by: Robin Mastro
Vastu is the oldest and most complete system of architecture in the world. The reason for its recent interest in the U.S. is that Americans are demanding a better quality of life. There’s a greater awareness now that our physical environment does affect the quality of our life. The effect of our environment can make us feel peaceful or stressful. There is a great deal of stress and pressure on people these days. The pace of life is so fast. Modern architecture only addresses function, comfort and aesthetics. The aim of Vastu is to create a peaceful, healing environment that supports growth and protects from non-life supporting influences, pollution and geopathic stress.
Vastu is gaining acceptance in the U.S. both by businesses and individuals. It is not as recognized as Feng Shui, but we predict it will be the next hot trend here. There were three Vastu books published this year in the U.S. and more are coming this year. There is presently an estimated 300 million dollars of Vastu related construction going on in the U.S. Much of this is new construction related to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s recent emphasis on the positive affects of building new Vastu houses. I had the honor of being one of the architects who worked with Maharishi in the late 70’s on designing meditation academies, but this concept is cost-prohibitive for a large number of people.
It is our belief at Vastu Creations that Vastu will grow more quickly when people understand that you don’t have to start from scratch, constructing a new environment or totally remodeling a pre-existing one, to obtain life-changing benefits. Vastu is not an all or nothing science. Americans like economical cures that bring results. There are simple Vastu corrections that people can do to any structure, anywhere in the world, that will bring improvements in their lives.
We’ve done many rectifications with wonderful results. Here are a few you might find interesting:
"In February 2001, Seattle was rocked by a 6.8 earthquake, which caused significant destruction and loss in particular to a 5-square block area of downtown known as Pioneer Square. Our 5-story building in the heart of the Pioneer Square district was red-tagged being too dangerous to re-enter, because it sustained significant damage. The building inspectors told us that all the main support beams in the building had splintered and broken, and they were very amazed that the building was still standing. All 15 of our employees who were in the building when the earthquake struck managed to make it out safely. They told fearsome stories of the treacherous journey down 5 floors of stairs as the stairs separated from the walls swinging precariously and threatening to plunge to the ground floor at any moment. To our amazement, for some strange reason, our building was still standing when the shaking stopped. Two days before, I engaged Michael Mastro to perform a Vastu rectification in our office building in order to create a more positive and prosperous environment so that our Internet startup would survive. Thankfully, we did and the Vastu appeared to work wonders since we all surprisingly walked aw! ay without a scratch." - Jeff P., President/CEO Validity Systems, Inc.
We had another client that was a real estate broker. She’d been in the business for over 20 years. We did a rectification of her home, which included her home office. The following year, we received a phone call from her and she said, “I’ve been a realtor for a long time and I’ve never had a year like this last one! My gross income tripled this year! I did nothing outside of having your company come in a do a Vastu rectification on my house. It changed my life!” – Amy D., Realtor
Another realtor was having difficulty selling several houses that had been on the market for 6 months or more. After Vastu Creations rectified these houses, they sold within weeks.
Our concerns at Vastu Creations is that Vastu will become just another fad where people utilize it for a short period of time, gain benefits and then lose sight that Vastu brought those benefits. It happens in cultures that when there are times of prosperity and comfort people forget to honor the knowledge and ritual that is an inherent part of the fabric of their society. Vastu is more than a quick fix fad, its basic premise draws from scientific roots that the physical environment is alive. Our bodies, as well as our environment, are made up of five basic elements: earth, water, fire, air and space. When these elements are in balance we experience benefits such as good health, prosperity and peace of mind. When these elements are out of balance, we experience ill health, misfortune and stress.
Honoring our environment as a support in our lives is a different way of thinking. Without this understanding, some people may call themselves Vastu experts and distort this knowledge to make it more marketable to the main stream and its essence will be lost and it will be a short-term fad. Knowledge gets distorted by personal interpretation and not staying with the scientific principles. There are some visually beautiful books on Vastu that have been recently published in the U.S. that are filled with inaccurate information that do not follow these scientific principles. If practiced, people may not get the results they’re looking for, be disappointed and feel that Vastu doesn’t work. This is a disservice not only to those attempting to use this information; it also will diminish the long lasting popularity of Vastu in the U.S.