In traditional Chinese culture, qi or ch'i is believed to be a vital force forming part of any living entity. Qi translates as "air" and figuratively as "material energy", "life force", or "energy flow". Qi is the central underlying principle in Chinese traditional medicine and in Chinese martial arts. The practice of cultivating and balancing qi is called qigong.
Feng shui, also known as Chinese geomancy, is a pseudoscientific traditional practice originating from ancient China, which claims to use energy forces to harmonize individuals with their surrounding environment. The term feng shui literally translates as "wind-water" in English. This is a cultural shorthand taken from the passage of the now-lost Book of Burial recorded in Guo Pu's commentary.
Russell Conwell Hoban was an American expatriate writer. His works span many genres, including fantasy, science fiction, mainstream fiction, magical realism, poetry, and children's books. He lived in London from 1969 until his death.
Southeast Asian mancalas are a subtype of mancala games predominantly found in Southeast Asia. They are known as congka or congklak in Indonesia, congkak in Malaysia and Brunei, and sungkâ in the Philippines. They differ from other mancala games in that the player's store is included in the placing of the seeds. Like other mancalas, they vary widely in terms of the rules and number of holes used.
The Bagua or Pa Kua or Palgwae are eight symbols used in Taoist cosmology to represent the fundamental principles of reality, seen as a range of eight interrelated concepts. Each consists of three lines, each line either "broken" or "unbroken", respectively representing yin or yang, 0 or 1 forming binary numbers 000-111. Due to their tripartite structure, they are often referred to as Eight Trigrams in English.
Tenzin Ösel Hita is a Tibetan Buddhist tulku and an aspiring filmmaker from Spain.
Pabongkhapa Déchen Nyingpo, (1878–1941) was a Gelug lama of the modern era of Tibetan Buddhism. He attained his Geshe degree at Sera Mey Monastic University, Lhasa, and became a highly influential teacher in Tibet, unusual for teaching a great number of lay people. Pabongkha was offered the regency of the present Dalai Lama but declined the request because "he strongly disliked political affairs."
Chris Riddell, is a British illustrator and occasional writer of children's books and a political cartoonist for the Observer. He has won three Kate Greenaway Medals as well as the British librarians' annual award for the best-illustrated children's book, and two of his works were commended runners-up, a distinction dropped after 2002.
Alden Taylor (Tad) Mann, is an American astrologer, author, designer and artist who has written 18 books and is best known for his books and paintings on astrology and sacred architecture, sexuality and gardens.
Thubten Chodron , born Cheryl Greene, is an American Tibetan Buddhist nun, author, teacher, and the founder and abbess of Sravasti Abbey, the only Tibetan Buddhist training monastery for Western nuns and monks in the United States. Chodron is a central figure in the reinstatement of the Bhikshuni ordination of women. She is a student of the 14th Dalai Lama, Tsenzhab Serkong Rinpoche, Lama Thubten Yeshe, Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, and other Tibetan masters. She has published many books on Buddhist philosophy and meditation, and is currently co-authoring with His Holiness the Dalai Lama a multi-volume series of teachings on the Buddhist path, The Library of Wisdom and Compassion.
Censorship is a long term issue in Malaysia which has become more apparent as it attempts to adapt to a modern knowledge-based economy. Despite having in its Federal Constitution states that subject to certain conditions, “every citizen has the right to freedom of speech and expression”, Malaysia has consistently sat low on global indexes related to press and media freedom.
The Goddess of Mercy Temple is a Chinese temple in the city of George Town in Penang, Malaysia. Situated at Pitt Street, it was first built in 1728, making it Penang's oldest Taoist temple.
Robina Courtin is a Buddhist nun in the Tibetan Buddhist Gelugpa tradition and lineage of Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. In 1996 she founded the Liberation Prison Project, which she ran until 2009.
Chinese spiritual world concepts are cultural practices or methods found in Chinese culture. Some fit in the realms of a particular religion, others do not. In general these concepts were uniquely evolved from the Chinese values of filial piety, tacit acknowledgment of the co-existence of the living and the deceased, and the belief in causality and reincarnation, with or without religious overtones.
In "honeycomb housing" small courtyard neighbourhoods of 5 to 16 cluster houses form cul-de-sac communities of 42 houses or less, which in turn form part of a larger neighbourhood of up to 300 houses. The honeycomb concept was first introduced in Malaysia as an alternative to terrace houses and the predominantly rectilinear form of residential layouts. It seeks to offer a community lifestyle that many Malaysians used to enjoy in their childhood but in an urban setting.
Sandra Kynes is an American author who has written several books based on her pagan beliefs. Her works include A Year of Ritual, Gemstone Feng Shui, Whispers from the Woods, Sea Magic, Change at Hand and Your Altar.
9 Star Ki is a popular system of astrology, often used alongside Feng shui. It is an adjustment or consolidation, made in 1924 by Shinjiro Sonoda (1876-1961), to traditional Chinese divination and geomancy methods, such as Flying Star Feng Shui, the Ming Gua number from the Eight Mansions Compass School of Feng Shui, and combining the Lo Shu Square with the "Later Heaven" Bagua.
Dr Stephen Skinner is an Australian author, editor, publisher and lecturer. He is known for authoring books on magic, feng shui, sacred geometry and alchemy. He has published more than 46 books in more than 20 languages.
Evelyn Lip is a Malaysian-born architecture scholar and Feng shui consultant. She is the author and co-author of over fifty books on architecture, Chinese geomancy, and children's stories.
Dr. Mohamed Ghazali bin Abdul Rashid or better known by his pen name Malim Ghozali PK was a Malaysian writer and laureatte from Perak. He was crowned as the Sasterawan Perak in 2014. He authored a variety of literary works such as novels and short stories. He also received numerous awards including the Southeast Asian Writers Award in 2013.
