property that makes a difference

[]I want the property I own to make a positive difference in peoples’s lives. I want to be proud of what I own for more reasons than the fact that i’m earning x% from it.
The following gives some idea of where I’m heading.

TORONTO GLOBE AND MAIL
Friday, Dec. 5, 2003
Instant karma in a yoga home
Move over feng shui; devotees of Indian spiritualism have their own twist on building

By JANE GADD

UPDATED AT 10:52 PM EST Friday, Dec. 5, 2003

Yoga, the ancient Indian philosophy and health science, has flooded the North American commercial mainstream thanks to the buying power of middle-aged baby boomers retreating from hard-driving styles of exercise to gentler, more contemplative methods.

Today’s yoga enthusiast must have the right clothes made from the purest of natural fabrics, the right mat, the newest stretch band and balance-ball equipment, and attend all the latest fad classes. Roots Canada sponsored the recent Yoga Show and Conference in Toronto, peddling its line of stretchy gear and rubberized mats alongside mandala prints by Tibetan monks and books by the bearded father of transcendental meditation, His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Now, this combination of ancient scriptural teachings and modern-day marketing methods is manifesting itself in the latest housing-design movement to migrate north to Canada from the United States.

It’s Maharishi Sthapatya Veda architecture, also known as Vastu architecture — an Indian spiritualist spin on the more commonly known Chinese building philosophy of feng shui.

At a Yoga Show seminar presented by U.S. architect Jon Lipman, a sprinkling of listeners ranging from the curious to the committed were urged to enhance the harmony and success of their lives by building homes that adhere to architectural principles set out in 6,000-year-old Sanskrit manuscripts under the guidance of his Maharishi-inspired construction company based in Fairfield, Iowa.

Maharishi Global Construction LLC has built hundreds of these houses in the United States, including a whole town adjacent to Fairfield that is the home of Mr. Lipman and other company leaders. MGC provided consulting services to $90-million (U.S.) worth of residential and commercial properties in 2002, compared with $13-million in 1999, according to The Wall Street Journal.

In Canada, the growth of Vastu architecture has been slower. But there are already a dozen of these homes scattered across the country — in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia — and plans for a dozen more on Salt Spring Island, B.C., according to MGC sales director Eloise Raymond.

“You should feel as centred in your home as in nature,” says Mr. Lipman, a veteran architect whose distinguished career included curating architectural collections at leading U.S. museums before he turned to Vastu architecture six years ago.

“There is a Sanskrit saying: As is the atom, so is the universe,” he tells his rapt audience. “Everything is cosmic. The organization is the same at all levels.”

Vastu architecture aims to design buildings in accordance with the organization of the universe, as set out in 6,000-year-old Vedic scriptures gathered and interpreted by the Maharishi.

“It’s not a style but a set of deep principles applied to houses of any style,” Mr. Lipman says in an interview. “The Maharishi has tried to assemble all the original texts, and restored the full body of knowledge.”

In Vastu architecture, the orientation of the house in relation to the sun, the stars and the Earth’s magnetic field is paramount.

The main entrance must face east or, second-best, north, to maximize positive influences from the rising sun, the moon and the planets. If the land slopes, it must slope to the east.

Nothing must obstruct the view of the rising sun.

The position and proportions of the home must be precise. A Veda architect calculates the exact position of the site in relation to true north, not the magnetic north shown by a compass.

The MGC website provides a link to the National Geophysical Data Centre so prospective builders can check the values of the Earth’s magnetic field at their particular latitude and longitude.

The rooms must be arranged in a specific way, around a central zone of silence called the brahmasthan, to optimize the beneficial energies, Vedic principles say.

For reasons that remain obscure in the literature provided, it is recommended that the dining room be placed to the south, where healthy digestion is said to be favoured, that a study be placed to the north, where the intellect is at its liveliest, and that the living room be to the west, where social life enjoys the most celestial support.

While Mr. Lipman acknowledges that feng shui and Vedic principles share a common root — knowledge of the Sanskrit scriptures apparently crossed the Himalayas thousands of years ago — he insists the Sthapatya Veda system is more scientific, while feng shui has become mixed up with superstitions.

Neurological studies have shown that the human brain functions differently depending on the direction a person is facing, he says.

Carol and Frank Haika, who have lived for three years in a Calgary home built by a Sthapatya Veda architect, eagerly endorse Mr. Lipman’s arguments.

Mr. Haika, an investment adviser, says the couple’s financial fortunes grew as soon as they began building the home, and they have continued to prosper despite the slump in the stock market.

“It could have been from making smart decisions,” Mr. Haika acknowledges in an interview from Calgary. But he believes the energies of the home provide him with “the support of nature,” promoting deep relaxation and a sense of well-being that promotes performance.

Carol Haika, a wellness consultant with a private health company, says the space of the home “really does influence health, happiness and harmony. We get what we want more easily.”

MGC estimates that building on Sthapatya Veda principles adds about 10 per cent to the regular cost of a new home.

That accounts for the enrolment and consulting fees, which are listed in loan applications as architectural fees.

It does not include the additional cost of using the all-natural materials recommended.

If Vastu architecture is done right — with all natural materials and lots of space and natural light — it’s going to be expensive, MGC’s sales director Eloise Raymond admits.

Since not everyone is in a position to have the best, MGC has begun to offer modular kits for building homes — prefabricated parts that can be delivered to the building site, she says.

It also provides a “rectification service” for people who just cannot leave the home they are living in, but wish to bring it closer to conformity with Vastu principles.

For example, the company might recommend sealing up entrances on the south side of the building, where negative energy can flow in, causing fear, conflict and suffering, she says.

If there is no other place to build an entrance, it might suggest building a portico to shield the home from these forces.

And if — like Toronto — a community has the misfortune to have a huge body of water to the south, the negative influence can be balanced by building fountains on the north side of buildings.

[]In Australia there are about 150 Sthapatya-Veda properties built or under construction. To me it seems like the way of the future.
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