Xia Yuan Festival (下元节): Resolving Hardship Starts With Reflecting

The 15th day of the tenth lunar month is the Xia Yuan Festival in traditional Daoist culture, and the birthday of the Water Official, one of the Three Officials.

A popular saying goes: "the Heaven Official bestows blessings (天官赐福), the Earth Official pardons sins (地官赦罪), the Water Official resolves hardship (水官解厄)." So Xia Yuan is also regarded as a day for asking for blessings and for relief from misfortune and difficulty.

Master Mandy Lim's view is that resolving hardship is not only about asking the gods to remove disaster. More important is learning to reflect and adjust yourself.

Sometimes the difficulties in life are not all because of bad luck. They can also come from our own choices, habits, fixations, or problems we have ignored for a long time.

Destiny reading helps us understand the ups and downs of our life. Feng shui helps us adjust our living environment. But what really changes the direction of a life is always our own action.

Knowing your destiny is not accepting your fate. And avoiding misfortune is not sitting and waiting for good luck.

Use Xia Yuan to quieten down. Look back over the past, let go of fixations you no longer need, and deal with what needs dealing with.

May everyone be free from hardship, settled in body and mind, and move forward with the flow of the time.

This page is an English version of Master Mandy Lim's Chinese note. It shares her reflection on the day and does not predict anything for any one person.