America’s Most Unusual Town
Aired: 03/25/2012
About This Episode
Oprah spends the day in Fairfield, Iowa—one of the safest, greenest and most unusual communities in America. In the middle of corn country, it’s probably the last place you’d expect to find a dome and an evening traffic jam where thousands of the local population of 9,400 are headed to meditate.
Oprah’s journey begins at a unique school where twice-daily Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a mandatory part of the curriculum. Next, she visits the neighboring community of Maharishi Vedic City—named after the Indian guru who founded the TM movement. Here, nonorganic food is banned, and all houses face east, adhering to an ancient Indian architectural style that is said to bring peace and harmony to one’s surroundings. Maharishi Vedic City is also home to a top secret, 80-acre compound where 800 men from India live and spend eight hours a day meditating, chanting and studying. Cameras have never been allowed inside their community—until now.
Later, Oprah joins women from the community at the Golden Dome of Pure Knowledge for evening meditation—a powerful, energizing yet calming experience. Of that experience, Oprah says, “I walked away feeling fuller than when I came in, full of hope and a sense of contentment and deep joy, knowing for sure that in the craziness of the world that seems to bombard us at every angle, there is always the consistency of stillness.” http://www.oprah.com/own-oprahs-next-chapter/Oprahs-Next-Chapter-Americas-Most-Unusual-Town
Exclusive Webisodes:
Tour a family’s home built around the concept of nature-based architecture
Many homes in Fairfield, Iowa, are built in a style of architecture inspired by nature. Take a tour of one family’s home and learn about the theory behind its layout. http://www.oprah.com/own-oprahs-next-chapter/Exclusive-Webisode-The-Architecture-of-TM-Town-Video
16 Principles of the Science of Creative Intelligence:
The 16 lessons Oprah says it took her decades to learn
The children at the Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment in Fairfield, Iowa, are learning life lessons it took Oprah decades to learn. Learn the 16 principles of the Science of Creative Intelligence for yourself. http://www.oprah.com/own-oprahs-next-chapter/Exclusive-Webisode-Sixteen-Principles-Video
Pandits are professional meditators who practice Transcendental Meditation for hours a day in the name of world peace. For two to three years, many of these men from India devote their lives to this practice in the cornfields of Iowa. On the day Oprah visits, nearly 800 are in residence. They’ve never allowed television cameras to film them—until now. Watch as Oprah gets an unprecedented look into the life of a pandit.
For a review of the show, see this HuffPost article by Jeanne Ball: Oprah’s Next Chapter: Meditation—In ‘America’s Most Unusual Town’.
Excerpts from the show will soon be available for streaming on http://www.tm.org/oprah.
Please refer to the OWN TV schedule on the website to see if the show will be airing again. The schedule is subject to change so continue to check the site for updates: http://www.oprah.com/own/tv-schedule/index.html. Also check the specific show section on Oprah.com/own to view the latest videos, and the FULL EPISODE section: http://www.oprah.com/own/episodes.html.
See this more recent post with all the Video segments of Oprah’s Next Chapter on OWN: Oprah Visits Fairfield, Iowa—”TM Town”—America’s Most Unusual Town.
The Uncarved Blog 
April 24, 2013 at 1:18 am |
[…] tweeted on his indoctrination into the mantra meditation movement, Oprah Winfrey devoted an entire show to it, and David Lynch even launched a nonprofit foundation for the […]
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