Lesson 2C - The Five Elements (space, water, fire, air, earth)
"Space is the first and source element in the series of the five gross elements (space, water, fire, air, earth) Earth is the last and ultimate element. The traditional space-science, according to Vaastu, begins with space and ends with earth. ...Space itself turns into earth. There is energy in space and energy in earth as well. The two energies are one and the same; one and the same consciousness.
"Earth, which is seeded with subtle but most powerful energy, becomes know as Vaastu and the energy itself seeded inside the earth becomes know as 'Purusha' and according to the Vaastu tradition, it is the earth energy that is called Vaastu Purusha.
"Man has to live in harmony with the pulsation of earth-energy or Vaastu Purusha. Earth is of the same nature as space. Both earth and space should be brought together and kept in union and for the purpose of effecting this union, the tradition of Vaastu has an operative mathematical formula. ...Earth by virtue of being the very basic support of all things, is the primal and dominant Vastu.
"Vaastu Purusha may appear externally as calm, quiet and undisturbed, But, in reality, he is a great force, ever vibrant, ever energetic. It is only this Vaastu Purusha, the vibrant and energetic, the Earth, that we call Vishnu. Lord Vishnu is none other than Vaastu Purusha. At Srirangam Temple the image of Vishnu is the reclining, sleeping, Vishnu in the form of Lord Ragaraja. ...Even today, a ritualistic process prevailing in Srirangam Temple is to invoke and offer Vaastu Purusha a seat in the heart of Lord Rangaraja.
Lord Nataraja's image, being of space energy, is to be made of metal only. In the tradition of Vaastu the image of Vishnu should be made of seasoned earth (stone) only in order to symbolize that He is earth-energy. "Since earth is gross energy, it is in perfect visibility. Vishnu is praised as 'the visible God', the evidently manifest energy. Another rule is that the image of Vishnu should be stable and immobile. To indicate this stability, Vishnu is shown in a reclined posture.
"Lord Vishnu is specifically called 'antaryami' (meaning the indwelling controller), since He is not only the energy in the earth but also the Vaastu existing in all the worldly objects and in us. The image of Nataraja is the quintessential form of space-principle and the image of Vishnu is the quintessential form of the earth-principle. So also, the temple enshrining Nataraja and the temple enshrining Rangaraja are the ancient temples representing space and earth respectively.
"The science of Vaastu never considers the images and structures created by it as mere symbols. It renders them as the veritable ensouled beings... Having intuitionally experienced the conscious-primal-being, which is invisible but not inactive, having measured it though calculations of the vibrations of consciousness, these images are sculptured by employing mathematical measure." The same measure creates the conscious experience of Divine Reality in the minds of those who see the images and buildings, just as the mathematics of musical form creates a feeling of inspiration to the listener. The images in these temples "shine forth as solidified conscious forms, as the inspirited living forms... It is the aim of the tradition of Vaastu to make the invisible and transcendent being appear before our eyes as visible and immanent."
Exerpts from Temples of Space Science by Dr. V. Ganapati Sthapati
Lesson 3
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