Death of Bodhilila (6/5/62-30/9/25)
It is with heavy hearts that we inform you of the death of Bodhilila, our beloved teacher, friend and former chair of the WLBC. She died late on Tuesday, 30th September 2025 at St Joseph’s Hospice, Hackney, where she had been since Monday, 29th September. She was surrounded in her last hours by loving friends, with Boogs and Maitripushpa with her at her final breath.
Her departure from this realm was preceded by a very courageous and challenging 18-month journey of surgery and treatments following the spring 2024 diagnosis of stage 4 cancer (read more from her here and here). Sadly, the cancer was very aggressive and she became increasingly ill from July 2025. This led to several hospitalizations (the last being 6 weeks).
Throughout all this, her concern and care for others never disappeared and in fact seem to grow ever wider and deeper. Even in her last few days, she continued to be grateful to and interested in those offering her care at hospital and hospice in the midst of her own suffering. In fact, last Thursday she even helped one of her doctor’s to join the overbooked WLBC’s Mindfulness for Stress course starting that very day!
Bodhilila brought her remarkable love of the dharma, meditation, music and sangha together in so many ways during her time at WLBC, both as chair (January 2017-spring 2024) and before that from 2012. Not only have so many of us benefited from her explicit dharma and meditation teaching but we have also reaped the benefits of witnessing a practitioner turning towards her own vulnerabilities and strengths, challenges and creativity – and encouraging each of us to transform ourselves with great kindness through the depth of the dharma. Her background as a professional musician, massage therapist, early years teacher and training as counsellor fed into this very personal and human approach to the dharma.
As many of you know and have experienced, Bodhilila was champion of so many interwoven communities: People of Colour, diversity (LGBTQ+), women in Triratna, secular mindfulness (through her teaching and training of teachers on Breathworks Mindfulness courses for Stress and Health), musicians….
First coming along to the London Buddhist Centre in the early 1990s, Bodhilila was ordained in 2010 at Akashavana, with Ratnavandana and Maitreyi her private and public preceptors respectively. Her yidam was Akshobhya. She had a particular love of the mandala of the five Buddhas and the brahmaviharas meditations. When she became chair of WLBC in 2017, she was the first female person of colour to become a Triratna centre chair in the UK and mainland Europe.
A celebration and farewell to Bodhilila will be held at the West London Buddhist Centre (date to be confirmed). The event will also generously be streamed by The Buddhist Centre Online, for whom she did a number of retreats over the years with Paramananda. Details of the event and links with be provided soon.
May her journey be bright, full of music and love. We bow in the ten directions to you, dearest Bodhilila…
With hearts wide open and deep gratitude
All of us at the WLBC
