Cosmic Architecture

In ancient India science, medicine, astrology, astronomy, mysticism, philosophy and spirituality lived in amiable juxtaposition, their boundaries overlapping and one enriching the other. Herein lays the truth and freshness that allows us more than 3000 years later to draw on its perspectives. Indian religion, Hinduism, culture and civilization are basically spiritual in nature. The principles of Vastu were formulated keeping in view, the cosmic influence of the Sun, its light and heat, the direction of the wind, the earth’s magnetic field and the influence of cosmos on our planet earth. Our ancient scriptures reveal that an exact and intimate knowledge of the manipulations of these energy fields to the desired intensity was known to our rishis. Hence in Vastu-shastra, selection of a site is an important factor since the plot represents a fixed form and it would radiate positive as well as negative energies depending upon its shape, proportion, direction and location of its openings etc. Astronomy is the foundation of astrology and they together with the calendar play an important role in different aspects of vastu shilpa, particularly in deciding the right time and day to commence the construction work.

The physical world, according to the principles of vastu comprises of five basic and essential elements known as Panchabhutas and they are:

1. Aakasha - Space, 2. Vaayu - Air, 3. Agni - Fire, 4. Jala -Water, 5. Bhumi - Earth.

The human body is also made up of these five elements, and again it is the very same elements that we see in building construction. The interplay of these forces sustains life and maintains a near equilibrium on this planet. Any imbalance in the interplay of these forces can result in chaos. An invisible equation operates, between the elements outside, the elements within the individual and his living place. While the first two are near constants, the third is a variable. Man can design buildings better, if he understands the effectiveness of these five natural forces. Generations after generations in India believe that the location, direction and composition of the buildings have a bearing on the health and happiness of the inmates. The Vastu influence of buildings on human beings is like the cosmic influence of the sun on our ecosystems. The Japanese art and Tibetan mandalas also reveal this knowledge.

"There is one timeless way of building. It is thousands of years old, and the same today as it always has been."

Christopher Alexander

Nature plays a vital role in all life forms, men, plants and animals. Natural forces like wind, light, directions, gravitational forces, magnetic forces have effect on human body and material. It can be felt by all of us while climbing up a mountain, driving down the slope or cycling against the wind. Thousands of years ago, our old masters had understood the secret power of these forces, which moves in our surrounding.

Most of our buildings have been constructed under economical, structural and technological considerations. But human factor is of paramount importance in creating an individually suited, healthy and ecologically sound building environment.

We are enveloped by a series of environmental. We all care about our homes and spend time, effort and money, trying to make them more comfortable. For most of us it represents one of the biggest investments we ever make. Our home can damage our health, the air we breathe and the water we drink, without our even being aware of it.

Similarly, the places where we work environmental hazards in our day-to-day life, which leads us to irresistible, endless physical and mental disorders.

Japanese Architecture :

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press.

Japanese architecture structures created on the islands that constitute Japan. Evidence of prehistoric architecture in Japan has survived in the form of models of terra-cotta houses buried in tombs and by remains of pit houses of the Jomon, the neolithic people of Japan.

Religious Architecture :

The more highly developed religious architecture of China came to Japan with the introduction of Buddhism in the 6th cent. Late in the 7th century. the great monastery of Horyu-ji, near Nara, was near completion. The gateway, temple, and pagoda remained practically untouched until the 20th cent., when they were faithfully restored. These buildings illustrate the first epoch of Japanese architecture (6th-8th cent.), which was characterized by gravity, frankness of construction, and simple, vital compositions, sparsely ornamented.

Current Developments :

Landscape ecologists find traditional feng shui an interesting study. In many cases, the only remaining patches of old forest in Asia are "feng shui woods," often associated with cultural heritage, historical continuity, and the preservation of species. Some researchers interpret the presence of these woods as indicators that the "healthy homes," sustainability and environmental components of ancient feng shui should not be easily dismissed.

Environmental scientists and landscape architects have researched traditional feng shui and its methodologies.

Architectural schools study the principles as they applied to ancient vernacular architecture.

Geographers have analyzed the techniques and methods to help locate historical sites in Victoria, Canada, and archaeological sites in the American Southwest, concluding that ancient Native Americans considered astronomy and landscape features.

Whether it is data on comparisons to scientific models, or the design and sitting of buildings, graduate and undergraduate students have been accumulating solid evidence on what researchers call the "exclusive Chinese cultural achievement and experience in architecture" that is feng shui.

Feng Shui (today):

Today, feng shui is practiced not only by the Chinese, but also by Westerners. However, with the passage of time and feng shui's popularization in the West, much of the knowledge behind it has been lost in translation, not paid proper attention to, frowned upon, or scorned.

Robert T. Carroll sums up what feng shui has become in some cases:

"… feng shui has become an aspect of interior decorating in the Western world and alleged masters of feng shui now hire themselves out for hefty sums to tell people such as Donald Trump which way his doors and other things should hang. Feng shui has also become another New Age "energy" scam with arrays of metaphysical products … offered for sale to help you improve your health, maximize your potential, and guarantee fulfillment of some fortune cookie philosophy."

Others have noted how, when feng shui is not applied properly, or rather, without common sense, it can even harm the environment, such as was the case of people planting "lucky bamboo" in ecosystems that could not handle them. Still others are simply skeptical.

Nevertheless, even modern feng shui is not always looked at as a superstitious scam. Many people believe it is important and very helpful in living a prosperous and healthy life either avoiding or blocking negative energies that might otherwise have bad effects. Many of the higher-level forms of feng shui are not so easily practiced without either connections, or a certain amount of wealth because the hiring of an expert, the great altering of architecture or design, and the moving from place to place that is sometimes necessary requires a lot of money. Because of this, some people of the lower classes lose faith in feng shui, saying that it is only a game for the wealthy. Others, however, practice less expensive forms of Feng Shui, including hanging special (but cheap) mirrors, forks, or woks in doorways to deflect negative energy.

Even today feng shui is so important to some people that they use it for healing purposes, separate from western medical practice, in addition to using it to guide their businesses and create a peaceful atmosphere in their homes. In 2005, even Disney acknowledged feng shui as an important part of Chinese culture by shifting the main gate to Hong Kong Disneyland by twelve degrees in their building plans, among many other actions suggested by the master planner of architecture and design at Walt Disney Image engineering, Wing Chao, in an effort to incorporate local culture into the theme park.

Historical criticism :

Victorian-era commentators on feng shui were generally ethnocentric, and as such skeptical and derogatory of what they knew of feng shui.

In 1896 at a meeting of the Educational Association of China, Rev. P.W. Pitcher railed at the "rottenness of the whole scheme of Chinese architecture," and urged fellow missionaries "to erect unabashedly Western edifices of several stories and with towering spires in order to destroy nonsense about feng-shui.

Sycee-shaped incense used in feng shui - Some modern Christians have a similar opinion of feng shui:

It is entirely inconsistent with Christianity to believe that harmony and balance result from the manipulation and channeling of nonphysical forces or energies, or that such can be done by means of the proper placement of physical objects. Such techniques, in fact, belong to the world of sorcery.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, feng shui has been officially deemed as a "feudalistic superstitious practice" and a "social evil" according to the state's ideology and discouraged or even banned outright at times.

Persecution was the most severe during the Cultural Revolution, when feng shui was classified as a custom under the so-called Four Olds to be wiped out. Feng shui practitioners were beaten and abused by Red Guards and their works burned. After the death of Mao Zedong and the end of the Cultural Revolution, the official attitude became more tolerant but restrictions on feng shui practice are still in place in today's China. It is illegal in the PRC today to register feng shui consultation as a business and similarly advertising feng shui practice is banned, and there have been frequent crackdowns on feng shui practitioners on the grounds of "promoting feudalistic superstitions" such as one in Qingdao in early 2006 when the city's business and industrial administration office shut down an art gallery converted into a feng shui practice. Communist officials who had consulted feng shui were sacked and expelled from the Communist Party.

Partly because of the Cultural Revolution, in today's PRC less than one-third of the population believe in feng shui, and the proportion of believers among young urban PRC Chinese is said to be much less than 5%. Among all the ethnic Chinese communities the PRC has the least number of feng shui believers in proportion to the general population. Learning feng shui is considered taboo in today's China. Nevertheless, it is reported that feng shui has gained adherents among Communist Party officials according to a BBC Chinese news commentary in 2006, and since the beginning of Chinese economic reforms the number of feng shui practitioners are increasing. A number of Chinese academics permitted to research on the subject of feng shui are anthropologists or architects by trade, studying the history of feng shui or historical feng shui theories behind the design of heritage buildings, such as Cao Dafeng, the Vice-President of Fudan University, and Liu Shenghuan of Tongji University.

Feng shui practitioners have been skeptical of claims and methods in the "cultural supermarket." Mark Johnson made a telling point:

This present state of affairs is ludicrous and confusing. Do we really believe that mirrors and flutes are going to change people's tendencies in any lasting and meaningful way? ... There is a lot of investigation that needs to be done or we will all go down the tubes because of our inability to match our exaggerated claims with lasting changes.

Forming a cosmic web, galaxies in relatively nearby parts of the universe arrange themselves as spidery filaments or as giant walls separated by huge voids. That's what telescope surveys began to reveal in the 1980s, when astronomers charted the cosmos a few hundred million light-years from Earth.

A team of astronomers reported last May that they had seen hints of the same large galactic structures in a patch of sky 20 to 30 times more distant. Although researchers cautioned that the pattern of galaxies in this single region of the sky might not be representative of the cosmos as a whole, the observations suggested that the smooth, primordial universe developed lumps-networks of galaxies- earlier than some theorists have asserted.