The 'WAY' Is Not Easily Gained - The 'TAO' Is Not Sold Cheaply

There are unspoken rules when seeking help from the Chinese (Esoteric Skills) Masters. The older generation Chinese know about that and the Chinese Masters behave as such. 

Since ancient times, all walks of life have had their own Trade Standards (行业规范) , which are called "Codes Of Practice" (行规). The several fields of Chinese Esoteric Arts  are no exception. 

For example, with regard to the question of whether to charge and how to charge, the Patriarch  has long admonished: 卦不空断 - No 'Empty-Handed' (Free) Gua Reading and 命不空算 - No 'Empty-Handed' (Free)  Fortune-Telling.

Often time, there are folks (especially online) seeking FREE Consultations. There are still many half-past-six "practitioners" casually give Free Advices to these Free-Service Seekers and then the Free-Service Seekers will half-heartedly accept the Free-Advice and yet again going around seeking for more Free-Advices in a loop. 

* On my side, as a Taoist Sorcery Master cum Kumantong 4D Master, there are Folks, who can't afford the fee or not interested to pay that kind of fee, will immediately dissappear by themselves, when they realised there are High Fees involved.  Some folks, especially the Foreign Workers like to ask for Kumantong 4D Prediction, and expecting to be Free.*

Surprisingly, these sayings of  'Ancient (Chinese) Codes Of Practice of Ancient (Chinese) Mystic Masters', which the Chinese know about, have never been translated into English or other Foreign Languages to guide the foreigners, when seeking help from the Chinese (Esoteric Skills) Masters.


 The Ancient Chinese Codes Of Practice Of The Chinese Mystic Masters: 

法不轻传 - The 'Way' is not easily gained

In a narrow sense, the "法" (Fa) - "The Esoteric (Secret) Ways (Methods)" here refers to "法术" (Fa Shu) - Taoist Sorcery.  In a broad sense,   "法" (Fa)  refers to other worldly skills, such as the superb craftsmanship of a Stone Carver, the carpentry skills of a carpenter, and the martial arts skills of martial arts masters. 

Generally speaking, the ancients would pass on their unique skills to their children and grandchildren. Those with a larger structure would accept some apprentices and then pass them on to those with higher talents.

The reason why "The 'Way' Is Not Easily Gained" is not a manifestation of narrow-mindedness and selfishness, but rather helplessness. 

Why do you say that? If the 'Skills Of Trade' is passed on to outsiders, once the other party has a character problem and does not Show Gratitude (知恩图报) , it is very likely that "After disciples mastered the Skills, the master starved to death" (教会徒弟,饿死师傅). 

*This issue is very common in ancient time, whereby the non-Chinese Folks (Foreigners) would learn the Secret Knowledge of the Chinese People, and then self-proclaim the skills they gained were their own creation, without paying respect to the Chinese Patriach Of that particular Knowledge & Skills.*

In addition, everyone's talents are different. If the talents of children / grand children or apprentices are average, it is difficult to learn the essence of the "法" (Fa), and it will be lost over time.

In this way, before teaching  the "法" (Fa), two aspects are often considered. On the one hand, it depends on the character of the other party. If the character is not good, no matter how high the talent is, he / she will not be considered; on the other hand, it is the talent of the other party. Every Trades needs talent. For a person with average talent, no matter how much time it takes, it will not be unique.

道不贱卖 - The 'Tao' is not sold cheaply

The "道" (Tao)here can be understood as truth, method, and experience. A person sums up useful methods and skills through study and life experience, and cannot easily tell others. Even if the other person wants to learn very much, he must pay the corresponding price. 

As the saying goes, there is no shortcut to success, but there must be a method. If you master this method, you will be able to avoid many detours and achieve success more easily. Otherwise, you will get half the result with half the effort.

Tao is not cheap, similar to the modern method of paying for knowledge. Others spend their time and energy to master the method, generally will not be not free to you. After all, time is money. It is almost impossible to get successful experience and methods without paying. 

There is no free lunch in the world. The Tao Te Ching writes: "That which you want to take. Must first be given." (Tao Te Chin Verse 36) If you want to learn from others, you must understand the truth that “Tao is not cheap”. At that time, be sure not to be stingy.

师不顺路 - The Master doesn't answer the Passer-By

The "Teacher / Master" (师) in '师不顺路' - "Teacher does not answer the Passer-By" originally referred to the Feng Shui Master (风水师), and later included the Teacher / Master (of a Skilled Trade).  

As we all know, the ancients believed deeply in Feng Shui, and they would find people to look at Feng Shui when they built a house, and  also when look at Feng Shui for a cemetery. 

The overall meaning of '师不顺路' - "Teacher does not answer the Passer-By"  means that when a Feng Shui Master gives Feng Shui Audit to someone else's home, you should not casually ask him to take a look at your home. This is a huge disrespect for the Feng Shui Master. The Rule is You need to show your sincerity by formally inviting him over, by Paying WITH A FEE of course. If not, he will not entertains You.

The same is true for Education Teachers. In ancient times, there was a saying that “To be a teacher for one day, and to be a father for life” (一日为师,终身为父)  In ancient times, the private school teachers (私塾先生) basically did not take the initiative to accept students, but the parents sent their children to the school with a sincere attitude. 

It is not that ancient Feng Shui Masters and / or Education Teachers deliberately put on airs, but they need to be respected. If they are easy to give Feng Shui Audits , or accept students at will, their value will not be reflected.

医不叩门 - The Chinese Physician doesn't Knock on Doors

Under normal circumstances, if someone in the family is sick, the family members will invite the Chinese Physician to the house, instead of the doctor who takes the initiative to come over. 

There are two reasons behind the reason why the doctor is not stingy. The first reason is that if the doctor only hears from others that someone is ill, he is in the kindness of the doctor, and takes the initiative to rush to the patient's home, only to find that the other person is alive and healthy, there is no disease at all, and it is very embarrassing to cause misunderstanding.

The second reason is that each patient’s condition is different. The doctor does not know what preparations to make before he does not understand the condition. If he takes the initiative to come to his home for treatment when he is not prepared enough, it may delay time or even make it too late for treatment. If relatives go to ask a doctor, describe the patient's condition, there is probably a spectrum in the doctor's center. In addition, if the patient is still not cured after doing their best, the relatives will not complain, after all, they invited the doctor over.

Further Codes of Practice:

卦不空断 - No "Empty-Handed" (Free) Gua Reading

Takes Da Liu Ren (大六壬)  as an example, the former sages have long stated that if the heart is sincere, it will be accurate, and the insincere , will not. (凡六壬课占,诚占必准,不诚则否). 

Sincere person burns incense and pray with pious, solid heart.  With sincere heart, therefore, the divination will be accurate. If you treat it as just a  leisure game, it will not be accurate. 诚者,心一而已,焚香虔祷,心固一矣。仓猝惶急而占,心亦必一,故此占皆准,若懈怠游戏而占,百无一准。

If you take up the trouble to do the divination, you must take the Consultation Fee, and is not about Greed over Money. If you don't take the Consultation Fee for good reasons, then people will treat it for granted, and you can't avoid being slack. When You charge a Fee,  people will treat it seriously, and if you have to, you will not provide the service. If they pay You, this will show their sincerity. 为人占事,必取课金,非为贪财,良因不取课金,则人随便来占,不免懈怠。限以课金,则世人惜财,非不得已则不占,不得已则心诚,诚则准矣。

Divination (on particular issue) should be done only one time, and if you redo on the reading again, you will blaspheme upon it and therefore unreliable. If the predicted outcomes have not been fulfilled after the Divination, or have changed in the course of the event, do not need to re-consult about it it again, that is, the previous lesson has already made every effort to make it clear. 一事只占,再占则渎而不靠矣。设占后未见应验,或事中又生变化者,不必再占,即以前课尽心推求,无不昭然若揭。

Consultation Reading on common issues were originally only done for one time. In the case of critical illness or disasters, even if they are Counsulted (Divine-Reading) repeatedly, they must be accepted. Here, seeing the gods’ kindness, pitying him for his sincerit. However, it must be reasonable.  常事原只一占,若遇疾病危急,灾难逼迫之际,虽迭次占之,亦必皆准,于此见神明仁慈,怜其慎恻之诚,故略其再三之渎也。然亦必所占顺理,非理之事,神岂来告? 

命不空算 - No "Empty-Handed" (Free) Fortune-Telling 

The above explanation clearly pointed out the importance of consultation fees. Unfortunately, the world cannot understand the profound meaning of it, thinking that it is just a matter of money. 

As for '命不空算 - No "Empty" (Free) Fortune-Telling' , the ancients made it more clear: Fortune-telling is not for Free. If provide Free, that will have a Karmic debt on the Free-Loaders. Free Reading will hurt the Two Males -  Free-Loading Men Clients will hurt their wives and wealth, Free-Loading women will hurt their husbands. 古人就说得更明确了:算命不算空,算空两不公,男人伤妻财,女人伤老公。

Firstly, money is one of the standards for measuring sincerity, and fortune-telling (Life Reading) must be respectful. Reluctant to pay, just want to know the answer (of the secret of heaven), is against God's will.

Secondly, be willing to give, then You are are able to be rewarded (有舍才有得) -  *Tao Te Ching Chapter 36. As the saying goes:"It take ten years to produce a scholar,  it is even much more difficult to master Zhou Yi (周易) in twenty years.  In You can't using  simple thing like "Money" to express as a word of "thank you" to the Master for help, will Your heart feel at ease?


Special "Free Service" Consultation Situation

Thirdly, there is indeed a special "free service" situation in  Chinese Divination / Fortune-Telling / Life Reading, but this is a special situation, and there are three:

1. There is no charge of Consultation Fee for people who are ABOUT TO DIE.

2. From then on, people who have never made it to the end will not be charged.

3. There is no charge for those who are imminent and unable to resolve the disaster. In addition, the rich  pays more, the poor pay less, and so on.

For thousands of years, there has been a saying among the Chinese People: 

*If a (Chinese) person goes to a Chinese Fortune Teller to tell his fortune, and the fortune teller tells him after the consultation, he will not have to pay,  the person will cry!*

By giving himn / her, Free Consultation.... Not only is he unhappy, but he cries loudly instead? The answer is very clear: Giving Free Service after the consultation, means the Master found out he / she is confirmed going to Die anytime soon. 

In today's society, on the contrary, everyone thinks that the more cheaper the fee the better, the BEST  is for FREE, otherwise, they think that the Divination Master / Fortune Teller / Feng Shui Master / Taoist Sorcerer is too calculative.

Conclusion: 

Although the times are different, the Ancient (Chinese) Codes Of Practice of Ancient  (Chinese) Mystic Masters still apply today.   

The cycle of heaven requires balance. If you want to get it, you have to pay. Be Respectful and willing to pay the Master You are seeking for answers or for spiritual intervention. Otherwise, Gods won't tell and won't help!

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