The Philosophy of Death

 

When we die, where do we go? Does the soul leaves the body and rises towards the light?

Energy is a form of Qi or life force and it flows within all living things. In Chinese Astrology and the other art of metaphysics such as Feng Shui, Qi is the life force that create us human beings. According to science, energy cannot be destroyed but it can be transformed.

When we die, the energy takes another form and once it leaves the body, the Qi of the dead can influence the descendants through the location and facing direction of the burial plot.  With the help of a Feng Shui master, the dead can be a source of beneficial Qi for the living. In other words, our ancestors are a force to be reckon with if the Qi of their burial grounds are harnessed according to the landform.

From another perspectives other than metaphysics, we can also look at energy as transformative from a philosophical angle. People sees death as an escape from a cruel world and the suffering of the physical, mental and emotional kind. This is why some people take their own lives with the aim of ending their suffering. But does death brings closure?

There are some people who can communicate with the dead and feel or see spirits. Their bodies can act as vessels for energy to come in and go out. They act as mediums to channel energy through their bodies and make contacts with ghosts or spirits. How people cross over to the afterlife, whether peaceful or restless, depends on their state of mind on the verge of death. If there is still unfinished business in this world, there will be restless spirits that traverse the physical world. It is believed that unless these restless spirits can cross over to the spiritual world through closure of some sort, there will be haunting and supernatural occurrence.

If we look at this subject from other perspectives, the world of materialism that we live in is also a breeding ground of greed and money is the root of it all. Money, for all its corrupt forces, can also transcend the realm of materialism to reach the height of benevolence. People who steal, cheat or launder money due to greed is blinded by emotion and if they were to die now, none of the ill-gotten gain can be carried to the grave. Even if any of the wealth is honestly acquired, the wealthy people cannot take it with them when they die.

So, how can we transform money into a higher form of value that we can benefit from when we die?

Just like energy which is transformative, money is tangible but its value is transcendence and is reflective of our morals. Based on sound financial management, we should use money with prudence and learn to diversify our investment. We should not put all the eggs in one basket. In the same token, we should not hold all our money in this materialistic world but transform it into moralistic value through acts of kindness which can be beneficial for the living and the dead. Towards this end, we can carry our wealth to a heavenly universe.

To put it philosophically, we should do more acts of kindness as it is an investment that can make us rich spiritually by the time we reach the end of our lives. If we believe in God, this is our investment in heaven. Our soul rises towards the light and become enlightened beings! In the end, only kindness matters and death provides a way out of this existential life if we choose to live wisely.

For a reading of your birth chart based on the Four Pillars of Destiny, please visit my website at http://www.bazidestiny.yolasite.com

Property Investment 101A - A View to a Kill

For a property investor, the wide range of property in the market can present both opportunities and risks in the pursuit of assets acquisition. There is a smorgasbord of landed and high-rise residential property to choose from in terms of price, design, build-up and location to suit one's life-styles and budget. Selecting the right property depends on many factors which interplay to make it challenging for a novice investor. A good location that comes with good amenities and accessibility is a good place to start.

The decision of which property to invest hinges upon the aforementioned factors which can also be coloured by one's emotion. As much as one try to be objective and practical, the sweet-talking salespersons or real estate agents and enticing decor of the show units can pull wool over our eyes. We can easily overlook the fine prints in the glossy brochures or the subtle defects in the ready units. Developers tend to embellish their sales publication with hyped-up value and benefits to attract potential buyers.

Be this as it may, one should always be mindful of the tricks of the trade employed be seasoned sales agents who act in the interest of the developers or sellers. Some agents can be quite economical with the truth and gives unverified information to close the sale. It is therefore prudent to check and verify information with reliable sources. One can also do research and compare data with other sources such as the internet and the community at large. Your friends, family members and relatives can also be a source of reference.

Now that we have covered some of the pitfalls and hazards in property investment and selection, we should take calculated risks and weigh the options we have in an enlightened manner. This article will focus on high-rise serviced apartments which are flooding the property market in my home country of Malaysia. This is because many property developers over here are building high-rise residential units to cater to the life-style living aspiration of the people who looks for convenience, accessibility and security. Most of these high-rise developments come with a myriad of facilities and living comfort. These so-called lifestyle themed development can come with a hefty price tag in the form of maintenance fee, quit rent and assessment fee. For the investor, the objective is to get good rental yield and capital growth in the years to come. A good rental yield for high-rise serviced apartment should preferably be 5-6%. This will make it worth your time and effort in finding and selecting a good property to invest which can be quite a hassle. Otherwise, you are better off holding cash in the form of fixed deposit or placing your money in bonds or unit trusts which are more liquid when you need the money.

An investor needs to pay for the upkeep of the property. As such, any expense such as maintenance fee and cost of repairs will cut into the rental incomes derived from tenanting the unit. For high-rise residential units such as serviced apartments which sit on commercial land, the quit rent, assessment fee and utility bills are charged at higher rates than residential property. The rental incomes are also taxable. Interests from mortgage loan taken to finance the property is the other major expense that will reduce the rental incomes unless an investor choose to pay the property by cash. However, the investor who prefer to borrow for want of gearing can use the rental incomes to defray the monthly loan instalments payable to the banks. The interests charged by the banks can also be offset against the rental incomes before tax is charged under the law. For cash purchase, the investor has stronger negotiating power and is in a stronger financial position to hold on to the property compared to a purchase via bank loan which can be risky when interest is going up.

Finding tenants to rent out the units in a high-rise serviced apartments can be fast or slow depending on the density of such development within the locality. A heavy density development creates more competition for tenants compared with the one with lower density. This holds true for rental yield as well.

Property investment is also a good hedge against inflation as it offers capital gain over a period of time. Depending on location and type of property (leasehold or freehold), the capital appreciation can be 5-10% per year. Over a period of 5 - 10 years, a property can appreciate at such rates if the property cycle is expansionary. A property can also remain stable or unchanged in terms of capital growth compared with other properties in the same locality. This is due to saturation or property glut in the market. If an investor is not careful, a property investment can result in negative capital growth owing to contraction and troughs in the economic cycles. Timing is therefore important in property investment. In addition, if you buy a property in a location with plans for development of MRT/LRT stations or transportation links to other major roads and highways, you can expect capital appreciation in the future.

When deciding what type of property to invest, high-rise residential units earn better rental yields compared with landed property which offers a lower rental yield of 2-3%. This can be attributed to the lifestyle convenience provided by high-rise serviced apartments which provide facilities such as swimming pools, gymnasium, sports and recreational activities, 24-hours security, etc. High-rise serviced apartments with facilities tend to attract younger families who look for such lifestyle conveniences. On the other hand, landed property has higher capital growth simply because it sits on its own titled land which is getting scarce with the growing population. It can offer capital growth of 5-10% per year especially freehold and those in prime location. High-rise residential units with strata titles usually do not offer the same capital growth. Do bear in mind that any capital gain obtained from disposal of the property may attract capital gain tax.

In the end, the return on investment (ROI) from rental incomes and/or capital gain should give justification for the investment in the first place.

All the various points elucidated above offer a macro view of property investment in the context of high-rise residential development. Let's take a micro view of property investment in terms of quality and workmanship.

If you are looking to invest in a high-rise serviced apartments or serviced offices (SOHO/SOFO), you need to keep your eyes open as the devil is in the details. For ready units in a new development or sub-sale, you need to inspect the unit for any leaking in the ceiling or water seepage through the window. If the ceiling has water marks, it indicates that water is leaking from the unit above. This leaking problem can pose to be a challenge to solve as it needs the cooperation of the resident who is staying in the unit above and the management corporation of the property.

Water can seep through the window between the frame and cement or between the glass and frame during heavy rain. This is especially problematic for units on the higher floors. The rubber seals and silicone used in the construction of the window and frame can crack and melt under the heat of the sun. Through the ravages of time, you can see water marks appearing on the wall adjacent to and underneath the window.

The residents in the unit above can be a nuisance to the residents in the unit below if noise is a major issue.

A developer with good track record does matter in property investment.

On a positive side, high-rise serviced apartments can offer panoramic view especially for upper floor residents. A view to die for some may say. These units also come at a higher price.

From the perspective of Feng Shui, the view from the balcony should be overlooking a landscape of lakes or rivers, preferably in the southwest, east, southeast or north. The common areas within the property such as walkways and corridors should be brightly lit. Any property which is subject to windy condition is also not auspicious as the life force known as Qi is unsettling in such an area.

A view to a kill in property investment is a doubled-edged sword. You can make a "killing" after viewing a property or be "killed" financially by your decision, right or wrong.

For a reading of your birth chart based on the Four Pillars of Destiny and Feng Shui consultation, please visit my website at www.bazidestiny.yolasite.com

Fishing with Chinese Astrology (The Four Pillars of Destiny)

 

“Give a man a fish and he will eat it for one day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime”.

Teach a man how to catch a fish starts with making a fishing rod that comes with a line, hook and bait. As a whole, the rod, line, hook and bait enables you to catch a fish. How good you are in catching a fish or for that matter, how successful you are in life depends on the resources you have.

Metaphorically, the rod represents the support you have, the line represents your strength of character and the hook and bait is your creative output or ability.

We are given the resources in the form of our character and ability. These are two most important trades that we can develop to succeed in life. Our character can be a force for good or evil and from it, we can put our ability to good or bad use. The life we live is borne out of the dynamic interplay between our character and ability. It is a well-known fact that our character and ability is largely determined by our genes. As such, can we choose to live our lives based on our genetic predisposition?

According to Chinese Astrology, the answer is yes! In the field of Chinese Metaphysics, there is a branch of Chinese Astrology known as the Four Pillars of Destiny (Ba Zi) which maps out a person’s life path from cradle to grave. The pillars represent the year, month, day and hour of one’s birth. Within these four pillars, there are the heavenly stems and earthly branches. The stems and branches are composed of the five elements and twelve animal signs.

Our character and ability are read from the four pillars which contain our genetic codes. However, not all the traits we are born with are carved in stone. We can alter some of our inborn traits in the early childhood years through the help and support of our parents.  They can shape us into responsible and capable adults through inculcation of good values and provision of sound education.  However, this is not within our control and a lot depends on our parents. For this, we live it to fate and the four pillars of destiny, especially the year pillar which represents our childhood. As such, the year pillar is pivotal in terms of our destiny because this is where it begins.

As for the rest of the three pillars, we can rely on free will to pave the path to our success.  This is where the fishing expedition starts. We can be given the resources by our parents or we can strive to be resourceful on our own, difficult as it may be but not impossible as validated by many rags to riches stories. Luck also play a part when we meet helpful people along the way. Timing is the other factor that is crucial. This is when we need to take the right action at the right time.

We can choose the pond to catch the fishes and the right time is not when we are hungry. As long as we are opportunistic and ready with our fishing gear, the timing will always work in our favour.   In marketing terms, we always provide customers with what they need in order to secure the sales. In this regard, knowing where to fish (the market) and how to formulate the strategy (the hook) and what to offer (the bait) takes resources of the company (the fishing rod), the salesperson’s strength of character in terms of determination and persistency (fishing line) and the salesperson’s creative ability and output (hook and bait).

Here’s a tip. If you want to know what element is good for sale, you just need to look at the fire element in your birth chart. If it is favourable to you and at the right strength, you can be successful in selling. And by analysing the four pillars of destiny in detail, we can tell the character and ability of the person through the elements and the animal signs and whether he or she can catch a fish for life!

For a reading of your birth chart based on the Four Pillars of Destiny, please visit my website at http://www.bazidestiny.yolasite.com

Covid-19 - The Lessons We Learned in Life

Every now and then in our lives, we meet kind people who offer advices that we tend to take for granted. On hindsight, they were proven to be true and we moved on with lessons learned the bitter way. If only we have listened.

The consequences can be dire if we ignore the advice or the lessons that people shared with us. If we were advised not to drive when intoxicated, we would have avoided death, paralysis or injury caused by car accidents. If only we have listened, we would not have paid a heavy price for it.

Some lessons in life are not meant to be learned freely. We have to pay a price, cheap if we are lucky. The other day, I have driven my car through a flash flood on my way home. The deluge of water that ran across the road has loosen part of the plastic shield underneath my car as I sped through it. It cost me $68.00 to fix it. I had been warned by some motorists to take another route but chose to ignore the warning. If only I listened.

Why did I not listen? Lackadaisical attitude I supposed. My point is this. If we choose to ignore what good Samaritan or kind-hearted people say, we will pay for a lesson. One way or the other.

I am an astrologer and my specialty is Chinese Astrology which has a sub-branch known as The Four Pillars of Destiny. It is an amazing metaphysical art which I used to accurately decode the destiny's pillars of my clients based on their birth dates. Over the years, I have read many clients' pillars of destiny and came across those with self-punishments in their characteristic traits. These type of people usually do things against their better judgment. They do not listen to good advice from people and also what their gut instinct tell them. As a result, they tend to pay a price for the lessons they learned instead of getting it for free. What I further observed from their destiny's pillars were the destructive elements which pushed them to act in a way that defied logic.

Through personal experiences of my own and others, I am of the view that emotion can make a person stupid. This is because emotion can cloud the mind of people who tend to act emotionally when pushed by circumstances or faced with problems.

By learning how to decode our pillars of destiny, we can find out the type of punishments, if any, that are self-inflicted and we can make conscious effort to understand the reasons behind them. Usually, it is emotion that underlies the factors driving a person to act carelessly, recklessly or destructively. Even if consciously or subconsciously, you knew it might get you into trouble, you still acted anyway and got into trouble. It is like the universe is conspiring against you and make you do things that become lessons in life, with or without pain.

The latest lesson in life is the corona virus that is taking a heavy toll on our health and economy globally. It is testing our faith in God and fast becoming an apocalypse if we do not act with great resolve and determination in the crucible of this deadly disease. It takes enormous willpower and tremendous effort by the people of this world to contain the disease with unity of mind and purpose. The least we can do as the citizens of this world is to heed the advice of our leaders and follow the health directive of our government by staying at home in order to break the chain of infection. Otherwise, we will pay a heavy price for our indiscretion and it is a lesson we do not want to learn bitterly.

If you want to know the lessons that life has in store for you, please visit my website http://www.bazidestiny.yolasite.com. You will learn the secrets of the pillars in your destiny based on Chinese Astrology.

My name is Alvin and I can help you to find your destiny based on Chinese Astrology. By learning to understand what makes you unique, you can go with the flow of your strength and reach your goals in life easier and faster. The Four Pillars of Destiny (Ba Zi) is an amazing art that accurately measures your ability and capacity to live your life to the full. 

The Three Rules of Life for Living Happily and Successfully

There are many problems and challenges we face in lives. From the moment we were born until the day we leave this world, we have to go through physical, emotional, mental and spiritual changes that define us as human beings. Regardless of our family backgrounds, we can and should find our purpose in life through our goals, dreams and aspirations. These are the pursuits that give meaning to our lives and make life worth living.  This is destiny in the making. 

However, despite our best efforts, circumstances can derail our plans and make us move in a different direction from the one we have chosen. But we should not be sidetracked by obstacles along the way nor should we be discouraged by them.  We need to build strength in all four dimensions of our beings- physic, mind, emotion and spirit - in order to deal with setbacks and move forward progressively. 

Our body needs to be healthy for physical action. Our mind needs to be learned for critical thinking. Our emotion needs to be calm for want of rationality. Our spirit needs to be free to soar as high as we want to be. 

If we want to create our own destiny, we need to strike an optimum balance in all four of these dimensional realms.  

For example, if we aspire to become a successful neurosurgeon, we need to study for it and feed our mind with the right knowledge and instill a spirit of determination in us to achieve what we aim for.  Of course, a healthy body and emotional maturity are also supportive of such self-made destiny.

Nevertheless, life can still throw us curve balls or unexpected challenges in the form of finance, career, health, people and relationships. We cannot always expect a smooth journey in our quest for success in our endeavors. This is when we need to look at our personality and characteristic traits in order to overcome the problems that confront us. Without knowing our true self and what we are capable of, we may feel lost and uncertain of what to do in such a situation. 

The Chinese Four Pillars of Destiny is a branch of astrology that decodes our birth date and accurately reveals our innate strengths and hidden potential in the forms of year, month, day and hour pillars. There are also the luck pillars that map out the pathways to our future which comes in 10 yearly cycles. Together, they help us to create or fulfil our own destiny. 

If you are interested to know what you can do and what the future holds for you, this field of knowledge in Chinese Astrology will set you free to pursue what you want in life. By learning the fundamentals and principles of this ancient art, you can uncover your strengths in the four dimensional realms and use them to your advantage in creating or fulfilling your own destiny. For more information, please visit my website at http://www.bazidestiny.yolasite.com

Aside from Chinese Astrology which is metaphysical, we should also be grounded with three simple rules to live a happy and successful life:- 

-        Go with the flow

-        Cut your losses

-        Be grateful

When we do things that we are good at, we are most likely to do them well. This is going with the flow of our strength. 

When we lose our mind to emotion, we need to regain our composure and not make things worse. This is cutting our losses. 

When we feel inadequate and envious of others, we need to remind ourselves that nobody is perfect. Cherish what we have and make the most of it. This is being grateful.

Life has its ups and downs. With these simple rules, we can make life much better.