The making of a feng shui master

CEBU, Philippines - What does it take to become a feng shui master?

The willingness to learn, hard work and genuine concern to help others, according to one of the most sought-after feng shui practitioners in the country, Aldric Dalumpines.

Master Aldric, as he is fondly called by his clients and friends, was a senior project evaluator for a national development company when he first learned about feng shui.

"My bosses then were my mentors. They would speak of their feng shui experiences and I just listened. One of them even exhorted us employees to learn it. I eventually found myself in a consulting job as coplanner for Singya Toppings, an upcoming fastfood chain back then. The owners practiced feng shui in business planning and decisions. This was where I was introduced to feng shui formally and practically. My boss' wife, Mrs. Pat Sun Gotuaco, shared with me feng shui books. I then attended a feng shui coming-out seminar in Binondo and that was where all my learning fell into a cohesive understanding," he shared.

Because of Master Aldric's enthusiasm and genuine interest in learning feng shui, he became a scholar of a professor who held workshops in Geomancy.

"But I never really intended to practice back then. When the professor started writing a book, I offered to help him write and edit. We co-authored the first feng shui book in the Philippines entitled 'Practical Geomancy' in 1988 and its editions," he recalled.

With the knowledge he learned from his bosses, readings and the classes he attended, Aldric gave feng shui consultations to his friends and their relatives. It was only when he resigned from his job as a bank officer in 1998 that he started practicing feng shui professionally.

"My friends supported my decision to resign from my regular job and do feng shui fulltime because then we could feng shui their homes and businesses during regular days and not after office hours or during holidays and weekends, which was my only free time when I was still working," he said, adding that his knowledge in feng shui and geomancy opened many doors for him, including the presidency of the Asian Geomancy Society.

Among his first clients as a professional feng shui practitioner were his colleagues in the Jaycees. "A Jaycee chapter president was having a hard time then. He challenged my teacher to prove that feng shui really works by applying it to his life. My teacher assigned me to this Jaycee member. And the rest was history. His life made a turn around and he became wealthy. I, on the other hand, earned more clients—the residents of the village where he lived took me in as their feng shui consultant," Aldric shared.

Another client that Master Aldric has helped is his good friend Tony Moncupa, who back then was a struggling credit analyst. He said Moncupa sought him out and asked if feng shui really works. "I told him that feng shui was what Mao (Tse Tung) used to conquer Chiang Kai Shek."

Moncupa followed Aldric's advice and true enough, feng shui worked for him—he rose from the ranks, from treasurer of a bank to, his dream, president of EastWest Bank!

Do his feng shui predictions come true all the time?

"Yes," Master Aldric said, "on the condition that the client follows unconditionally with no mental reservations, especially personal greed and deception. Those who pretended failed."

He said feng shui works when coupled with sincerity and good karma. "You have to be in tune to the goodness of the universe for it to manifest in our lives. One iota of doubt dispels luck, harmony and prosperity and, as a result, will be a total waste of time and money," he said.

Among the many good results that his feng shui consultations have brought about, Master Aldric said that the most memorable are those of Senator Grace Poe, Philippine Airlines and Vandolph.

"I told Grace to run a year before she launched her bid for the Senate. Her obedient observance to my advice made her successful; remember, she was number 1!" said Aldric.

The feng shui master was also the one who helped Philippine Airlines bounce back from all its losses years back. He, however, said that at that time, there was no serious air traffic to merit a really big impact for the turnaround.

But his most memorable feng shui work, he said, was the survival of Vandolph, the late Dolphy's son with Alma Moreno. Vandolph figured in a vehicular accident in 2001, which killed his girlfriend. Vandolph was in a coma for about three weeks.

"I fixed Vandolph's room at home while he was still in a coma, and I told Zsa Zsa and Dolphy that in a period of six days, his window of survival will increase and lo and behold, on the sixth day, Vandolph awoke," Aldric recalled.

Master Aldric's feng shui clients are not limited to the who's who in society. He also gives feng shui advice to Overseas Filipino Workers, vendors and even those from the slum areas in Obando.

Emilia Cooper, a struggling ukay-ukay wholesaler from Bambang in Manila, is now the number one seller in the area because of the feng shui advice that he gives her. "And that is without her stepping on the market shares of other sellers," Aldric added.

"Suffering is optional in feng shui. If a client gets my drift beneath my humor, they follow my advice and get good results. It's that simple. But people must be careful because there are a lot of fake feng shui practitioners. Consult only with the genuine practitioners and follow the advice…then you will become wealthy, wise and true taipans of your lives," he concluded. (FREEMAN)