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Преди Фън шуй е била Васту Шастра (Стхапатя Веда)
(За съжаление в България няма издадена достоверна литература на тази тема)
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March 10, 2005
Before feng shui, there was vastu shastra
Indian science has formulas to align a home with nature
Indian science has formulas to align a home with nature
Interiors, dеcor can be modified to best advantage
BAGESHREE PARADKAR
Comment:
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
The next time you want to rearrange the
furniture, let a 3,500-year-old Indian science
called vastu shastra help with the project.
Called vastu for short (vastu meaning "place of
dwelling" in Sanskrit and shastra meaning
science), it originates in the Vedas, which are
ancient sacred Hindu scriptures. It's only
recently being embraced by Westerners, who are
finding that there is a connection between the
spaces that they live in and their bodies, minds
and souls.
Vastu has formulas for planning and constructing
a home to align it with nature's five elements:
sky, air, earth, fire and water.
Each element is associated with a particular
direction: water in the northeast, fire in the
southeast, earth in the southwest, air in the
northwest and space in the centre.
Vastu principles are also based on the sun's
influence, the wind's direction, the position of
the moon, the earth's magnetic field and the
influence of the cosmos on our planet.
"Living the way we are in modern cities, there's
not much scope to get land and make structural
changes," says real estate agent Suresh Jaura,
who has also been a vastu consultant in Toronto
since 1995. "But you can change the use of rooms,
furniture placement and if possible, re-do the
interiors."
As you look over your dйcor, pause to consider
this: Is the fireplace against the south wall?
That's the fire quadrant and vastu advocates
placing heavy objects in the south and west of
your home to block the negative energy of the
midday sun.
Among other general rules, the door to your home
should be in the auspicious east or north, the
kitchen in the southeast corner and the bed in
the southwest corner of the house. (The southwest
corner is the earth quadrant and is considered to
have an anchoring effect.)
An east-facing kitchen gets the morning sun,
which is filled with energy, while the orange
rays at dusk filtering into the bedroom are
conducive to rest.
Sleeping with one's head to the north is a no-no.
According to vastu principles, the human body
acts as a magnet with the head as its North Pole.
If the head points north while sleeping, the
North Poles of the body and Earth will repel each
other, affecting the blood circulation and
causing disturbed sleep and stress.
But beyond generalities, come the specifics. How
will a particular home benefit?
Some consultants, like Jaura, incorporate
numerology to personalize their advice. Others,
like Manhattan-based Kathleen Cox, use ayurveda,
an ancient Indian medical science that examines a
person's constitution to decide what kind of
dйcor complements his or her health.
Cox, who calls vastu "yoga for the home," would
recommend water-based dйcor such as an indoor
fountain and using earth colours to calm and
ground a person with a fiery temperament.
You'd be hard-pressed to avoid Cox even with the
most desultory Internet searches on vastu. She
has studied the subject extensively, having spent
more than a decade living in India. Cox brought
the science to North America, has written two
books on it and is persevering in her efforts to
make it part of the mainstream.
It's not an easy task, being faced with
resistance from skeptics. "Vastu today is where
yoga was 25 years ago," she says. "People don't
want to acknowledge that space has an impact,
that space is powerful."
A circle is a dynamic shape. So a circular table is ideal for
brainstorming
Pradeep Anand, president of Versatile
Microsystems, which integrates computer systems
for retail stores, says his budding interest in
vastu was further sparked when he consulted with
Jaura about his Toronto workplace.
Anand expanded and moved into a south-facing
office in his building, creating two spaces for
work. His business "literally dropped to zero"
for three months after that. Jaura then advised
him to use only his original office. In vastu,
south is the most inauspicious direction for an
entrance - the direction where the god of death
dwells
"For me, the results were dramatic," he says of
the change. He landed a $10-million deal within a
month.
He obtained vastu advice for his home, too. He
had to tinker with his existing dйcor - his home
office was moved to one of the bedrooms on the
top floor of the house from the basement, since
basements are not conducive to proper energy
flow. Anand also changed the placement of some of
his furniture. Did it make a difference at home?
"I have a smooth-running family," he says. He
doesn't know how much of that is due to vastu,
but something is working. "Vastu doesn't do
everything. But it is one more tool one uses to
fix things," says Anand.
So, is vastu just another word for feng shui? No,
say the experts, citing inherent differences.
"Unlike feng shui," says Cox, "vastu isn't
prescriptive - it simply tells you the
consequences of your actions."
For instance, it tells you a circle is a dynamic
shape. So a circular table is ideal for
brainstorming or can be used in restaurants that
want a quick turnover. But a square-based dining
table is conducive for eating leisurely. However,
"it isn't a malevolent science,'' she says. It
doesn't say do this or you'll face bad luck.
There is another school of vastu thought that
views dйcor changes as merely cosmetic. If
changes must be made, start from scratch - from
choosing a suitable land for your home, to
constructing it according to vastu principles.
The Maharishi Global Construction (MGC) does just
that. Inspired by one-time Beatles' guru
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi - who is said to have
introduced transcendental meditation to the world
- the firm offers vastu-based design plans and
consultation on issues ranging from the ideal
topography of the land for your home, to the
colour of your walls.
Founder Doug Greenfield is a private developer
and a partner in an oil company in the U.S.
Midwest. He was "completely shocked'' by the
effect of moving his oil company to a Fairfield,
Iowa building built on Vedic principles. The
company became more coherent, employee-broker
disputes were resolved and sales went up 20 per
cent every year except one, when it was impacted
by the 9/11 crisis.
Greenfield holds the volunteer position of
president of MGC. Building a house the Vedic way,
using environment-friendly materials, can cost up
to 10 per cent more than usual homes. But there
is interest, he says, among "forward-thinking
people that want to protect the earth and the
environment and society."
The company has built homes in the U.S. and
Canada for blood and cancer centres, offices,
condos and "hundreds of residential homes.''
One of these homes is in Sarnia, Ont. owned by
Shannon and David Bourke, who teach
transcendental meditation.
"The colours on our walls are cream and gold,
pastel pinks and peach ... with no dramatic
contrast especially in the bedrooms," says
Shannon Bourke. "There is no black, no grey. We
have to use very clear colours and keep the home
light and airy.
"There is so much light in the house, we notice
the changes in the sun and moon every night. We
feel very connected to nature," she says.
They use all-natural materials - silk curtains in
the meditation room and bedroom, granite kitchen
countertop, marble fireplace and wood floors. The
home faces Lake Huron to the north, the best
location for water in vastu.
The cost of building their house 11 years ago was
in the $400,000 to $500,000 range.
Most precious of all, Bourke says she experienced
a miracle. After multiple miscarriages, she was
told she could have no more children. After
moving into this house, she had another baby. It
was a girl.
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Before feng shui, there was vastu shastra
