Day 3: Fairfield, Iowa (Hanging out with Paul and Mary)

For anyone who hasn't been there, Fairfield is a very cool place. It looks like any other small, middle American town until you realize that the Wal-Mart is right near an authentic, vegetarian Indian restaurant. There are about 9,000 people in the city and about a third of them are involved in the TM movement. People settle there from all over the world to be in this meditation hotspot. The rest of the people we saw appeared to be the typical farmer type you would expect to see in a small community. It was a bit of a strange combination but it seems they've mastered the coexistence part and the result is the most intriguing small town I've ever seen.



We started the day at a coffee shop called Paradiso that looked nothing like a coffee shop from the outside. It is actually and old warehouse that sits by a few abandoned trains at the edge of town.



But inside it is a swanky little coffee house with supposedly great live music. Iowa Source named it the best coffee house of 2008.



Sheri and I liked it a lot. They roast their own coffee beans and have a great house blend. Sheri's cousin Anna claims that is where she and her friends spend the majority of their income. I can definitely see why so many locals go there. I personally had some extra fun with the crayons and wax paper provided on our table.



The drawing is of course Fairfield, IA. You might notice some unusual things in the artwork, but they represent some of the things Sheri and I planned to see. The little house represents a home in the Sthapatya Veda style of which Fairfield has entire communities (both on-grid and off-grid). Those two large domes actually represent two large domes that the bulk of Fairfield use to communally meditate. The little stick man telling godzilla to chill out is none other than Maharishi himself. Godzilla is just for fun.

I'll start explaining the above by describing the rest of our day with Paul and Mary (PM), which ends up explaining much about the Tracendental Meditation (TM). In short, our day with PM and TM in Iowa. The first thing we did with PM was to check out Fairfield. It is a beautiful town. Given its size we were able to easily walk around all of town in about an hour. It reminded me a lot of Ann Arbor. An unexpectedly large amount of fun shops, book stores, and restaurants existed for such a small town. Multiple Indian, Mexican, and Turkish cuisine places? Not to forget the local all organic, vegetarian friendly neo-Americano joints. I'd wager a field of flooded corn and soybeans that we're not really in Iowa anymore.

We had lunch at a locally owned pizza/cafe place named Revelations. It is both an all organic pizza place and a book store. The walls are lined with used books and you can trade your books in for credit and buy books as you please. PM helped get me a copy of the entire Ender series from Orsen Scott Card -- thanks!



Here is a picture of Paul and Mary, our gracious tour guides, along with some of the food that we ordered. The "locally awesome" special pizza was great. It had fresh, organic asparagus and spinach from the local greenhouses. Each bite exploded with local awesomeness.



We headed out of town for a tour of the surrounding area. First stop, Sthapatya Veda styled housing. Upon arriving Sheri and I learned that PM's house is for sale. They explained it is because they desired to move out to the (soybean/corn) country and live in a sthapatya veda style home. Here is what one looks like.



And here is what an over-the-top sthapatya veda house looks like. We did see a few larger, crazier ones.



PM aren't complete experts on sthapatya veda but they explained quite a lot to us. One of the primary goals of TM is to abide as much as possible to natural rules. By doing this many things that are out of order in your life will fall back in to a desirable place. Health and happiness are amongst the two obvious things. A sthapatya veda house is one that complies very well with these natural rules (I think primarily based on Maharishi's advice). Thus, living in the home feels really, really good. TM related perks include that it is all natural (wood), faces the best direction (East for sunrise), has rooms oriented optimally for specific purposes (digestion/kitchen, sleep/bedroom, etc), allows light an air to flow through the home from both East to West and North to South, and finally a sweet little top piece that aims directly at the heavens.

After seeing a few of these homes, they all look pretty cozy. Sadly we didn't get to go inside one, but they all appear to be well kept, let in lots of light, and made completely out of natural materials. You'll find almost every new home in Fairfield is built in this style. The "old style" architecture is primarily there because Fairfield used to be a regular Iowan town.

Next stop, Ecovillage. Only a few dozen people seem to live here but they all live completely off the grid. Note the sweet wind turbine.



We also saw Vedic City. It is similar but not completely off the grid but certainly all sthapatya veda architecture. I won't post a picture, but imagine Ecovillage without a wind turbine.

Afterwards we visited my most anticipated stop: the domes. I forgot to ask who built them and why, but Fairfield, IA, has two massive domes that the citizens go to twice a day when meditating. One dome for men. One dome for women. You can actually get paid to meditate at the domes. I'll explain after the jump.



I think that the TM movement made these domes. I say this because I don't think they are something that used to hold corn or soybeans. Also, they have the little sthapatya vedic top on them. Why have the domes? Well, they are a key part of the daily TM life in Fairfield. PM explained that TM doesn't force people to meditate at the domes versus elsewhere, but the domes are an ideal place for community, privacy, etc. One of the core beliefs of TM (surely I'm messing this up a little) is that if the square root of one tenth of the population is in order, then the rest of the world will fall in to order. In other words, if about 2,000 TM folks are meditating around the clock, the rest of the world will fall in to order and a boon of peace and prosperity will ensue. This concept sounded a little crazy to me at first, but Paul explained that it is based primarily off of observations in quantum mechanical systems. Supposedly in controlled systems, order in the overall systems falls in to place automatically if the right ratio of individual components is placed in order. I didn't ask much more about this. I'm keen to read up on if it is true, but the topic was a little heavy to pursue while relaxing with PM. Also, it seems the TM folks are really just trying to bring peace to the world via meditation. I'm cool with that.

What next could possibly be cooler than the domes? Well we stopped by one of the largest all organic greenhouses in the U.S. Sorry, no pictures. Then we stopped by Maharishi University of Management (MUM). An accredited University that teaches the concepts of conscious living alongside normal American education. Not unlike a Catholic or Jesuit University, albeit TM is a philosophy intended not to interfere with religious beliefs. Here is a pic of the U's new student center.



Imagine loads of barefoot 20-somethings engaged in seemingly thoughtful discussion regarding sustainable living (one of MUM's popular programs). Note again, no corn or soybeans.

Time to ground this post with something everyone can related to. On the way back to town, PM took us to Everybody's grocery where we had some of the best ice cream I've ever tasted. It was from all organically fed cows that were primed to produce good ice cream via the playing of special vedic music. I don't really know what that second part means, but man, it was awesome, locally made ice cream.



Some other things that I forgot to mention! For dinner we went to Small Planet, which is another fantastic neo-Americano joint. Fresh, organic, local everything that tasted really great. I had a walnut burger. Finally, Sheri and I stayed at a fantastic bed and breakfast in town thanks to Paul and Mary. Try out the Mainstay if you are visiting.

If ever you have an excuse to visit Fairfield, IA, I recommend that you give it a look. It is a small town where everyone knows everyone, literally, but that ends up being a good thing. The TM movement seems to have concentrated thousands of relaxed, smart, and friendly people that care significantly about sustainable living. Meet up with PM their hip kids and ask for a tour of the only place in Iowa that doesn't seem to be dominated by corn, soybeans, and Wal-mart.

I conclude with a picture of none other than the late Maharishi himself.