rainbows

Tonight the class met for the first time. There are 9 total (perfect number!). Just before we started there was an amazing thunderstorm and a giant rainbow just outside the classroom. What a great omen. There are a few people originally from NY, one from Arizona, one from New Zealand, two from Buenos Aires one from San Francisco. There are no formal architects I believe. However each person has an amazing background and story as to what drew them to the class.

We did not get much into Vastu specifically yet but discussed the background somewhat. What we will be learning comes from a lineage in India of which Ganapati Stapati is the only remaining source. The word shilpi means sculptor and in ancient times the shilpis made everything — not just temples and buildings but also everything from shoes to utensils to cooking vessels to horseshoes to you name it...and it was all done via mathematical knowledge. The shilpis were revered by all as we would revere a king today. They were vital to the life of the community. Much of this information was lost or suppressed with the entrance of outsiders to India who forced their way of thinking onto society. Although many people understood there were certain 'rules' that were used to build temples, very few could decipher what they were. This is the case today.

The knowledge is not merely mathematical or physics-based. It is imparted with direct experience. It is something that must be felt as well as understood mentally. You can tell someone how good a peach tastes but until they actually taste it and experience it there is no way to have the full picture of its yumminess. I have had some personal experiences that could be considered bit off the wall the last few years and I see now they were leading me here. It is all making sense. Not in a book way but in a way that I understand without needing to 'know'. If that makes any sense? I could see how you could study vastu from a knowledge angle but know it only up to a certain point (like anything really). A union must take place such that what is known and the knower become one (basis of yoga). And this can only happen via experience.

We also talked a little about the Masons. The Masons built King Solomon's temple and there is a cross-over in what they understood and Vastu. And there is also cross-over with the Mayans. Mamuni Mayan imparted vastu science (among many other things) over ten thousand years ago. That his name and the Mayan name are the same is no coincidence. More to come on this...