Prayers for Prosperity and Happiness  

Over the years, the Smiling or Fat Buddha has come to represent several beneficial attributes such as happiness, prosperity and contentment. Consequently, people in East Asia such as China and Japan have placed the Fat Buddha statue in their homes and offices in order to attract these attributes into their lives.

However, the Fat Buddha statue does not only accommodate prayers for prosperity and happiness. Certain derivations of the Fat Buddha statue also represent other benefits. For example, the statue of the Fat Buddha with children also symbolizes his role as the guardian of children and brings good luck to families with young children or are expecting children. Similarly, the Fat Buddha sitting on a pile of gold coins symbolizes abundance and wealth.


Tradition or Feng Shui

While Chinese and Japanese tradition merely associates the placement of the Fat Buddha in the home or office with prayers for prosperity and happiness, there is a school of thought known as Feng Shui that also focuses on the actual position of the placement and direction the Fat Buddha statue is facing.

In Feng Shui, the reason for buying and placing figurines or statues in the home is to correct a certain imbalance in your life. The placement of particular figurines in a certain part or direction of the house is meant to bring harmony and order into your life, letting you experience a more peaceful and prosperous life. The amount of benefit achieved by such placements depends on whether the rules of Feng Shui are being followed correctly.


Feng Shui Fundamentals

Feng Shui (literally "Wind and Water" in Chinese), is all about balance and harmony between us and our environment. Just like the Yin and Yang energies (whose symbol, as pictured on the right, is becoming increasingly well-known), Feng Shui is about balance. Where there is light, there will always be darkness; where there is fire, there will always be water; and so forth.

Feng Shui teaches that every individual interacts differently to their environment. Sometimes, a particular environment - such as a house or office - is so suited to you that you find that everything in your life is great. However, if you have troubled relationships or financial woes, it is quite likely that there is some discord or imbalance between yourself and your environment, manifesting in your daily life. By subtly modifying your environment, you will be able to restore this balance, and consequently improve your life. Modifying your environment can be as simple as changing the angle or position of your work desk, or by placing certain figurines such as the Fat Buddha in proper locations in your home or office.

There are many systems of authentic classical Feng Shui. This website focuses on the Xuan Kong (pronounced "Shu-en Kong") system. Xuan Kong (literally "Mysterious Void" in Chinese) is a complete system which includes complicated formulae to calculate optimal positioning and composition of an environment.


Eight Mansion (Pa-Kua) School of Feng Shui

There are a few sub-schools within the Xuan Kong system, including the popular Flying Stars school. Our descriptions in this website are based on the Eight Mansion school, also known as the Pa-Kua school. In the Pa-Kua technique, the compass is divided into eight directions, each of which is depicted by a trigram, as can be seen to your left. Each of these directions have different significance. For example, one of the Pa-Kua directions is the life generating direction, which will be of the most interest to someone who wants their prayers for prosperity and wealth answered. Furthermore, the significance of each direction differs for each individual.

To find out how each Pa-Kua direction affects you personally, you will need to calculate your Kua Number. You can do this by Googling for a Kua Number Calculator. The calculator will provide you with your Kua Number, and more importantly, what each Pa-Kua direction means to you. In short, four of those directions will be positive and favorable to you, while the other four will have negative connotations for you. These directions will dictate where you should place Feng Shui figurines such as your Fat Buddha statues.

The eight Pa-Kua directions can be briefly summarized as follows:

• Sheng Chi (Life Generating) - This Pa-Kua direction is your prosperity and wealth direction. You would focus on this direction if you want financial strength.
• Tien Yi (Heavenly Doctor) - This direction is your health direction. You would focus on this direction if you are interested in health and physical matters.
• Nien Yin (Relationships) - This direction is your relationships direction. You would focus on this direction if you want to improve your love life and/or your marriage.
• Fu Wei (Stability) - This direction is your stability and knowledge direction. You would focus on this direction if you want to achieve tranquility and knowledge.
• Ho Hai (Mishaps) - The first negative Pa-Kua direction is your misfortune direction. You would focus on this direction if you want to reduce accidents or loss.
• Wu Gwei (Five Ghosts) - This direction is your financial loss direction. You would focus on this direction to prevent theft and other financial woes.
• Liu Sha (Six Killings) - This direction is your "evil" direction. You would focus on this direction to ward off malevolence against you.
• Chueh Ming (Total Loss) - This direction is your loss and death direction. You would focus on this direction to reduce physical loss and death around you.
  
  

BaZi Analysis

If you are interested in looking at other methods to improve your happiness or your life in general and have your prayers for prosperity answered, you might want to consider using the BaZi techniques.

BaZi (pronounced Par Zhee) is not related to normal Feng Shui. It is a form of Chinese astrology and divination, and is able to plot the course of your life using your birthdate.

Using BaZi, your strengths and weaknesses can be revealed, and you will know when your luck and prosperity cycles will peak and drop, including those crucial "clashing" points when significant changes will occur in your life. You can also find out your compatibility and relationship with your family as well as potential spouses.



If you want to learn more about the Fat Buddha and the many statues available, you can visit our Fat Buddha Statues page.