John Miller: RSVP Volunteer Coordinator

In 2010 John and Vina Miller came to MIU to drop off their son, Prana, at college. They took a leave of absence from their jobs to make sure that Prana settled in. However, they soon realized that they enjoyed the Fairfield community so much that they didn't want to leave. They decided to quit their jobs and move to Iowa full-time. John started working at the university store and Vina started working in the financial aid office (she later became the campus nurse). A year later, their daughter Anala moved to Fairfield to enroll in the MVS master's program. In 2012, John also joined the MVS masters program. 

John had taken a bus trip through Fairfield in the 70s and was intrigued by the MIU campus. He saw a large crowd gathered on campus and decided to ask what the commotion was about. MIU students were excitedly waiting for Maharishi to come outside and greet them. Although John didn’t get to meet Maharishi that day, little did he know that 40 years later he would be studying his knowledge and attending classes on the very same campus.  

Volunteer, Carolyn Agner, and her pen pal, Alexis at Pence Elementary

John was always interested in spirituality. Even as a child, he remembers being in church with his parents and longing for a deeper connection to a higher power.  



When John enrolled in the military during the Vietnam war, he had a very stressful job teaching race relations to the employees on base in Thailand. He was so stressed out that his Major Officer recommended that John learn meditation. Funnily enough that officer was a practitioner of TM and he organized for swamis to come to the base to teach meditation (not TM) to the military personnel. This was John's first experience with meditation, and it really helped him manage his stress and his job.  

After leaving the military, John explored his spiritual interests further and he joined the Himalayan institute. He and Vina were a part of that community for 35 years. However, he said that it wasn't until he learned TM that he truly had his “first experience of transcendence and the inner stillness and joyfulness” that arises from a deep meditation practice.  

John went on to learn the TM-Sidhis at MIU and had dozens of "delightful experiences." He had about six months of consistent flavors of higher states of consciousness which he described as “deep joy that lasted for hours”. 

Volunteer, Tom Gordon, with a student in MakerSpace at Maharishi School

John graduated from MIU in 2013 and currently works as the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) coordinator for Fairfield Iowa. This AmeriCorps program pairs thousands of Americans aged 55 and older with organizations making a change in communities across the country. John believes that it originally started as an initiative to give retired people a meaningful purpose and to give back in their newfound free time.  

There are currently 21 agencies in Jefferson County that John connects volunteers to. Some of the most popular opportunities are the pen pals program (which serves 75 students at Maharishi School, Pence, Community Child Care, and Pekin Elementary), ushering at Sondheim Fairfield Arts & Convention Center, delivery for Meals on Wheels, providing food to low-income residents at The Lord's Cupboard, and preparing tax returns for free to anyone earning less than $58,000 a year.  

Additional volunteer organizations include the American Gothic Museum in Eldon, Fairfield Parks, Fair Field Productions, the Fairfield Public Library, Habitat for Humanity, Noah's Ark, the Veterans of Foreign Wars organization, Golden Magnolia (where they serve a free/donation-based meal), Iowa State Extension, and Indian Hills Community College. 

As an MIU Alumnus, John wants to encourage all MIU grads to get involved in volunteer programs in their community. If you are a senior living in Fairfield you can contact him directly to get connected with a program needing volunteers.  



Learn more about the Fairfield RSVP program by contacting John directly at tel: 641.919.4242 or [email protected] 

MIU Alumni Office

alumni.miu.edu

Maharishi International University

1000 North 4th Street, Fairfield, IA 52557 • 641-472-1180

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