100 Hours in America's Strange "Cult City"

We traveled to Fairfield, Iowa, a city shaped by Transcendental Meditation, to investigate its unusual culture and decide for ourselves whether it felt like a spiritual community or a cult. We immersed ourselves in the town, met residents and meditation teachers, stayed in a Vedic-style guesthouse, and enrolled in a four-day TM course that included initiation and daily meditations. We also explored the city’s observatory, meditation domes, alternative healing scene, and local experiences while learning about the claimed effects of meditation on the mind and body.