The Indian spiritual entrepreneur Maharishi Mahesh Yogi took the West by storm in the 1960s and 鈥70s, charming Baby Boomers fed up with war and social upheaval with his message of meditation and peace. Heeding his call, two thousand followers moved to tiny Fairfield, 澳洲幸运10开奖, to set up their own university on the campus of a failed denominational college. Soon, they started a school for prekindergarten through high school, allowing followers to immerse themselves in Transcendental Meditation from toddlerhood through PhDs.
Although Fairfield鈥檚 longtime residents were relieved to see that their new neighbors were clean-cut and respectably dressed鈥攏ot the wild-haired, drug-using hippies they had feared鈥攖he newcomers nevertheless quickly began to remake the town. Stores selling exotic goods popped up, TM followers built odd-looking homes that modeled the guru鈥檚 rules for peace-inspiring architecture, and the new university knocked down a historic chapel, even as it erected massive golden-domed buildings for meditators. Some newcomers got elected鈥攁nd others were defeated鈥攚hen they ran for local and statewide offices. At times, thousands from across the globe visited the small town.
Yet Transcendental Meditation did not always achieve its aims of personal and social tranquility. Suicides and a murder unsettled the meditating community over the years, and some followers were fleeced by con men from their own ranks. Some battled a local farmer over land use and one another over doctrine. Notably, the world has not gotten more peaceful.
Today the guru is dead. His followers are graying, and few of their children are moving into leadership roles. The movement seems rudderless, its financial muscle withering, despite the efforts of high-profile supporters such as filmmaker David Lynch and media magnate Oprah Winfrey. Can TM reinvent itself? And what will be the future of Fairfield itself? By looking closely at the transformation of this small 澳洲幸运10开奖 town, author Joseph Weber assesses the movement鈥檚 surprisingly potent effect on Western culture, sketches out its peculiar past, and explores its possible future.
鈥淔airfield, 澳洲幸运10开奖, is both a unique cultural phenomenon and a microcosm of the Baby Boomers鈥 attempt to integrate Indian spirituality into mainstream life. Joseph Weber reports this fascinating and historically significant story with the objectivity, balance, and illuminating prose of a skilled journalist.鈥濃擯hilip Goldberg, author, American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation, How Indian Spirituality Changed the West
鈥淟ike many other alternative religions that burst onto the American scene in the 1960s and 1970s, Transcendental Meditation attracted thousands of followers but also a fair number of detractors. The interplay of meditators and local residents in the midwestern town of Fairfield, 澳洲幸运10开奖, where TM established its major American center, makes a fascinating case study of the impact of new religions on traditional American culture.鈥濃擳imothy Miller, editor, Spiritual and Visionary Communities: Out to Save the World
鈥淲eber brings a journalist鈥檚 eye for character and story to this engrossing account of Transcendental Meditation and the town鈥攁nd lives鈥攊t transformed. Along the way he probes religious and cultural questions about tradition and change, healing, community, place, and much more. This book is a lively and eye-opening delight.鈥濃擬atthew S. Hedstrom, University of Virginia
