110404 Ancient tips for good fortune - Vasthu Sastra

Star 11/04/04 Ancient tips for good fortune
THIS week, prompted by many requests from readers, I will focus on several ancient rituals that can improve an individual‟s fortune. Some of the guidelines may sound quirky but don‟t laugh – they have produced favourable results that are otherwise unexplainable.
·Buy some salt every Friday and add it into the existing pot of salt at home. This practise will reduce or clear debts.
·Burn incense mixed with sandalwood powder in the home every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday to reduce financial problems. To ensure the entire space of the property is cleared, take the burning incense to all corners of the house, moving in a clockwise manner. This can help remove financial difficulties.
·If the house seems unlucky, attach a coconut shoot to the inner side of the main entrance. Showing it respect regularly is said to bestow wealth on the property‟s breadwinner.
·If a property‟s occupant is experiencing problems in his or her career, he or she should clean the altar with ghee and draw a kolam (decorative pattern normally drawn with rice flour) with sugar. Also, light a sliver lamp with lotus wicks and offer five kinds of fruits at the altar. Improvements not only in career prospects but also finances and relationships may be seen in about six months.
Draw a kolam in the shape of a lotus to enhance the chances of fulfilling desires.
Light an oil lamp filled with seven kinds of oil in the mornings and evenings to ease liabilities, hostility and health problems.
To remove debts and avoid law suits, premature death, and obstacles in a marriage, and to reduce trouble, try performing the following sacrament: Every Friday, give some salt, turmeric, kumkum (the powder from which vermilion pigment is obtained), a pair of bangles, a comb, blouse, mirror, some betel leaves and nuts and some cash to a married woman for 27 weeks. On the first Monday of the new moon, collect a little water in 27 small containers from 27 different sources – like a well, pond, stream, river and the sea – separately and bury the containers in a pit 1m deep in the north-eastern corner of the house. This will bless the occupants of the property with wealth for many years.
Grow Asoka and coconut trees in the southern and western corners of the house to help reduce financial challenges.
To sustain prosperity and progress and to ward off the evil eye, find rare “one-eyed” coconuts and bury one in each of the four corners of the house.
Not the Nazi sign
Readers have queried the use of the swastika as an auspicious symbol, as mentioned in my last column on March 28, as they claim it is linked with the Nazis and the great suffering they caused during World War II.
Actually, the Nazis were not the first to use the swastika symbol as it has been used for thousands of years by many different peoples. In fact, the shape of the Nazis‟ swastika is different (see graphic).
According to Barbara G. Walker in The Woman‟s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, the swastika appears on Palaeolithic mammoth ivory carvings from the Ukraine that date back to 10,000BC. It was also used on coins in India, Persia, Asia and Greece.
In India, the symbol had different meanings depending on whether it was clockwise or counter clockwise (the swastika‟s “direction” depends on which way its points are facing). The counter clockwise swastika is associated with the goddess Kali and the clockwise with Lord Ganesha, the remover of obstacles.
According to my master, the seventh generation Vasthu Sastra expert Yuvaraj Sowma, a swastika made with the correct materials, and in the right size and shape brings goodness, long life and prosperity. It should be placed on the main door at eye level on the outside. There are no shortcuts
Many people are seeking shortcuts to wealth and health through alternative ancient sciences like Vasthu Sastra and Vedic astrology. This is the feedback I gathered from the question and answer sessions held during my three talks on Vasthu Sastra last week in Kuala Lumpur and Penang.
But Vasthu Sastra is not a quick fix. It focuses on living in harmony with the environment so that the occupants of an enclosed space will eventually enjoy health, peace, happiness and wealth. The property must be arranged according to Vasthu principles fully before any effect will be felt. Some readers have made small changes to their properties following Vasthu rules and then expected miracles to take place. Vasthu does not work that way.
Vasthu talk
A talk by the columnist on how to create a home sweet home by following Vasthu Sastra rules will be held on May 7, 8pm, at the Kalamandapam Hall, Jalan Scott, Kuala Lumpur. Admission is by contribution of RM10 towards the treatment of kidney patient Vanita Veeramugam, 20, from Kuala Lumpur. To register, contact Nivas Ragavan at 013-370 3359. T. Selva, The Star‟s Maritime Editor, has spent years researching this ancient Indian science of construction, better known as …Indian feng shui‟. He is a student of 7th generation Vasthu Sastra Master Yuvaraj Sowma from Chennai, India. He can be contacted at
tselvas@pd.jaring.my。