Blossoms of devotion: Emily’s inspired floral creations
When His Eminence Ling Rinpoche visited the Tibetan Buddhist Society (TBS) last August, he was greeted by a glorious display of flowers — a soft, harmonious blend of colour and fragrance that mirrored the auspiciousness and serenity of the occasion.
Behind this beauty was the devotion and artistry of our dedicated TBS volunteer Emily Taylor Anderson, a talented and creative floral designer.
In preparation for the project, Emily established a budget through the Society’s finance committee, researched suppliers, compared prices, and negotiated discounts wherever possible, optimising the use of the allocated funds.
Spiritual beauty and symbolism
Emily made the most of her creative freedom, designing arrangements that conveyed spiritual beauty and elegance. She selected blossoms in shades of blue, white, yellow, red and green — the Tibetan elemental colours symbolising the five wisdom Buddhas. In Emily’s vision, each arrangement was created as a unique mandala offering.
A blue delphinium was placed at the centre of each arrangement, symbolising the Medicine Buddha empowerment to be conducted by His Eminence Ling Rinpoche. Around it, Australian natives like proteas, kangaroo paw, sea holly, king protea, gum, and golden wattle represented the country.
These flowers were also chosen for their symbolism. For example, the king protea (the largest flower of the protea group), was a nod to the Dharma kings, a symbol of strength, bravery and transformation, and the oncidium dancing lady orchids represented the dancing dakinis, symbolising joy, friendship, and new beginnings.
Emily crafted four of these beautiful floral arrangements for the temple altar, three more for His Eminence’s quarters, and another for the foyer beneath the image of the Society’s founder, Venerable Geshe Thubten Loden. Each arrangement featured a wide lapis-lazuli blue ribbon, again representing Medicine Buddha.
Tarun Subba, Emily’s husband, along with a fellow floristry student, Emily Lowenthal, teamed up with Emily to help plan, prepare and execute this wonderful project.
An act of generosity and grace
The result was breathtaking. The flowers brought a special vibrancy and serenity to the temple that was both beautiful and fitting. Members of our community were delighted — many commented on how perfectly the arrangements honoured His Eminence Ling Rinpoche’s visit.
Emily’s project is a wonderful example of how volunteers at the Tibetan Buddhist Society can take on meaningful responsibilities and infuse their personal talents into their volunteer work. Through her creativity, commitment, and heartfelt offering, Emily demonstrated that volunteering can be an act of generosity, grace, and spiritual expression.