--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Buck" <dhamiltony2k5@...> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Buck" wrote: > > > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "feste37" <feste37@> wrote: > > > > > > That's a good summary. > > > > Thanks. It is interesting that you responded first to this. I actually > > was thinking of asking you to help me edit this particular paper for this > > particular scholarly audience. I pushed ahead anyway and they seem quite > > pleased with this as an entry in to the subject of TM and Fairfield for > > discussion. -Buck > > > > > But if the scholars didn't know about TM and Fairfield, I'd be interested > > > in knowing what were the Utopian/spiritual/intentional/communal groups > > > that they did discuss, especially those currently in existence. Where are > > > these groups located? Who are they? > > > > > At the meeting were specialists in different communal groups and aspects of > different groups. Oneida, Harmonists, Amana, Shakers, Icarians, Mormons, > Synanon, new religions and contemporary religious and secular communities, > Camphill, the Twelve Tribes, City of David, Kibitz, and some other particular > contemporary cloistered groups had papers delivered about them. There was a > paper given considering quantitative measurement of the notion of > sustainability in communal groups using a contemporary 'intentional > community' group that is just to our south over the border in Missouri, the > intentional community of Dancing Rabbit. The conference had papers on many > different aspects of utopian community. Sociologists, anthropologists, > ethno-musicologists, economists, religious studies, and historians. The > meeting was all extremely interesting as a communal comparison for our own > group. It's a meeting of an old scholarly association and the meeting was > very professionally and well done. This was the second year I've attended as > someone coming from (meditating) Fairfield. > -Buck
Thanks. I'm very curious about Dancing Rabbit. Who are they? > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Buck" wrote: > > > > > > > > I wrote this piece below and have been e-mailing individually to a > > > > number of scholarly folks who I met at an academic meeting studying > > > > Utopian and communal groups that I attended recently out in upstate New > > > > York. I came away with about 50 business cards from scholars who I met > > > > and talked with at the conference. I wrote this to be able to send > > > > to them something descriptive about (meditating) Fairfield, Iowa as a > > > > 'communal' group. Of course what I set out to write became longer than > > > > I intended. Here is the unabridged version with the links. I hope > > > > you'll like the Shaker comparison and I think you'll appreciate the > > > > links. > > > > Best Regards from Iowa, > > > > <paste>: > > > > > > > > Communal (Meditating) Fairfield, Iowa > > > > > > > > On returning home from the annual meeting I find myself wanting to > > > > catch up by sharing some links on 'communal' Fairfield, Iowa with you > > > > that might better give insight in to a scale and circumstance of the > > > > communal society I come from and have lived in for 40 years. Starting > > > > from the outside looking in on meditating Fairfield it can seem like > > > > looking at a monolith. Evidently it is easy to make assumptions about > > > > Fairfield and its meditators as it is also tough to discern what is > > > > going on inside the meditating community. But it need not be difficult > > > > at all once there are handles on it. The Fairfield meditating > > > > community has matured in time and is quite developed with many communal > > > > features to find and look at. I see Fairfield, Iowa in fact can > > > > provide a large and living laboratory for communal community scholars > > > > to look at. > > > > > > > > Beginning with Tim Miller's Communal Societies Vol. 30 No.1, 2010 paper > > > > in mind I'll give you some things further below to look at for > > > > yourselves, > > > > > > > > "A Matter of Definition: Just What Is an Intentional Community?" > > > > > > > > -A sense of purpose and distinctiveness, with deliberate intent to be a > > > > community > > > > -Some kind of shared living space > > > > -Some shared resources > > > > -Critical mass > > > > > > > > For communal studies scholars looking in I believe one of the best ways > > > > to understand the scale of the Fairfield Meditating community is to > > > > relate to it in a form like the old Shaker villages as organizational > > > > structure back while the Shakers were up and running. In the middle of > > > > TM is the equivalent of a Shaker 'Ministry Family' of upper > > > > administration and then elements of communal families of meditators > > > > that are in concentric circles around the middle including meditators > > > > who live well outside the middle in town but come inside to meditate > > > > also as members. The upper level is a more exclusive level (only for > > > > sake of an analogy though, they do not use that term 'ministry' to > > > > describe themselves) which currently now tends to live more exclusively > > > > out in an adjacent new town area called Maharishi Vedic City to the > > > > northwest of Fairfield proper. The university community lives more on > > > > their campus in Fairfield. The larger meditating community lives > > > > through out Fairfield and the County area either disperse singly or in > > > > meditator households in neighborhoods. Maharishi Vedic City and the > > > > university community each function with obvious communal aspect with > > > > people living together, working for their community together, housing > > > > close together, educating their kids together, socializing together, > > > > sharing resources etc. The larger surrounding meditating community > > > > also functions that way. The common thing to these Shaker-like > > > > 'families' of meditators in the Fairfield area like the Shakers is that > > > > they moved to Fairfield as meditators to be practicing meditators in > > > > something larger. > > > > > > > > In starting, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was a proponent of Transcendental > > > > Meditation for 60 years in the West and there has been a meditating > > > > community in Fairfield, Iowa for about 40 years. > > > > > > > > The Transcendental Meditation (TM) movement purchased a bankrupt > > > > college campus in Fairfield, Iowa and moved a university there in 1974. > > > > The university was teaching a wide liberal arts curricula where the > > > > students and faculty were also practicing meditators. That functioned > > > > as a unit in Fairfield for about a half decade when at a large > > > > gathering of meditators meeting with Maharishi it was suggested that > > > > folks as meditators move to the Fairfield community to be able to > > > > meditate regularly in large group meditations. That was the start of > > > > the Fairfield meditating community where meditators moved to Fairfield, > > > > Iowa generally. Through the later 1970's, 1980's, 1990's and even up > > > > to present time thousands of meditators have lived in Fairfield. > > > > > > > > Like happened with the Shakers there are now lots of projects that go > > > > along with meditating that start to be defining otherwise but still the > > > > formative communal reason here is more essentially about the spiritual > > > > practice of meditating. Hopefully this is useful as a way of looking > > > > at it. I am providing here below some source links to these elements > > > > that I think are good ways of accessing what is going on inside of a > > > > communal meditating Fairfield. > > > > > > > > The Group Meditation: > > > > Large daily group meditations are held in community facilities the > > > > meditating community built in the early 1980's intended to house large > > > > group meditations. This source link gives an overview to this aspect > > > > of the community: > > > > http://invincibleamerica.org/tallies/ > > > > > > > > Notice clear down at the bottom of this page are daily tallies that in > > > > this record go back to 2006. The point is that in the daily ebb and > > > > flow of meditating in Fairfield is this particular communal aspect of > > > > meditation which happens everyday twice a day and has for a long time. > > > > > > > > The 'Golden Domes': > > > > Back in the 1980's the meditating community built two large wooden dome > > > > structures to house the community meditation. There is a site on > > > > Wikipedia about these buildings. This Wiki 'Golden Domes' site is > > > > very well sourced. > > > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Domes > > > > > > > > The meditating university community as 'Consciousness-based > > > > Education': > > > > The university in Fairfield functions as its own communal group which > > > > is also part of the larger meditating community in Fairfield. > > > > University faculty, staff, and students housed close together on > > > > campus, take their meals together, meditate together, work together, > > > > their kids go to the meditating primary and secondary community school > > > > together, and sustaining resources are shared from the community: > > > > http://www.mum.edu > > > > > > > > Likewise the meditating community's elementary and secondary school > > > > function as another communal group or 'family' with similar communal > > > > features as the university. http://www.maharishischooliowa.org/ > > > > > > > > > > > > The Larger Meditating Fairfield Meditator Community: > > > > Most meditators who have come to live in the area live in Fairfield > > > > proper or out in the county area living outside of both the university > > > > campus and the Maharishi Vedic City area . The general Jefferson > > > > County Iowa population is about 15,000. The Fairfield population is > > > > about 10,000. In the Jefferson County/Fairfield area there are about > > > > 3,000 adult age meditators living still. The university campus houses > > > > many hundred people. The recent census found about 250 people living > > > > in Maharishi Vedic City and an approximate additional 1,000 pundits on > > > > temporary visas living to the north of Maharish Vedic City in a > > > > compound that has recently been built. When Transcendental > > > > Meditation was culturally popular previously around the time that the > > > > Beatles were followers of Maharishi, Transcendental Meditation (TM) > > > > often drew heavily from college and university communities. As a > > > > result the immigration of TM meditators to Fairfield has brought both > > > > an educated and cosmopolitan group together in a small midwest town. > > > > This aspect combined with its Utopian values in the larger community of > > > > meditators living outside of campus and outside of Vedic City deserves > > > > a look as its own distinctive communal society. The greater or larger > > > > Fairfield meditator meditating community often gets more defined > > > > locally by its communal arts, civic activities and businesses alongside > > > > the indigenous Fairfield and Jefferson County Iowa population. This > > > > becomes its own large area in communal Fairfield studies that has not > > > > been written about so much other than feature articles appearing in > > > > newspapers and magazines and now more recently in an Oprah film > > > > production in a form of overview journalism. > > > > > > > > The Maharishi Vedic City Communal Grouping: > > > > Maharishi Vedic City functions effectively as a theocratic municipality > > > > in the vein of Holly Folk's paper on the subject about theocratic > > > > municipality in Communal Societies V 31.2, 2011. > > > > Two sources of information on the internet that are authored by people > > > > in the community of Maharishi Vedic City are: > > > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharishi_Vedic_City,_Iowa and their own > > > > website: http://www.vediccity.net/ > > > > > > > > In conclusion generally I have found Fairfield, Iowa to be an extremely > > > > vital and fun communal place to live as one of the larger and older > > > > Utopian places currently operating in the U.S. I see now that it is > > > > old enough and mature enough to deserve some study by scholars so I > > > > wanted to share these link with you to help you become introduced. > > > > These then are the three or four communal groupings within the > > > > meditating Fairfield community that you can look at easily from > > > > outside. I hope you find their links and descriptions both useful > > > > and interesting to the studies of communal societies. > > > > > > > > And, of course there is Fairfield itself: > > > > http://cityoffairfieldiowa.com/ > > > > > > > > > > > > With Kind Regards from Fairfield, > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > *** > > > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Buck" wrote: > > > > > > > > > > A couple months ago I attended an academic conference with about a > > > > > hundred scholars who study our kind of group. They were generally > > > > > unaware of Fairfield. In conversing with these scholars over several > > > > > days time it was as if 'TM' had dropped off the planet. These were > > > > > tenured professors, department chairs, directors of collections who > > > > > teach at real universities from all over the country. Basically zip > > > > > understanding of TM let alone Fairfield. TM seemingly disappeared > > > > > from culture from the 1980's and on and suffers still from that > > > > > amnesia of inertia. It got to the point even in Fairfield where the > > > > > Dome numbers had dropped in the y-2000's to just a couple hundred > > > > > people meditating together. Nearly died out except for the > > > > > resuscitation of the urgency of the invincible America meditation > > > > > program (2006) and the last ditch efforts of some few people (Bob > > > > > Wynne) in Vedic City to actually bring pundits to Fairfield > > > > > http://www.vediccity.net/welcome.html > > > > > It is an amazing thing going on in Fairfield. It is real > > > > > interesting to be in the middle of communicating that to people > > > > > outside in the world. > > > > > -Buck in the Dome > > > > > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Buck" wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > It is interesting, that most people out in the world, even educated > > > > > > people, have no idea what is going on here let alone the gravity of > > > > > > it. We should all be unperturbed by their general old-age > > > > > > ignorance of it though and rigorously just attend to our > > > > > > meditations. Great is our method and science of peace here. The > > > > > > New Jerusalem is coming, > > > > > > -Buck > > > > > > > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Share Long <sharelong60@> > > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Buck, forget emailing. Have him visit FF for Dec 7 Art Walk. > > > > > > > As George somebody, former Redskins coach said, the future is now. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Your brave enthusiasm and still makes me smile just about every > > > > > > > day (-: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ________________________________ > > > > > > > From: Buck > > > > > > > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > > > > > > > Sent: Saturday, December 1, 2012 11:51 PM > > > > > > > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Reducing Tension in the Middle East > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >  > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Buck" wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "emptybill" <emptybill@> > > > > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Buckyball > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > "A perennial philosophy of all major cultural traditions that > > > > > > > > > there > > > > > > > > > exists a transcendental field at the most fundamental level > > > > > > > > > of natural > > > > > > > > > law ..." > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > If this is true then it is not "transcendental" but rather a > > > > > > > > > supporting > > > > > > > > > ground. > > > > > > > > > In other words, it is prakriti/pradhâna/avyakta (an > > > > > > > > > unmanifest). > > > > > > > > > It is nature, but not transcendent. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Bill, Yep I know what you mean, that's my experience too. As I > > > > > > > > was editing that piece I chose to stick with the western > > > > > > > > language and stay away from the Vedic so as not to confuse the > > > > > > > > ignorant lurker here. Going with the 'Transcendental' field > > > > > > > > was good enough for the release posted here. Best Regards, > > > > > > > > -Buck > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I went to a lecture at the U. of Ia. in Iowa City the other nite > > > > > > > given by a visiting classicist professor and went out to dinner > > > > > > > with him after. In discussing Fairfield he broke from what we > > > > > > > were saying at a point and declared he could not understand what > > > > > > > Utopia could possibly be. That he lives in the past and present > > > > > > > but could not understand what I was saying about a future Utopia > > > > > > > this way. It was not the time to say anything more but we are > > > > > > > e-mailing. It is a challenging thing to communicate. > > > > > > > -Buck > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Buck" wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > A perennial philosophy of all major cultural traditions > > > > > > > > > > that there > > > > > > > > > exists a transcendental field at the most fundamental level > > > > > > > > > of natural > > > > > > > > > law, which can be directly accessed as the silent > > > > > > > > > transcendental level > > > > > > > > > of the human mind. Hundreds of studies have shown that > > > > > > > > > experience of > > > > > > > > > transcendental consciousness breaks the chain of conditioned > > > > > > > > > reflexes > > > > > > > > > coming on from past behavior, as seen in reduced addictive > > > > > > > > > behaviors of > > > > > > > > > all kinds, decreased prison recidivism, and reduced > > > > > > > > > behavioral problems > > > > > > > > > in inner-city children. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Now there is hope because a proven technology of > > > > > > > > > > > consciousness to > > > > > > > > > create peace is available. This novel approach establishes a > > > > > > > > > filter of > > > > > > > > > coherence and order in collective consciousness in the > > > > > > > > > present, which is > > > > > > > > > capable of transforming the flow of negativity from the past > > > > > > > > > into a more > > > > > > > > > harmonious future. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Meditation is certainly the answer, > > > > > > > > > > > -Buck in the Dome > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
