When does Vaastu work and when does it fail?

Vaastu requires us to be at an emotional equilibrium while inside our homes and workplaces. This stable state occurs when we feel the effects of positive energy within the space combined with the emotional peace that our mind is at. Similar to the relationship a doctor with the right medicine has on a patient; Vaastu works best when the space is designed with the right principles and the person is a believer in the concept. It was interesting for me to engage with a few friends who did not believe in Vaastu and dismissed every event as destiny only and detest the connection to an ancient science. What is ironic is that even when the events seem to be connected, the question comes up - would an event not have taken place if I was in a different home or office? The answer is - yes, the event would have still happened if it was destined, but you would have coped up with the situation better if you were in the right space because your mind would have been stable and at peace. Do we not suffer from a disease if we are destined? But who recovers and with what cost to their mental state and those around them. That is the difference between a Vaastu space and one that contradicts the principles

Converse example is when you are having challenges such as struggles at work but still managing to hold on to your sanity and keeping your job against all odds. That is a sign of a mind that is capable of handling the situation appropriately because the unstable mind will do something rash and cause the stress to lead to job loss for sure. Never underestimate the power of the mind that can move mountains but at the same time fall victim to the buzzing of a small mosquito flapping its wings. The mind needs the right space, people and energy to be the source of great power. Today we talk about office wellness and how the environment affects us. This is an age old concept that the ancients knew about and we forgot during our rapid industrial and technological growth with wars and loss of moral credibility. We live in a world with so many challenges and disturbing events happening endlessly; how can we cope up with all this if our environment furthers this insanity versus helps us calm down, meditate and think rationally?

Whether you want a Vaastu space or not; do not indulge in one unless you believe in the science as it will have nothing but contradictory emotions for challengers who will see each incident as an excuse to disprove the science versus understanding and enjoying the mental joys of spending time in a Vaastu space. Allow yourself this essential indulgence of aligning your mind, body and soul to your life, space and luck.

Planning in a New World

The world is a different place today than ever before. Technological progress has been so rapid and deep that it has engulfed every single human in its destructive path. On one side the advancement has enhanced and prolonged our lives; yet on the other side it has taken away every moment of solitude that we need to grow spiritually.

Thinking about planning your space on Vaastu principles is further from our mind than ever because we never shut down for a minute. Listening to the future generations confirm my hypothesis that our lives are becoming crowded with people we don't know and will never meet face to face. Skills such as learning with a master through apprenticeships and understanding with experience are being challenged by "You Tube" like sites. The belief that we can learn by watching video clips is overtaking the traditional methods of accepted learning. I am perturbed; but relieved that this explosion of the digital world will soon reach an equilibrium that will be prompted by the backlash against technology usage.

How will we connect the five elements and keep them in balance? My thirst for knowledge had begun to diminish over the past few months because of my mind's conflict with my heart on happiness. Less work and more stagnation were co-existing in my reality; and I realized that freedom was needed from this trap. Leaving my ambitions behind in an unreal world and continuing back in the search of knowledge while enjoying what I am doing has put me back in my inquisitive world once again. It is not power that gives you happiness but the fulfillment of quality time that elates you. The location and Vaastu accuracy of my time heavy locations such as work and slumber are what helped me regain focus.

Always maintain the South west location for your bedroom and office and ensure that you appreciate the five divine elements - Ether, Air, Water, Fire and Earth regularly as their balance is what keeps us sane and inquisitive. Water is around us as a solid, liquid and gas mocking us to recognize its power in shaping our lives. 

Creation of Life

There are numerous theories on the creation of mankind from Adam and Eve to Hindu belief of Brahma (creator) making the first living organisms to Darwin's theory. The only explanation which made sense was the Hindu belief that life on earth is cyclical and has four phases - creation, growth, maturity and destruction. The same holds for products, buildings, cities and land forms. This means that life on earth has been created many times and has reached a peak of intelligence and slowly plagued itself with overconfidence and playing god and finally destroying itself either by war or natural destruction. The stories we hear more about is the final destruction through the heroic battles and wars that divided the earth and led to complete annihilation of our species time and time again. One of the stories of destruction in Hinduism is similar to the story of Noah's Ark wherein Lord Vishnu (preserver) tries to save life from a massive insurgence of the sea that was gobbling up all land where animals and humans lived. Vishnu created a huge ship in which he took one living thing of every species such as an eagle, a dog, a cat and so on to make sure that he could preserve every species while earth would be completely submerged in water and take them to a new land where they could live and propogate once again.

The ancient battles from the Mahabharata (Hindu Mythology), Battle for Troy, Ramayana (Hindu Mythology) and tales of destruction such as Noah's Ark and the submerging of Dwarka (city in India where Lord Krishna presided) are all stories where most of mankind was destroyed. Yet these stories talk about advancements in science such as missiles and airplanes and heroes with special divine powers. It also speaks about equally strong villains with super powers used to hurt humanity. This is looking apparent in today's times where on one hand the advancements in medicine are leading to saving of lives and the new technology to fully automated manufacturing plants such as the Lexus plant in Japan. On the other hand we have a huge growth of terrorism and a complete disrespect of life and destroying existence similar to the evil super villains in mythology. Are we going to recreate our destruction? That is an important question in today's times when disrespect for life is conflicting with the higher learning about spirituality. The creation of superheroes such as Spiderman, Superman and Batman are all based on the same fundamental principles of heroes battling super villains whose aim is to destroy life whereas the superhero tries to preserve life. However the one dominant theme is that the good is not necessarily stronger than evil. They are equally strong and it follows the universal principle that equal positive and negative energy is what creates a balance.

Cycle of life is typically broken up into eras of 25920 years and this represents the creation, preservation and final destruction of life on earth. In Vaastu we use two types of mandalas; one with 9x9 squares and the other with 8x8 squares. The year was considered to have 360 days. The product of 9x8x360 = 25920 which is the length of an era. The creation of a building and site based on the same principle as the macrocosm was used as a measure of time in the microcosm in which the building existed. Astrology, astronomy, chemistry, language and construction all merged at the creation of the magic chart of 8x8 or 9x9 which depicted the movement of the sun, moon and all the changes occurring around us.

The science of creation is so closely linked to the science of building because structures are all that remain and tell the story of the time that each civilization existed. Buildings stood for longer than most civilizations and their perfect construction was important for it to carry the lineage of each clan of mankind. The Bhagvad Gita is a great book which explains the laws of Karma and how we are all souls in the search of becoming part of the supreme being and what is the meaning of our lives on earth.

Vaastu and the Environment

One of the most interesting findings from this ancient science (Vaastu) was the focus on the environmental impact created by the building. The first requirement of a good Vaastu structure was the use of regional and naturally occurring materials. The regional materials were typically within 100 miles of the building site. This minimized the creation of wastage due to transportation and by reducing the effort from animals to move the material. This made the animals and resources available for other tasks. This created a micro-cosm of providing employment and a sense of belonging for the local population with the new building. This led to the pride of communities towards their buildings.

Further requirements include the need of a building to relate to its surroundings. For example a new palace in the desert of Rajasthan in India should match the local architectural elements like window and door designs, ornamentation and use of local materials.

Other interesting concepts that builders used when building temples were:

1. The growing of Peepal trees around the building
2. The growing of Banyan trees around the building

Peepal trees have the quality of propagating at high speeds i.e. if no one maintains or looks after the structure, the Peepal trees grow and a forest comes up in no time wherein the structure is lost forever.

The banyan tree has the quality of strong, deep and long roots which spread fast and if not controlled properly rip into the structure and damage the foundations. This was the self destruct means for the temple. The roots of the Banyan tree would slowly consume the structure and demolish it. The materials used were local and natural; hence when a temple was neglected and went into decay - the temple would self destruct and disappear into the wilderness. It would disintegrate and decompose over a short time and would not contribute to any kind of pollution due to the disposal of the building.

Why have we forgotten these means of responsible design today? Our life within an age of information seems so easy to gain control over; yet it has never been tougher. The world is moving towards environmental initiatives to reduce the use of energy and resources and reduce the contribution towards landfills. Have we been successful? - No, due to the lack of there being an intuitive process and design methodology; the adoption in a whole hearted manner is limited to minimal stake holders and not the entire community. New design methodologies like Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design have come up, but the costs associated with certifying buildings can sometimes be high and scares away many clients from becoming followers.

The orientation of the buildings is done to reduce the amount of energy required to heat or cool a building. For example the south and west sides have less to no windows or openings; and if any were present they were protected with overhangs or tree were planted to shelter the windows from the direct sun rays coming from the south and west sides. At the same time the north and east sides were left open and maximum light was allowed to enter the space. The North and East provided adequate sunlight without glare and minimum amount of Ultraviolet rays mixed with visible light.

Water bodies were located in the North East. At the same time the site was levelled in a way that the run off from rains would flow from other directions towards the north east. This helped the water body that was located in the north east to get replenished as well as minimized the need for a regular drainage system because the water body acted as a catchment area.

Only natural materials, cement and metal hardware was used which did not create harmful emissions of any indoor gases and helped the interior environment to be in harmony with nature; which meant a comfortable space to live and work.

Structure of an Atom

Most of us believe that an atom is a dense basic building component which makes up all matter. Interestingly the largest portion of an atom is just plain space or vacuum. The atom is anything but dense and compact. The position of the electrons and sub atomic particles like protons and neutrons cannot be accurately determined. There are uncertainty and probability equations such as Heisenberg's uncertainty principle which govern sub atomic particles.

This goes on to confirm the relevance of the first element in Vaastu called Space or Ether - the nothingness in which all of us exist. It is the most predominant element and the toughest to describe. Nothing in nature is perfect as the position of no particle can be accurately determined. Which leads me to believe that astrology and other prediction methods work on principles of probability rather than facts. They are governed by the belief that every person works and lives according to a pattern. This pattern is taken into account in order to predict an accurate future. This however could be inaccurate if drastic changes in patterns occur.

I am constantly reminded of one mythological story of a lady Savitri who is married to a man called Satyavan. Savitri is an extremely pious individual and she believed that only good begets a person who does good. However, she realised that her husband Satyavan had to die as per destiny at a young age. The story goes that when the lord of death comes to her house to take away her husband she challenges the lord of death with a series of questions. She protests that if she has done all good how can she be made to suffer. How can she live happily without society scorning her if her husband dies. How would she answer a persons claims that good does not beget good. She follows the lord of death and continues to question him till the point that the lord of death grants her a boon (other than giving Satyavan's life back) if she would return. She asks for her father to be blessed with more children. The god happy that he had solved the issue keeps travelling with Satyavan's soul. Savitri kept following the lord of death and he once again grants her a boon if she would return. She asks him to return her in -laws kingdom and riches back. The god of death proceeds once again. When the god of death looks back again after some time, Savitri was still following him. The god finally says I grant you one last boon - take it and return. Savitri asks for many sons and pleaded that Satyavan should be their father. The death god realizes that he was not going to win this one and makes an exception to let her husband live.

The story was about the power we all have on our destiny. The lord of death did not anticipate the change in Savitri's pattern of behaviour - by challenging the death of her husband. Savitiri changed her destiny based on a major shift and change in her behaviour pattern.