Triratna News

Dharmacharini Bhadrachitta 25th January 1930 - 1st April 2014

On Wed, 2 April, 2014 - 12:55
Munisha's picture
Munisha
With great sadness we inform you of the death of Dharmacharini Bhadrachitta at 4.00pm on 1st April, 2014. She was 84 years old and had been ill for over a year with blood cancer.

Bhadrachitta (auspicious, friendly-hearted one) was ordained in 2001 at Il Convento by Anjali (private preceptor) and Sanghadevi (public preceptor). Her sadhana was Amitabha.

She fell a few days ago and broke two vertebrae, went to hospital and then came home to her family in Queenstown to die as her blood levels were too unsurvivable to give her a blood transfusion.

So she died surrounded by tui, bellbirds mountains and Lake Whakatipu… all very aesthetic, for a very aesthetic and beautiful woman who gave of herself unstintingly to further the Dharma in New Zealand. Not only did she work in garage sales, leading classes and generally being kind and generous, she gave shelter to penniless Buddhists when ever they were down on their luck or travelling through. She was kind (very kind) a barrel of laughs, intelligent and very, very beautiful in her heyday. She was in theatre and the media used to refer to her as “New Zealand’s Grace Kelly”.

She is survived by her family: Grant, Guy and Amanda and their children, and of course a burgeoning sangha, many of whom would not be members of the sangha, had it not been for her warmth.

She was dearly loved and will be sorely missed.

Bhadrachitta will be cremated at 9am NZ time on Thursday 3rd April (9pm Wednesday UK time) in Queenstown, South Island. There will be a celebration of her life with family, friends and sangha at the Auckland Buddhist Centre, North Island, on Sunday 13th April. All metta welcome in her transition to formlessness.
Log in or register to take part in this conversation