Thursday, February 21, 2013

When the Book of Changes say

In November 2012, I had bought in more shares of a company listed on the Bursa (KLSE) and my remisier (commissioned dealer’s representative) asked why I was buying so heavily into the stock and what my expected return was.

The expected return is not much, I had told him then, only around 30% to 50% and the Book of Changes say it is alright to buy into the particular stock. (The returns are based on my table of fortune indications, devised in 1993, for the 64 hexagrams of the Yijing. These fortune indications coincidentally tie up with those indicated in the Ma Qian Ke accredited to Zhuge Liang.)

The stock became the sole counter in my basket (yes, I know it is against the prudent advice of stock investment gurus who advocate a basket of at least five different counters) and it recently went up accordingly. While I held onto most of it hoping for the expected 50% return, I have taken some profits when its price hit a 42% return on my investment.

It is noted that retail investors have been selling down their stockholdings in the Bursa for the past four months aware that the calling of the Malaysian General Elections will cause the KLSE listed stocks to fall notwithstanding the overall performance of global stock markets.

In case the particular stock price could go higher than my expectations, I consulted if I could buy more and this is what the Book of Changes has indicated:

Six at the beginning of Hexagram 39 Jian / Obstruction means:

Going leads to obstruction, coming meets with praise.

Nine in the fifth place means:

In the midst of the greatest obstructions, friends come.

With the two line change, Hexagram 36 Ming Yi / Darkening of the Light become the resultant hexagram.

When the Book of Changes say there is danger up ahead, retreat is the best option.

Since with this oracle the teacher has told me a number of things including the timing on the markets and on the call for General Elections, I have sold most of the particular stock on Tuesday, February 19, 2013 to realize the gains without waiting for the targeted 50% return and is now holding 82% in cash and 18% in stocks waiting for the right moment for action.

Most of the gains (about 40% return on investment) will be withdrawn and to be placed in a time deposit – if readers want to know something about the timing.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

This past Yijing aficionado has sincerity

If we visit online I Ching forums, we would find students posting prognostications obtained from the Book of Changes for others to interpret. Even if the more experienced has proffered the correct interpretation, the question poser would quite often shortly consult for another oracle since the guidance given was not what he or she would like to hear or wanted. Some would just ignore the guidance altogether.

If Yijing students do not believe in the Book of Changes there is actually no point in consulting the ancient classic for an oracle, just studying the wisdoms contained therein will suffice. Since what is the point of obtaining prognostications and not follow the guidance provided. While I may have written about this over the years, students tend to repeat the same mistakes. Then they lament that the Book of Changes no longer speaks!

Perhaps this short article about a sincere Yijing aficionado who has passed away in 2005 aged 83 can provide those with seriousness of purpose and earnest students a good example to follow.
Nigel Richmond had written two books on the I Ching – ‘Language of the Lines and the I Ching Oracle’, both kindly made available in pdf format at the Yijing Dao website. Similar to some readers and me, he was also into the I Ching during the early 1970s, and in the UK to boot.

The following are excerpts taken from the Yijing Dao website where Steve Marshall wrote about the life and times of Richmond under the title: Nigel Richmond and the I Ching; with detailed information and his two books provided by one of his daughters, Beth Richmond who recalls:

Around this time everyone was into the I Ching and we all had copies of the Richard Wilhelm translation. But Nige got into it more than anyone. He always used yarrow stalks to consult the I Ching, which he collected from the wild himself. He would have extra sets for people who wanted them, too. He preferred sticks to coins as he said the extra time taken made for a better connection, for more focus. In his later years he kept his sticks by his bed and would 'have a chat' with his morning tea.”

“He didn't light incense, he wasn't that formal about it. I think he consulted about anything and everything. As I recall he used his own book and Wilhelm and Blofeld. He would often say in conversation things like 'the Ching says I should wait' or 'the Ching says it'll work out okay, but of course it won't say when!' or 'well, I thought of that, too, but the Ching says it's not a good idea'. He wouldn't go against it
.”

If Nigel Richmond’ sincerity towards the Book of Changes do not touch aficionados, perhaps they may not quite know the roots of Yijing studies.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

An accurate Guan Yin Oracle (4)

In the first article on January 21, 2012 I have had mentioned that it was worthwhile for investors to interpret the following prediction in an accurate Guan Yin Oracle although I would not know when its timing will come to an end:

Silkworms and grain will yield only half a crop, but your herds will bring you better profit.

Since many would not have the wherewithal knowledge to decipher its cryptic message, the follow up article titled “An accurate Guan Yin Oracle (2)” on May 7, 2012 provided an interpretation (and elaboration on the particular prediction) in line with my wish to make phenomenon easy to understand and simple to follow by readers or users:

‘It is better to invest in stocks and shares rather than investing in commodities’.

With the interpretation, this second article proved very popular to readers especially among those from Singapore. Its popularity has since surged and has surpassed the previous articles on Hexagram 62 and on the Hua Hu Ching when global stock markets kept on rising in the second half of 2012.

Since stocks and commodities markets also wax and wane, a hint on the timing of their waning according to a prognostication from the Book of Changes was also given in the second article, and duly explained in the third article.

So far the interpreted prediction that ‘It is better to invest in stocks and shares rather than investing in commodities’ still holds true. Since Singaporean and global stocks have performed very well, while commodities prices have either stagnated or dropped, in 2012 up to January 2013. To date, Asian stocks have reached their eighteen months high while US stocks have climbed to their highest in five years according to Bloomberg reports.

Therefore, is it not both fascinating and profound that a single sentence in an accurate Guan Yin Oracle and similar to a line prognostication from the Book of Changes (Yijing / Yi) can tell us so much about what is going to happen in the global financial markets?

Is it not probable through extended divination experiences to determine the timing of future events – the waxing and waning of financial markets in this instance – just by analyzing a prognostication, the accompanying hexagram, and/or the attributes of its trigrams?

Continuing to improve our art of Yijing divination and the science of interpretation can bring aficionados a step closer to divine like a spirit and thereafter to assist the gods.

Readers who believed in the accuracy of a Guan Yin Oracle and in my ability to correctly interpret the prediction and have accordingly invested in stocks and shares in 2012 instead of commodities, would have increased their wealth.

With this sudden increase in wealth, it is suggested that these particular readers make a donation to their favorite charity to benefit the needy and the poor for some merits which is in line with the teachings in the Book of Changes. Those from Singapore should also make a contribution to their favorite temple of Guan Yin to help out with its maintenance for the benefit of her devotees. This would also assist the gods.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Friday, February 01, 2013

An update of my profile and things

It has been almost eight years since my blogging started and this is the 600th article, and having reached a milestone of sorts, it is time to update my profile and things.

What was stated in the first article dated March 26, 2005 on Heaven and Earth remain my ambition to make seemingly profound things (including phenomena) easy and simple for others to understand and to follow.

If making complicated things easy and simple to understand and to follow has worked in my professional undertakings for over three decades, it could also work in the study of the profound Tao and the Book of Changes. Though it may take longer to do so, not because of insufficient knowledge but because many minds have for too long come under the undue influence of ignorant scholars / translators, fake Tao and Yijing ‘masters’, I would still try.

Readers having the caliber would comprehend the simplicity of my second article dated March 27, 2005 on ‘What do the ancients teach?’ which is reproduced below for your easy reference:

After spending much time on the Ancients’ thoughts, my simple understanding is that the great masters (Laozi, Confucius, Buddha and others) all teach a way to cultivate and return to the Tao. The neo Taoists (including immortals), neo Confucians and neo Buddhists (including Bodhidharma) named this method as the cultivation of both essence and bodily life.

To return to the Tao one therefore has to meditate (essence) and cultivate virtues (bodily life) forming the main part of one’s cultivation.

Lest you forget about the ancient Book of Changes (I Ching or Zhouyi), there are references to the trigrams and hexagrams in inner alchemy texts so it is advisable to study the Zhouyi too. If you do divination it can heighten your spiritual awareness. And if the Zhouyi truly speaks to you, wow!

Writing here may spark intensity to analyze and research the Ancients’ thoughts in a different perspective from what you and I have delved in so far. Learning shall not cease.

Sometimes the truth is in front of you, inside you, or out there.


And most of the six hundred articles in the blog deal specifically with ancient teachings therefore if readers have any questions on these things, they could probably find an answer from one of these articles.

There are many a time when I pulled the legs of readers by quoting Zhuangzi’ ‘How would I know (that)?’ to cast doubts on my real knowledge especially on neidan (inner alchemy) and/or Tao. While the more discerning among the readers would know if I really knew the topic well or not, others would have to do further research instead of relying on my words to understand what were actually discussed.

Instead of remaining a hidden dragon, and pretending not to know – it is much easier than pretending to be a know-it-all - and to substantiate that what is contained in the Secret of the Golden Flower and the Hui Ming Ching as translated by Richard Wilhelm / Baynes is appropriate for learning the backward flow method for the Circulation of the Light, no matter what pedant scholars or other translators say, my up-to-date profile would now read as:

Allan Lian, a Malaysian Chinese, started to read the four Confucian books and five Classics at age 19. The Zhouyi has since 1990 bestowed upon him global omens. In 2003 he published on the Web the first of several global omens before their actual unfolding. Their accuracy has probably caught USA’s attention evidenced by her 2010 preparations to protect Americans.

Self-taught, he cultivates his nature (Xing) and fate (Ming) and practises the backward flow method for the Circulation of the Light. He has shared insights since 1993 with a Quanzhen Longmen VIP. While Allan may have witnessed several eternal Tao signposts and has the spiritual clarity to probably penetrate ancient classics and the Changes, he is still learning. The blog title depicts his finite knowledge.


My self-studying of the ancient four books and five classics have started at the late age of nineteen compared to the renowned Neo Daoists and Neo Confucians who probably have had studied the same received texts from childhood right up to their youth. Except that, I am probably a bit more fortunate than most since the Book of Changes has given me many omens including global ones over the decades.

By studying and cultivating what has been taught by the ancients, and at the mature age of forty, I decided to self practise the ancient meditation taught in the Secret of the Golden Flower by Lu Dongbin (the Daoist text translated by Wilhelm / Baynes). Having attained some success in it, I started to share the insights with my learned Quanzhen friend - an elder who is taught directly by his ancestor master, a Daoist celestial immortal - and have continued to do so over two decades. Over the years, because of his cultivation, dedication, and sacrifices, my friend has been promoted to be a leader in Quanzhen Longmen Pai.

However a word of caution: students should not jump in to learn the backward flow method either from this Daoist text or from real neidan masters in China unless they are already cultivating virtues – also refer to the articles on ‘Right persons for Tao’ and on ‘Of students and masters (12)’. There is actually no need to rush since the eternal signposts of Tao of which some have been blogged over the years will always be there for the right persons. Since the truth is in front of you, inside you, or out there.

Over the years, friends and readers have requested to study under me but since I still have lots to learn and my blogging can benefit more people in the world, I do not take in students. Their questions on neidan, Tao and the Book of Changes would probably be answered by one of the six hundred articles or in future articles, if at all. Please take note of that.

With the explanations in this 600th article, perhaps readers now understand why I seemed to know a touch more on the Book of Changes, neidan, Heaven, and Tao than many. And can be highly critical of those who intend to mislead students in the study and in the practice of these profound subjects.

According to the Book of Changes, a generation has since passed therefore it is time for this dragon to reappear to the multitude once again!

And to follow the guidance of our venerable teacher accordingly is a way for Yijing aficionados to master fate and to change destiny!