A Lotus Grows in the Mud she calls her "Gifts". This spiritual quote, which led to the title of the book, Hawn received from the Venerable Thupten Ngodrup. He is the Nechung Oracle of the Nechung Dorje Drayang Ling Monastery in Dharamsala, India. "The lotus is the most beautiful flower, whose petals open one by one. But it will only grow in the mud. In order to grow and gain wisdom, first you must have the mud --- the obstacles of life and its suffering. ... The mud speaks of the common ground that humans share, no matter what our stations in life. ... Whether we
National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies development as lists of judges, teachers, demonstrators and lecturers were set up and the idea of a national journal was explored. The Flower Arranger magazine was published in March 1961 as an A5 publication and is still going strong fifty years later. Over the next five decades NAFAS developed and became known throughout the world as a flower arranging organisation, of men and women, and membership peaked at 100,000. Activities for members are organised at level, area and national level. At local level each flower club arranges an annual programme which includes flower arranging demonstrations by trained and qualified NAFAS