How long something stands, or how well something functions physically is only a question of geometry.
So does the geometry of a building make a difference?
Absolutely.
We know this for plants and animals the atmosphere in which they live is very important
The same goes for the human being.
Superscript: Can A Building Improve The Quality Of Your Life? - Sadhguru
Interviewer (Siddhartha): So Sadhguru, I learned from my mentor architect,
that architectural interventions should not be just about minimizing ecological disturbance,
but it must be instead about enhancing the very life that resides in a structure.
So as an architecture student, I would like to know if design has the ability to heal
and improve the quality of the life of the people occupying a structure.
Sadhguru: See, if you look at the physical world,
whether it's your body or a blade of grass, or the planet, or whatever,
the physical universe is all about geometry, isn’t it?
Just to give you an example,
this about three years ago, maybe, and I'm walking through the Yoga Center,
which is… people generally think it's very well… its architecture is unique and different.
So I'm walking through for various details looking at it.
Then I see, in a place where lots of people come every day,
there is a tree branch, which was in a certain… this thing.
So I looked at this and I said, “Please cut this tree branch.”
I did not explain to them, I just said cut it, and I went on.
Then the next day I was leaving the country, and I was not there for about a month and a half.
Then after two or three weeks, they wrote a very apologetic note to me, saying that,
“Sadhguru, you asked us to cut the tree branch.
But we thought, why would Sadhguru want to cut a tree branch?”
When always I’m talking about you would not going to cut anything which is not absolutely necessary.
“We didn't cut it, but the rain and winds came and it fell down.”
Fortunately, there were no people.
If there were people, things would have happened, you know?
“We're very sorry, we don't know why you asked us to cut it.”
See, how long something stands, or how well something functions physically is only a question of geometry.
I'm saying even your body.
How you sit will determine how long the different parts of your body will last.
How you stand, how you walk…
Today, for runners and others – do you know this posture correction has become a huge science.
They got machines.
They got all scanning machines which will tell you if you stand like this,
how your vertebra are, or how your ribs are, how… if you do like this, where is your stomach,
where is your liver – all this, because if you run the wrong way, you will damage yourself.
This has come into sports in a big way now, but yoga is always about this.
The whole system of yoga is about aligning your geometry with the larger cosmic geometry,
so that you can function with least amount of friction.
If we say – there are mechanical engineer aren’t there –
if you say a machine is well engineered, essentially you're saying its geometry is well-aligned.
A misaligned geometry means, lots of friction, isn't it?
So this goes for your body, this goes for every shape and form, everything that is functional in the universe
has to be geometrically in sync, otherwise it will cause disturbance.
So does the geometry of a building make a difference?
Absolutely.
Especially if you're a little sensitive, it will make a huge difference.
For everybody, it makes a difference.
Most people don't understand, not… don't notice anything about themselves.
They only understand the consequence.
They only understand “I'm not feeling good.”
They don't know why they're not feeling good.
People don't notice that.
But the very shapes and forms that you have around you has a certain impact,
because you are also a physical form.
And how this physical form is, how this is, how that is – all this has a certain geometric impact.
If you…
I'm sure many of you have felt this – especially the girls, probably, would feel it more –
if they walk into a building, “I don't like this” – just like that.
You know, it's always when men woman, husband and wife, go to buy a house,
the husband sees all the brochures and say, “This is good, this is good, and it’s priced well, it's fantastic!”
She walks in and say, “I don't like it (Laughter)!”
“Why?” “I don't like it, that's all !”
Because she doesn't feel good, that's all she knows.
She doesn't know why she doesn't feel good,
she doesn't know what is the shape which is causing this, but she knows this doesn't feel good.
So the shapes and forms have a significant impact on you, if we paid enough attention.
So you must look at this.
You're from South?
Well, you’ve come from Kerala,
you must look at the South Indian temples,
how geometrically perfect they are.
You take your laser measuring instruments today and check it, it's perfect, you know?
How important that the right angles are right – in this building, it's not right (Laughter)
– and how the shapes and forms make a difference,
is something that they examine to the minutest possible thing when they built the ancient temples,
particularly in the South.
The North Indian temples are all brick temples.
They're done in a certain way, it looks like they've all been put up in a hurry
you know?
No, why I'm saying this is,
I think the northern belt took a lot of invasions,
and the ancient temples were destroyed.
They all put it up in a hurry.
When they could, they just put it up.
But in South, they took time and engineered it in a certain way, you can feel it,
you don't have to believe anything, you just go and sit there,
you feel a certain… that space has a certain impact on you.
Our homes should be built like this.
Our offices should be built like this.
Because it's very important that…
See, we know this for plants and animals and everything,
the atmosphere in which they live is very important, the habitat, otherwise they won't thrive, isn't it?
The same goes for the human being.
If you just want to somehow live and die, you can live anywhere.
But if you want to thrive, really, then it's important how… what kind of spaces you live in.
There is a whole science to this, which is generally called is agamma.
People think it's temple-building science.
It's not about temple-building.
It was to be built… every human habitation was to be built that way.
Whole lot of people couldn't afford it for their house,
they did it only for the temple, because it's… takes more involvement and care for this.
So this is the reason, this is one of the reasons why,
see, you must understand, only the South this instruction is still there, in the North, it's gone.
In South, even today, this instruction is there –
if you go to the temple, you don't have to pray, you don't have to appeal to some god,
you just have to sit there for some time. Hmm? Have they told you?
You must sit there.
But what people are doing today is, they’re just touching the bottom of the floor and going away.
That's not the idea.
The space has been built with such care.
You must sit there and experience this, and allow your system to make use of it.
Because this is a geometry too.
The entire system of yoga is just this –
Hatha Yoga is all about correcting your geometry, constantly,
that if you walk through the world, you will walk through it effortlessly.
If your geometry is not right, then you will see, every point you'll get tangled up.
So architecture in India is… right now, except a few,
the new architecture that's been done,
unfortunately, we have a serious, you know, mental enslavement.
Whatever is done in the Western countries, we're doing it, not considering our weather,
our… the temperatures and everything, simply.
Even our clothing is like that, largely.
If you go out of IIT, probably, most of you will be wearing a suit, with jacket, and...
and a noose around your neck.
In forty degrees temperature, how to wear a jacket?
I was meeting some important CEOs, and I told them, “See, in your board meetings…”–
it's compulsory, in lot of companies, they must be jacketed and tied up –
I said, “A CEO means people expect he will do the most sensible things.”
No, we must understand,
a large company means
people have handed over their own money, their savings, their hard earned savings to somebody
and expect this guy to do the most sensible thing.
But this guy wears thick jacket and a tie in forty degrees temperature.
I don't expect this guy to do sensible things.
So architecture is not just about the buildings – the very ways we sit and stand, the furniture,
even our clothing is architecture in a way, all right?
We may call it by different names,
we may call a design, fashion, but it's essentially about shapes and forms.
It's very, very important.
It's time we bring it, because last fifty years or so, since 1950, since this IIT,
we've been in a survival mode – desperately trying to somehow make our people survive in this country.
Now we’ve come to a reasonable levels of well-being.
Though it's not touched every human being,
at least large segments have come to reasonable things.
This is the time that we need to look at more sophisticated way of existence,
and it's not always expensive, it is not.
We can create something very wonderful.
You must come and see, we’ve create a buildings…
See the… right now, I'm telling you the simplest thing – right now this is a flat roof.
I don't know what… What is this roof outside?
A-frame, is it?
It’s a A-frame.
So right now, between the roof and the gravity, there is a fight.
Going on or no?
You may not see the fight, but it's happening.
There is tension here.
And one day, someday, who do you think will win – the structure or the gravity?
Participants: Gravity. Sadhguru: Gravity will win.
So we created structures which are standing up, not because of the strength of the material,
but simply because of the perfection of geometry.
So it's the gravity which is holding it up, not gravity pulling it down.
You must come and see these buildings, they’re unique and fantastic.
The one thing I'm very proud of that we created,
the building is designed to last for at least a minimum of 3 to 5000 years,
because there is no material that are deteriorating, there's no steel, there is no cement, there's no concrete.
It's just burnt brick…
See, even if you go to Mohenjo-Daro or Harappa, or whatever the most ancient civilization
– what is it that you find?
Burnt clay is the only thing that survived.
It's burnt brick and just lime which is holding the thing up.
It's not the strength of the material.
It's the perfection of geometry.
Unless a very… it’s seismically-sensitive area, so we put it on sand beds.
So it takes small shock.
Suppose a very major earthquake which opened up the land happened,
only then it’ll come down, otherwise it will not come down.