Trending recently in Spiritually consciousness communal FF, for instance arriving at the meditator Quaker meeting yesterday are a couple who moving from Hawaii escaping the ‘vog’ sold their house in Hawaii and just bought a house in FF, these are folks who are not ™’ers but looking for sympatico spiritually conscious place. Another person who also has come along to the meditating Friends meeting checking Fairfield, Ia. as spiritual place came to Fairfield after the recent Ammachi satsang in Chicago that so many of the Fairfield meditators were at.
skymtsea comments: Its good to hear that the broader spiritual community remains vibrant / growing. Beyond the TM community, what sort of groups and interests are becoming more popular and prominent? Feste37 writes: That's a very interesting post. Much of what you write is spot-on, even though you don't live here; for example, "Perhaps FF is the world's lowest cost, friendliest, increasingly sustainable, most walkable, highest intensity consciousness community." You may well be right about that. The advantage of FF is that it is small, not like Boulder or Santa Monica, so the sense of spiritual community is more palpable and always close at hand. Some people may be leaving, but others are moving here. I do not think there is an overall decline (and overall, the population of Fairfield has risen slightly over the last few years). The new people are far less "TM-centric" (to use your phrase) but they are certainly spiritually minded in a more general sense. They also know that Fairfield has managed to achieve over the years a genuine feeling of spiritual community, and that is what draws them here. In my experience, the broader spiritual community in Fairfield remains vibrant and is likely to continue in that vein for the foreseeable future. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <skymtsea@...> wrote : Some months ago Doug wrote: "Earlier this year I had a list gathering of more than a dozen friends of the TM community here who have recently sold their homes and left. People who have retirement means. This is unsettling in that to have a viable community there needs to be critical mass available in people. Studies by ISU of small towns shows that towns need at least 800 to have a viable sustaining local economy. One could worry for the Fairfield meditating community seeing the holes in the local economy when people with money resource move away. " After seeing Doug's post on the (perceived) exodus from Fairfield, I came across the following article http://www.sonima.com/meditation/top-cities-for-meditation/ http://www.sonima.com/meditation/top-cities-for-meditation/ 30 Top Cities and Towns for Meditation in America Fairfield is at the top of the list (not sure that's random or meant to convey its the premier meditating community.) The reasons why people are leaving FF is of interest, though I can speculate -- at least in broad categories. Others on the list may be able to fill in more specific details. Broadly speaking, peoples needs and aspirations change, as do the attributes of their communities. Migration in and out of the community is natural over time. For those remaining in FF, and those who are contemplating returning (such as myself), understanding and exploring FF's current community attributes -- and more importantly -- those that could flourish over the coming decades is an intriguing and important undertaking. 30 years ago someone may have moved to FF because it was highly TM-centric: the domes, Super Radiance, MUM, many teachers and old friends from TTC, ATR, the teaching in the field, TM-businesses, etc. Those attributes have changed over time. As are their relative importance to some in different stages of their life, employment, experience, knowledge, etc. Clearly, people view FF in different ways, depending on the attributes that they value. For some, it is a TM centric town and that is at the core of what makes FF attractive to them. From my reading of the Phoenix Rising posts, it seems that effort seeks to make FF a better TM centric town for TM centric residents. And all of those efforts sound good and I wish the best in success towards realizing those visions. However, FF has many other possible, and broader attributes, beyond TM specifically and its programs and institutions, that may be attractive to many exploring new locales. FF appears to be a community that is more yoga, meditation, non-dual, consciousness, vegetarian, sustainability friendly and focused than other "consciousness communities" -- at least on a population intensity level. One of a number of possible examples -- not many towns have 5% of their population leave for the weekend to see a traveling saint. Other possible consciousness communities, such as Santa Monica or Boulder may have more meditators or yoga enthusiasts in total, but not as many on each block, or at the local coffee house, or have these themes as lively "in the air". And FF has a small town feel. Some downsides to that, but I am speaking to the positive attributes of walkability, knowing a deeper network of people locally, more sense of community -- shared values, interests, projects, endeavors -- relative to the more urban jungle nature of other potential consciousness communities. And FF has a substantially lower cost of living. Perhaps FF is the world's lowest cost, friendliest, increasingly sustainable, most walkable, highest intensity consciousness community. Ha. This is an outsider's view, from someone who has not lived in FF for a long time (nor even for a long time). A vision of possibilities of sorts. A taste of the "flavor" I get when considering FF compared to other consciousness communities as a new home - a place to prosper and thrive in the domains of the mind, heart and soul. Is this fanciful thinking or does it synch, at least in seed form, with the vision others have for FF? Or will everyone have left town by the time I arrive? :)
