Pioneering Buddhist’s memorial
A MEMORIAL ceremony will be held next week for the pioneering founder of Buddhism in the Far North.
Laurence-Khantipalo Mills died in July in Melbourne.
But many of the Buddhist community in Cairns were unable to attend the funeral in Victoria.
Mr Mills brought Buddhism to the Cairns region in 1995 and from there paved the way for the community to develop.
Devoted student and friend Dhammika Pereira-Marland said he had left an impact on Cairns.
“He was very approachable, friendly and non-judgmental, he had time to speak to anyone at the Buddhist Centre,” Ms Pereira-Marland said.
“People would come at all hours and he would sit down and listen.”
Mr Mills founded the former Bodhi Citta Buddhist Centre when he first arrived in Cairns in 1996. At the centre he would bring teachers from all over the world and Australia.
“As a result of him inviting different Buddhist teachers, people got to find what they were comfortable with in terms of different traditions,” Ms Pereira-Marland said.
In 1996, he brought the Vesak celebration, which brings people together in enlightenment.
“He has left a lasting legacy for the Cairns community because we have more access to places of Buddhist meditation and practices than before,” she said.
Ms Pereira-Marland said that his presence would always be felt through everything he taught but also the memories they have of him.
“He could guide people when we were too emotional, when we couldn’t have clarity, he helped people to have clarity,” she said.
At the memorial, saplings will be gifted to people to take away supplied by the Kuranda Conservation Community Nursery. The memorial will be held on Wednesday, November 10, from 6pm at Khacho Yulo Ling Buddhist Centre in Parramatta Park.