Transcendent City

Transcendental Meditation practitioners in Fairfield, , meditate twice daily in one of two of Pure Knowledge.

A flatbed truck whizzing around the town square kicks up dust on Burlington “I haven’t really come across a place inside the meditation capital of the Avenue. A repairman with his morning coffee in hand tosses a smile my way. like this anywhere else.” midwest. All cornstalks and cool spring breeze, Fairfield, Iowa, wouldn’t seem unlike —Fairfield, Iowa resident Lauren Webster any other Midwestern city, ones such as by dan hyman. photographed Pleasantville, Swan, or Oskaloosa, which “I haven’t really come across a place can further immerse themselves in all by logan clement dot the map from here to Des Moines. like this anywhere else,” says 26-year- things meditation by majoring in, say, old New Orleans native and current Maharishi Vedic Science, which, among And then they come into view. Fairfield resident Lauren Webster of the other big-ticket subjects, aims to help approximately 9,500-person town that, them understand how they can maxi- The Golden Domes of Pure Know- in addition to housing the aforemen- mize personal growth and contribute to ledge: orblike, almost shimmering, tioned twin Maharishi Golden Domes, world peace. vaguely extraterrestrial in appear- is home to the Maharishi University of Every year, hundreds of new faces ance, 25,000 square feet each. “Your Management (MUM), a school at which from roughly 85 countries pour into the imagination could go wild,” says local the principal mission is to provide a small town, and, according to Webster, resident Kathy Petersen, who has lived “Consciousness-based education” and who recently completed her MBA at the in the Fairfield area for nearly 35 years, Transcendental Meditation is part of university, almost all are here on a quest with a laugh. “Like, ‘What do they do in the daily practice and core curriculum. for some form of self-enlightenment. there?’” The reality, it turns out, is not a To that end, all first-year undergrad “It’s a safe haven for a lot of people to whole lot: Twice daily, hundreds of peo- students are required to take “Science just come and get themselves together,” ple meditate together under the domes. and Technology of Consciousness,” she says. “A lot of people here were Silence. Concentration. Transcendence. or Transcendental Meditation 101, if lost and are searching for something. This is Fairfield, a major hub of the spir- you will, during which they learn the Being here you’re able to develop things itual practice and ever-growing global technique and traditions surround- about yourself and find what you’re movement known as Transcendental ing the practice, as well as explore looking for.” It’s a sentiment echoed by Meditation. its theoretical foundations. Students MUM film professor and former student 107 A Maharishi mantra greets you at university buildings.

were looking for a permanent home. In 1974, after Parsons College, once nicknamed “Dropout U,” shuttered, Maharishi U moved in. Not surpris- ingly, the arrival of the ’Roos (short for “Gu-Roos”), as the locals called them, was met with some skepticism. “People in town were wary of us,” recalls Petersen, who moved to Fairfield in 1981, of the early years. She says that times and relationships within the com- Students at Maharishi University of Management meditate as part munity have changed, not least because of the curriculum. Houses in Maharishi Vedic City all point east, a principal tenet of Maharishi Vastu Architecture. of the creation of Maharishi Vedic City, a small residential community estab- find out what’s it like being a young per- lished in 2001, where she now serves as son entrenched in the TM lifestyle, I’ve city clerk. The modern homes in MVC “That it’s in middle-of-nowhere Iowa is come to the right place. all face east and have a golden roof Spend enough time in Fairfield and ornament called a kalash at the top— pretty weird...and pretty special” you’ll hear the words “consciousness” both core principles of Maharishi Vastu and “transcending”—or some iteration Architecture. More than anything, hav- —MUM professor Amine Kouider of them—repeated with great frequency. ing a town to call their own, Petersen It’s because people such as Niloofar There is a certain meditative serenity in the Fairfield area. says, gave credence to the meditators’ Mofrad, a 24-year-old Iranian student long-standing presence in the commu- Amine Kouider, a native of Algeria. On rity in the late ’60s—if largely because at MUM who says TM saved her mother nity. “Now they view us as a real city,” a recent spring morning the 29-year- TM began attracting famous followers from depression and finds it acts as a she says. old sits in the university’s Arts Center including and Mick Jagger. means of “self-nourishment” in her own But, as the Baby Boomer generation and recalls his own journey halfway The practice only got trendier in the life, truly swear by these terms. They slowly loosens its grip and the practices around the world to his current home ensuing years as more stars latched on will tell you that achieving a greater of old come up for reexamination, the in Iowa: “Most people here have this to its hip cachet. Everyone from Jerry sense of consciousness and transcend- younger meditators are making their desire to better themselves and find out Seinfeld to Jim Carrey to ing to a deeper physiological level turns voices heard. And as they’ll readily tell who they are,” he explains of Fairfield’s to Ellen DeGeneres professes a deep off the static in their brains. It gives one you, some of them don’t quite see com- gravitational pull. “That it’s in middle- dedication to TM. access to a more unfiltered creative well munity relations with such rose-colored of-nowhere Iowa is pretty weird.” He But what exactly does TM entail? from the recesses of the mind. But it’s glasses. “From the residents of the smiles. “And pretty special.” Maharishi, who passed away in 2008 at not a religion, Mofrad and others explain. community’s perspective, there’s still a TM, as its practitioners call it for age 90, taught that meditating twice a (Although any confusion on the subject very big problem,” says Webster, whose short, has been in the public arena day, specifically while reciting a mantra is understandable: Inside one of the master’s program included a com- since roughly the late 1950s. Maharishi one receives when learning the prac- Golden Domes, I spot what looks a lot munity outreach project. “They think Mahesh Yogi, an enlightened teacher tice, allows the mind to settle down to University scientists study the effects of TM like an altar with images of Maharishi.) on the brain. everyone associated with the university from India, began touring the world quieter states and ultimately transcend How TMers ended up in Fairfield is is elitist or thinks they’re better than and speaking to the practice’s pro- thought itself. According to a recent more a matter of timing than anything. everyone. There are still those things found personal benefits. Charismatic survey, nearly five million people have Founded in 1971 and originally based that exist that create that separation. A and soft-spoken with an almost divine learned TM. And of those practitioners out of an apartment complex in Goleta, lot of residents don’t even feel like they presence, Maharishi, often referred to in Fairfield, many are millennials who California, the leaders of what was can walk on campus.” as “enlightened master” by followers, have either been born and raised with then known as Maharishi International Sustainability is at the core of Maharishi University quickly attained something like celeb- TM or have chosen it as their path. To University—it was renamed in 1995— of Management’s mission. 108 109 Maharhishi Vedic City was founded in 2001.

If the TM community feels closed black sheep all in one place.” off, it’s perhaps because, for many fol- With a downtown full of organic food lowers, membership unites them in a stores, Ayurvedic health centers, and society of like-minded seekers. They vegan bar-restaurants like The Arbor call their global meditation family “The Bar (which doubles as a performance- Movement” and view Fairfield as its art venue where patrons get onstage home base. It has a profound impact and recite beat poetry about inner on many people’s lives. Kelsey Latta, a spirituality), Fairfield feels not unlike 24-year-old Seattle native whose par- a small-scale version of larger, typi- ents’ divorce ripped her apart during cally liberal hippie towns like Boulder, her teenage years, came to Fairfield Colorado, or Santa Cruz, California. But three years ago with her dad on a visi- it’s the full-bore openness and accep- tor’s weekend. As soon as she stepped tance of others here—each person has out of the van that took her from the a genuine interest in learning about airport to the campus, she says, “I just and interacting with one another—that had this feeling I was going to be here.” some locals say makes it special. Craig Nic Emery, a twentysomething student Pearson, executive vice president of enrolled in the David Lynch Masters MUM, says a common phrase you’ll of Fine Arts in Film program, will tell hear Fairfield residents relay of the you he’s here in Fairfield as part of a city’s appeal is “I feel the love.” It all “spiritual awakening.” Eva Saint Denis, a makes you stop and wonder why medi- 21-year-old former model from Southern tating makes people seem, well, nicer. California and recent MUM grad, says Are they blissfully zoned out? Hardly, she came here because she wanted says Pearson, surrounded by pictures of “more depth” in her life and “to be around Maharishi in a conference room at the authentic people.” Kusum Purohit came Argiro Student Center. They’re just in a from India to study sustainable fashion higher state of consciousness. “When and says her combination of meditation you’re in an environment where there’s and design is about “cherishing your- a lot of transcending going on,” he says, self more than the clothes.” Gabrielle “people’s true human values come out.” Sleiman, 19, moved to Fairfield from To be clear: TM is in fact not a reli- Montreal with her mom five years ago gion. At least not by standard defini- and finally feels like she belongs. “I was tion. But Fairfield’s meditators, like this weird little girl who meditated at many religious organizations’ most home by herself,” she recalls of her life devoted members, largely interact only in Canada. “Moving here I was like, ‘Yay, with one another. Despite its friendli- I don’t have to hide it anymore.’ I’m not ness, the entire community can feel the only weird little girl.” Kouider puts like a bubble. This is most clear when it more bluntly: “It’s the misfits and the speaking to high school students at

Inside the Golden Domes, where meditators sit for their daily transcendence. is a familiar face in Fairfield. 111 From left: Niloofar Mofrad, Kelsey Latta, Eva Saint Denis MUM PhD student Brian Glassett

“I’d look online up to me and was like, ‘Oh my god, I couldn’t they teach an eager student, hear you guys float in the air and pray like, say, a journalist, out of the goodness and be like, ‘Wait a naked to the moon.’” Unger laughs. of their hearts? Not quite. TM’s official “You have to explain you’re a completely website says 100 percent of the TM minute? Not every- normal person; you just do this extra course fees “support our educational and thing for 40 minutes out of your day.” charitable initiatives,” and to that end, one’s meditating?’” Some fellow Fairfield dwellers might according to native Fairfield residents —11th-grade student Gevene Rodriguez also need convincing. Sitting outside and husband-and-wife couple Tasha and Cafe Paradiso one afternoon, former Jeremy Jones, money would have to be university employee JP (who asked for involved if one wanted to learn. the private Maharishi School of the his last name to be withheld) gets to When asked, the young adults in Age of Enlightenment. Here, students talking. “Do I think it’s a little cultish?” Fairfield will admit that life outside begin practicing walking-meditating he says when asked about TM’s insular the small town can seem somewhat as early as kindergarten and learn relationship to the surrounding com- inviting. Rodriguez is not sure yet if more traditional sit-down meditation in munity. “For sure!” Nahshon Yisreal is a she plans to stay in Fairfield post- fourth grade. Teachers use TM as a tool Chicago native who is about to gradu- high school graduation. “People get to “turn their attention inward and be ate from MUM and is working on a jittery here,” she admits. “I need to more aware of themselves.” Most criti- social-media app, he says. Despite hav- experience something bigger.” Kenzie cally, they aim to make sure students ing lived in Fairfield for nearly four years, Wacknov, 24, grew up here and says can directly relate whatever they’re he still sometimes finds it a strange and she rebelled against TM in her teen- learning to their own life while stressing confusing place. “It’s definitely weird age years, but after leaving for college consciousness in the teaching methodol- here,” he says. He’s quick to add, how- in Berkeley, California, she was drawn ogy. “My whole life I’ve been a part of ever, that for young self-starters like him, back to Fairfield one year later. It was this community without even knowing Fairfield is “an entrepreneur’s paradise.” comforting, she says, to be back among it,” admits 11th-grade student Gevene Not only are there a plethora of creative her kind of people. “There is something Rodriguez. “I’d look online and be like, types in these parts, but also a large that I don’t want to take for granted ‘Wait a minute. Not everyone’s meditat- number of “rich-ass people who want to here,” she offers. ing?’” Rodriguez’s parents want her to throw you bread.” Unger, like Rodriguez, is ready to be a TM teacher after college. “They say Yes, like many large-scale organiza- leave Fairfield next year when she it gives you lots of opportunity,” she says. tions, TM and its community of practi- heads off to Sarah Lawrence College “They always say, ‘It’s in your dharma.’” tioners have a lot of money. According to in New York. But does she think she Misunderstanding and social judg- some estimates, the movement has an might eventually come back and make ment by outsiders can be a common annual income of $20 million. Want to her permanent home in this unusual side effect of growing up in Fairfield. “I learn TM? As per several websites, the Iowa town? went to a writing conference about two cost is approximately $1,000 for a series Yes, she responds without hesitation: A local scout troop visits the Maharishi Vedic Observatory, a one-and-a-half-acre open-air space with masonry sundials. years ago,” 12th-grade Fairfield native of four sessions. With its devotees con- “It’s part of who I am.”

special the accommodations. thanks tofor the raj Anna Unger recalls, “and this girl came stantly preaching its benefits, however, 112 113