Navigating the Unknown: A Journey Through Vaastu, Naadi Jyotishya, Vipassana and Personal Experiences

My dilemma

Some topics are touchy, controversial, and deeply personal. This blog was sparked by an interaction with a gentleman who practices Vaastu—a subject I neither fully believe nor entirely discredit, thanks to certain personal experiences.

As someone trained in science, I have always leaned toward logic, reasoning, and empirical evidence. Yet, time and again, life has presented me with moments that challenge this rationality. This is my attempt to wade through the unknown—exploring Vaastu Shaastra, Naadi Jyotishya, and mystical experiences that defy explanation.

Scientific Temperament: My Foundation

PC:  Pavithrah (Wikipedia) 

From my days at National High School (NHS), I was ingrained with a strong scientific temperament. The approach was simple—observe, hypothesize, experiment, and either disprove or acknowledge the lack of sufficient evidence. This mindset was further reinforced by my mentor, the maverick Dr. H Narasimaiah (Dr. HN), who instilled in me the importance of questioning everything.

Dr. H. Narasimaiah

Yet, despite my grounding in science, I have encountered phenomena that resist logical explanation.

I refer to that confusion in one of my poem Dwandhwa (Duality)

ನಿನ್ನ ತಿಳಿಯದಾದೆ 

ಇಬ್ಬಗೆಯ ಮನವೆ।

ಬೇಕು ಬೇಡಗಳ 

ಬೆಸುಗೆಯಾ ಭಂಟನಾಗಿ 

ಬರಬೇಡ ಎನ್ನೆಡೆಗೆ॥

ಎನ್ನ ಮನ ಆದರ್ಶಗಳ

ತನುವಿನಾ ಸ್ಪರ್ಶಗಳ ।

ಜೀವ ಹೊಂದಾಣಿಕೆಗೆ 

ಹುಡುಕುತಿರುವೆ॥

ವಾಸ್ತವಿಕ ಸಾಗರದಿಂದ

ಕಾಲ್ಪನಿಕ ಭೂಮಿಯೆಗೆ।

ಬರುವ ಅಲೆಗಳ ಸದ್ದು

ತರಬೇಡ ಎನ್ನೆಡೆಗೆ ॥

Episode 1: Vaastu - A Clash of Beliefs and Experiences

The concept of Vaastu Purusha & directions.

Vaastu Shaastra is an ancient Indian science of architecture, based on energy flows, directions, and spatial harmony. While I never fully subscribed to it, an experience left me questioning my scepticism.

We had acquired a company, and a Vaastu consultant visited our plant in North India. This man—whom I refer to as the Coconut Man (CM)—walked in holding a coconut.

He immediately identified an issue in one of our production lines, claiming an energy drain due to an opening in a wall. A team was sent to check, and surprisingly, there was an unnoticed cut-out for an air conditioner—just as he had said. As an experiment, they covered the opening with a flattened carton box. Each time they removed or replaced the cover, CM’s coconut reacted visibly.

The intrigue didn’t stop there. As we walked past a machine, his coconut reacted again. CM stopped and pointed at a specific gearbox, saying it had a problem.

That weekend, we dismantled the gearbox—and to my disbelief, there was a hidden issue inside, it had a damaged teeth!

Coconut held in a palm showing low / no energy

For someone with a mechanical engineering background, this was a humbling moment. Was it just coincidence? Was there an unseen science at play? 

Should I believe or not?

Episode 2: Naadi Jyotishya - A Scripted Destiny?

Naadi forecasts written on the palm leaves

In 2001, during my time in Chennai, I had a heated debate with a highly intelligent colleague, an IIT Madras alumnus about Naadi Jyotishya, an ancient form of astrology where one’s destiny is supposedly inscribed on palm leaves. I dismissed it as baseless.

To prove me wrong, my colleague took my thumb impression and handed it to a Naadi reader. A few days later, I was invited to a small, dimly lit office in Besant Nagar. The air was thick with incense, jasmine, and flickering oil lamps.

The Naadi reader asked me simple yes/no questions while flipping through palm leaves. After a few minutes, he confidently declared he had found my leaf.

He proceeded to reveal my parents’ names, number of siblings that we are, details about my wife and number of children etc.

This was impressive, but I suspected some trickery. Then came the real shock:

He predicted that I would soon move out of Chennai for a higher job position—but it would separate me from my family. At that moment, there was no indication of such a change. Yet, within weeks, an unexpected opportunity arose—I was offered a Managing Director position in a Maruti joint venture in Gurgaon / Bhiwadi. My family and I had to make the difficult decision to live apart.

Over the next two decades, nearly 99% of the predictions made in that session came true, including my foreign assignments, setting up a new factory for production of Wind turbine gear boxes, my second international posting etc.

Strangely enough, we also got a reading for a close family member, but none of his predictions came true. So, was it fate? Probability? A statistical anomaly? 

Should I believe or not?

Episode 3: Vipassana - An Experience Beyond Words

Vipassana principles

Years later, my wife and I enrolled in a Vipassana meditation retreat. This ten-day silent retreat involved a complete digital detox—no phones, books, or writing, living like monks—simple food, no external distractions, ten hours of meditation daily sitting crossed legged on the floor.

By the ninth day, something unexplainable happened. I felt a bodiless essence, as though I could step in and out of my own body. It was both terrifying and mystical. What was leaving my body? Me? Then, who or what was the body?

This experience shook my understanding of self and consciousness. It was the unknown, in its purest form—something I had felt but could never fully articulate.

The Unanswered Question

Throughout my life, I have encountered moments that defy logical explanation. Be it Vaastu, Naadi Jyotishya, or Vipassana, each experience has forced me to confront my own biases.

As a man of science, I still question. But as someone who has lived these moments, I cannot outright dismiss them.

Should I believe or not? Would you?

Final Thoughts

Perhaps the unknown is meant to remain that way—not to be proven or disproven, but simply experienced.

I end my thoughts with what DV Gundappa has said in his Mankuthimmana Kagga

ಮರಣದಿಂ ಮುಂದೇನು? ಪ್ರೇತವೋ? ಭೂತವೋ?

ಪರಲೋಕವೋ? ಪುನರ್ಜನ್ಮವೊ? ಅದೇನೋ !

ತಿರುಗಿ ಬಂದವರಿಲ್ಲ, ವರದಿ ತಂದವರಿಲ್ಲ

ಧರೆಯ ಬಾಳ್ಗದರಿನೇಂ? - ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮ