This is a repost of a classic article. Though it centers on family, it contains a wealth of essential insights for those seeking to elevate themselves — well worth bookmarking and reading carefully.
Why does a person need to broaden their knowledge throughout their lifetime? Because there are far too many things in this world that only truly register in your heart once you have witnessed them with your own eyes — and from that recognition, you can set meaningful goals and strategies for your own life.
Anyone with even a passing familiarity with Chinese wisdom traditions understands that the fifteenth day of the first lunar month — the Lantern Festival — is for calling in blessings, and that this day carries far greater weight than the fifth day’s welcoming of the wealth god.
When the Lantern Festival blessings are properly received, the entire year that follows flows smoothly and harmoniously. Your wealth fortune improves. Your career prospects brighten. Your romantic destiny flourishes. Your noble benefactors (Gui Ren) appear.
The greatest skill in the world is this: “Never judge anything by its outer appearance — always dig down to its core essence.” — Master Chi
Let me begin with a brutally honest piece of life experience.
A person who cannot see through to the essence of things will, with near certainty, spend their entire life stumbling from one failure to the next. Why? Because they will never discover the key that allows them to rise steadily.
The first article of 2022 — the long-awaited Fortune of the Year of the Tiger (Ren Yin) — has finally arrived. Published just in time for the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, the day we welcome the God of Wealth, and right before the world returns to work. No small feat.
The reason I pushed to get this out on this particular day is simple: this piece is a comprehensive overview that directly analyzes each Chinese zodiac sign’s wealth fortune (cái yùn), career, blessings, relationships, and favorable and unfavorable influences for the year ahead.
At this very moment, you’re probably packing your bags to head home, or getting the house ready to welcome the new year — caught up in the cheerful, joyful bustle of it all. But even amid all this busyness, Master Chi would like to briefly interrupt, to share with you what’s truly in my heart: this past year has been hard on you.
It’s thanks to this year of the Ox — a year that defies easy description — that so many people have come to understand: sometimes in life, simply holding your ground against the hidden currents and undertow is itself an extraordinary achievement. So please, don’t feel disappointed if this year passed without fanfare. And don’t feel regret if it was full of twists and setbacks. Regardless of whether you achieved anything or accomplished anything in 2021 — if you made it through safe and sound, free from illness and misfortune, then you have already done remarkably well. That alone is reason enough for us to embrace one another, to offer encouragement and blessings to each other.
Time passes quietly. Looking back, I’ve written quite a variety of content this year — so today, Master Chi wants to write an article about how to cultivate greater karmic merit (福报) for yourself.
This piece offers both guidance for your personal advancement and counsel for how you carry yourself in the world. After all, becoming a better, stronger person with fortune flowing freely — that is our greatest goal for the new year.
Today is a busy one — I don’t have the energy for a long piece. So instead, let me share one sharp, hard-hitting lesson on growth:
In this world, what matters isn’t whether something is comfortable to look at — it’s whether you can see it clearly.
I need you to burn this into your memory. Because if you don’t grasp it at a bone-deep level, it will cost you dearly throughout your life.
I firmly believe that if you take the assignment at the end of this article seriously, it will bring about a genuine transformation in your life.
A reader once sent me this question: “Master Chi, why do some people — who clearly have no real ability — keep getting lucky windfalls from the universe, one after another?”
My direct answer: impossible. First, a person with no real ability might stumble into unexpected money once in their lifetime — at most. Second, even if they do, they won’t be able to hold onto it. If someone keeps receiving windfall after windfall, it only means they have qualities and advantages that you simply haven’t been able to see yet. They definitely do. You just can’t read them.
More than one friend has told me that the festive spirit of the New Year and other holidays feels increasingly hollow these days — especially during the years when fireworks were banned and large gatherings weren’t possible. Their view: holidays are just a synonym for time off, nothing more.
Whenever friends vented like this, I’d give them a breezy reply: “But time off is wonderful — peace and quiet is the finest luxury of all.”
Deep down, I’ve never been one to actively cozy up to the wealthy and powerful people around me. It’s not that Master Chi has some noble character — I simply know my own limits. When a distinguished guest invites me to examine their fortune (运势), life pattern (格局), or Feng Shui, I won’t decline. But when it comes to business tips or joint ventures? Honestly, I don’t dare take that on. The reason is simple: “I’m grateful for the recognition — but I genuinely can’t catch what’s being thrown at me.”