October Conference for Architects, Builders and Developers
A national conference, Vedic Architecture in Harmony with Natural Law, Creating Buildings that Improve Health and Enhance the Quality of Life, will be held Friday, October 8, 2004 in Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa. Sponsored by the Institute of Maharishi Vedic Architecture, it is oriented toward architects, builders and developers, and will present a new perspective on sustainable building from the standpoint of Vedic architecture. The conference will showcase new medical research, residential and commercial buildings, and the extraordinary experiences of architects, builders and developers who are creating Maharishi Vastu buildings. There will be several outstanding architects and developers from around the country on the speakers’ roster.
The conference will be held in a large, private Maharishi Vastu home. If you would like to receive a conference brochure or have one sent to an architect, builder or developer, please email us at IMVA@mum.edu or visit the website, www.vedicarchitecture.org
A Building That Cares
The inside story of how the largest independent cancer center in the Western United States was built according to the principles of Maharishi Vedic Architecture, and the visionaries who created it.
Dr. Ravi Patel, was a teenager in South Africa when he first read Science of Being and Art of Living by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. He was very taken by the book but couldn’t find a teacher of the Transcendental Meditation program.
He came to the United States to attend medical school, and learned the Transcendental Meditation technique here in 1975. He graduated as an M.D. with a specialty in the treatment of cancer.
Dr. Patel’s wife, Naina, is also a physician. When she suggested they move to California, they saw it as an opportunity to start their own comprehensive cancer practice.
They had heard about Vedic architecture from Maharishi in the mid-90’s. So when their practice in Bakersfield needed more space, they decided to build an entirely new building according to the principles of Maharishi Vedic Architecture.
It was a challenge to integrate all the requirements of a 28,000 s.f. medical treatment center with the detailed prescriptions of Maharishi Vedic Architecture. Dr. Patel had been aware of the principles of right orientation and right placement, but was surprised to learn about the Vedic architecture system of precise measurement and proportion which requires greater accuracy in building than conventional architecture.
There were challenges to work out with the Vastu fence, room placement, and the central Brahmasthan. In an attempt to find easy solutions, compromises were suggested to the Maharishi Sthapatya Ved Consultation Service’s office. The reply was: “Even if it’s tough, don’t make compromises. This is for the sake of the good fortune of the people.” This response created a big impression on Dr. Patel and he worked with his architect to integrate Vedic architecture principles as fully as possible into the design. They completed the building in 1998.
Patients Notice a Difference
Patients going through chemo- and radiation therapies are all too aware of the uncomfortable side effects. So it’s not surprising that they often have very negative feelings about the building where they receive treatment, and will do whatever they can to avoid going there.
Comprehensive Blood & Cancer Center, Bakersfield, California
But the patients coming to the Comprehensive Blood and Cancer Center in Bakersfield, California report a very different experience. They comment that it is a good environment for healing and comfort. In fact, it is not uncommon for patients to stop by when they are not in their treatment program just because they miss the nourishing atmosphere of the building.
Not only the patient’s behavior and experience has changed. Dr. Ravi Patel, the Center’s founder, has also observed that his staff is more efficient and has a higher level of job satisfaction in the new building.
Dr. Patel notes, “I’m deeply impressed to see how in such a simple and beautiful way, Maharishi’s Vedic Architecture can bring about a powerful change in a person’s well being, on all levels of life.”
How was this remarkable and unique quality achieved in this building?
Bringing the Benefits Home
Patel Residence
The Patels soon decided they wanted to enjoy the same positive effects in their home life. Working again with a local architect and the Maharishi Global Construction’s Maharishi Sthapatya Ved Consultation Service, they designed and built a new home that they moved into in 2002. Dr. Patel loves the deep silence in his home, in contrast to the more active atmosphere of the Cancer Center. In fact, like many Maharishi Vastu homeowners, he finds himself wanting to be at home all the time!
In the Patel’s previous home, their eleven-year-old son had a fear of sleeping alone, and preferred to sleep in his parent’s room. The first night they moved into their Maharishi Vastu home, their son retired on his own to his bedroom and slept through the night. This was the first time in many years he hadn’t come into his parents’ bedroom at night. Now he always sleeps by himself without any fear.
The Patels have hosted many guests from India in their home, including musicians and Indian saints. Their visitors always comment on the profound feeling in the house and the powerful experience of meditating there, greater than what they have experienced anywhere else.
Time to Expand
Patel Residence
By 2000, the Patels had already completed the first addition to their clinic, creating the largest independent comprehensive cancer center in the Western United States. Treating up to 400 people per day in a Maharishi Vastu building, the Patels are now beginning the third expansion of the building.
Dr. Patel reports that his employees are very happy in the Center, and actually look forward to coming to work. Many have commented on how much better they feel working in a Maharishi Vastu facility. Just like the patients, they note that they are very much at peace there.
Due to the clinic’s success, both financially and with the patients, there is a steady stream of visitors who want to learn how the facility functions in order to set up similar practices elsewhere.
Although the financial success of the practice has continued to grow, that hasn’t been the greatest reward for Dr. Patel. “About six months after moving into the Cancer Center,” he says, “I realized that my attention had shifted—from a focus on making money to a focus on how to bring benefit to the whole world.”
All from a building that cares.
“If you are living in a non-Vastu building as soon as possible change to Vastu building. Build your homes, do whatever you can. Otherwise, if you are continuing to live in a non-Vastu building you will never achieve anything in life, what to say of the supreme goal of life.” —Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at the World Peace Parliament, August 2, 2004
Proper Room Placement
Maharishi Vedic Architecture is the only science in the world that has the precise knowledge and time-tested formulas to determine right direction, right placement of rooms and right proportion for any building.
This footprint of a Maharishi Vastu home
gives only a general idea of room placement.
One of the principles of Maharishi Sthapatya Ved architecture is correct placement of rooms.
As the sun moves across the sky it radiates different qualities of energy. Maharishi Vedic architecture buildings are designed so that these energies correspond to the specific activities performed within the different rooms of a home.
This means that there is an ideal place for the entrance, the living room, the kitchen, the dining room, and bedrooms. The study should be located where the intellect is most lively and the living room should be located where social life will enjoy greatest support. It is also important to place each room in its proper location so that, for example, you do not become sleepy in your study or have insomnia in your bedroom.
Maharishi Sthapatya Ved texts relate specific violations of Natural Law for specific problems. For instance, the wrong placement of the kitchen or dining room inevitably contributes to weakness and imbalance in the digestive system; wrong placement of the bedroom contributes to insomnia or chronic fatigue.