Maharishi Vastu Architecture expert Jon Lipman, AIA, hosts a recent video tour of the Maharishi Vastu* home of Bill and Stacey Hurlin at Abundance EcoVillage in Fairfield, Iowa, USA.
He explains that like most homes built according to Maharishi Vastu architectural design, this house is east-facing and gains 'the nourishing influence of the rising sun'. In addition to a small loft there is a sunroom on the south side used as an art studio, and a screened porch on the north. Dr Lipman mentioned that the house is super-insulated with good windows. It is 'off the grid'—powered entirely by wind turbines and photo-voltaic panels.
Stacey Hurlin explains that since she and Bill moved into this Maharishi Vastu home six years ago the effect has been 'profoundly life-changing'. She says, 'From the day I moved into this house my sleep has been better—my restfulness has been deeper.' She also describes a feeling of being protected, which is 'deeply noticeable'.
The centre of the house is an open space, in Vedic architecture an auspicious area called the Brahmasthan. Stacey says, 'I love this Brahmasthan—and why is that? I can only liken it to my own experience. . . . It is the core—the life force that goes from down in the ground, up through into the skies.'
The Hurlins had wanted to learn about natural, sustainable systems of utilizing wind, rain, and sun in a highly intelligent design, which are a feature of homes built in the EcoVillage. Stacey adds, 'Maharishi's Vastu tradition of architecture goes so much deeper into the health and well-being of not only the individual but the environment. It takes into consideration so many aspects of how to design a building—what will be most conducive to the health and well-being' not only of those who live there, but also to those who visit.
She concluded, 'Vastu design goes into many details—but there is a reason behind every one of those design features. Every one of those features is intended to make a wholeness that the owner then gets to experience. I appreciate it immensely.
'I've never looked forward to getting back home as much as I do now. There's just a sense of the truest meaning of home—the heart is home, the mind gets to go home to its most settled state of thinking, the well-being gets to feel [at] home. There is just a different, new definition of what it means to truly come home.'
* Vastu refers to Vedic architecture—the complete knowledge of design and building in accord with natural law—brought to light from the Vedic literature by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and known as Maharishi Sthapatya Veda.
