Gurus Love Obama
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Ive lived and worked in Fairfield, Iowa
its a town constantly at war with
itself. And I dont say that lightly. You go into any business in that town,
you can feel the tension. You know something is going on, but you arent quite
sure what it is. Until you learn more about the situation.
And that situation is this: about half the population of that town is regular
folks like you and me, who know what the difference between reality and crazy
is. The other half is a bunch of veggy-eating, meditating, think-they-can-fly
whackos. Mix them together, and well
they dont get along, trust me.
Anyway, when I see that they just loooove Obama, I get a kick out of it.
Nothing makes me more certain that this is the wrong man at the wrong time than
reading this:
To the frustration of the cameramen in the Fairfield town square, Obama
delivered his remarks facing east, with the setting sun behind him blotting out
their shots.
But here, theres a power even higher than the television networks: Obama had
positioned himself in alignment with the rotation of the earth, in accordance
with the teachings of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, whose followers moved en masse
to this small Iowa city more than 30 years ago.
The Maharishis transcendental meditators, along with vacationing pilgrims
from the East Coast, turned out in large numbers in the towns traditional
green square to hear the Illinois senator deliver his stump speech on the night
of July 3 more people, Fairfields sheriff said, than had come out to greet a
sitting president.
I saw him and I thought, Oh my god, this is somebody who could lead us into
a new era, said Nancy Watkins, an international student advisor at the
Maharishi University of Management.
The meditators cheered Obama heartily not at his occasional gestures toward
political red meat, but at the lines that sometimes leave other audiences in
silence.
They were responding to the senators call for national renewal that, though
perhaps more Christian than New Age in concept, fit comfortably into a town
square hemmed by shops with names like Revelations and the Healthy
Inspiration.
Somehow we have lost the capacity to recognize ourselves in each other,
Obama said, to an intently nodding crowd of at least 1,000. You know, people
talk a lot about the federal deficit, but one of the things that I always talk
about is
an empathy deficit, he continued, to applause.
Ill give the man credit
he did his research. If you want to find out what
happened to the 1960s make love not war crowd, youll find them there in that
town. They eat that crap (empathy deficit) up, believe me.
Now, its all well and good that I say this town is full of kooks (the locals
call them gurus), but some of you wont believe me. So, I offer you the
following proof:
Obamas message is received warmly in Iowa, and nowhere more than in
Fairfield, a city with a population of about 10,000 that was transformed when
the Maharishi chose to place his university on the campus of a failing private
college.
The Maharishi, a native of India now reportedly aged about 90, was a
celebrity at the time. He had played the guru to stars, including the Beatles.
But while his star power has waned, his following has endured, as has his
college town. Now, its a thriving scene of art galleries, Asian restaurants,
and natural healing salons, site of the best organic pizza in Eastern Iowa. It
has even sprouted a suburb the first new city incorporated in Iowa in decades
called Maharishi Vedic City, in which all buildings face East.
After September 11, the Maharishi was briefly back in the news when he
introduced an antidote to terrorism called Invincible Defense Technology, and
reliant on the meditation technique known as Yogic Flying.
A lot of people here are very supportive of Dennis Kucinich, said Victoria
Mattingly, 54, who works for a company that makes environmentally-friendly
building materials.
Actually, Jefferson County, in which Fairfield sits, is one of the few Howard
Dean carried in the 2004 caucuses with Kucinich coming in a strong second.
And some heard a strain of the Ohio Congressman with his talk of the world as
interconnected and interdependent, and his pledge to heal this planet in
Obamas speech.
They love Howard Dean and Dennis Kucinich. Nuff said.
Oh, by the way
you know what that Yoga flying really is? They cross their
legs, go into a trance (some herbs might be involved, if you get my drift),
and then proceed to hop/bounce around a gymnasium. They barely get a few inches
off the floor, yet they think theyre actually flying. And thats just stage 1!
Pure freakin nutjobs.
So if they want to be supportive of Obama, more power to em. But Ill just
bet you wont see any Endorsed by The Maharishi University on any campaign
flyers anytime soon.
---------------------------------
Expecting? Get great news right away with email Auto-Check.
Try the Yahoo! Mail Beta.
