Joey floors the Indians, once again!

August heralded Joey Yaps third visit to India. As usual, it was a great pleasure and honour to have him back.

India is a special place for Joey. His first (unscheduled & impromptu) Xuan Kong course was held in India at the Taj Mahal Hotel in January 2003. He graciously agreed to carry out this one day workshop that was the pre-cursor to his now hugely popular Xuan Kong series, on his day off between Modules 2B and 3. This was despite the fact that it was his first trip to India and had to forgo his sightseeing! (I confess now that I almost held a gun to his head in order for him to agree….but that's another story for another day!)

Within a week of launching his Mastery Academy earlier this year, he flew to India to conduct Bazi I and II and Xuan Kong I. As this was his first class in his independent career, we performed a traditional Indian inaugural "puja" on the first day, before the courses began. In India, nothing begins without this ceremony, and we were honoured to be present at this momentous occasion and mile stone. The shock on Joeys face (he had no clue of what was taking place) was captured by Chris and I hope Joey will not mind my sharing it with you all!

The courses were packed and Joey gained a huge fan following among his Indian students. He completed the entire syllabuses and managed to squeeze in a lot of hidden bonuses, which naturally thrilled the students.

Early this month, he was back again, at the fabulous Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, to carry on with the Xuan Kong II A and Feng Shui Mastery Series - Module 3.

To create the picture for those who missed it, the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai is the hotel from which India's largest Hotel chain began. The hotel is just over 100 years old, and in fact was celebrating its 100 years Centenary, when we had the first courses in India in January 2003. The hotel overlooks the sea, the world famous Gateway of India forms part of its green dragon embrace, and it has a palatial ambience and unique old world charm. It is the last word in luxury, and the perfect setting for a successful academy. The bonus was Joey's fine assessment of the success of the hotel in relation to its external formations. (I swear till date, in all my years of living in Bombay, I had not noticed those mountains across the sea till Joey pointed them out)

Lunch time was a treat everyday, with the Taj outdoing itself with unbelievable spreads each day. (Srini from England said he would come back to do all his other courses in India, just for the food!) I suspect that is why Joey is so happy to be back, he loves the food too, and has now identified all his favourite eating spots. Dinners were fun, and Joey was once again exposed to the Indian lifestyle, far removed from an average foreigners notion of India, thanks to BBC and CNN's, concept of poverty, dirt and mosquitoes.

What made the class even more enjoyable was the fact that the students were well prepared, and enthusiastic, hence Joey did not have to struggle with the basics but could carry on with the meaty bits. Their receptivity to his higher level of teaching in turn, made him even more enthusiastic and the result was a dynamic, highly powered class. I had spent a lot of time preparing the students for Joey's arrival and had given them extensive preparation workbooks to make understanding much easier. On Joeys part, he went all out to give them as much as they were able to take, going well over the stipulated 5 pm on a couple of days.

Needless to mention, Joeys classes in India are in great demand, and the demand is increasing day by day.

I have given a little information on the new courses for those of you who wish to consider pursuing them.

Xuan Kong I
This series is one that no serious practitioner can afford to miss. At 600 USD for 2 days it is fantastic value as the topics covered are varied and detailed.

A teaser: We know right from Module 1, that missing sectors are bad. Xuan Kong I tells you
1. how bad,
2. which sectors are okay to miss, which are not.
3. Who gets affected by the missing sectors
4. and when!
5. O yes, and how you are affected. THAT specific.
6. Finally, how to rectify them.

And this took an hour, and was the simple part. I am not at liberty to reveal any more but all I can say is that this is a mind blowing course.

Why is Xuan Kong series a MUST DO?

Firstly, you learn that there is much more to a Feng Shui audit than flying stars. You understand how flying stars form just about 5% of your overall assessment, and find out the true meaning of "star". You learn how to assess without a luo pan, how to see beyond Ba Zhai and flying stars as your ONLY tools.

Xuan Kong II
For almost all the students Xuan Kong II A was a revelation as it completely changed their thinking. It left them reeling with information that was unbelievably fantastic, and sooooo much was covered in a short span of two days. (The Xuan Kong II workbook is a FULL 200 pages, that's a lot to cover in 2 days)

For those who have not experienced Joey, this may seem impossible, but hello, that is Joey's USP - lots of information, well presented and all the theory and reasoning explained. No wastage of time in gossip, chatter and non-relevant conversation. He appreciates and respects the value of the students time and the money they have spent.

One of the exciting parts of this course explains that all the stars are usable, the skill is in knowing how. (This takes up a small part of one morning only) This rids us of the earlier notions that certain rooms are "unusable".

XK II A dispels all the myths about crooked beds and doors. Joeys approach to sleeping, cooking, doors etc is far more practical and user friendly. His solutions are so simple you wonder why you never thought of it yourself!

You end up with a far larger range of solutions and approaches than before. You also know what are the techniques used for diagnosis, and what is used for solutions. (There is a difference)

Module 3

This course was held after XK II and IIA. It had many last minute rush registrations after students who had not attended the Xuan Kong series, heard about how good it was, and did not want to take the chance of missing anything more. Even for those who were doing Module 3 for the second time, it was like a completely new course.

Whats new?

1. For starters, all the mis-conceptions about water dragons and all the false hype surrounding them were explained in a simple format. To quote Joey, "there are no secret formulas, the secret is in the understanding and in the application."

2. The importance of external formations were amplified and I must admit, even I, a veteran of many courses over many years and continents, was suitably impressed, as much of what we were taught was completely new.

3. Assessment of mountains and water was explained with real photographs, not line drawings from the ancient classics as we are usually given. (there is no harm in line drawings from the ancient classics, it's the translation into real life forms that causes confusion as you usually do not find mountains that resemble the drawings) Joey has painstakingly catalogued unusual and typical land formations from around the world. (Good job Chris!)

4. A deep insight into the 5 elements were totally explained, and their application in different circumstances demonstrated.

5. Reading the luo pan: at the end of the course the student were able to read most of the Luo pan rings. Untill now, most of the students honestly admitted to using the luopan only to read the 24 mountain and at the most, the robbery mountain rings. Now the luopan can be used for the purpose it is intended.

6. Throwing away the book: Joeys approach teaches you to think and apply the basics. No need to carry around the heavy files and books that contain all your notes and charts. He believes and teaches you how, once you have mastered the basics and know the reasoning, you only have to APPLY.

7. CORRECT THIS MISCONCEPTION: JOEY DOES NOT DISLIKE SAN HE: In fact he is very good at it. There is a popular (and false) rumour that Joey only promotes San Yuan, and not the San He system. Well, there is loads of San He in Module 3, and he explains it very well, so there goes another myth. In fact, what the students appreciated in this course was the explanation of the usage of the rings for each formula, which was quite a mystery to many students of Module 3, until now. Finally, we know which ring is used in each of the formulas, very clearly.

8. ACCURACY: this is the part I appreciated the most. If a formula is not verified in the classics, or it does not work, or there is a shadow of doubt about its accuracy or efficacy, it is deleted from the course. This shows his integrity, and honesty of purpose. He has limited the formulas to only those that are tried and tested. Thank you Joey. Your gesture is appreciated.

9. Simplicity of execution: The solutions are easy to implement and do not make ridiculous and expensive demands that are awkward to introduce, thereby making client interaction much easier. A practitioner must not lose sight of the fact that the client comes to you in distress and wants usually an inexpensive solution. TIP: Use Xuan Kong for immediate relief and then M3 applications for long term benefits.

FOR STUDENTS FROM OTHER SCHOOLS:

At this point I must say, from the viewpoint of an instructor who is answerable to all the students I have taught, that Joey has been most gracious to all those wanting to join his Mastery Academy. He has made the crossover from other schools into his system very easy. All former students are invited to join the discussion list (easy to do by visiting www.masteryacademy.com and registering) where they can use the base to update their knowledge and catch up with all the additions to the new versions of the modules.

In addition, he has made it very economical should a former student wish to repeat the same module under the Mastery Academy system, (highly recommended, but not at all necessary). Each instructor offers their own incentives for former students and you should check with your local Rep for what you are eligible for.

Credit is automatically given for the Modules previously done by former students, on par. Hence those who did Module 2 under the old system could attend the Mastery Academy Module 3 automatically.

The new Modules 1 and 2 are more specific. There are some parts that are dispensed with (Robbery Mountain sha is one of them) and a lot of additional material is given. (Peach Blossom can be good…attend the course to find out how!)

8 Mansions takes on a completely new approach, and a greater emphasis is given on the 8 mansions as applicable to the house, which was earlier neglected. Once this missing information is added into your readings, you will quickly understand why certain recommendations may not have worked effectively as others. It bridges a lot of gaps. Solutions are given using elemental considerations and location v/s direction becomes a whole new concept.

Flying star assessments are also looked at with a slightly different approach, and once again a lot of logic and reasoning is applied rendering the traditional 81 combinations elementary in comparison.

8 killings are understood in light of elements, 5 Ghosts is explained in greater detail and 4 days (recommended) may not be enough to do this if the students are too raw.

My students did not consider the MA Module 2 a repeat of the old Module 2 but regarded it as a completely new course. While a repeat of Module 2 is not required, to continue your studies with the MA, I highly recommend that you take it as soon as possible because it will help you tremendously in your assessments in future. The missing information does not appear in any of the future Modules so if you missed it, you missed it.

For those who do not have an instructor in your part of the world and have to travel to take the courses, you must consider India. It is a great place to be in, fairly cheap accommodation, (USD 20-60 per day) and because prices are low and the Mastery Academy has a flexible pricing policy based on the individual country, you can get a very good deal.

Lastly a note on Bazi:

Having attended several Ba Zi modules, gained privileged information at Joeys knee, so to speak, and now teaching Ba Zi Module 1, I have to say that a students understanding of the entire range of Feng Shui studies, be it the Feng Shui Mastery, or the Xuan Kong or any Chinese Metaphysical study cannot be complete without the study of Ba Zi basics contained in the Ba Zi 1 course. This is something I discovered AFTER attending Joey's inaugural Ba Zi class. The understanding of the elements that you gain from this course is so amazing, that you wonder how you ever could do without it.

All my Indian students now thank me for practically forcing them to take on Ba Zi studies. Of course, once you get your interest going, the study becomes absolutely fascinating and you can get totally mesmerized with this skill.

Apart from increasing your understanding of the elements, yin and yang, seasons etc., it helps you to fine tune your feng shui practice as you are able to immediately tell what quality of life a person is currently enjoying and what specific problems need to be solved. I use this technique whether or not the client has asked for it, to help my assessment. If, for example, the client is going through a fairly stable phase in his life, you can take more risks with the solutions you are providing. You can also assess the level of success that can be reasonably anticipated based upon his personal timings and luck period.

My advice is to take Feng Shui Module 1, (2 days), then Ba Zi Module 1 ( 2 days). Then take a break to absorb and study what you have just learnt, for 2 days before you take on Feng Shui Module 2 ( 4 days). This should make you pretty well equipped to practice, once you master what you have learnt. (1 month to a lifetime plus loads of time over the discussion list)

For all Feng Shui enthusiasts in general:

The new 10,000 year calendar by Joey Yap is a ready reckoner that has all the information that a Feng Shui practitioner could possibly need, including the so called "secret water exits" that are really no secret as they are a part of CHINESE Feng Shui books available freely.

All the basic information that we learn in the Modules 1 - 4, be it Ba Zhai, Flying stars, water formulas (12 Birth and Growth phases), hidden attributes (na jia) stems and branches with the hidden stems…..the list is endless, are tabulated here very accurately and conveniently.

They also have all the Ba Zi formulas, hidden stems, gods and shas, in a concise tabular format, that is so easy to understand, which form part of Module 3 of the Ba Zi series, and beyond.

Flying Star charts of all the directions and all the periods and the 9 Purple star system charts are also given, for easy reference, along with the relevant formulas.

The calendar part has the English wordings (pin Yin), for those who do not read Chinese, as well as the Gregorian calendar alongside the Chinese dates, along with the monthly and daily stars.

Everything about Joey is upfront. He has presented to the non-Chinese enthusiast, much of what is commonly available to a Chinese conversant person, in commonly available books. These are "formulas" that are promoted as "secret" by unscrupulous teachers who take advantage of and exploit the Westerners lack of knowledge and exposure to these books.

He is so open because he is confident that the secret is in the application and understanding, and not in the actual formula, and attempts to end this unfair exploitation, by giving ALL the formulas for a measly 35 USD! (Contact loke@dragon-gate.com for placing your order.)

Another great idea (Phew! There are so many) is the Period 8 DVD. Enjoyable and informative, for all, from the beginner student, the uninitiated and curious and all the way to the advanced practitioner, all will find something to tickle their taste buds. At 50 USD it is a lot of information, and easy to take in.

Beginners will also love the Xuan Kong DVD's, if they are unable to get to a class. This is more like a teaser - trailer which will leave them panting for more.

If this sounds like a paid commercial, I am sorry, that is not the intention. I just wanted to share what I have benefited from, with others, as I have benefited as well.