How Vastu Shastra Works

The seers and sages of ancient India carefully observed the effects of the five elements (earth, water, fire, air, and space) on the human organism and environment. In a natural environment all five elements are in balance. As soon as the environment is altered by the introduction of a structure, however, this balance is disturbed. Any such disturbance then affects the health, wealth, and happiness of those who live and work inside the building. Over thousands of years the sages collected such observations of natural balance and imbalance within environments. The resulting body of knowledge is the science of Vastu Shastra.

In a sense, Vastu is yoga for the home or office. Yoga balances the five elements in the body through postures and breathing exercises that eliminate stress. Vastu extends this principle by balancing the five elements to eliminate stress in a physical environment. Using the principles of Vastu, you can bring any building into balance, attract beneficial energy, and enhance prosperity and abundance. In this way, your home or office will become a haven, a sanctuary where you feel productive, healthy, and at peace.

In any structure the five elements must be in balance to gain the support of nature. Each of these elements is associated with a particular direction (earth, southwest; water, northeast; fire, southeast; air, northwest; space, the central area). The interplay between these elements and the directions affects you on every level of existence. Each of the five elements, together with the directions north, south, east, and west, has a specific planetary influence as well, making a subtle but profound impact on your daily life.

People seldom think of their homes as living entities, but the benefits of understanding this premise are truly life-changing. Vastu Purusha is affected by energies that come from different geographic directions. These energies are of two kinds. The magnetic energies of the north and the solar energies of the east (ultraviolet rays) exert positive, supportive influences, while the south (infrared rays) and the west (gamma rays) exert influences that are not life-supporting. For this reason in ancient India, buildings were designed to receive the abundant, life-enhancing energies from the north and east, while shielding their inhabitants from the gamma and infrared rays of the west and south. The positive energies from north and east flowed around the structure without obstruction and collected in the southwest area of the building, where they supported the health and well-being of the people inside.

Over time, people lost touch with the importance of living in harmony with the natural environment. Our homes and places of work have gradually become filled with unnecessary stress and strife. Very simple adjustments, using tools that return the five elements to balance, will often alleviate this stress. Such adjustments can be made economically, without disturbing your environment. When you honor and enliven Vastu Purusha, the spirit of your building, the result is greater health, prosperity, and happiness for all who enter.

The Power of Vastu

Within the Vedas, there is a sacred science of building called Vastu Shastra (vastu means building; shastra means science). It explains how to create an environment in accordance with the laws of nature, so that one experiences support and prosperity in life. It is the science that reveals why we feel uneasy in some environments and why in others we are uplifted.

In 1922, archaeologists under the direction of R.D. Banarjee, began excavating Mohenjo-Daro, an ancient city in the Indus Valley. It was determined that the city was at least 5,500 years old and that it had been built using the principles of Vastu. Mohenjo-Daro had been an advanced and prosperous civilization featuring elaborate architecture and sophisticated works of art. Streets were set up in a grid system running north-south, east-west, at right angles to each other, with open space and a temple at the very center of the city. The homes were built according to a rectangular design with a cooking area in the southeast and an open central courtyard.

As a result of a series of foreign invasions the knowledge of Vastu was lost. For thousands of years, portions of this valuable knowledge were retained for the exclusive use of the upper echelon of India’s society. Recently, as Westerners have begun seeking out new ways to improve the quality of life, the enormous benefits of Vastu have once again become available through Vedic translations to people worldwide.

The far-reaching influence of Vastu can be seen in great architectural monuments that have withstood the ravages of time and the elements: the Egyptian and Mayan pyramids, the Roman Coliseum, the Greek Parthenon, and the Taj Mahal. In every respect these monuments were built according to the principles of Vastu: in shape, proportion, measurements, and alignment to the cardinal directions. 

About three thousand years ago monks crossed over the mountains from India, through Tibet and into China, carrying with them this ancient Vedic knowledge. In China the science of Vastu Shastra was adapted to local climatic and cultural conditions. In this way, Vastu gradually evolved into the various schools of Feng Shui, the ancient Chinese art of placement and design that results in improving the flow of energy in an environment.