Did you know that John Hagelin, quantum physicist from Harvard and a Vedic architecture buff, recently advised US President George W. Bush to close the south entrance to the White House and start using the north entrance? According to him, this would help him make wiser and more intelligent decisions. He also advised UK Prime Minister Tony Blair to shut down the south entrance to 10 Downing Street to end the trouble in Iraq. Hagelin, a follower of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, heads an organization called the US Peace Government.

The latest buzz is that Vedic architecture, incorporating Vaastu principles, is just about catching on in the US and people are looking up to it as a panacea for all their ills. Little wonder that a seventy-two million dollar tower, touted as the world’s largest Vedic green office building, is now coming up on Washington’s outskirts.

So, what’s the basis of this sudden interest in centuries old science of Vaastu Shastra? Says Jonathan Lipman, the chief Vedic architect from the Maharishi stable, “Beyond beauty and engineering, architecture should be able to create influences.” And that’s precisely what Vaastu does and had been doing for centuries in India. According to Hagelin, the positive effects of a proper eastern orientation on the brain and behavior are now being documented by modern science. He speaks of recent EEG research that points to greater efficiency of neuronal functioning when the head is oriented towards the east, compared to the north.