Thanks for typing all that in. It's great to hear a casual outsiders observations. Similar to Kathy Sykes (BBC) reactions in some ways. Interesting observation on body habitus.
Interesting that we'd noted Saudi's posting here before about MUM admission and speculated they might not be interested in TM or Vedic "science" but a way into this country. After this quote, it makes you wonder if MUM might be an Al Qaeda training site: "I go to the dining hall and eat with some of the students. The food at least is excellent, all organic, all frsh, none processed or frozen. I sit with some students, mostly muslims, who come to the university to study computer science, which seems to be far and away the most popular course. They all appear to put up with the strictures of the university (lights out by 10.00pm, enforced physical exercise and TM) as a price they are willing to pay for an American education. I ask them if they will continue to adhere to the Maharishi's teachings and do TM after they leave. They all laugh. Of course not." Interesting. On Apr 28, 2009, at 10:54 AM, Hugo wrote: > During the election last summer the BBC sent writer, > broadcaster and national-treasure Stephen Fry to drive > round America in his London taxi to seek out the real > USA and give us a taste (hopefully)of what the place > and people are actually like. > > He drove through Iowa but MUM was the only place he > visited that was broadcast, but it was so heavily edited > he didn't really have time to air his opinions about the > place. > > I'm going to type out the chapter from his book of > the series here because it's interesting to get an > outsiders view. And, being a thoroughly decent sort of > chap, I'm sure he won't mind me breaching his copyright. > > > MUM by Stephen Fry > > We have come to Fairfield, the county seat and principal > town of Jefferson county, which lies somewhere between > Iowa City and the Missouri state line. There is nothing > much to mark it out from other small prairie towns in this > part of the Midwestern United States: a square, a convention > centre, a fine red-brick courthouse that looks like a mini > St Pancras Station, a centre for the performing arts, > remnants of the old railway lines that used to connect > Fairfield to the greater world-all the amenities and > municipal edifices you would expect in any medium-sized > county seat. > > Just north of the town there had flourished in obscurity > for a hundred years an educational establishment called > Parsons College, which enjoyed abrief bout of notoriety in > the late sixties as a haven for Vietnam draft dodgers and > academic last chancers. 'Flunk Out U', as it was known, > eventually had it's accreditation removed and was closed in > 1973. > > Whip-pan to a flashback of the Beatles arriving at > Rishsikesh, India to study Transcendental Meditation with > the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. TM becomes all the rage and > adherents from around the world flock to courses and schools, > nowhere more so than in the United States of America. With > the business acumen that seems always to characterise self- > styled spiritual people, the Yogi's team happen on that > recently closed Parsons College which they buy for an > undisclosed sum. > > Since 1974 the Maharishi University of Management (formerly > Maharishi International University) has opened it's doors > to students from around the world. I have come to have a > look round both at it's campus and a new township that has > been built just outside, Maharishi Vedic City. > > I look in on the office of one Dr Fred Travis, who has > got his daughter wired up with dozens of electrodes to a > computer. He is monitoring her EEG activity as she goes in > and out of TM states. He explains to me what these data on > the screen reveal, but I'm ashamed to say the theory has all > gone out of my head. I seem to recall being surprised that > the claim for TM is not that the brain relaxes but that it > becomes more active. I may have got that wrong. I have never > met any regular TM practitioner who has struck me as having > a mind of any special speed, dynamism or creative energy, > but I have no doubt the practise gives pleasure and rewards > to many. When the electrodes are planted in my brain I cannot > tell what is different about the readings, but Dr Travis, > whose qualifications are real enough, assures me that these > experiments prove something. He is less comfortable when > I ask him about yogic flying and other aspects of Vedic > "science". Ah well. > > Next I wander round the campus, noting the Maharishi Tower > of Invincibility. There are almost no signs of the original > Parsons College. Despite being on the National Register of > Historical Places, nearly all of it was bulldozed to make way > for new buildings that accorded with Maharishi Sthapatya Veda, > which is a kind of Vedic Feng Shui. A few years before he died > the Maharishi informed the world that it was vital for the > whole planet to live and work in buildings constructed according > to Sthapatya. It seems to come down to everything facing east > and looking like a ghastly impersonal hotel. > > I am in a thoroughly bad mood by this time. I wouldn't mind > all this nonsense if it didn't arrogate half-understood > principles of Western science, attempting to marry it's > 'philosophy' with the ideas behind quantum mechanics, > probability, chaos theory and other essentially mathematical > and empirically derived concepts. You cannot simultaneously > insult western thinking and use it's precepts to 'prove' your > moronic theories: not without losing my respect at least. > > I go to the dining hall and eat with some of the students. > The food at least is excellent, all organic, all frsh, none > processed or frozen. I sit with some students, mostly muslims, > who come to the university to study computer science, which > seems to be far and away the most popular course. They all > appear to put up with the strictures of the university (lights > out by 10.00pm, enforced physical exercise and TM) as a price > they are willing to pay for an American education. I ask them > if they will continue to adhere to the Maharishi's teachings > and do TM after they leave. They all laugh. Of course not. > > A painful night follows. I am staying in a hotel in Vedic > City, which turns out to be a collection of houses off the > main road with no focal centre and sense at all of being a > city or a community. The hotel does not serve alcohol. I go > to bed in a very bad mood indeed. > > Early the next morning I watch the rush of studentry to the > main dome. They have to get there by eight o'clock to swipe > their cards through a machine, pad into the hall and meditate > for twenty minutes, which gives them course credits. If they > miss more than a few of these daily rituals, they will be fined > and docked their credits. I find this all very creepy. The film > crew says that they think the students look too pale, too thin > and too unhealthy. Where is the laughter, the fun, the > boisterousness? Cynical about this weird place as I am, I point > out that it is after all five minutes to eight in the morning. > To find a student awake at that hour is miracle enough-to expect > boisterousness would surely be asking too much. > > I am pleased to put Maharishi University behind me, pleased > to see the Tower of Invincibility diminishing in the rear > view mirror as I prepare to head back east and towards the Great > Lakes. > > > > > > ------------------------------------ > > To subscribe, send a message to: > [email protected] > > Or go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ > and click 'Join This Group!'Yahoo! Groups Links > > >
