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Creating positive vibrations
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Vasthu is building-oriented but feng-shui is person-oriented. Girija Krishnan, a feng-shui expert, throws light on the subject.
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"IF YOUR chair in office faces your health direction, you'd probably be hungry all the time and dreaming of lunch instead of concentrating on finishing a report," says Girija Krishnan with a laugh. She's a feng-shui and vasthu shashtra consultant for individuals and corporates in India and abroad, who says that the correct application of these ancient sciences can bring happiness and health. She's a housewife from Kochi whose interest in astrology and numerology led her to take up vasthu "as a hobby". Small changes in friends' houses that made an impact soon convinced her of its effectiveness.
Vasthu is about the technical correctness of the building. It's based on the size and shape of the plot, positioning of doors, windows, flow of water, location of rooms and other aspects. "Vasthu has to be applied at the construction stage itself," she explains. "It's not sensible to try and apply vasthu to a flat. You need a plot of land and start from there because the calculations for the house depend on the plot itself." But she soon realised that vasthu could be an expensive proposition, since most people don't think of positive flows of energy at the construction stage and making changes subsequently means breaking down walls and moving rooms.
Feng-shui (pronounced fung-shuee) on the other hand, is about correcting the flow of energy in a building. It connects the energy of the building to the energy of the person. "Vasthu is building-oriented while feng-shui is person-oriented." Feng-shui can be applied to an existing building to correct energy flows and bring prosperity. The changes, she suggests, are very simple — a mirror here, chimes there, chairs facing the right direction, a different colour scheme, photographs facing a particular direction to enhance positive energy or turn negative energy into positive. "Which is less expensive than breaking walls and replacing windows because the vasthu of your house is not right," says Girija, who's done a course under Lillian Too, (considered worldwide a feng-shui expert) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Feng-shui is the Chinese adaptation of vasthu. It was taken to China by Buddhist monks, and "the Chinese, who are very good at improving on ideas," developed it further to suit their conditions and called it feng-shui, which literally means wind and water.
"The idea is to work within the space and constraints that you have. It doesn't make sense to spend huge amounts of money hoping it'll bring you greater prosperity," she says. But she's quick to add that the symbols and objects are just five or ten per cent of feng-shui. The rest of it is getting the calculations right, according to the person's astrological chart .
"That's why you need a qualified feng-shui consultant," she says. "Feng-shui has become a fad. Just buying a crystal or a pyramid will not bring you wealth and happiness." In fact, when placed incorrectly, the good-luck charms can bring misfortune. She says that there are people who read a couple of books and then set themselves up as feng-shui experts. "So it's important to check where and from whom your consultant learnt the science and how successful he or she is. And most importantly, ask why?" When a consultant asks you to make a change or place a certain object somewhere, ask for the logic behind the move. "Unless you understand what you're doing how will you be convinced? Girija says that feng-shui, and even vasthu, is not related to any religion. It's just a science based on calculations. And the symbols she uses are those people can relate to. The symbols should also be in harmony with the surroundings to have the right effect. According to the principles of feng-shui, people are affected by cosmic and electro-magnectic energy. These two have to flow well and be in harmony for human beings to be healthy and happy. Cars, mobile phones and electrical appliances release electromagnetic waves that create a lot of negative energy which in turn causes stress and tension. "That's why there's such a scramble for feng-shui and vasthu experts. People just want to be happy and they find that these ancient sciences can help. But you do have to apply vasthu and feng-shui with a little bit of common sense," she says.
Girija Krishnan is based in Kochi but travels to Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and the Gulf constantly on consultations. She can be contacted at girijakris@yahoo.co.in.
SHALINI UMACHANDRAN
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