Mumbai – June 2005 with Joey Yap.

Come June, the Mastery Academy Students in Mumbai have hit panic status. Why? Joey is coming to India once again, and they think that they are not prepared!

Excitement is mounting, I host pre-courses revision classes to make sure all those attempting to sit for XK2B remember what they learnt in XK1 last year. The students organize themselves into groups and meet to exchange notes. In the midst of ferrying people to and from the airport, (we had people who flew in from every continent but the US ,) I have to answer text messages to solve the students ' last minute queries. I refuse though, to answer one that asks if she can put a flowerpot in the 5 yellows!

Why the frenzy, isn ' t XK2B ( Xuan Kong 2B) just another course?

Of course it isn ' t. Its special, all those “ in the know ” have an advance intimation of the mind-blowing content. Also, the place it is being done is extra special.

10 th June - midnight. Finally Joey and team (Chee Kin and good ol ' Chris) arrive to take on India once again. Its Chee Kin ' s first visit to India , and Chris and Joey ' s fourth! Look at the photo gallery to see what they saw of Mumbai.

11 th June - Joey enters class, to a warm but respectful welcome. Remember this is India , and he is “ Sir ” or “ Master ” to us. “ Hey Joey ” will not work here! The atmosphere is charged with anticipation. Smart lot that we Indians are, we have, right from the start, seen way beyond his lack of gray hair, and recognized the Icon for what he is, a WISE, yes WISE and well informed generous teacher. Age has nothing to do with it and we have seen that, right from the start, when he held a spellbound audience in 2002, with his first ever Xuan Kong impromptu module, right here in Mumbai. But that is another story, one you have heard many times before.

The venue this time is a large room on the 33 rd floor of the very prestigious Hilton Towers - with a spectacular 360 degree view of Mumbai, that includes a “ one character mountain ” (Malabar Hill) and a pair of huge door mountains that reveal the gap through which the city of Mumbai receives its Qi – the Qi that has made it such an important city.

In addition to his usual faithful band of Indian students, an army of Representatives ( Di Grobler – South Africa, Helene Weber – France, Jayne Goodrick - UK, and myself from India of course) and Instructors (Vin Leo – Australia, Anna Standzera – Poland,) and some other students from Europe (Hager Von der Weid – Switzerland and very own and special Georgeanne Contanyopoulos from Greece who has been in this field longer than any of us)

What a lineup!

We have also students from other parts of India . Calcutta , Chennai, Kolhapur , Pune … . etc . We have more than a full class!

All are so keen to do Xuan Kong 2B that they have spent a lot of time preparing the basic stuff so they don ' t miss anything in class. One formal revision class of Xuan Kong 1 a month before Joey arrived was done with me, and thereafter, several study groups carried on the good work. Our Indian students are a devoted lot, so their preparation paid off big time – the class went off effortlessly and so fast that a fabulous new topic (Leaning Palace) was added (Thank you Joey, much valued, lucky us!).

For those who wonder if you should repeat a Xuan Kong 1 before you do say a Xuan Kong 2B or 2C, don ' t think. Priced at 50% off for repeat students , it is a great deal, and each time there is something more that you will get, either by way of a bonus or, as we got his time, a completely new angle to the same subject.

This Module of XK 1 was as if it was being done for the first time – a completely new look at the same material, absolutely brilliant. Joey keeps pulling out more rabbits from his hat. This was my fourth XK1 and yet I was spellbound. How do you keep doing this Master Joey?

Preethi Kini
“Intriguing, interesting, can't wait for Xuan Kong 2!”

Jeyaraj Jeyakumar
“Excellent and very informative. Excellent teacher.”

Anna Standzera
“I repeated this one – but I felt as if I was doing it for the first time. Different way of teaching and more information is given.”

13 – 14 June was XK2B . The days flew past. What was actually the interpretation of the classical texts, which could prove to be boring really, was approached with such dynamism, wisdom and simplicity, that it actually appeared like a modern, scientific theory. If you understand the basics, it all just adds up. Really, simple IF YOU MASTER THE BASICS.

Xuan Kong 2B is a course dedicated to the upper and lower scrolls of Zi Bai Jue . This is probably the only class conducted in English in the world exploring an ancient classic text in its entirety! And it was just brilliant!

The Purple White Scripts, that ' s what it ' s called, is a text book referenced by ancient masters like Jiang Da Hong, Zhang Zhong Shan and Shen Zhu Ren . Of course, now that we ' ve studied this class , we know how much Shen Zu Reng did not reveal about the Purple White in his Shen Shi Xuan Kong Xue !

The matter learnt in 2B is infinitely usable and practical , and after doing 2B you feel like overriding all that you learnt earlier and just following this. Don ' t be tempted to just do the XK series for this reason and not attempt the FSM series; you need to be strong in your basics to understand XK2B in the first place.

I cannot say too much without revealing the contents of the course, which I would not want to do at this stage but I will give you a synopsis of the topics, so you can kick yourselves for missing this one:

The course begins with a line by line transcription of the Purple White Scripts . This can be got from any Chinese Bookstore. What you cannot get in the book is the interpretation. Try this for size:

Using the Map Luck as Body, Body Luck as application. This is the Usual. Using the Map to explore the Book and the Book to explore the map, this is the transformation.

Confused?
Not after an hour of hearing Joey ' s interpretation.

All those who feel they can buy the books and manage on their on, here is the example. See if you can work it out?

We explore the Hetu period luck and its effects on annual Qi .

The stars vs. the Gua . Each Gua is discussed to death and we now see each Gua as a complete entity, not just a trigram, direction or number. I remember Joey once telling me in the pre- Xuan Kong days, when I felt I knew all that there was to know about Feng Shui having done Module 1 – 4 many times over, “ whats all this hype about XK? “ And he said , I will leave you with one sentence. Think on it and then we talk.

The sentence he spoke was: “ direction is only ONE attribute of a trigram ”

Today, it means so much more, as you will all learn, post- Xuan Kong.

The star combinations work differently and there are no good or bad stars, but badly or well behaved stars. The outcome of each of the interaction of the stars under varying circumstances forms the crux of XK2B.

It explains why each apartment of a building will be affected differently based on different factors. This varies even if they are arranged identically.

That ' s the secret. How, Why. When

Then he explores the effect of the different kinds of mountains on the stars in different palaces. (Effect of palace with respect to environment)

The effect of the visiting annual stars on the various palaces, on the Qi mouth, on the person, depending on the sitting of the house, the permutations and combinations are infinite.

Next, he did something completely unexpected and out of the box. Called Purple White Combinations in the books, it is a divination technique that is chillingly accurate. It makes your hair stand on end, and the technique is so simple. It is sort of I- Ching but not quite. Can ' t say more. This one technique alone can be used to form your practice. You can do only this and nothing else and develop this into your style.

The next topic was “ Out of Gua ” which tells how the house may or may not affect an individual based on certain parameters. Really helps one to understand why a Gua 6 in one house is affected differently from a Gua 6 in another house, though the palace they reside in is the same. Confused? You wont be after you do this.

Then he approached 8 mystical doorways or the Qi Men Dun Jia Xuan Kong feng shui method and all its versions (door – door, entrance-rooms etc.) Joey demonstrated how the Purple White Classics intervened Qi Men into their Xuan Kong predictions.

One more method of Purple white divination using the hexagrams, and then the “ lower scrolls ” of the Purple white scripts.

One of the main highlights of this class was the clear and precise rendition of the Purple White Classic ' s upper scroll Xuan Kong methods

Period Master

House Master

Floor replace door

Entrance replace rooms

This course takes us closer to the original Classical Texts. This is as close as a non-Chinese can possibly get, being at a disadvantage of not knowing the language. Because Joey is Joey and his mantra is CTC (Cut The Crap) we get the refined version, pre-digested for us, ready to use.

All told, this course material can form the basis of your audits, it takes to you a completely different level. With this knowledge, you can completely dispense with the door tilting and best direction stuff you did earlier. This is timely, deals with prediction and is very dynamic.

At no point am I suggesting that you dispense with the San He and Luan Tou you did earlier, or that your studies were redundant or irrelevant. On the contrary, that part is very important when you are selecting a property, for building a house and giving long-term suggestions.

However, if you can do predictions in more that a few different ways, you can use these techniques for immediate answers and solutions. Practitioners, can keep the interaction with clients alive if they have something new to say each time they meet a client and it converts a one time client into long term ones. This technique is so unique, simple and accurate it can get addictive.

Gita Kapoor
“Great learning experience. Your courses gets better and more interesting. You teach us to be analytical and use our minds to figure out the answers ourselves – a real ‘hands on' experience! Thank you Joey for sharing your knowledge with us.”

Kelsanta Leo
“One of the most dynamic divinative study that I've encountered. This Xuan Kong Mastery Series is the best to date. It dispels the myth of flying stars combination and bring us to the highest level of divination. The detailed explaination and clarification of the Purple White classic is yet to be found anywhere else. An amazing experience! Thank you.”

Vladimir Zhakarov
“This course opens me to new horizons in my Feng Shui practice. Thank you very much.”

Jayne Goodrick
“This course has filled in so many missing pieces. It explains why ‘bad' houses are ‘good'; ‘good' houses ‘bad'. It also gave me the key to maximize the potential of my home and my clients' as well.”

Anna Standzera
“My expectations were high – what Joey gave exceeded my expectations! The best course I ever attended so many quick and applicable methods were presented. I am very satisfied.”

Bhavesh Joshi
“Before the course I was searching in a dark room with a flashlight and occasionally finding a nugget of information. But after the course, Joey has switched on the flood lights and all is clear. Thanks a lot for sharing.”

Mian Xiang Begins

15 th June : Though sadly this was the last day, Mian Xiang 1 was the icing on the cake: Face reading was looked forward to very much by us in India , as a valuable tool. ( Many times, the age of a person here is not known, so using the Gua as a reference point becomes impossible. With face reading we can get a few more pointers to make our practice more accurate.)

Joey did not disappoint. He was great and we also saw a side to him that we did not know existed – he was eloquent and humorous. His expressions had everyone in splits but this by no means took away from the seriousness and importance of the matter in the course.

I observed two things about Mian Xiang 1. First, it can be attended by anybody, even by a novice who has no previous knowledge of any Metaphysical Sciences. The content can be completely relevant and useful to anybody. Secondly, it should ideally be done on the last day, as it is so simple and stress free. It forms the perfect ending to a heavy course like the Xuan Kong series. It is like a good satisfying desert.

A tip to all those attempting Mastery Academy Courses: if it your first course, skip the next paragraph. If you are continuing your education, read on:

· Before you attend a new course, study the previous Modules by going through the workbooks and listening to the recordings. Keep all the knowledge you have at hand, even if you think it is irrelevant. E.g.: Revising Bazi modules before the Xuan Kong Courses is a great idea, all the knowledge eventually adds up.

· Keep visiting the community discussion forum, and see what others have to say, this is a great learning process.

· If you are lucky to have other students of MA around your home, try to meet at regular intervals and share your knowledge, it can only help. Compare notes. Transcribe the lectures from the recordings and compare them.

· In class, take down what you think are the key points and what is on the board only. The remaining matter can be transcribed after listening to the recordings, concentrate on the matter being taught in class, not on taking down notes without understanding what Joey says.

This way, you can catch everything he says and benefit big time.

The days in Mumbai were not all work, in fact there was a fair amount of play. The local students took it upon themselves to stay late in the classroom and go over the days teachings, so coming with Joey for dinner, however tempting, was simply not an option for them. This is one phenomenon exclusive to India .

The rest of us went on daily shopping expeditions and then to one of Joeys favourite haunts for dinner. One of the nights he came to our home to eat what he specially requested – a full stuffed goat. Chris went crazy trying to get the goat and the reps all into one frame, and you can check out the photo gallery to see what he managed. After dinner, we had a long and entertaining chat with Joey, who sat way past his curfew. It was wonderful having so many of us together in one place, a feat we manage only at events like M4.

The general consensus of opinion, unanimous approval. Should you do these courses? Most definitely. Check out the dates.

Jeyaraj Jeyakumar
“Very intensive, very useful for everyday life. Very well taught. Excellent teacher.”

Ratti Bhandari
“Very good, informative, enjoyed it. Will help me with Feng Shui and BaZi. It is a tool which I can use.”

Anna Standzera
“Extremely interesting and fun at the same time. Shows how much valuable information is presented on our face and how we can combine it with Feng Shui and BaZi.”

Gita Kapoor
“This is just too interesting. A great course, fabulously presented. It should be a good experience to test and try the skills learned on ‘unsuspecting clients'!”

Helene Weber
“There are so many things we have in our text book ready for us to practice and apply. So now, every time we consult, we have so many more topics to select and our consultations will immensely improve.”

Anil Kumar Nair
“Very good. Now we have started looking at faces from a different perspective.”

Diane Grobler
“Great fun. This knowledge will come in useful! Thank you.”

Bhavesh Joshi
“You cannot judge a book by its cover; but you can judge a person and his life path by his face.”