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Page 67
centric zones that are so clearly expressed in the layout of the temple site and its interior. These zones reflect the intention of the vastu architect to create a design that takes the worshipper from the external world of forms to the formless worldeternity, which comes with the release from the endless cycle of life and death.
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Figure 24
Diagram of the Zones
The temple site represents the outermost and fourth zone, paisaca, which covers the world of objects that define earthly existence. When we step inside the temple, our mind then starts to turn inward so that we can enter the third zone, manusbya, which represents the state of consciousness. The vastu design of the temple, with an ambulatory passage that draws us closer and closer to the inner sanctum, leads us into the second zone, daiva, which signifies the difficult and slow process that finally brings us to the goal of enlightenment. When we reach the inner sanctum, we are in the first and central zone, the Brahmasthana, the source of spiritual power, which emanates from this space through powerful positive vibrations and turns our thoughts to the Divine.
The Symbolism of the Vertical Ascent
This reinforcement of the Vedic philosophy is mirrored in the ascent of the temple. At the base of the temple, the sculptures represent the world of humanity and the daily activities that defined its age of construction: battle

 
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