Talk:Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa

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[edit] Article history

It always bothered me that the Wikipedia article was title Vedic City, Iowa, given that the official name is Maharishi Vedic City. So I changed the redirects and put the content here. Most of the article history is at Vedic City, Iowa. I next put the article at Maharishi Vedic City, where there is also some article history. But then realized it should be Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa, and moved it here. Hope I didn't mess up. TimidGuy 21:39, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Hindu?

Vedas = Hindu. But even otherwise, the Vedic City is obviously associated with Hinduism [1]. Whether or not the residents call themselves Hindu is irrelevant, since the city is notably connected to the holy texts of Hinduism.Bakaman 22:23, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

It seems misleading. Just because the Hindus consider the Vedas holy texts doesn't mean that anything associated with the Vedas is associated with Hinduism. Maharishi has sought to identify the universal aspects of the Veda, rather than focusing on aspects that are culturally specific. He sees Hinduism as a culture that has grown up around this timeless knowledge but considers the knowledge itself to be eternal. By way of analogy, it's almost as if someone would categorize a city as Roman Catholic because some of the inhabitants read the Bible. Roman Catholicism is simply a specific cultural context for the more general notion of Christianity. Also, I think self-identification is important. No one in Maharishi Vedic City has any idea what constitutes Hinduism, and nor do they seem themselves as practicing Hinduism. They practice Transcendental Meditation. They live in houses that use features described by Sthapatya Veda. They take advantage of certain health guidelines offered by Ayurveda. If the residents in a certain city, say New York, practice Yoga, which they do, should that city then be added to the category Hinduism in America? I feel like Wikipedia should strive to be accurate, and associating Hinduism with Maharishi Vedic City seems inaccurate. The article you cited doesn't say anything about the city being Hindu. TimidGuy 19:14, 30 July 2007 (UTC)