Chapter 9 Further Discussion on "Destiny" 1 The Eight Characters and Destiny

All beings suffer, and only self-rescue can bring relief.

1.The Eight Characters and Destiny

The space in which humans exist is filled with energy, and the nature of this energy varies. The earth, where humans live, is influenced by multiple interacting energies. Because spatial energy is constantly changing, the interaction, combination, form, and intensity of these energies differ at different times and places. When this energy is endowed with life, a person acquires a soul "identifier" under the influence of this energy.

This energy is the "Five Elements".

The philosophy of the "Heavenly Stems" and "Earthly Branches"（天干地支）contains profound wisdom. From the perspective of yin and yang and the "Five Elements"（五行）, a person is born from the balance of yin and yang, acquiring the qualities of the "Five Elements" to take shape. Thus, a new life is born. The substance that constitutes the physical body is the quality of the "Five Elements", and the vitality of the physical body is manifested by the energy of the "Five Elements". The energy of the "Five Elements" varies in strength under different yin and yang forces, determining the strength of the energy endowed to a life born in different times and spaces.

Specifically, at the moment of birth, the spatial energy resides in the human body, and the "Eight Characters"（八字） reflect the combination of spatial energies at that time. The spatial energy composed of yin and yang and "Five Elements" enters the body, and the first cry of a newborn signifies the beginning of the influence of soul with sealed memories residing in a new life form. As the body ages and gradually becomes unsuitable for the soul, the soul governed by "Five Elements" will eventually leave the body and continue to exist in four-dimensional space as a wave (energy), unrestricted by time.

Taoism generally believes that the year, month, day, and hour of conception determine the spatial energy that forms the physical body, which is the combination state of the "Five Elements" that constitute the physical life (Life Soul). The year, month, day, and hour of birth constitute the energy combination state of the spirit (Heavenly Soul and Earth Soul). A vibrant human life is a complete integration of spirit and body, with the body serving as the vessel of the spirit. A life endowed with the energetic structure at conception and the spiritual structure at birth possesses unique information. Using this unique information structure to combine with spatial energies at different periods thereafter marks a person's approximate life trajectory.

The "Zhouyi Four Pillars Prediction Method"（周易四柱）, which is popular among the people, uses the year, month, day, and hour of a person’s birth to match with the "Heavenly Stems" and "Earthly Branches", predicting the person's fortune and misfortune. (Figure 9.1)

Figure 9.1: The Interactions of the Heavenly Stems, Earthly Branches, and the Five Elements

Teacher Liu Feng explained the principles of the "Eight Characters" from the perspective of dimensional space. He pointed out that, the energy of the Heavenly Stems represents the distribution of vertical energy—the distribution of time energy. It follows the energy distribution relationship of the "Five Elements", manifested as Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth (each divided into yin and yang). The Earthly Branches represent the horizontal energy distribution in the three-dimensional space of the earth. The combination of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches expresses the super-imposition of vertical and horizontal energies.

When higher-dimensional energy projects onto three dimensional space, all its distributions in the three dimensions are "destined". It is like projecting a hand onto a two-dimensional plane; the position, size, and thickness of the shadow in the two-dimensional plane are immediately apparent. Similarly, at the moment we are born, when the projection from higher dimensions occurs in three-dimensional space, all distributions are immediately apparent. This is the secret behind why the Stems and Branches can roughly foresee a person's life. In other words, the Eight Characters at the moment of our birth already secretly determine when we will meet certain people and experience certain events throughout our lives. This also explains why many people believe in fortune-telling. A fortune teller, through a person's "Eight Characters", can roughly know the person's family situation, career, wealth, and marriage. The "superior doctors" in Chinese medicine often understand "Eight Characters" and can roughly judge when a person will get sick, which organs might have problems, and use corresponding balancing methods to help alleviate the symptoms.

Someone might ask: The "Eight Characters" is a fixed quantity, based on the year, month, day, and hour of birth. Many people are born at the same time; does that mean their destinies are largely the same?

Not at all. Each individual, at the time of birth, forms their own unique space-time, and the energy in that space is constantly changing. As a result, each person is endowed with different energies. The birth chart only reflects a general and rough (incomplete) distribution of time energy, without considering factors like space, environment, and other people. In later life, everyone experiences different environments, lives in different places, and meets different partners, leading to different outcomes. It's like being the number 1 yourself, but externally, you can interact with 1, 2, 3... where 1 + 1 = 2, 1 + 2 = 3, 1 + 3 = 4... Different numbers added yield different results.

Let me give you another example. My sister and I are twins, born 9- minutes apart. From a destiny perspective, it might seem that our charts are completely identical. However, I was born at the "exact hour" of Zi-hour, while she was born at "upper hour" of Zi-hour. Although this is a subtle difference, the energy in space-time had already undergone significant changes. Later, due to differences in our places of residence, experiences, and partners, our life paths diverged completely. This illustrates that the "Eight Characters" of birth chart merely represent the interaction between personal energy and temporal space-time energy. The interpersonal relationships within human society are complex, and numerous interactions between energies occur throughout life, ultimately influencing and shaping an individual's life course.

Why do so many people believe in fortune-telling?

First, very few people can truly read and accurately interpret the "Eight Characters". The fortune-tellers outside tourist attractions are often half "psychologists" who say things that evoke "empathy", leading you to pay for "emotional value" in a brief moment.

Moreover, even if you do encounter a master who can interpret the "Eight Characters", they often can only "accurately predict the past". For example, a fortune-teller might be able to deduce your family background, parents, and childhood circumstances. Because their judgment of the past is "astonishingly accurate", many people believe that what they say about the future must be "trustworthy".

To explain further, the "Eight Characters" are divided into four columns, with each column roughly representing a period of a person’s life, such as about 16-20 years. Typically, only the first column's meaning is relatively fixed. This is because, on one hand, most people who seek fortune-telling are already adults, and the past is unchangeable; on the other hand, minors have limited independent awareness, and their objective environment is determined by their parents and family situation, leaving little room for life changes.

Since the birth date and time presented to the fortune-teller are fixed, the theoretically calculated result is also fixed, which debunks the saying that "the more you calculate your fate, the weaker it becomes". For instance, my sister and I once met a blind fortune-telling expert. My sister visited him around 2010, and over the next 10 years, we visited him two or three more times, recording each session. Because he was blind, he never remembered what he had said before and had to recalculate everything from scratch using our "Eight Characters". Astonishingly, each time he spoke, it was similar to what he had said years ago, with occasional advice based on the years and major life events. That's when I realized I no longer needed fortune-telling.