Peace and prosperity at your doorstep

When a budding industrialist in Nanded District in the Indian State of Maharashtra was facing formidable stumbling blocks to construct his project, he called in an expert who instantly told him the position of the site was not conducive to progress.

“You would have faced problems with the government, resource consent and a number of other issues,” he said.

A week later, he endorsed an alternative site and the industrialist completed the project in a record time.

A leader in Mauritius, worried over his sliding political fortunes, approached the same expert for advice. “Change the position of office furniture,” he said.

The leader complied and prospered thereafter.

Vastu Sastra is an ancient Science that belongs to India. It continues to influence a sizeable number of the country’s vast population, including architects, builders, property developers and individuals who have a strong faith in the location and aspects of a structure, be it home or office.

The Sastra could offer a clue as to why earthquakes leave some buildings intact, while many others in the same area are totally destroyed.

An American, with appropriate qualifications and experience in the science has just released a book, which is not only useful but also interesting.

The Book

Vastu Architecture: Design Theory & Application for Everyday Life by Michael Borden explains the salient features of Vastu Architecture and provides solutions to a number of issues that people confront in their daily lives.

Inspired by Dr V Ganapati Sthapati, an expert in Vastu Sastra based in Chennai and Mahabalipuram in South India, the Book explains the significance of selecting a plot of land, its structure, entrance, ventilation and a host of other issues that would eventually spell commercial, domestic and individual success.

The fact that the author learnt the science from Mr Sthapati and consulted him thereafter on several occasions over several years lends credibility to the Book.

Vastu Sastra reaffirms the belief that every building, office, home, room, in fact, any living space exudes both positive and negative energy and that the latter can be transformed to develop productivity and profitability.

Gift to humanity

In his Preface, Mr Borden says that the Vastu Science gifts humanity with a technology to create buildings with the ‘regenerative’ properties of peace, prosperity and love.

“Having the possibility of regeneration in a building is not a new concept. We all experience the regenerative effect of coming home to our special living space. Vastu Science gives us an opportunity to further deepen the experience of regeneration.”

From selection of land, design of the building and architectural aspects to the direction towards which the house faces and the material used, the Book is an absolute revelation of an ancient science that has baffled and benefited people all over the world.

I found his description of ‘Ayadi’ in Chapter Seven of the Book fascinating. This ancient mathematical formula is used to calculate and assign the vibration or frequency of a physical form “to create an energising and healing resonance within a structure.”

Stellar influence

Mr Borden explains how the ‘Nakshtras’ (Stars) and the Navagrahas (Nine Planets) exercise influence over a structure just as they do in human lives.

“Living organisms are unique in physical composition, characteristics and tendencies. Vastu Science attributes these differences to the influence of planetary and stellar energy emanations. A human organism, also a physical structure called ‘building,’ is influenced during its conception and birth and cosmic influences,” he said.

Born and raised in a family of builders in the US, Mr Borden is a postgraduate in Architecture from the Los Angeles based Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). He later qualified as a fully trained Vastu Architect in the South Indian State of Tamil Nadu under Mr Sthapati.

His family has more than 30 years of experience in the building industry, designing and constructing residences in California and the Midwest.

Mr Borden established ‘VastuVed’ to promote Vastu Sastra among designers, architects, builders and homeowners and educate them of the potential of a more comfortable, happy and successful life in harmony.

Vastu Architecture is not a work of fiction. It is a textbook to those serious about understanding the nuances of the Sastra and its role in determining peace and progress of those living or working within a structure. It is a creative compendium for those involved in the construction industry to understand how this ancient science had ensured the strength of structures, especially Temples constructed near seashores even against tsunamis of the worst kind.

With over 100 illustrations and two complete designs that can be built, this new book presents a milestone in usable, practical, Vastu information.

Mr Borden says the main purpose of the Book was to outline the technological and philosophical principles of Vastu Science as applied to buildings for secular functions: houses, office, hospitals, clinics and so on.

He hopes that his Book would encourage readers to cultivate a desire, through understanding, to create Vastu structures for their home or office.