars Formula.

PHOTO LIFTED FROM GOOGLE IMAGES

Another reason why I need to write this forecast early, is because while the energies of the 2018 Year of the Earth Dog doesn’t come early, unlike the last 2 entrances of lunar years, it does enter at the end of the last quarter of lunar year of 2017, which is the Year of the Fire Rooster, and the last quarter (November 2017, December 2017, and January 2018) are of conflicting energies, a little negative at that.

Some of you might be familiar already in reading a chart, and with one look at the chart of 2018 lunar year, one thing you will notice is that it is an imbalanced chart. It has a lot of wood, and unfortunately there is no metal. This year metal is the element that rules wealth or money or financial.

And so looking at the chart is already quite obvious that there is no wealth luck / financial luck / money luck to be had for this year. This means that income generation may be a little bit challenging. This goes for everybody, and so for this year, what is really important is for us to prepare for the coming year. One can do this by securing business deals or projects or ensuring that it will be difficult for business partners or stakeholder to rescind on agreements, for employees, one can make sure that your superiors notice how hardworking and also make sure that they notice your contributions. However, we are never a lone man, most of the time, what we make is dependent on how others do also. For example, even it is hard for a business partner to rescind on an agreement, if they are pushed to the wall, and because their own business is doing really bad, sometimes one can’t do anything about it. So, it is extremely important that one should put metal into one’s life. Make sure that the missing element is present in your life. For those, who knows their ‘Basket of Elements’ base on their Bazi Chart or Paht Chee Chart, and if it has a high metal rating then you are already a step ahead of the others, however, you should also still add more metal to your life to compensate for the missing element of the year.

How does one compensate the lack of metal in the year’s bazi chart? We should all wear the metal element. We should surround ourselves with it. Any metal is in a way a representation of the missing element, but because we also need the yang energy of the metal, the best metal to have is a yellow gold! It might be wrong for me to say that silver, stainless, and other metals are useless, but these are not going to be as powerful as having real gold, and not just any gold, I wouldn’t even suggest white gold or red gold (rose gold) unless if you are born in the year of the Ox, in which case the rose gold ore red gold might serve another purpose. But I’ll discuss that more in detail in the forecast for the Chinese animal zodiac.

If you don’t wear gold rings, earrings, necklace, pendants, this is the time to wear one. And the key to wearing gold this year, all you have to remember is that there is no such thing as excessive jewelry. Unless, if it becomes exaggerated, but wearing a ring on both hands, a bracelet, several pendants, earrings, bracelets is not considered as excessive. Wearing more white also helps. In your home or office, you can put white curtains, display gold images, which may be real or not, as long as it’s painted gold. Put more metal displays to compensate for the lack of the metal in the Bazi Chart of the year.

You should remember though that in wearing gold also it will be more beneficial if you wear gold that has an auspicious symbol or symbol of wealth.

At this point, I would like to point out that there appears a single metal element in one of the hidden stems. Making it a hidden metal. What does this mean? It means that money luck or wealth luck or financial luck is STILL SLIGHTLY POSSIBLE if one works really hard, or in business one has to be really creative or very strategic to create money luck or wealth luck or financial luck.

Knowing that this is going to be the situation this year, Guru Lama has released to wealth enhancing amulets. First, allow me to share with you the Special Gold Piyao, regular readers should know about this already and some of them even have shared their experience about it. You can read about their personal testimonies here:

A Piyao (also spelled called as Pi Yao, Pixiu, Pi Xiu, Pixie, Pi Xie) is a celestial being or celestial creature, or celestial animal that only eats gold and silver. This is one of the most powerful wealth amulet or charm one can wear if you want to attract wealth. I have shared with my readers that since I learned Feng Shui about 2 decades ago, I have since worn a Piyao in my body, and I’m never without it. I also have shared that the best Piyao if to be worn as an amulet are either gold or jade. But for this year, and in the years where wealth luck is bad, gold takes precedence over jade. The Special Gold Piyao is of an active stance, and the design is special in a way that it will be easy for it to attract wealth. There are two designs, one is with only coin (heavenly coin) at the bottom, and this is to signify that the Piyao need not look for money or wealth anymore, but rather it is walking on wealth. The other is with a heavenly coin and auspicious words to attract different kind of prosperity into one’s life. In a way, this signifies that one need not look for wealth, but rather one would be ‘walking’ on wealth.

This limited Special Gold Piyao has 4 horns that represents the four cardinal directions – East, West, North, and South. This means that one will be able to take by the horn the challenges to gain financial luck.

It also has fierce but still friendly face, this indicates that while you can be fierce in business or work, you will still gain the support and admiration of the people around you. This also means that you can you charm to get to your wealth luck.

This is a special gold Piyao designed by Guru Lama and made of blessed gold.

But what makes the Special Gold Piyao really special aside from the design is that the gold used in making this Piyao is from the ‘treasury’ of the temple. It is from the donations of the Sangha members, and these golds are place in special containers then put at the food of different Buddhas, they then receive the energy or power from the chanting of the mantras, reciting of the sutras, or pujas performed by Bhiksus, Bhiksunis, or High Lamas like Guru Lama.

The Special Gold Piyao is really one of the must have for the year, and forms part of the Holy Trinity of Amulet for the lunar year 2018, which is the Year of the Earth Dog. Since there is no metal in the basket, everyone needs to have this Special Gold Piyao.

Other than the magic inscriptions at the bottom both designs are basically the same.

Instead of only coins at the bottom of the Piyao, there are magical words that connote protection, abundance, luck, health, etc. What design one gets will depend on what one needs.So if you are a person who really need to attract money only or is in a bad financial situation, you will get the one with only the Heavenly Money Coin. However, if you already have abundance of wealth and needs only to safe guard it, or if you also need protection, and good health, and abundance in other aspect of your life, what you will get are those that have the magical inscriptions that will further bring all these aspects to your life. It is Guru Lama who determines this, thus we will request for your birthdate when you request for a Special Gold Piyao.

Other than the Special Gold Piyao, Guru Lama has also released this year the VAISRAVANA – DZAMBHALA WEALTH AMULET. I have written extensively about this amulet and have shared some of testimonies shared with me by Guru Lama. He again released this in preparation for the coming year, although needless to say it is extremely powerful even if the year is not lacking of wealth luck, maybe even more if the year is not lacking of wealth luck. It is quite special in a way that it helps create wealth luck or financial luck or money luck even if there is none in the chart. Unlike other amulet where it pulls from other paths in your bazi, this amulet creates wealth. The VAISARAVANA – DZAMBHALA WEALTH AMULET is an amulet rediscovered by Guru Lama in one of the holy tantric scriptures. Because I have written about this extensively, I will no longer discuss it fully here, but you can check the following posts to understand it more:

The Vaisavana – Dzambhala Wealth Amulet has the consecrated copies of the mantras of King Vaisravana of the Four Heavenly Kings and the mantras of the Five Dzambhalas. Furthermore, there are some special ingredients in powder form that are included to add to the potency of the amulet. Before it is sealed it is furthered consecrated on the image of The Four Heavenly Kings.It is placed in a metal case, not just for its durability and protection but according to the Tantric Buddhist Scripture book where Guru Lama got the instructions for this amulet, it has to be placed in cylindrical metal case to symbolize continuity and stability.

Now that I have mentioned one of the most important aspect of the bazi chart of the year, and how can we deal with it, allow me to discuss further what is instore for the year base on its basket of elements in the bazi chart or path chee chart.

Looking at the Bazi Chart of the 2018 Year of the Earth Dog, we should all be reminded that it is a year, that is not just about money. Especially when we consider the Flying Stars formula, which I’m going to discuss in the 2nd part of this forecast, we will notice it is about a year where success is not measured by money, as it should not be. It is a year when financial success is not only the measure of success, and so those who persevere will reap a different kind of harvest, not financial but career or personal success or fulfillment.

It is also a good year for us to prepare the path for a better future. I know money is important and that preparing the path for a better future is difficult with money, thus the need for the Special Gold Piyao and the VAISRVANA – DZAMBHALA WEALTH AMULET, but this year one should focus more on the future, on the long term, rather than just on the present and the now.

Whatever one does, it is important that one should think twice or thrice. Do not be hasty in anything, especially in making a decision. Do not be timid but do not be hasty. Weigh things properly so that you are sure you are not running into a financial trap.

Do not be impatient. The year will favor those hardworking people who shows determination. Be determined, even if sometimes you think your plan or your hard work is not paying off, study the situation, understand the problems but continue to be hardworking and be determined in what you want to achieve. If the goal is not personal or professional success but rather financial or wealth or money in nature, and you don’t have the Special Gold Piyao or the VAISRAVANA – DZAMBHALA WEALTH AMULET, remember that financial success is not the only basis whether your hard work is paying off, and that success need not come within the year

This is a year when one has to be careful in using one’s resources, whatever nature of this resources is. Be it wealth, or support, or any other resources. This is a year when resources get depleted but is not replenished easily. Thus, this is also a year that favors those who have a good inner chi or life chi.

Those born in the year of the Dragon, Rabbit, Tiger, and Ox has naturally strong inner chi or life chi, although this may vary based on your bazi chart or path chee chart. These signs will be able to fare better this year than the rest of the Chinese animal zodiac. One of the most powerful thing to do to create inner chi and/or life chi is to wear an image of Earth Store Bodhisattva (also known as Di Zhang Wang Pu Sa or Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva)made of gold. Actually, this form the second trinity in the Holy Trinity of Amulets for the year.

Again, if using an image of Ksitigarbha at home, I prefer to use the one with the crown, unless, he is placed the ancestral altar.

While this is not yet the annual forecast for each of the Chinese animal zodiac, it is important to say that those born in the year of the Rat and Pig, base on the year’s bazi chart are the most affected with the year’s somewhat negative energies. These two signs might feel lethargic and down, and they should remember to persevere and gather some inner strength.

As I always say, a year is seldom all bad or all good. That’s just the way it is, and so for the good part is that in term of yin – yang, the year is quite balanced. There are two yin pillars and two yang pillars on the chart, and this means that people who tend to be abusive might mellow a little, and those who are oppressed will be more heard now. This is also a very positive outlook for women’s rights, especially this year where the #MeToo campaign started again, the coming 2018 will show more of a balanced relationship between men and women.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depends on how you look at it, and maybe where you live, the chart also shows there is an overpowering presence of the wood element, which for this year signifies authority. This means that there is enough power or energy for rule of law to prevail. However, this is also the same element that gives power and energy to authority. This means people in authority will enjoy their power, now this may be good or bad depending on what kind of leaders we have. If it becomes unbalanced this means people who are in the position of absolute power or unquestioned power will become authoritarian. The only good news is that authority here doesn’t just refer to people who are in power. This also refers to people who have great life chi, so it means people who have a strong commanding star or commanding energy may be able to rule over those potential authoritarians. It is not charm that will work it is the show of command or power that will work this year. For those who want to have more authority, one can wear an image of Kuan Kong (also spelled or called as Guan Gong, or Kuan Yu, Guan Yu, Qie Lan Pu Sa, Guan Te Ya, Kuan Te Ya) or a Vajrapani Ruel.

Kuan Kong Gold Pendant

The Vajrapani Ruel looks simple, maybe even rustic, but this simple amulet is packed with a special talisman paper inside, with various ingredients, which includes Namtso Salt, soil, various herbs and plants, crystal, and a relic from a high lama. It’s important to put the ruel inside a amulet holder or something sturdy as to not ruin it. If the cloth had tear which exposes or spill the ingredients inside, the ruel becomes useless. The Vajrapani Ruel itself is only about 1 to 2 inches and it varies from one ruel to another.

Some Feng Shui experts says that this is a year where common sense will prevail over irrational hotheads and troublemakers. This I’m not sure, but I guess it is only possible if the majority is of common sense and not of irrational behavior.

Largely, I believe how this energy will take effect will largely depend on the sign and Bazi Chart of a leader. In this sense, I think 2018 is going to be a challenging year for POTUS Donald Trump, this is a year where if he continuous to act the way he does, might show his downfall, or at least the start of it. Other leaders like him will start to feel that pressure also but then again, it still depends on their personal Bazi Chart. I would like to categorically say now that I will not write about the president of the Philippines.

The strong presence of wood my also signify an increase in natural calamities. Will discuss in a future post.

Another good news is that this year the Bazi Chart or Paht Chee Chart forms a powerful star called Jiang Xing. This is a very auspicious star in the sense that it helps bring in wealth also, and furthermore it brings auspicious fortune to a person who knows how to activate it. The Star Jiang Xing serves as a charm for a person to stand out, and this year standing out and getting noticed is important if you are not to be put aside, and also standing out is important for people to remember you and for your battle or in your quest to have more money. The Jiang Xing also gives you authority and a sense of trustworthiness. To summarize it brings wealth and recognition. But the unfortunate thing is that this star needs to be activated this year, because we solely lack metal element and it relies on metal element to be really powerful. So again, wearing more gold specially the Special Gold Piyao gives strength to this star. But more importantly, it is very important that one wears the combine power of the FOUR DHARMAKAYA RELIC MANTRAS AMULET and the LAMA ATISHA AMULET placed in a metal amulet holder. Placing them in a metal amulet holder is very important because we need metal. But more than activating the Jiang Xing, the FOUR DHARMAKAYA RELIC MANTRAS AMULET and the LAMA ATISHA AMULET are also very powerful protective amulet and FOUR DHARMAKAYA RELIC MANTRAS AMULET is also a very powerful wish fulfilling amulet. And this year, wish fulfilling is actually very important. This combined amulet actually forms the third amulet of the Holy Trinity of Amulet of the year.

This is an amulet that has been featured before and was released before, however, it is now placed in a metal casing. You can read more about it here:

As you can see, while there may be a cause for concern this year, this year is not at all bad. While the lack of wealth opportunities may be a little bothersome, we should remember that there are tools for us to use already so that we can make things better. The Holy Trinity of Amulets for the year is an important must – have regardless of your sign and stature in life. The major concerns are lack of wealth, and the general atmosphere of low inner chi and/or life chi. Even the Ox, Rabbit, Tiger, and Dragon who are considered to have a stronger inner chi and/or life chi will also be faced by a lot of challenges which may fall into a depletion of these energies. But these concerns are addressed by having either the Special Gold Piyao or the VAISRAVANA – DZAMBHALA WEALTH AMULET, and the concern about inner chi or life chi can be addressed by wearing a gold pendant of the image of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha (also called Di Zhang Wang Pu Sa or Bodhisattva Earth Store).

Lastly, we are lucky enough to have the Jiang Xing which is a star that brings wealth and recognition, but we have to activate this with the combined amulets FOUR DHARMAKAYA RELIC MANTRAS AMULET and the LAMA ATISHA AMULET in a metal casing.

And while this year maybe not as good as other years in terms of wealth, we will be presented an opportunity to truly realize that wealth or money should not be the only measure of success. This year we will have the opportunity to grow ourselves psychologically, emotionally, mentally. And this year we will be able to see our inner strength. We should learn to be hardworking, and have determination, but more importantly we should all have faith… faith in yourself, faith that things will always get better, and faith in a higher being, whether that is Allah, Buddha, or God. And allow me to share what a good friend and reader shared with me before: LET OUR FAITH BE STRONGER THAN OUR FEARS!

To understand this year’s forecast, you should read all the other related 2018 Year of the Earth Dog Feng Shui Forecasts:

The last object on the 8 Auspicious Objects of Buddhism is the Dharmachakra Wheel.

The truth is Dharmachakra means Wheel, so to call it Dharmachakra Wheel is a bit redundant, however, Dharmachakra Wheel is a term where most people outside Tibet are familiar with, so it is the term that I’ll be using here.

The Dharmachakra Wheel is a symbol of Buddha’s teaching, however, the different parts each have their own iconography. The rim represents the factor of limitation, the hub represents the Earth’s axis, and the eight spokes shows the Eightfold Path dictated by Buddha.

In Feng Shui, the Dharmachakra Wheel is a powerful symbol to use for surmounting all shortcomings. Furthermore, the Dharmachakra Wheel is a powerful protection symbol that we can use to protect all the non-material things that are important to us.

In ancient times the Conch Shell is used as a trumpet horn, and was considered as a symbol of strength and sovereignty. It is also said that ‘heroic figures’ are also given the conch shell as a symbol of gratitude from the ruler. Religiously, specially in Tibetan Buddhism, the conch shell is a ‘vessel’ for holy water and holy oil, and is also used as a trumpet to signify the start of an important religious event.

In Feng Shui, the conch shell is a powerful tool for those who wants to be able to prosper in their business ventures. It is also extremely beneficial for politicians to carry a conch shell because it will help them be stable in their position.

Carrying a conch shell is also a powerful tool to help a person attain a higher level of meditation.

There are a lot of Buddhist and Taoist icons that are depicted either sitting on a lotus or are holding a lotus. This is because the growth pattern of a lotus represents the development that a being can make. The lotus has the ability to blossom out of dirty or muddy water – which represents materialism, the it grows past the water – which indicates experience, and make its way towards the sun – which represents enlightenment. It is a symbol of both mental and spiritual purity. The lotus which is a water flower is a symbol of blossoming decent deeds, that results in purification of the both mind and body.

In Feng Shui, the lotus also has the power to transform bad luck into good luck, and it is also said that the lotus has the power to drive out negative energies.

Wearing an image of the lotus made of a white stone or jade will help bring lots of blessings. It will also help in the attainment of the enlightenment.

In one of my earlier post entitled FENG SHUI TIPS TO ENHANCE WEALTH LUCK, I talked about the treasure vase, now allow me to briefly talked about it again. The treasure vase, even without the ritual and powerful ingredients that goes with it is a very powerful wealth – granting symbol or object. It is a powerful object that brings tons of material and financial prosperity.

In China, a lot of the rich people their has wealth vase hidden in their cupboard or cabinets. Some of the noveau rich in China also has wealth vase in their living rooms. I personally believe that wealth vases should be hidden and not displayed.

A pair of fish represents harmony, good family life, happiness, fertility and recovery. Given that the pair of fish are golden, it also represents abundance. In China, the fish also symbolizes unity and loyalty, and it is for this reason that the golden fish are often offered as wedding gifts to symbolize an abundant long peaceful life of the couple.

Thus a pair of golden fish is good for people who are facing financial troubles with their partners.