SHEN DAO

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Ideology of Shen Dao Feng Shui

Far from being 'new age' philosophy Feng Shui has a history predating most European civilisations, although it is true to say that it is, nowadays, a blending of several forms of environmental energetics.

Feng Shui (wind water?) has, at its core, the principles of Yin (passive) and Yang (active) as being qualities of a universal energy called Qi (breath). Sound too easy?

In the beginning the was nothing, and something came into Being. This act of becoming is a dance between two things - Nothing and Something, and set in motion the Law of Yin and Yang, a law of Relativity. Now as the Something became it created a path known as the Tao (path or way) and so is the Universe made real.

The dance of Yin and Yang is the dance of life, action against inaction, and it created all the rules of entropy whereby things are born, mature, grow old and decay. Thus was life made real.

As the energy danced its way along the Tao it coalesced to form the five elements? of Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood; and each held inherently within itself the power of Yin and Yang. Thus were the 5 Elements and the 10 Stems made real.

With the creation of the 5 Elements the physical Universe was made possible and so were born the galaxies, stars and worlds. In time the dance would create you and me.

So, Feng Shui is about Life; it is primarily about how to live in harmony with your environment and in accord with this beautiful dance. Feng Shui manipulates Qi, the very cause of our existence and the source of our vitality.

The assumption is that Qi pervades all things including the spaces between things, and it has had many names in many cultures simply because it is there.

And so, in time, the human desire to understand and manipulate its surroundings gave birth to the ideologies that are now synthesised as Feng Shui.

Shen Dao style believes that Feng and Shui are aspects of Qi, Feng representing the freely movable Qi in the air around us and Shui the slower moving Qi that creates channels, or Dragon lines, beneath the ground. The Art is in the interpretation of the coming together of these two forms and the 'tides and eddies' that ensue.

It is a style that uses both Compass? (or directional) readings of the qi and Form, in the sense of 5 Element profiling, in order to arrive at its conclusions. The environment, use of colour, building structure and the availability of space all add to the mix.

The Shen Dao compass is said to stand between the ideology and the methodology of the system, it brings together the inner learning of the practitioner with the outer experience of the environment they are in; in essence it balances the actuality of the experience against the reality of what that experience produces. Whilst the client may remain unaware of this dance within the pactitioner, the failure to understand and apply the ideology will result in a mechanical application of the compass rules that undermine the efficacy of the desired outcome. To know the compass without knowing the Dao is like having a car and being unable to drive.

It is because of this that Shen Dao style has never been written down as a book. It is more than words, it is an experience that is gained through learning to be part of the Dao. This is not something one can read about and then practise with any authority, although those who only understand the mechanics will try to tell you otherwise.?