Extreme City: Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa

September 3, 2009

Associated Content | Travel
Extreme City: Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa
August 29, 2009 by Sherri Granato

Capital of the Global Country of World Peace

Iowa is often referred to as the American Heartland so it comes as no surprise that a vast amount of people would find a peaceful refuge within its borders, or at least within one of the cities located within the state. The city of Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa named for the famed yogi Maharishi, Maharishi Vedic City is the fastest-growing city in all of Iowa. So the question is why are people suddenly flocking to this small community in leaps and bounds, and is it worthy of sharing?

The Travel Channel decided to investigate what they dub an “Extreme Town” for themselves and share their discoveries with anyone who cares to know the hidden secrets and vast treasures that are luring citizens into relocating to the Midwest region of the United States. So pull up a chair and learn a little bit about Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa, and “Welcome to the Capital of the Global Country of World Peace”.

The city itself is spectacular in the fact that it is squeaky clean and virtually crime free. The Travel Channel was so enamored by their findings that they included the city on their list of most unique zip codes and brought it to television for viewers to catch a glimpse of something you wouldn’t otherwise believe.

The unbelievable part is that every person that lives within the city limits of Maharishi Vedic City happens to practice Vedic Natural Law, which is in layman’s terms an ancient Indian science focusing on transcendental meditation. The ultimate goal in this practice is nothing more than a deep mental cleansing and physical peace that is practiced for 15 to 20 minutes twice a day. The ending result leads to revitalization and happy thoughts that are free and clear of stressful situations.

From the beginning the original idea of the city was the master plan of San Francisco real estate developer Chris Johnson. In 1991 his idea evolved into a working municipality centered on the principles and teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, including his views on architectural design.

Due to his vision the town offers homes all facing toward the east, clean cut lines, beautiful in nature, and all offer a gold colored kalash on the roof. Since 2001, the population has grown ten times its original size with 1,200 residents now calling it home.

The significance of the kalash on top of the house is that it completes the desired form. The mental peace one finds in the heart of a temple whose top is a dome-shaped kalash and having a kalash placed on the peak most obviously testifies the importance of the roof-component of Vedic architecture. All homes built in the city must face the east simply because the design promotes health, happiness, and good fortune.

Maharishi Vedic City is made up of a ring of ten circles covering slightly more than one square mile, the town has its own observatory with ancient astrological and astronomical instruments to orient itself within the cosmos. City leaders and educators recognize that the solution too many problems with today’s youths is a lack of proper education that develops the total brain potential in every child.

With this in mind the city developed an ordinance on January 28, 2004, to establish Maharishi Vedic University to provide a public university, colleges, and primary and secondary schools for the city’s residents. Just a few miles south of the city is Fairfield, Iowa, the home of Maharishi University of Management, formerly known as Maharishi International University.

Many residents moved to Fairfield to participate in the practice of Transcendental Meditation. The university campus, located on the north side of Fairfield, is home to two large golden domes used for the group practice of TM-Sidhi program. The other technique, referred to as the Yogic Flying technique consists of sitting in the cross-legged lotus position on a foam mat while the body lifts up and the subject moves forward in short jumps.

Living in Maharishi Vedic City is for anyone that wishes to live the remainder of their life on Earth stress free. The whole city enforces this notion by the way that the citizens do things day to day. Everything from the local businesses to the schools and restaurants are geared to maintain inner peace throughout a life style that is the choice of the people living there.

Everyone including school children stop what they are doing to meditate 15-20 minutes per day, everyday, twice a day. The mind is then cleared of lack luster debris, replaced by positive thoughts that promote all things good and wholesome.

The Raj Ayurveda Health Center offers comfortable lovely rooms, organic vegetarian food, and is simply one of a kind as it sits in the middle of a cornfield is this oasis. The health center explains everything you ever wanted to know about ayurvedic and transcendental meditation.

Visitors learn how individual factors in their make-up affect physical tendencies, moods, cravings, motivation, and behavior. The ultimate lesson from visiting the center is simple shifts in diet, exercise, and daily and seasonal routines can enhance their progress toward increased strength, stability and vitality. Contact the Raj for individual and group rates. Call: (641) 472-9580, ext. 0, or email: theraj@lisco.net.

As for the dietary plan of the good citizens of Maharishi Vedic City, Organic is in, and synthetic chemicals are out! Even the restaurants support the beliefs of the residents by only cooking with the purist of ingredients. City officials recognize the importance of healthy food for the citizens and have banned the sale of all non-organic food from its city. Construction has begun on the first of a planned 100 acres of greenhouses at Maharishi Vedic City Organic Farms which will grow organic produce for residents of the City and Midwest.

The city has been featured in various media venues from newspapers, magazines, radio, and news and most recently on the Travel Channel under Extreme Cities. For more information on the traditions being practiced in the American Heartland, go to: http://tinyurl.com/mo2326.

Places of Interest to Visit: the Rukmapura Hotel, a large Stapatyavedic, log-built hotel and see the nearby Pandit Campus, where nearly 1000 Pandits from India help create peace and harmony in the world.

http://tinyurl.com/msvfwr

Extreme City: Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa
Neighborhood: American Heartland
Maharishi Vedic City, IA 52556
United States of America

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Posted in Architecture, Articles, Health | 1 Comment »

Developer Celebrates How ‘Green’ Is Its Building

September 3, 2009

Picture 26
Developer Celebrates How ‘Green’ Is Its Building
Rockville Structure Gets Environmental Kudos
Picture 27
By Rick Rojas
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 3, 2009

Two Thousand Tower Oaks Boulevard off Interstate 270 in Rockville looks like most modern suburban office complexes. It’s a sleek and shiny metal and glass structure that seems to have plopped down like an alien spacecraft on a freshly mowed plot.

What’s special about this building, its developers say, is the technology inside, which earned it the superlative from the state government of being the “greenest” office building in Maryland.

Walking into the building, made of an assortment of recycled items including old bluejeans and wheat products, visitors might think they are entering an office with dirt floors, joked Marnie Abramson of the building’s developer, Tower Companies, which is based there.

The building’s insulation is made of recycled denim. A composite of wheat products makes up the doors. The floor is old carpet that has been shaved down.

But, Abramson said, the structure has the amenities of the average office building and then some.

The building has a fitness center, a three-level underground parking garage and flat-screen televisions embedded in its elevator walls. Every work space has an outside view. The air-conditioning system circulates fresh, filtered air in the building every 51 minutes.

Abramson said the building challenges preconceived notions about environmentally friendly structures, such as that having a green building involves sacrificing certain conveniences or that environmental friendliness is counterintuitive to business success.

Tower Companies received $1.6 million in a state tax credit for the building, Abramson said, and dangling carrots like that in front of the business community is a simple and effective way to encourage them to take part.

Because of the tax credit, the idea of green practices as the norm “permeates into the marketplace,” she said. “In the long term, we can build our way into a sustainable future.”

The tax credit, which was created in 2001, allows developers to recoup 6 to 8 percent of construction costs if a building qualifies for platinum status in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, rating system.

Reaching platinum status includes using 100 percent wind energy, limiting water and electricity consumption, reducing air and light pollution and making sure 90 percent of occupants have outside views.

Tower Oaks was the first building in Maryland to qualify and was named the greenest office building in Maryland by state Comptroller Peter Franchot (D) last month.

Joe Shapiro, a spokesman for the comptroller, said the building is a “shining example for the rest of the state . . . because it has an economic value and an environmental value.”

Shapiro said LEED platinum buildings save on utility costs and increase productivity. State officials hope the tax credit encourages prospective businesses to reach for platinum status, he said.

Abramson said prospective tenants have told her, ” ‘I don’t know if I can afford the premium for a green building.’ ” Her response: “I don’t think you can afford not to.” Constructing something like Tower Oaks isn’t just environmental citizenship; it’s smart business, she said.

Going green increased overall construction costs by slightly more than 1 percent, she said. But employee productivity has increased, and fewer employees called in sick this past winter than in any other year, Abramson said, crediting the fresh air and natural light.

Debbie Webb, director of property management for Tower Companies, has taken notice of the difference in her own work space. She has been at Tower Companies since it moved in February and worked for other property management companies for 18 years.

“You start off in the basement or in some place where no one wants to rent,” she said of the standard property management work area. And, she said, with the lights flipped off and the midday sun flowing in, “it’s just such a healthy environment.”

Abramson said the company is looking toward the next step: finding a way to generate its electricity on site.

“We’re superheroes,” she said. “It’s our job to save the planet through real estate.”

http://tinyurl.com/mrkf7x

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Beach Boys bringing green concert to tiny Fairfield

September 2, 2009

Posted Online:

Beach Boys bringing green concert to tiny Fairfield

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By Shane Brown, sbrown@qconline.com

More photos from this shoot
Photo: John Greenwood / staff
Lead singer Mike Love, left, and Bruce Johnson on keyboards and vocals are shown in the April 9 file photo during their concert at the i wireless Center in Moline. On Labor Day, the Beach Boys will close out their summer tour onstage in the tiny community of Fairfield, Iowa, in what’s being dubbed as one of the nation’s first ‘green’ rock concerts. ‘We need to move in the direction of energy independence,’ explains Love, ‘and what better place to start than Fairfield — the heartland of America.’

Watch out, Iowa. The “undesirable element” is headed your way.

But first, a little history.

The year was 1983, and our nation’s land management and conservation was in the hands of a fellow named James Watt, Secretary of the Interior to the Reagan administration. Watt’s tenure was marked by controversial decreases in environmental funding and deregulations to oil and mining companies. But nothing was more controversial than Watt’s decision to ban a July 4th performance at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., from a group he said would draw “an undesirable element” — The Beach Boys.

It’s no coincidence that Watt handed in his resignation papers later that year. At the time, the band’s frontman, a flabbergasted Mike Love, tried to defend his group. “We sing about patriotic themes — like ‘Surfin’ U.S.A.!’ ” Twenty-five years later, James Watt is a footnote in history, Mike Love still sings about surfing, and the Beach Boys remain the most outspoken celebrity advocates of global environmental reform.

On Labor Day, the group will close out their summer tour onstage in the tiny community of Fairfield, Iowa, in what’s being dubbed as one of the nation’s first “green” rock concerts.

“We need to move in the direction of energy independence,” explains Love, “and what better place to start than Fairfield — the heartland of America.”

What better place, indeed. Fairfield may seem like little more than a blip on the state map of Iowa, but this little town is making big headlines in its attempts to lead the nation in eco-friendliness. Fairfield Mayor Ed Malloy is a national leader in the field, recently having been named one of the “15 Greenest Mayors in America” by MSN.com. The concert will serve as the kick-off to Fairfield’s 40-point initiative to become “America’s Model Sustainable City.”

“We want to create a model community,” says Malloy, “a virtual template that other small towns can adopt to create the same results.”

The show will feature demonstrations of clean energy projects and sustainable practices, as well as educational booths to teach simple ways at becoming more energy independent. Bio-diesel generators will be provided by the Quad-Cities’ own Rexroat Sound, and Malloy is currently in discussions with Alliant Enegy to turn the entire event into a “green-powered concert.”

Why Fairfield? That’s an easy one. Love’s been coming to the small town for decades. At the center of Fairfield is the Maharishi University of Management, the U.S. home for studies of the ancient art of transcendental meditation (TM.) Love’s been a follower of the TM movement since being introduced to the technique in 1967 by a couple of familiar faces.

“We were performing at a UNICEF show,” Love says. “And up come John Lennon and George Harrison. We get to talking about TM, and two months later, I’m headed to India with the Beatles and Donovan to study with the Maharishi.” The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was for years the public face of the TM movement and the creative force responsible for the University opening in Fairfield in 1974, forever transforming this quiet Iowa town.

Fairfield is also home to The Raj, a health spa that focuses on the ancient health system of Ayurveda. The treatment programs are said to restore balance and reawaken the body’s natural healing mechanisms. Love is a fan.

“Ayurvedic treatments help reverse the aging process,” Love explains, “and when you’re doing 160 concerts a year like me, it helps.”

Proceeds from the concert will go to support the newly built Fairfield Arts and Convention Center, as well as the David Lynch Foundation, a pro-TM organization created by the eccentric director of “Blue Velvet” and “Twin Peaks.” The Foundation works to provide free TM training and “consciousness-based education” to children across the globe, as well as funding independent research into the effects of the program on creativity, depression, intelligence, and brain function.

“The Transcendental Meditation technique has been so incredibly valuable to me,” Love says. “I can only imagine how beneficial it will be to kids in neighborhoods full of stress, tension, and crime.”

But the focus of the event remains on energy independence. At the event, Love will be bestowed with the honorary title of “Energy Czar of Fairfield” for the day, a title he takes somewhat begrudgingly.

“I tried to tell them that the Bolsheviks killed the Czar,” says Love with a grin. “I prefer Energy Emperor.”

But Love turns serious when the talk turns toward green technologies.

“The Beach Boys are in favor of anything that leads to energy independence in the U.S. Fairfield can be a model and an inspiration, and we’re happy to lend a hand. We as a nation need to be fully energy independent within the next 20 years if not sooner.”

Get Love talking about energy and you’ll barely be able to get a word in edge-wise. During our interview, he spoke eagerly of the new Chevy Volt, the future hybrid set to launch in 2010 with an unbelievable 230 miles per gallon estimate.

“Daddy needs to take your T-bird away and replace it with a Chevy Volt,” he says with a smile.

But Love is forgetting one thing. He’s about to take the stage in small-town Iowa. Does it ever concern him that The Beach Boys are wrapping up their tour in a veritable beach-free state where you could probably count the number of surfers on one hand?

“Hey, now,” he says, not missing a beat. “Wait a second. Do I need to remind you of the lyrics to the song? It’s ‘if everybody HAD an ocean across the USA,’ not ‘has.’ Iowans will do just fine.”

“Besides,” he said with a laugh, “we sing songs about cars, too. Just make sure they’re fuel-efficient hybrids.”

Beach Boys in Fairfield

The Beach Boys’ 2009 Endless Summer Tour will arrive in Fairfield, Iowa, on Labor Day — Monday, Sept. 7.

Opening for the band will be Quad-Cities favorites The Nadas.

Don’t say you heard it from us, but we’re hearing whispers of potential special guests at the gig — and with recent TM benefit shows pulling in the likes of Moby, Sheryl Crow, Donovan, and Paul McCartney… anything’s possible.

For tickets, directions, and parking information, call (641) 472-2787.

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Transformed—my first haiku

September 2, 2009

Transformed
(my first haiku)

Caterpillars spin
increments of commitment;
Butterflies fly free!

© Ken Chawkin

Published in The Dryland Fish, An Anthology of Contemporary Iowa Poets, 2003, within 13 Ways to Write Haiku: A Poet’s Dozen.

Also in this later post: Japanese culture: poetic aesthetics, artistry, and martial arts, inspired me to write haiku and tanka.

Written around 25 years later, In the Parkview Cave, seems relevant here.

For those interested in this transformation see these videos:

PBS 1974 doc (58:47): The Incredible Story of the Monarch Butterfly.

Apr 21, 2025, 60 Minutes (12:51): Inside the monarch butterfly migration mystery: flying to Mexico from Canada, the U.S. Monarchs traveled to a remote part of Mexico, a journey they’ve made for thousands of years, and wintered there. Now tens of millions of the butterflies are on an epic aerial journey back north.

Dec 15, 2024, Infinity Movies (32:08): Life Of Monarch Butterfly | Short Documentary | Flight Of The Monarch Butterfly Movie. Follow the amazing journey of the Monarch Butterfly as it takes it’s yearly migration from Canada to Mexico. Watch the females deposit eggs for the next generation as no single butterfly makes the entire round trip as they only live 2 – 8 weeks.

Oct 21, 2024, TED (11:24): The Magical, Mesmerizing Migration of Monarch Butterflies | Jaime Rojo | TED. When monarch butterflies migrate, they produce one of the most iconic wildlife spectacles in the world — and provide us with an important indicator of ecological health, says photographer Jaime Rojo. Telling a story about our relationship to the natural world, he shares his experience photographing these mesmerizing insects deep in their remote mountain habitats in Mexico, diving into the latest research into the mysteries of their multi-thousand-mile journey and sharing how each of us can join the growing movement to protect them. (Recorded at TED2024 on April 19, 2024)

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Posted in My poems, Poetry | 5 Comments »

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