Harmonize Your Environment to Achieve Serenity and Success
By Jawahar Malhotra
HOUSTON: When they bought their first house in the US, the young Indian couple were very careful to make sure that its orientation and all the views and colors were conducive to their peaceful and progressive existence. But soon after, their dreams did not materialize.
“I looked all over the web and found some videos on YouTube,” recalled Uppal as he stood before the audience, “and decided to take the course offered by Bansalji,” he bowed towards the learned consultant sitting on the raised stage. “Then I realized that some parameters were off by just a few degrees. Once I corrected them, things were much better.”
Uppal was just one of the three people who came forward to recount their experiences at the MahaVastu morning seminar held last Thursday, February 5 at the Holiday Express on Westpark and the Beltway 8. They vouched for the effectiveness of the ancient technique of harmonizing your environment with the rhythms of your to achieve a balanced and peaceful life.
The seminar was brought together by the husband-wife team of Chetan and Ina Patel who have just ventured into the field of Mahavastu consultancy by opening their office in Houston. The family – including sons Kartik, Hardik and Dhruv – have lived in Houston for 20 years, where Chetan started in retail and then shifted to the motel industry. Ina served as the emcee for the seminar, which ended with a buffet luncheon catered by Maharaja Bhog.
The seminar was the formal launch of the consultancy and the leading proponent in the field, Vastu Shastri Khushdeep Bansal was the chief guest along with Acharya Gurang Nanavati who is the guiding force of the Houston Chinmaya Mission. Bansal made the trip to the US from New Delhi, where his consulting office is based in New Delhi, and came with his Global Head of Operations, Sapna Sehgal and administrative assistant Manu Nagpal. Sehgal explained how they had just opened up the group’s first center in the US in San Ramos, California four days earlier. With thousands of offices worldwide, she said “Houston has woken up to this new day with another branch in the tree of MahaVastu,” and predicted that there would be 240 centers in the US within three years.
Bansal addressed the audience, at first in Hindi, then in English, explaining how he had first come to Houston 15 years ago and was requested by Nanavati to start a MV center. “It didn’t happen then,” he smiled, “but now we are here!” He said it was time for fresher, younger people to move it forward as he learned more from their results. He then proceeded to give a glimpse of what the simple principles and wisdom of MV could teach the world.
“The special spatial geometry time arrangement is Vastu,” he explained. “The alchemy of this space creates another inside us and changes us,” he added. He then compared it with the Chinese art of Feng Shui and how the two are related. He said that it was easy to learn the principles in two days, but they needed to be followed in practice. “The moment you apply them and realign your life with the five elements around you,” he continued, “then your life starts transmitting together through you.”
Vastu shastra means the Indian science of architecture and construction as described in ancient surviving manuals on design, layout, measurements, ground preparation, space arrangement, spatial geometry and other aspects of architecture and incorporating traditional Hindu and in some cases Buddhist beliefs.
MV is a trademark property owned by Bansal and it is a 4-Step method to learn the influence of your living or work place on you and your life and these influences, positive or negative, can be responsible for your success or failure. Bansal has distilled the concept from numerous research-based case studies and offers to teach interested people at his consulting centers. According to Bansal, the ancient Vastu Shastras have revealed how the five elements – water, space, air, earth and fire – and their distribution in the 16 Vastu zones determine the shape your life takes. MV can tell how to treat a disturbed zone with remedies.