Cosmin Iancu
- How would you introduce yourself to strangers? What made you choose architecture as a profession?
My name is Cosmin Iancu, I was born, raised, I fell in love and got married in Timişoara. In Timişoara was where I graduated the Faculty of Architecture, in the year 2000, and a few years later, in search of adventure and Freedom, I emigrated in Canada.
I chose architecture randomly, it was not something I premeditated, the love for drawing and the close friendship which I had in high-school with two of my future coleagues, has driven me to start this adventure exiting enough for me to want to experience it.
- The contribution of architecture in my personal development:
The complexity of this profession implies the continuous acceptance and assimilation of information. This process permanently generated new brain synapses, making us more receptive, more opened toward new experiences, manifested both professionally and personally. Life becomes more colourful, every moment opens new opportunities, everything becomes like a game in which we, the protagonists are subjected to perpetual scenario changes, without a beginning and without an end, which doesn’t leave time for regrets, but forces us to permanently reinvent and to redevelop ourselves.
- The presentation of the alternative activity, the road from architecture to this activity and how the two of them are related:
Spiritual practice and mysticism have always had a special place in the lives of all of those who have identified themselves with the process of Creation, in one way or another.
I started to be interested in the practice of Yoga on health considerations, the desire of becoming physically independent – I was looking for the total eradication of an affliction which made me depend on certain pharmaceutical substances which I didn’t want on my body – and mentally, more balanced, given that the environment in which I carried out my activities was not one of the most peaceful – we all know the mental and physical stress which the profession of an architect often involves.
After a few years of practice, I realised that Yoga is not an alternative activation, but a way of life. The physical, energetical and mental control techniques which involves purifying the whole body, amplified by the enhancing of the practitioner’s responsiveness with reference to the quality of assimilated information, as well as the personal responsibility in practical application of this information.
The social life, the way of thinking, the pace and manner of action/ reaction in which the relationships with other and the surrounding environment changes, the unwritten and omnipresent natural/universal laws, make themselves easily understood and takes priority over the law concieve by the superficial human mind.
The changes that occurred after the spiritual practice, both socially as well as on a intimate level, me made me more aware of my role in the WHOLE, of how everything is interconnected and, starting from here, of the impact which I had on this WHOLE, with each line I drew, with each building built. Was what I was offering in balance with life itself, was my input constructive or on the contrary, a negative one? Was I Creating or Destroying?
In the hope that I will find the inner peace I was looking for so I can relax into it and draw conclusions, in the hope that I will be able to respond with sincerity to the questions which permanently rezonated in my mind, I intensified the spiritual practice…
… and slowly but surely I reinvented my life, and looking around me with new eyes, like the way we wake up from sleep in the morning we look around, I discovered a new country, a new city, a new profession, new possibilities, a new way of life.
I do not practice Architecture anymore for quite some time now, and even though I feel love for the profession, I don’t know if what I can offer to the world in this area is what defines me as a HUMAN BEING, I don’t know if this is my Dharma, my duty, in this incredibly complex puzzle named Creation.
I continue to practice and live through Yoga, I continue to strengthen myself and to purify myself mentally and physically with each day that passes, and through the power of example I try to inspire and to motivate others to find a place for spirituality in their lives.
The only important thing which we all are looking for sooner or later is inner peace – piece of mind. Opening ourselves toward absolute peace permanently present inside ourselves, we can reflect its vibration in all that surrounds us: family, friends, profession, generating balance, stability, prosperity, peace.
Paraphrasing Sri Yogi K. Pattabhi Jois:
“Practice, practice, practice … and all is coming”.
So I keep practicing.
Back
