Vaastu Shastra:

By Sashikala Ananth

Benefits of Vaastu

The Vaastu Shastras have offered many benefits to the user of a built space. These benefits are deeply connected to the meaning and reasons behind the living processes of people. In general most human beings are struggling to find harmony and well being.

By employing the principles of Vaastu, these benefits can be ensured. The intangible spaces within a built form, acquire the power and capability to enrich the lives of the occupants in many ways. This does not mean that Vaastu is a magical way of getting things done without any effort. Certain vibrations and ambiences can be built that would offer well being and integrity to the life of the users.

The process of calculating and incorporating the required benefits into the design is called Ayadi Poruttam. Ayadi literally means Òincome and othersÓ. Income stands for all energy inputs whether financial, health, children, happiness, friendship or spiritual strength. The calculation is carried out to achieve total well being and prosperity in all the above mentioned ways. Today there are market forces pushing only monetary benefits and demanding irrational profit margin calculation in Ayadi. It is well known even in modern management strategies that disproportionately high profits create other problems either health wise or in human interactions. Therefore the calculation would be aimed at the following:

• To create well being.
• To balance monetary income and expense so that there is no loss.
• To achieve work excellence.
• To effect an aura of well being, contentment and spiritual satisfaction in the built space.
• To enhance learning and curiosity.
• To allow for growth and prosperity.

In another incident my client came from a very large power generation unit in which he was the CEO. Since the inception of the project they had been experiencing problems particularly with the governmental sanctions and delays in starting the works. Many employees had started blaming the Vaastu in the proposed plant design. The company had been told that their water source and the location of their generator were not as per the `perfect Vaastu ' recommendations. I was called in as a consultant by the project architect. The problem was fairly big since the company had already spent a few crores on water source and location of power.

In general the rule of power generator in the south east and the water in the north east have become so frozen and fixed in the minds of the people, that they do not even check out whether these rules had any rationale, or were arbitrary limits set by the Vaastu Shastras. In fact it is not very well known that the traditional sciences and practices that grew in this country were actually based on experiences, inferences and studies carried out for many generations before they were integrated into the lifestyle of people. Therefore water source, slope of land, location of kitchen and other principles are not some fixed parameters that will cause terrible results when violated. The entire frame of the project as well as the local climate and topography have to be studied by a suitable expert before the directions and locations of facilities can be finalised, and there are many options available. I explained all this to the client and spent several weeks clarifying the entire energy patterns of the site and design. I also recommended some simple remedies to correct the possible negative energies in the site, and soon enough the project began to move and the team went into active participation and achievement mode. My only comment to the client was ` please listen to the voice of the tradition with affection and respect but do not make it into a tyranny. Vaastu is actually a sensible way of recreating universal connections and a very practical, eco - sensitive design process, donÕt let market forces convince you otherwise '

Case study 2

There was an incident of a client who wanted me to change the Vaastu in his house so that he would be able to `get his wife backÕ. Apparently she had walked out on him after they moved into this house and everybody told him that the Vaastu was at fault. I had to sit and counsel him about his relationships in general and his marital problems in particular and then break the news to him that Vaastu was not a magical process for all cures that other actions cannot change. I explained to him that I could cleanse and make vibrant the inner space of his house, which would lead to a greater well being experienced in the house. The Vaastu puja and the corrections I had suggested would help the occupants to live a very contented and fulfilled life but it could not take away the hurts and problems created out of wrong action or inadequate investment in relationships. These problems could be solved through other interventions such as professional counseling and dialogues.

Case study 3

The client was the owner of a very successful finance company and I had been approached by him to design and execute his interior. Everything went fine until the final stages. This is usually where I work out the Ayadi calculation for the entrance door, size and location of the MDÕs cabin, and the sizes of the tables in the main sections. I explained to him about the benefits that the tradition spoke about and gave some examples. He said ` I donÕt need friendship and well being, my only concern is profit. How much can you promise me?Õ I explained once again that the benefit would be prosperity and this could be translated into hard cash only through hard work .Our friend was extremely put off by this. It took all my ingenuity to come out of this impasse without compromising on my principles that no benefit can be out of proportion with the effort put in. Subsequently his business folded up as a result of embezzlement, which is another long story.

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