Maurus Meaux

== Maurus Meaux ==
Maurus Meaux was an American activist, spiritual practitioner, leader, and monk. He was a founder of Newfound Buddhism, an alternative spiritual practice that emerged in Cape Saint George, Newfoundland, Canada. While raised as a devout Methodist-Christian in Louisiana, Meaux distanced himself from organized religion during his teenage years, becoming active in various communes as a self-proclaimed hippie throughout the mid to late 1960s. Meaux retained his birth name, emphasizing a rejection of superficial identity changes, believing that altering his name did nothing but reinforce the ego, opting to embrace a name he had no control of.
== Early Life ==
Meaux was born on 18 April 1949 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was brought up in a household that practiced Methodist Christianity heavily, and though Meaux subscribed to the religion as a child, he quickly distanced himself from organized religion as a young teenager. When Meaux was 16, he left home due to family conflict, traveling north where he became involved in various communes over the next few years. Though Meaux never considered himself specifically an atheist, he renounced theism, and began to follow a more spiritual lifestyle.
For twenty-five years after his involvement in the hippie communes of the 1960s, Meaux led a relatively normal life. He took a keen interest in Buddhism, evolving it to fit his worldview and practicing it during this time. He had begun to develop a circle of friends, each subscribing to a modified form of Buddhism that had yet to be refined. In the early 1990s, Meaux had a series of premonitions about the state of the world, which he shared with his group. They immigrated to Canada, and with eleven other members, purchased a parcel of off-grid land in Cape Saint George, Newfoundland. Building on ruins of an old stone lodge, the team, using their wide array of skills, began to build up what would become the Newfound Buddhist monastery.
== Creation of Newfound Buddhism ==
With the establishment of the initial monastery in the late 1990s, Meaux and his group had refined their beliefs and called it "Newfound Buddhism". The destination became popular in the region of Canada, attracting many visitors and few new followers. The establishment gradually expanded through the 2000s and 2010s. As Meaux grew older, his reputation and respect grew with as he was looked to by his followers as a wise, influential, and compassionate leader, even though Meaux rejected the idea that he was a leader of anything in specific.
The Newfound Monastery had significant growth during and after the Jinanvirus struck. With the Great Collapse, the community had to rely on itself and its self-sustaining practices as outside resources became minimal.