What we offer is a place to:


-meet others interested in Buddhism,
-meet others who are living Buddhist practice, meditating regularly, attending retreats,
-learn to meditate (we can guide you in learning the basics of vipassana/insight meditation),
-practice your existing meditation tradition with a group,
-engage in discussion about Buddhism (with the inevitable conversational excursions into Eastern thought, world mytholgy, etc.),
-share your thoughts about, reasons for pursuing, and the progress of, your own spiritual journey or practice,
-get, or exchange, recommendations for books, audio teaching and web sites (easily accessible),
-get, or exchange, information about teachers and meditation retreats (usually involves some travel).
-bring your interest, your prior knowledge and experience of Buddhism to share, and your suggestions on how to make the Meetup better.

MOST RECENTLY

As of March 2010, we welcome Bhante Rahula as our meditation teacher on the first Thursday meeting of each month.

Bhante Rahula was born in Sri Lanka and became a novice monk when he was twelve. After having his eight year monastic training, he received his full ordination in 1999 and completed his Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree at the University of Jayawadanapura in Sri Lanka. After serving as Deputy Abbot of Sudharshanaramaya Buddhist Temple in Sri Lanka, he taught in Singapore and Malaysia, where he shared his Dharma experiences. He moved to the United States in 2007. And currently resides in Pekin. His meditation instruction is clear, practical, and based in years of experience. The Buddhist tradition of Sri Lanka is Theravada Buddhism, which is based on the earliest Buddhist writings (sutras).

Note: Bhante (BON tay) is a form of address meaning "venerable sir" that is customarily used when addressing monks in Sri Lanka.

Two things to note:

There is no charge for the Meetup, but we encourage, and provide a container for, donations to the Universalist Unitarian Church for allowing us the use of the spaces for meditation and discussion and to support our teacher.

HOW WE MEET

Over the past year and a half, attendance and participation have been wonderful and the discussion/exchange of views very enjoyable. Eight to twenty have come for meditation, with six to ten staying on for an hour and a half of conversation and discussion. (Since we have many people attending who are not on the member list of the Meetup, the attendance figures on the Meetup site have sometimes been lower than the actual number who attended. We try to remember to adjust the figures for accuracy.) We welcome everyone to attend as they wish: for just the meditation, or just the conversation/discussion time, or to come for both. (Click on "Our Next Meetup" on the home page for details of time and place.)


HISTORY

The Peoria Buddhism Meetup group was founded in October of 2002 by Randy Ruffalo, and met monthly on the first Thursday evening of each month for six years at the cafe in the Barnes and Noble bookstore.

Around the same time that Randy was organizing the meetup, a yoga teacher in Peoria, Brian Saeger, was 'house sitting' a place in Peoria and invited members of the yoga community, and other friends, to come over to the (mainly empty) house for a weekly Sunday evening meditation session with a little yoga before, a session of silent meditation and a little social time after. Both the Meetup and the meditators continued to meet over the years.

Peoria Buddhism Meetup stayed at the Barnes and Noble, but gradually it became clear that the venue was not ideal. Brian eventually left Peoria, but the meditation group he started continued to meet weekly, as a small core group of members (most of whom practice Vipassana -- also called insight or mindfulness -- meditation, a tradition that comes from the earliest form of Buddhism) moving from one member's home to another and sometimes not meeting at all when a meeting place was not available.

LOOKING FOR WAYS TO IMPROVE

Around 2007, both groups decided that some changes were necessary. Randy set up a poll on the Meetup site to find out what members wanted and what would promote more participation. He found that there was an interest in re-energizing the group and specifically, that some members thought that meditation would be a good addition to the meetings (but not easily done at the Barnes and Noble). In the latter part of 2007, Paul Resnick, a long time core member of the meditation group, was trying to find a suitable and 'stable' place for the meditation group to practice and contacted the Universalist Unitarian Church. They gave their permission for the group to meditate in the sanctuary at the church. In early 2008, the Peoria Insight Meditation Group began meeting twice each month at the church. With a regular meeting place and time, the group has attracted more people interested in learning to meditate, or just wanting a group to practice with. Often, there was an informal discussion after the practice.


MAKING SOME CHANGES


In early December of 2008, Randy Ruffalo, Paul Resnick and Jean Sloan met and decided that merging the two groups would be beneficial for everyone involved and that it simply made sense for the Peoria Insight Meditation Group to 'host' the Peoria Buddhism Meetup Group. Changes were made to the Meetup web site to reflect the change (including the change from one to two meetings each month) and the first 'combined' meditation/meetup meeting was on December 11, 2008, with sitting meditation in the sanctuary of the UU Church followed by discussion in a comfortable, spacious conversation area adjacent. The web site for the Peoria Insight Meditation Group is at

http://www.imaws.com/...