What it does
Explains why vastu works by balancing the five elements of the building to balance the five elements of the body.
Explanation and notes
A house, plot, temple or office is a small part of the universe, made of the same five elements as the body. The structure was given to humans so that through the building they could balance the body and control the emotions. Space is silent and inward, so the nine planets are contained in the other four elements. Vata, pitta and kapha, which a vaidya reads, are also elements. Space represents the soul; to hold it well, the four other elements must first be balanced. Know which construction material, part and item represents which element, and which element is its friend or its enemy.
In Vedic vastu the five elements arose one from another in a fixed order: Space, then Air, Fire, Water and Earth, after which the cycle returns to Space. This order, described in the Shiv Puran, is the base for knowing which element creates or destroys another.
The five chakras from the throat downwards hold the five elements in the same order as creation: Vishuddhi holds space, Anahata air, Manipur fire, Swadhishthan water and Muladhara earth.
Land (geopathic) energy, which is the earth element, carries 70 percent of the result of a building, while orientation and zoning carry 30 percent. A site with zero land energy fails however good its orientation and interiors are.
The earth element is golden yellow, square, located in the South-West and solid, heavy and dense by nature; in a house it is represented by the land energy, the plot shape and the slope. Balanced, it gives the greatest stability and success; disturbed, it brings business uncertainty and unhealthy relationships.
The South-West holds the earth element, whose nature is solid, heavy and dense, so this zone is kept solid, heavy and compact with the fewest openings. Infrared rays also arrive from the South-West at a particular time of day, another reason to keep it closed.
The taste of the earth element is sweet, so where the people of a house speak sweetly the earth element is balanced, and where people in a home, factory or business speak bitterly it is disturbed.
Ivory, a very light yellow, represents the earth element, which is why ivory floor tiles are the most preferred and generate the most energy in a house.
A plot whose North-South axis is longer than its East-West axis is good only when in proportion: one and a half times the width is best and double is the maximum.