b'A Tale of Two Dragons and the Vastu Purusha Mandala[Tom] One Christmas after wed been living in the house,be like the Tao itself, revealed one moment and hidden theThe mandala represents the harmony of the universe itself, we received two glass coasters, each with a dragon etchednext. The ancient Chinese saw the earth as being energizedand so creates a sacred enclosure for spiritual work.in the center, from my sister, Gloria. The dragons serpen- with chi from the breath of underground dragons; that chi, tine shape reminded me of the footprint of the house, so Ior vital energy, was believed to move through the earth in placed one of the coasters over a floor plan, just to see wherewhat were called dragon veins, similar to the acupuncture this might lead. I was startled by how nicely the dragonmeridians in the human body. Feng Shui comes from seemed to fit the plan. In the process of showing it tothis tradition of geomancy, the study of the earths subtle Patty, the dragon itself began to look familiar. I know thisenergies to determine auspicious and inauspicious aspects dragon, I said. Patty gave me one of her knowing smiles, leftof a building and landscape. Feng Shui sees the dragons the room, and returned with a small metal dragon that wedpower so favorably that dragon statues are often placed in a had hanging from a wire vegetable bin in the ranch househome to remedy ways in which the flow of energy might be kitchen. I saw immediately that it was the same dragon asblocked. Here we had two dragons, which came into our life the one etched into the coaster. I put the dark metal dragonat different times, were the clear opposite of one another, on the white glass dragon in the coaster, and the two fit asand seemed to fit our floor plan. The discovery appeared perfectly as the yin and yang spiralws, with remarkably iden- very auspicious. tical details: the eyes, the horns, the size and shape of theThe experience with the dragons led me to investigate 288Life & Revelationhead, claws, and tail.the footprint of the house plan as if I were an archaeologist Dragons carry immense power in many traditions, afrom the future, trying to figure out how the building had source of cosmic energy that brings both protection andbeen designed, how it grew. Traditionally, a sacred space is danger. The dragons serpentine movement is considered toexacting in its geometry; the plan begins at the center point with a unit measurement representing the primordial seed. The plan then grows outward from the center in multiples of that seed unit as you project lines, circles, and squares to create a harmonic mandala. In this way, the building plan, and the mandala that describes it, represent the creation of order from chaos. The experience of the building thus becomes a way to bring order and wholeness to the mind.Ancient Hindu temples often took their seed measure-ment from a digit length on the priests finger. Studying The Two Dragons One made of glass, one of metal, these dragons (left) came into our lives many years apart. Discovering how well the two of them fit together led me to investigate the footprint of the Spiral House in the context of the mandalas traditionally used to create sacred space. Astonishingly, the most sacred of all Hindu manda-lasthe Vastu Purushacircumscribes the floor plan exactly, and the dragon fits exactly within the mandala (facing page).'