In a world where the only wisdom that is left is the pursuit of profit, our lives have become stressfully entangled in the global web of this pursuit of the bottom-line. We are witness to the economic bankruptcies of thousands of workers after the collapse of companies such as Enron, Arthur Andersen, Global Crossing, and Long-Term Capital Management. The everyday barrage of noise & hype generated by the media and the two-hour daily commutes to the office in most cities have become normal conditions. At work you may not see natural light, instead being subjected to fluorescent lights [cost effective] and the glare of the computer screen. On the weekend we try and establish some connection with nature.

This book on Vastu [in Sanskrit it means literally site or dwelling and is the science of architecture and design], which preceded the Chinese science of "Feng Shui" is an attempt by its author to reconsider the effects of these everyday stressful living conditions on human beings. It shows how human beings have become alienated from nature and have lost the art of living in a connected way to their own souls or divinity that pervades everything in this universe.

The author spent the years from 1985 to 1997 in India. In the process, while living in Delhi she met and was introduced to "VASTU" by a neighbour, who was an architect and became her mentor. In the process Kathleen Cox first wrote a book called "Vastu Living: Creating a Home for the Soul" [ 2000- Marlowe & Company] and subsequently created a website called "www.vastuliving.com" . As a result of the tremendous response via emails, etc., she then wrote this book.

This book is a very PRACTICAL guide to address this need of people who wish to transform their houses and workspaces into healthy islands or oases that honour their souls.

It is a way of recovering your harmony with the positive forces of nature [water, earth, air, fire, and space] through "VASTU" science.

The book will help you to first analyse the basic disposition of yourself [ in terms of what combination of the vata , pitta , or kaph type you are - that is are you more airy, fiery or earthy, to put it loosely .] It then takes this analysis further and guides you in integrating the microenvironment of your apartment, house or workspace/cubicle in a very easy to understand style.

There are diagrams for layouts of the living room, bedroom, study, kitchen and even the bathroom. It includes the way the north, south, east and west affect us. The sections on the office cubicle and even the conference room are worth reading. The place to keep the TV, computer, Music system, Mirrors, the beds, sofas and flowers, etc are given detailed presentation.

This book may be the next best thing to eating in life the healthy yoga way, through the use of curries and spices and herbs in the Indian way. But eating correctly and living in the way of "VASTU" are probably your best bet to the secret of eternal youth. For $ 16.00 this book contains a goldmine of information that will benefit your life in a profound way. It is about 370 pages long and will give you hours of useful insight into how the classic Vedic Indian civilization stays in harmony with the universe around.

 - Salman Saeed