Triratna News

Dharmacharini Candrasri 1945-2013

On Fri, 22 November, 2013 - 15:19
Munisha's picture
Munisha
With sadness we report the death of Candrasri, in Cambridge, UK, on Monday 18th November, aged 68.

Candrasri’s funeral will take place at Cambridge Buddhist Centre on Monday, 2nd December at 12 noon, with a memorial service on Wednesday 18th December at 7.30pm.

Candrasri was ordained at Akashavana in the summer of 2012 and was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer shortly after.

According to her preceptor Viryaprabha, “Candrasri faced death in the way that she lived her life: with courage and sraddha. In a talk she gave at the Cambridge Buddhist Centre, she said, “There was for me a very definite sense of surrender and letting go and stopping trying to fix samsara; and with this letting go came a spaciousness and openness – an essential condition for awareness to arise. I discovered that I had mysterious resources somewhere that felt like a safety net when at times I was in freefall.”

Her friend Cittamodani writes, ”Her way of being with dying has been an inspiration to the sangha in Cambridge. She said to me a couple of weeks ago, ‘I don’t really understand what this is all about, but one thing I am sure of is that love is the most important thing.’”

Candrasri was admitted to the Arthur Rank Hospice in Cambridge about two weeks before her death. The visits from close friends and the care and well-wishing she received here meant a lot to her. She had two step-children and eight grandchildren, and her husband Adrian and three children were with her when she died.

Candrasri’s private preceptor was Viryaprabha and her public preceptor was Padmasuri. The practice she was given at ordination was Green Tara.

The funeral is intended as a Buddhist context within which her family can celebrate her life. Please feel free not to wear black. No flowers, please. The memorial service will be an opportunity for her many friends to celebrate her life in the sangha.

Details from info [at] cambridgebuddhistcentre.com (Cambridge Buddhist Centre.)

Log in or register to take part in this conversation

Responses

Munisha's picture
A celebration of Candrasri’s life will be held on Wednesday18th December, at 7.30pm at the Cambridge Buddhist Centre, led by her chapter. This will be an opportunity for those of us in the sangha to express how much she touched our lives. There will be a short puja dedicated to Green Tara, rejoicings in Candrasri’s life, some poetry, and time for tea and cakes in the foyer.

It would be helpful to know how many people want to speak at the event. Please let Viryaprabha know by 15th December.

Email Viryaprabha: r.alton555 [at] btinternet.com