[FairfieldLife] Re: How's Meditating Fairfield, Iowa Doing?

[dhamiltony...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]]

# 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 Even post-Maharishi now, the Fairfield, Iowa meditating community is yet a 
long way from being over. First off there is still a small core of wealthy 
believers who altruistically (of high-minded good will] finance the org parts 
of TM with their own wealth. Then too the larger group of old practitioners are 
here continuing still for the more spiritual aspects of communal life that is 
here. 
 
 
 Different elements make up the Fairfield meditating community. Of course it 
would be a horrible loss if the movement were to sometime fold here and banks 
close the university. That is not likely to happen next year. But the 
meditating community aspect of Fairfield otherwise would continue on for some 
time, as has happened elsewhere in the story of spiritual communities.
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 In life most people are not able to have more than one home at a time. Most 
those who are here in the meditating community now are not going to just up and 
move away. A lot have come to Fairfield and some lot of meditators haven't left 
Fairfield regardless what bad the behavior the movement has been up to at 
times. 
  
 Most of the deeper erosion (attrition) happened back in the 1990's. Since then 
its been a smaller chronic or endemic attrition for various reasons, some usual 
reasons of offense around money, sex, or differentials of inclusion or 
exclusivity, including the ongoing reigns of terror excluding people from the 
communal group meditation by administration.  
 

 And yet people move back to Fairfield to be in the meditating community.  
Housing is kind of tight right now with people, young and old, returning.  But 
still the larger portion of meditators lives on in town [Fairfield] or the 
County [Jefferson] outside of contact with the organized or formal movement on 
campus or with the Global Country of World Peace hold up out in M. Vedic City 
to the edge of Fairfield proper.
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 There are several elements to the 40 year old Fairfield meditating community 
that will allow it to endure here longer. Fairfield is still a nice place to 
meditate and live, regardless of how folks feel about the ongoing nature of the 
Raja movement. However it would be better for everyone, the Raja movement 
itself, if the TM movement would better behave itself within conscience of its 
own ethical behavior. As has been looked at here before, ethical behavior is 
evidently a “leading economic indicator”. Attending fast as they can now to 
that they should need to better look at themselves inside as others may see 
them. “Change begins within”, as they say. That change in the Raja movement may 
shortly very well be about their own survival. Yes, Fairfield will go on. 
Fairfield regardless is still a real nice place to meditate, and live. 
-JaiGuruYou
 

 It is a cute little town which I always enjoyed while I was a student there 
and after, when I moved back for a year to start a horseback riding program for 
the students and faculty off campus. I totally "get" the appeal because it is a 
small, walkable community with many people who have a few fundamental things in 
common. The weather is a bit of a drag in the winters, though, and the distance 
from a city bigger than Iowa City is a kind of a drag and it is in the Midwest 
which I can do without having lived in Chicago twice in my life. Being very 
active in my sport means I would be too far geopgraphically from serious 
competition and the fact that I love Victoria and Canada, for that matter, 
pretty much rules out returning to FF to ever live again. Oh, and other than 
the small detail that I don't meditate and am not into any other alternate 
therapies or systems of which there seems to be an awful lot of there, I might 
just fit in fine.
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 That's interesting. I have a friend on the East Coast who wants to move back 
here within the next couple of years. Former MUM student. She visited with her 
daughter a while back. The daughter has no interest in moving here because 
"it's all old people." I think she has a point. This community is not renewing 
itself, and time will soon wipe us out. I give Fairfield another 25 years or so 
as an eclectic spiritual center; after that almost all the people who make this 
place tick will be dead or demented, and Fairfield will bit by bit revert to 
its former status as an unremarkable small town in the Midwest. The University 
might stagger on for a bit longer, but neither MUM nor MSAE have any money, so 
I do not see a bright future for them. 
 

 That all sounds about right but I'd give it 15 years, not 25.
 

[FairfieldLife] Re: How's Meditating Fairfield, Iowa Doing?

[awoelfleba...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]]

 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 Even post-Maharishi now, the Fairfield, Iowa meditating community is yet a 
long way from being over. First off there is still a small core of wealthy 
believers who altruistically (of high-minded good will] finance the org parts 
of TM with their own wealth. Then too the larger group of old practitioners are 
here continuing still for the more spiritual aspects of communal life that is 
here. 
 
 
 Different elements make up the Fairfield meditating community. Of course it 
would be a horrible loss if the movement were to sometime fold here and banks 
close the university. That is not likely to happen next year. But the 
meditating community aspect of Fairfield otherwise would continue on for some 
time, as has happened elsewhere in the story of spiritual communities.
 

 True enough. The key to FF is community. There is so much to like about that. 
It is all on a human scale there - the roads, the houses, the town. Everything 
is knowable, walkable and available. Addressing your hardware store owner by 
their first name and the store being an actual independent as opposed to a big 
box chain is very appealing. FF is a return to small town America at its best, 
where neighbors speak to each other and community functions well. There is no 
doubt it is appealing in its way. And I really like the price of real estate!
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 In life most people are not able to have more than one home at a time. Most 
those who are here in the meditating community now are not going to just up and 
move away. A lot have come to Fairfield and some lot of meditators haven't left 
Fairfield regardless what bad the behavior the movement has been up to at 
times. 
  
 Most of the deeper erosion (attrition) happened back in the 1990's. Since then 
its been a smaller chronic or endemic attrition for various reasons, some usual 
reasons around money, sex, or differentials of inclusion or exclusivity, 
including the ongoing reigns of terror excluding people from the communal group 
meditation by administration.  
 

 And yet people move back to Fairfield to be in the meditating community.  
Housing is kind of tight right now with people, young and old, returning.  But 
still the larger portion of meditators lives on in town [Fairfield] or the 
County [Jefferson] outside of contact with the organized or formal movement on 
campus or with the Global Country of World Peace hold up out in M. Vedic City 
to the edge of Fairfield proper.
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 There are several elements to the 40 year old Fairfield meditating community 
that will allow it to endure here longer. Fairfield is still a nice place to 
meditate and live, regardless of how folks feel about the ongoing nature of the 
Raja movement. However it would be better for everyone, the Raja movement 
itself, if the TM movement would better behave itself within conscience of its 
own ethical behavior. As has been looked at here before, ethical behavior is 
evidently a “leading economic indicator”. Attending fast as they can now to 
that they should need to better look at themselves inside as others may see 
them. “Change begins within”, as they say. That change in the Raja movement may 
shortly very well be about their own survival. Yes, Fairfield will go on. 
Fairfield regardless is still a real nice place to meditate, and live. 
-JaiGuruYou
 

 It is a cute little town which I always enjoyed while I was a student there 
and after, when I moved back for a year to start a horseback riding program for 
the students and faculty off campus. I totally "get" the appeal because it is a 
small, walkable community with many people who have a few fundamental things in 
common. The weather is a bit of a drag in the winters, though, and the distance 
from a city bigger than Iowa City is a kind of a drag and it is in the Midwest 
which I can do without having lived in Chicago twice in my life. Being very 
active in my sport means I would be too far geopgraphically from serious 
competition and the fact that I love Victoria and Canada, for that matter, 
pretty much rules out returning to FF to ever live again. Oh, and other than 
the small detail that I don't meditate and am not into any other alternate 
therapies or systems of which there seems to be an awful lot of there, I might 
just fit in fine.
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 That's interesting. I have a friend on the East Coast who wants to move back 
here within the next couple of years. Former MUM student. She visited with her 
daughter a while back. The daughter has no interest in moving here because 
"it's all old people." I think she has a point. This community 

[FairfieldLife] Re: How's Meditating Fairfield, Iowa Doing?

[dhamiltony...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]]

Even post-Maharishi now, the Fairfield, Iowa meditating community is yet a long 
way from being over. First off there is still a small core of wealthy believers 
who altruistically (of high-minded good will] finance the org parts of TM with 
their own wealth. Then too the larger group of old practitioners are here 
continuing still for the more spiritual aspects of communal life that is here. 
 
 
 Different elements make up the Fairfield meditating community. Of course it 
would be a horrible loss if the movement were to sometime fold here and banks 
close the university. That is not likely to happen next year. But the 
meditating community aspect of Fairfield otherwise would continue on for some 
time, as has happened elsewhere in the story of spiritual communities.
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 In life most people are not able to have more than one home at a time. Most 
those who are here in the meditating community now are not going to just up and 
move away. A lot have come to Fairfield and some lot of meditators haven't left 
Fairfield regardless what bad the behavior the movement has been up to at 
times. 
  
 Most of the deeper erosion (attrition) happened back in the 1990's. Since then 
its been a smaller chronic or endemic attrition for various reasons, some usual 
reasons around money, sex, or differentials of inclusion or exclusivity, 
including the ongoing reigns of terror excluding people from the communal group 
meditation by administration.  
 

 And yet people move back to Fairfield to be in the meditating community.  
Housing is kind of tight right now with people, young and old, returning.  But 
still the larger portion of meditators lives on in town [Fairfield] or the 
County [Jefferson] outside of contact with the organized or formal movement on 
campus or with the Global Country of World Peace hold up out in M. Vedic City 
to the edge of Fairfield proper.
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 There are several elements to the 40 year old Fairfield meditating community 
that will allow it to endure here longer. Fairfield is still a nice place to 
meditate and live, regardless of how folks feel about the ongoing nature of the 
Raja movement. However it would be better for everyone, the Raja movement 
itself, if the TM movement would better behave itself within conscience of its 
own ethical behavior. As has been looked at here before, ethical behavior is 
evidently a “leading economic indicator”. Attending fast as they can now to 
that they should need to better look at themselves inside as others may see 
them. “Change begins within”, as they say. That change in the Raja movement may 
shortly very well be about their own survival. Yes, Fairfield will go on. 
Fairfield regardless is still a real nice place to meditate, and live. 
-JaiGuruYou
 

 It is a cute little town which I always enjoyed while I was a student there 
and after, when I moved back for a year to start a horseback riding program for 
the students and faculty off campus. I totally "get" the appeal because it is a 
small, walkable community with many people who have a few fundamental things in 
common. The weather is a bit of a drag in the winters, though, and the distance 
from a city bigger than Iowa City is a kind of a drag and it is in the Midwest 
which I can do without having lived in Chicago twice in my life. Being very 
active in my sport means I would be too far geopgraphically from serious 
competition and the fact that I love Victoria and Canada, for that matter, 
pretty much rules out returning to FF to ever live again. Oh, and other than 
the small detail that I don't meditate and am not into any other alternate 
therapies or systems of which there seems to be an awful lot of there, I might 
just fit in fine.
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 That's interesting. I have a friend on the East Coast who wants to move back 
here within the next couple of years. Former MUM student. She visited with her 
daughter a while back. The daughter has no interest in moving here because 
"it's all old people." I think she has a point. This community is not renewing 
itself, and time will soon wipe us out. I give Fairfield another 25 years or so 
as an eclectic spiritual center; after that almost all the people who make this 
place tick will be dead or demented, and Fairfield will bit by bit revert to 
its former status as an unremarkable small town in the Midwest. The University 
might stagger on for a bit longer, but neither MUM nor MSAE have any money, so 
I do not see a bright future for them. 
 

 That all sounds about right but I'd give it 15 years, not 25.
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 I just returned from a 

[FairfieldLife] Re: How's Meditating Fairfield, Iowa Doing?

[feste37]

That's interesting. I have a friend on the East Coast who wants to move back 
here within the next couple of years. Former MUM student. She visited with her 
daughter a while back. The daughter has no interest in moving here because 
"it's all old people." I think she has a point. This community is not renewing 
itself, and time will soon wipe us out. I give Fairfield another 25 years or so 
as an eclectic spiritual center; after that almost all the people who make this 
place tick will be dead or demented, and Fairfield will bit by bit revert to 
its former status as an unremarkable small town in the Midwest. The University 
might stagger on for a bit longer, but neither MUM nor MSAE have any money, so 
I do not see a bright future for them. 
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 I just returned from a scholar's conference on Communal Societies. Spent the 
past week traveling to the Lexington, Ky area for the annual meeting of the 
Communal Studies Association. http://www.communalstudies.org/ 
http://www.communalstudies.org/
 

 The conference is three days of scholarly papers on groups like ours here in 
Fairfield, Iowa multiple sessions with papers being delivered on 20 minute 
intervals. 2015 Paper schedule: 
http://www.communalstudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Pleasant-Hill-Program-12-Sept-15.pdf
 
http://www.communalstudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Pleasant-Hill-Program-12-Sept-15.pdf
 
 

 They host their annual meetings at historic sites of communal societies. This 
year their conference was at the historic Shaker village of Pleasant Hill. The 
historic site at Pleasant Hill is of a historic ashram-like spiritual group 
with many features similar to our own here in Fairfield, Iowa. 
http://shakervillageky.org/ http://shakervillageky.org/
 
 

 About 130 association members came to this years conference. Lot of the 
scholars teach at the university level who use the Communal Studies Association 
to be able to present papers in conference or publish in the association's 
journal. Also there were papers given by people  who live in communal groups of 
various types. 
 
 
 I've been attending these conferences for a number of years now. Most all the 
papers are interesting and relevant to Fairfield in some way by comparison as 
criticism. I always go away from these conferences with relevant things that I 
will think about for the following year.
 
 
 I have gone enough times to their annual conference that folks in this 
association know me as the person from Fairfield, Iowa and folks at the 
conference will then often ask me in conversation how it is going for the 
meditating group here?
 

 Of course there are layers to answering this question. Well, on returning home 
to Fairfield, Iowa from the CSA annual conference I drove in just in time for 
the weekly shape note harmony sing in Fairfield. In the Sacred Harp tune book 
there is a song titled, The Church's Desolation. The last verse of the text is 
a pretty good paraphrased succinct description of 'how it is going' in 
Fairfield for the contemporary meditating community. The Church's Desolation is 
a real fine tune to sing by example of the genre with great harmony and 
poignant narrative in the text. Verse 3, like meditating Fairfield, Iowa:  
 

  Some few, like good Elijah, stand
 While thousands have revolted,
In earnest for the heav'nly land
They never yet have halted.
With such religion doth remain, 
For they are not perverted;
O may they all through men regain

 The glory that's departed.  
 

[FairfieldLife] Re: How's Meditating Fairfield, Iowa Doing?

[awoelfleba...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]]

 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 In life most people are not able to have more than one home at a time. Most 
those who are here in the meditating community now are not going to just up and 
move away. A lot have come to Fairfield and some lot of meditators haven't left 
Fairfield regardless what bad the behavior the movement has been up to at 
times. 
  
 Most of the deeper erosion (attrition) happened back in the 1990's. Since then 
its been a smaller chronic or endemic attrition for various reasons, some usual 
reasons around money, sex, or differentials of inclusion or exclusivity, 
including the ongoing reigns of terror excluding people from the communal group 
meditation by administration.  
 

 And yet people move back to Fairfield to be in the meditating community.  
Housing is kind of tight right now with people, young and old, returning.  But 
still the larger portion of meditators lives on in town [Fairfield] or the 
County [Jefferson] outside of contact with the organized or formal movement on 
campus or with the Global Country of World Peace hold up out in M. Vedic City 
to the edge of Fairfield proper.\
 

 One thing for sure, real estate there is preposterously affordable. I could 
buy a veritable mansion there for the median price of a house in Victoria 
which, at the present moment, averages $607K. And FF has some wonderful old 
wood framed homes with wonderful interior wood detailing and stained glass 
windows. And the neighborhoods are classic old-school American with their 
sidewalks, mature landscaping and tree-lined streets. I could easily bypass the 
Vastu housing which I recall is probably over priced anyway although some of 
the examples I have seen online are quite gorgeous. If I did go Vastu I would 
make sure to include the south facing door though - no, make that two south 
facing doors.
 


 

[FairfieldLife] Re: How's Meditating Fairfield, Iowa Doing?

[awoelfleba...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]]

 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 That's interesting. I have a friend on the East Coast who wants to move back 
here within the next couple of years. Former MUM student. She visited with her 
daughter a while back. The daughter has no interest in moving here because 
"it's all old people." I think she has a point. This community is not renewing 
itself, and time will soon wipe us out. I give Fairfield another 25 years or so 
as an eclectic spiritual center; after that almost all the people who make this 
place tick will be dead or demented, and Fairfield will bit by bit revert to 
its former status as an unremarkable small town in the Midwest. The University 
might stagger on for a bit longer, but neither MUM nor MSAE have any money, so 
I do not see a bright future for them. 
 

 That all sounds about right but I'd give it 15 years, not 25.
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 I just returned from a scholar's conference on Communal Societies. Spent the 
past week traveling to the Lexington, Ky area for the annual meeting of the 
Communal Studies Association. http://www.communalstudies.org/ 
http://www.communalstudies.org/
 

 The conference is three days of scholarly papers on groups like ours here in 
Fairfield, Iowa multiple sessions with papers being delivered on 20 minute 
intervals. 2015 Paper schedule: 
http://www.communalstudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Pleasant-Hill-Program-12-Sept-15.pdf
 
http://www.communalstudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Pleasant-Hill-Program-12-Sept-15.pdf
 
 

 They host their annual meetings at historic sites of communal societies. This 
year their conference was at the historic Shaker village of Pleasant Hill. The 
historic site at Pleasant Hill is of a historic ashram-like spiritual group 
with many features similar to our own here in Fairfield, Iowa. 
http://shakervillageky.org/ http://shakervillageky.org/
 
 

 About 130 association members came to this years conference. Lot of the 
scholars teach at the university level who use the Communal Studies Association 
to be able to present papers in conference or publish in the association's 
journal. Also there were papers given by people  who live in communal groups of 
various types. 
 
 
 I've been attending these conferences for a number of years now. Most all the 
papers are interesting and relevant to Fairfield in some way by comparison as 
criticism. I always go away from these conferences with relevant things that I 
will think about for the following year.
 
 
 I have gone enough times to their annual conference that folks in this 
association know me as the person from Fairfield, Iowa and folks at the 
conference will then often ask me in conversation how it is going for the 
meditating group here?
 

 Of course there are layers to answering this question. Well, on returning home 
to Fairfield, Iowa from the CSA annual conference I drove in just in time for 
the weekly shape note harmony sing in Fairfield. In the Sacred Harp tune book 
there is a song titled, The Church's Desolation. The last verse of the text is 
a pretty good paraphrased succinct description of 'how it is going' in 
Fairfield for the contemporary meditating community. The Church's Desolation is 
a real fine tune to sing by example of the genre with great harmony and 
poignant narrative in the text. Verse 3, like meditating Fairfield, Iowa:  
 

  Some few, like good Elijah, stand
 While thousands have revolted,
In earnest for the heav'nly land
They never yet have halted.
With such religion doth remain, 
For they are not perverted;
O may they all through men regain

 The glory that's departed.  
 

[FairfieldLife] Re: How's Meditating Fairfield, Iowa Doing?

[dhamiltony...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]]

There are several elements to the 40 year old Fairfield meditating community 
that will allow it to endure here longer. Fairfield is still a nice place to 
meditate and live, regardless of how folks feel about the ongoing nature of the 
Raja movement. However it would be better for everyone, the Raja movement 
itself, if the TM movement would better behave itself within conscience of its 
own ethical behavior. As has been looked at here before, ethical behavior is 
evidently a “leading economic indicator”. Attending fast as they can now to 
that they should need to better look at themselves inside as others may see 
them. “Change begins within”, as they say. That change in the Raja movement may 
shortly very well be about their own survival. Yes, Fairfield will go on. 
Fairfield regardless is still a real nice place to meditate, and live. 
-JaiGuruYou
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 That's interesting. I have a friend on the East Coast who wants to move back 
here within the next couple of years. Former MUM student. She visited with her 
daughter a while back. The daughter has no interest in moving here because 
"it's all old people." I think she has a point. This community is not renewing 
itself, and time will soon wipe us out. I give Fairfield another 25 years or so 
as an eclectic spiritual center; after that almost all the people who make this 
place tick will be dead or demented, and Fairfield will bit by bit revert to 
its former status as an unremarkable small town in the Midwest. The University 
might stagger on for a bit longer, but neither MUM nor MSAE have any money, so 
I do not see a bright future for them. 
 

 That all sounds about right but I'd give it 15 years, not 25.
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 I just returned from a scholar's conference on Communal Societies. Spent the 
past week traveling to the Lexington, Ky area for the annual meeting of the 
Communal Studies Association. http://www.communalstudies.org/ 
http://www.communalstudies.org/
 

 The conference is three days of scholarly papers on groups like ours here in 
Fairfield, Iowa multiple sessions with papers being delivered on 20 minute 
intervals. 2015 Paper schedule: 
http://www.communalstudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Pleasant-Hill-Program-12-Sept-15.pdf
 
http://www.communalstudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Pleasant-Hill-Program-12-Sept-15.pdf
 
 

 They host their annual meetings at historic sites of communal societies. This 
year their conference was at the historic Shaker village of Pleasant Hill. The 
historic site at Pleasant Hill is of a historic ashram-like spiritual group 
with many features similar to our own here in Fairfield, Iowa. 
http://shakervillageky.org/ http://shakervillageky.org/
 
 

 About 130 association members came to this years conference. Lot of the 
scholars teach at the university level who use the Communal Studies Association 
to be able to present papers in conference or publish in the association's 
journal. Also there were papers given by people  who live in communal groups of 
various types. 
 
 
 I've been attending these conferences for a number of years now. Most all the 
papers are interesting and relevant to Fairfield in some way by comparison as 
criticism. I always go away from these conferences with relevant things that I 
will think about for the following year.
 
 
 I have gone enough times to their annual conference that folks in this 
association know me as the person from Fairfield, Iowa and folks at the 
conference will then often ask me in conversation how it is going for the 
meditating group here?
 

 Of course there are layers to answering this question. Well, on returning home 
to Fairfield, Iowa from the CSA annual conference I drove in just in time for 
the weekly shape note harmony sing in Fairfield. In the Sacred Harp tune book 
there is a song titled, The Church's Desolation. The last verse of the text is 
a pretty good paraphrased succinct description of 'how it is going' in 
Fairfield for the contemporary meditating community. The Church's Desolation is 
a real fine tune to sing by example of the genre with great harmony and 
poignant narrative in the text. Verse 3, like meditating Fairfield, Iowa:  
 

  Some few, like good Elijah, stand
 While thousands have revolted,
In earnest for the heav'nly land
They never yet have halted.
With such religion doth remain, 
For they are not perverted;
O may they all through men regain

 The glory that's departed.  
 

[FairfieldLife] Re: How's Meditating Fairfield, Iowa Doing?

[awoelfleba...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]]

 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 There are several elements to the 40 year old Fairfield meditating community 
that will allow it to endure here longer. Fairfield is still a nice place to 
meditate and live, regardless of how folks feel about the ongoing nature of the 
Raja movement. However it would be better for everyone, the Raja movement 
itself, if the TM movement would better behave itself within conscience of its 
own ethical behavior. As has been looked at here before, ethical behavior is 
evidently a “leading economic indicator”. Attending fast as they can now to 
that they should need to better look at themselves inside as others may see 
them. “Change begins within”, as they say. That change in the Raja movement may 
shortly very well be about their own survival. Yes, Fairfield will go on. 
Fairfield regardless is still a real nice place to meditate, and live. 
-JaiGuruYou
 

 It is a cute little town which I always enjoyed while I was a student there 
and after, when I moved back for a year to start a horseback riding program for 
the students and faculty off campus. I totally "get" the appeal because it is a 
small, walkable community with many people who have a few fundamental things in 
common. The weather is a bit of a drag in the winters, though, and the distance 
from a city bigger than Iowa City is a kind of a drag and it is in the Midwest 
which I can do without having lived in Chicago twice in my life. Being very 
active in my sport means I would be too far geopgraphically from serious 
competition and the fact that I love Victoria and Canada, for that matter, 
pretty much rules out returning to FF to ever live again. Oh, and other than 
the small detail that I don't meditate and am not into any other alternate 
therapies or systems of which there seems to be an awful lot of there, I might 
just fit in fine.
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 That's interesting. I have a friend on the East Coast who wants to move back 
here within the next couple of years. Former MUM student. She visited with her 
daughter a while back. The daughter has no interest in moving here because 
"it's all old people." I think she has a point. This community is not renewing 
itself, and time will soon wipe us out. I give Fairfield another 25 years or so 
as an eclectic spiritual center; after that almost all the people who make this 
place tick will be dead or demented, and Fairfield will bit by bit revert to 
its former status as an unremarkable small town in the Midwest. The University 
might stagger on for a bit longer, but neither MUM nor MSAE have any money, so 
I do not see a bright future for them. 
 

 That all sounds about right but I'd give it 15 years, not 25.
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 I just returned from a scholar's conference on Communal Societies. Spent the 
past week traveling to the Lexington, Ky area for the annual meeting of the 
Communal Studies Association. http://www.communalstudies.org/ 
http://www.communalstudies.org/
 

 The conference is three days of scholarly papers on groups like ours here in 
Fairfield, Iowa multiple sessions with papers being delivered on 20 minute 
intervals. 2015 Paper schedule: 
http://www.communalstudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Pleasant-Hill-Program-12-Sept-15.pdf
 
http://www.communalstudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Pleasant-Hill-Program-12-Sept-15.pdf
 
 

 They host their annual meetings at historic sites of communal societies. This 
year their conference was at the historic Shaker village of Pleasant Hill. The 
historic site at Pleasant Hill is of a historic ashram-like spiritual group 
with many features similar to our own here in Fairfield, Iowa. 
http://shakervillageky.org/ http://shakervillageky.org/
 
 

 About 130 association members came to this years conference. Lot of the 
scholars teach at the university level who use the Communal Studies Association 
to be able to present papers in conference or publish in the association's 
journal. Also there were papers given by people  who live in communal groups of 
various types. 
 
 
 I've been attending these conferences for a number of years now. Most all the 
papers are interesting and relevant to Fairfield in some way by comparison as 
criticism. I always go away from these conferences with relevant things that I 
will think about for the following year.
 
 
 I have gone enough times to their annual conference that folks in this 
association know me as the person from Fairfield, Iowa and folks at the 
conference will then often ask me in conversation how it is going for the 
meditating group here?
 

 Of course there are layers to answering this question. Well, on returning home 
to Fairfield, Iowa from the CSA annual conference I drove in just in time for 
the weekly shape note harmony sing 

[FairfieldLife] Re: How's Meditating Fairfield, Iowa Doing?

[dhamiltony...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]]

In life most people are not able to have more than one home at a time. Most 
those who are here in the meditating community now are not going to just up and 
move away. A lot have come to Fairfield and some lot of meditators haven't left 
Fairfield regardless what bad the behavior the movement has been up to at 
times. 
  
 Most of the deeper erosion (attrition) happened back in the 1990's. Since then 
its been a smaller chronic or endemic attrition for various reasons, some usual 
reasons around money, sex, or differentials of inclusion or exclusivity, 
including the ongoing reigns of terror excluding people from the communal group 
meditation by administration.  
 

 And yet people move back to Fairfield to be in the meditating community.  
Housing is kind of tight right now with people, young and old, returning.  But 
still the larger portion of meditators lives on in town [Fairfield] or the 
County [Jefferson] outside of contact with the organized or formal movement on 
campus or with the Global Country of World Peace hold up out in M. Vedic City 
to the edge of Fairfield proper.
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 There are several elements to the 40 year old Fairfield meditating community 
that will allow it to endure here longer. Fairfield is still a nice place to 
meditate and live, regardless of how folks feel about the ongoing nature of the 
Raja movement. However it would be better for everyone, the Raja movement 
itself, if the TM movement would better behave itself within conscience of its 
own ethical behavior. As has been looked at here before, ethical behavior is 
evidently a “leading economic indicator”. Attending fast as they can now to 
that they should need to better look at themselves inside as others may see 
them. “Change begins within”, as they say. That change in the Raja movement may 
shortly very well be about their own survival. Yes, Fairfield will go on. 
Fairfield regardless is still a real nice place to meditate, and live. 
-JaiGuruYou
 

 It is a cute little town which I always enjoyed while I was a student there 
and after, when I moved back for a year to start a horseback riding program for 
the students and faculty off campus. I totally "get" the appeal because it is a 
small, walkable community with many people who have a few fundamental things in 
common. The weather is a bit of a drag in the winters, though, and the distance 
from a city bigger than Iowa City is a kind of a drag and it is in the Midwest 
which I can do without having lived in Chicago twice in my life. Being very 
active in my sport means I would be too far geopgraphically from serious 
competition and the fact that I love Victoria and Canada, for that matter, 
pretty much rules out returning to FF to ever live again. Oh, and other than 
the small detail that I don't meditate and am not into any other alternate 
therapies or systems of which there seems to be an awful lot of there, I might 
just fit in fine.
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 That's interesting. I have a friend on the East Coast who wants to move back 
here within the next couple of years. Former MUM student. She visited with her 
daughter a while back. The daughter has no interest in moving here because 
"it's all old people." I think she has a point. This community is not renewing 
itself, and time will soon wipe us out. I give Fairfield another 25 years or so 
as an eclectic spiritual center; after that almost all the people who make this 
place tick will be dead or demented, and Fairfield will bit by bit revert to 
its former status as an unremarkable small town in the Midwest. The University 
might stagger on for a bit longer, but neither MUM nor MSAE have any money, so 
I do not see a bright future for them. 
 

 That all sounds about right but I'd give it 15 years, not 25.
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 I just returned from a scholar's conference on Communal Societies. Spent the 
past week traveling to the Lexington, Ky area for the annual meeting of the 
Communal Studies Association. http://www.communalstudies.org/ 
http://www.communalstudies.org/
 

 The conference is three days of scholarly papers on groups like ours here in 
Fairfield, Iowa multiple sessions with papers being delivered on 20 minute 
intervals. 2015 Paper schedule: 
http://www.communalstudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Pleasant-Hill-Program-12-Sept-15.pdf
 
http://www.communalstudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Pleasant-Hill-Program-12-Sept-15.pdf
 
 

 They host their annual meetings at historic sites of communal societies. This 
year their conference was at the historic Shaker village of Pleasant Hill. The 
historic site at Pleasant Hill is of a historic ashram-like spiritual group 
with