Fairfield, Iowa: Welcome to Transcendental Meditation Central
You’ll find people in Fairfield, Iowa, taking a few minutes out of their day, sitting quietly, eyes closed and chanting a mantra. It’s part of their daily practice of transcendental meditation – or TM.
The city of about 9,400 people has been home to the concept for more than 50 years, ever since Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and his followers purchased the former campus of Parsons College, transforming it into Maharishi International University. Roughly 50% of the city’s population practices transcendental meditation.
While not a religion itself, the Maharishi believed transcendental meditation benefitted people of all faiths, including Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and Hinduism.
Maharishi International University is known for its business program, but its course offerings range from traditional-style programs, such as creative writing and health, to life coaching and psychology.
With an enrollment of about 1,200, on-campus students take one class each month, while online enrollees can take 1-2 classes during that time. Programs involve conscious-based education, which creates awareness, deep knowledge and inner peace.
The agriculture program involves regenerative farming. Students work a small plot of land, as well as maintaining chickens. Produce and eggs are sold at a local farmers market, with any income returned to farm operations.
Vedic City, a self-sustained community is part of the transcendental meditation concept.
Located near Vedic City, Maharishi Vedic Observatory is a 1.5-acre open-air observatory of sundials. It’s considered unique for its ability to display in one compact form the whole structure of the universe, along with all the movements of the sun, planets and the stars. Allow yourself to absorb the scene and let your inner peace guide you as you explore the structure.
The university’s campus is also home to a smaller observatory.
While a rural community in southeast Iowa may be the last place you’d think would be home to a university based on transcendental meditation, Fairfield has proven to be an excellent location for Maharishi International University and transcendental meditation.
