Robert E. Svoboda - Vāstu: Breathing Life into Space

VSTU

BREATHING LIFE

INTO

SPACE

BOOKS BY DR. ROBERT E. SVOBODA

The Hidden Secret of Ayurveda,
1st Edition Bombay 1980, 2nd Edition The Ayurvedic Press, Albuquerque, 1994

Prakriti: Your Ayurvedic Constitution,
1st Edition Geocom, Albuquerque, 1988, 2nd Edition Sadhana Publications, 1999

Ayurveda: Life, Health and Longevity,
1st Edition Penguin Books, London, 1992; reprinted by The Ayurvedic Press, Albuquerque, 2004.

Tao and Dharma,
(with coauthor Arnie Lade) Lotus Press, 1995

Ayurveda for Women,
David & Charles Publishers, Newton Abbot, 1999

Aghora: At the Left Hand of God,
Brotherhood of Life, Albuquerque, 1986

Aghora II: Kundalini,
Brotherhood of Life, Albuquerque, 1994

Aghora III: The Law of Karma,
Brotherhood of Life, Albuquerque, and Sadhana Publications (a co-production), December 1997

Light on Life: An Introduction to the Astrology of India,
(with coauthor Hart de Fouw) Penguin Books, London, 1996

The Greatness of Saturn: A Therapeutic Myth,
Sadhana Publications, 1997

Light on Relationships: The Synastry of Indian Astrology,
(with coauthor Hart de Fouw) Samuel Weiser Inc., 2000

The Ayurvedic Home Study Course,
The Ayurvedic Institute, Albuquerque, 1985

Advisor Nmarpa, Categories of Indian Thought

Dr. Robert E. Svoboda

NMARPA, Publishers

Copyright 2013 by Dr. Robert E. Svoboda

All rights reserved.

NMARPA, Publishers

430 Broome Street

Suite #2

New York City

NY 10011

Designed by

NMARPA, Publishers

P.O. Box 271

Dublin

NH 03444

ISBN 978-0-9889169-0-6

Editor: Jeremy Lehrer

Sanskrit editor: Zo Slatoff

Proofreader: Meenakshi Moses

Design, illustrations, and production: Robert Moses

Element sketches on the cover and p. 66 by Satya Moses

Photograph research: Elizabeth Blomster

Encouragement and support: Eddie Stern

All quotations from the Bhat Sahit are from the following edition: Varahamihira's Bhat Sahit, tr Prof. M. Ramachandra Bhat, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1981

This book is dedicated to my parents,
Laura & Edwin Svoboda,
and to Vimalananda,
my friend, philosopher and guide.

Thanks to Ellen Leary and Maria Rodale,
without whom this volume would never have been completed.

Thanks to those who read and commented:
Samantha Colt, Rosanne Malinowski,
Dr. Fred Smith, Dr. Claudia Welch.

Thanks also to Dr. A. Achyuthan and
Vstuvidypratinam,
the Kaimal Family,
the Kanippayur Namboodiri Family,
the Raby Family.

Last, and in no way least,
thanks to the participating spaces:

AYVALI TURKEY, BENARAS INDIA, BOMBAY INDIA,
BRATTLEBORO VERMONT,
COIMBATORE INDIA AND ITS ENVIRONS,
FLORESVILLE TEXAS, HALLANDALE FLORIDA,
HOLUALOA HAWAII, PAROWAN UTAH,
KANIPPAYUR MANA, KUNNAMKULAM INDIA,
SANTA MARIA DI LIGNANO & ASSISI ITALY,
KOOTTALA P.O., PATTIKAD, THRISSUR, KERALA INDIA,
TORONTO CANADA, THE UNITED KINGDOM, TORTOLA BVI.

M Y INTENTION IN WRITING this tome has been to offer readers a more measured, more highly textured exposition of Vstu than can be found in most other currently available books on the subject, without turning it into an academic, historical study. As it is, only a handful of sources, such as Bhat Sahit, from which I quote extensively here, are actually ancient; and even had I wished to provide an account of Vstu as it has been "traditionally" presented, there are no truly traditional presentations, for Sthpatya Veda, from which Vstu evolved, always existed more as a theoretical construct than a well-laid-out body of architectural knowledge.

Theory can be valuable so long as it is applied intelligently to the specific time and space in which it is employed; the principles of Vstu emerged, as did the principles of yurveda, Jyotia, and other Indian vidys, slowly over generations as practitioners collected and codified real-world data in their own spaces and times. One can no more master Vstu by mastering its conjectures than one can get the hang of medicine, music, and other hands-on lores by merely hanging on to their hypotheses. There is no substitute for experimentation, and it is those who accumulate at least some personal experience who will successfully employ the distillation of the accumulated experiences of others.

In this monograph I therefore focus on the concepts and practicalities that individuals who know little or nothing of the system of Vstu can use to begin to gain the personal experience that they will require to make systematic use of Vstu's theories. What I present here is not a detailed exposition of the Vstu Vidy (however we may conceive of it), but rather a series of musings on Vstu, through which I seek to sensitize the reader to the nuances of spatial awareness. I have deliberately integrated concepts from yurveda, Jyotia, meditation, breathing practices, yoga, and the like into this work to create exercises for readers that may both illustrate Vstu's principles for them and also assist them to align themselves with pra which, as the base of all life and thus all knowledge, is the foundation of those fundamental principles that all Indian vidys like Vstu share.

My ruminations have led me to add to and subtract from what has appeared before. I have occasionally extended identifications unconventionally, as when I equate the directions with the guas; and there is of course much that I have left out, including the Vedic notions of the east-west grid versus the north-south grid, which evolved by some obscure process into the Vstu Purua Maala. My reluctance to potentially confuse readers with yet another set of direction-deity designations also led me to omit describing how in a Vedic sacrifice offerings to the Vedic gods are made in the east, on the havanya fire; to the domestic deities in the west, on the Grhapatya fire; and to the ancestors in the south, on the Dakigni fire (north was the only direction not to enjoy a major Vedic fireplace; it was where offerings were made to demons and spirits). And, I neglected to explicitly explore how Vstu can be applied to all three realms of human awareness: the dhibhautika (mundane), dhytmika (spiritual), and dhidaivika (astral).

My aim in being neither too detailed nor too simplistic was to be accessible, to offer readers a taste of what Vstu has been and is, and what it can offer; to provide them with practical tools for harmonizing the spaces of their lives; and to offer a pathway forward for those few who, after establishing in themselves a genuine sense of spatial alignment and directionality, become so keen that they may choose to try to become vessels for the Vstu Vidy. May the Vstu Vidy be pleased with what has been wrought!