Tara Springett

Tara Springett (née Ulrike Erika Elisabeth Fulda; born 28 November 1960) is Buddhist therapist, teacher and author of self-help books.^[1]

Early life

Springett grew up as the second child of four born to middle-class German parents who both had problems with addictions. During her childhood she experienced abuse, neglect and rejection and subsequently was afflicted by many psychological problems as a young adult.^[2]

Personal and spiritual growth

In her youth, Springett embarked on a quest for self-improvement and spiritual development. First she immersed herself in Western approaches such as psychotherapy and bioenergetics, the latter initiating a Kundalini process in her energy system that has been active until the present day. At the age of 24, her journey led to a Tibetan Buddhist Centre in Heidelberg, Germany. She describes the occasion as being "love at first sight" and was the start of wholehearted lifelong commitment to Tibetan Buddhism. She started to meditate daily and spent most of her vacations in intensive meditation retreats. A key influential teacher for Springett was Rigdzin Shikpo^[3] who, in turn, had been one of the first Western students of Chogyam Trungpa. Rigdzin Shikpo’s teachings stressed the importance of the heart centre in developing love and compassion. Springett’s main teacher is Garchen Rinpoche, one of the main tulkus of the Drikung Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.^[4]

Professional life

Springett graduated from the University of Heidelberg with a master's degree in Education and later gained postgraduate qualifications in Gestalt therapy, Hakomi therapy and Transpersonal therapy. The first four years of her career Springett taught German to foreigners because this left her plenty of time to spend in Buddhist retreats. At the age of 30 she started working as an addiction counsellor and later as a counsellor for adolescents. She also saw clients in her private counselling practice and at first specialised in eating disorders. Later she branched out to work with psychological and relationship problems more generally. In 1996 Springett’s Buddhist teachers encouraged her to work as a Buddhist meditation teacher and Tara started to run meditation groups in an ongoing way.^[5] From 2001 onwards, Springett's work has been featured in the media: local and national newspapers; national television; national and international radio; and online journals along with other published books.^{[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]} For example, Lora Starling explored Springett's approach to healing with symbols in her book "The Logo Decoded".^[20] Examples of Springett's web presence are her regular publications online.^[21]

Discovery of higher-consciousness healing

Springett deeply wished that one day she would find a simple and clear method that people can use to overcome their own personal problems reliably and thoroughly. In 1997 her wishes were fulfilled with the discovery of Higher-Consciousness Healing. Springett recalls her breakthrough moment of discovery in the following way.

"I was sitting in the shrine room of my Buddhist teacher trying to listen to his talk. I could not concentrate, because I was inwardly struggling with a painful feeling of sadness that had been with me for many years. As I had often done before, I prayed for help and – lo and behold! – this time, my prayer was answered. Suddenly, the method [of Higher Consciousness Healing] …just "popped up" in my mind. It was so clear and detailed that I assumed I had read it somewhere and was just remembering it."^[22][23]

From that point, Springett spent the next few years working on the method. In 2010, her teacher Garchen Rinpoche approved the practice of Higher Consciousness Healing according to Springett's Web site.^[24] Whilst completely in keeping with Tibetan Buddhism, the method is universal in its appeal and can be practised by individuals of all faiths and convictions, even atheists. As Springett had wished, the method has proved highly efficient and effective in addressing all manner of personal problems. In fact, Springett claims that she had never worked with a client who did not achieve significant improvements with their problems within a matter of weeks. She explained the method in her first book Symbol Therapy (2001) and in The Five-Minute Miracle (2009).^[25]

Subsequent themes in her writing

As a body of writing, Springett’s work can be seen as making certain aspects of Tibetan Buddhism accessible and workable for contemporary, spiritually-inclined audiences. One example theme is that of manifesting wishes. To this topic, she brings the Buddhist-inspired idea of combining our wishes with altruistic motivation as a way of ensuring the wish is both meaningful and will have the individual’s energies maximally aligned to it. Her book Make Your Dreams Come True (2002) describes how to establish an altruistic motivation and how to deal with obstacles such as setbacks, resentments and the frustrations of an extended waiting time. This book was completely re-written and published with the title Advanced Manifesting – Tibetan Buddhist Secrets for Fulfilling Your Dreams in 2011.

A third theme is highlighted in the title of her third book Soulmate Relationships (2003, 2012). In keeping with a Buddhist perspective, Springett emphasises the crucial importance of the mutual wish to grow in love as the foundation of a soulmate relationship. She also explains the working of the Buddhist idea of karma in an intimate relationship – a dynamic she calls "The law of an even deal".^[26] This law suggests that couple relationships can often be unbalanced in terms of the contributions made by each partner and that this lack of balance are at the basis of all relationship problems. Her perspective is, however, ultimately an optimistic one in that she claims that partners can learn to work positively with this law and other relationship dynamics.

More recently, in releasing "Enlightenment through the Path of Kundalini", Springett writes about the core spiritual development dynamic (Kundalini) that has been active in her energy system for many decades. The book explains the process partly through the words of the Tibetan Buddhist deity Tara, whom Springett has channeled for many years, and through descriptions of her client work with people suffering from the symptoms of Kundalini syndrome.

Books

• Symbol Therapy: Use Your Inner Wisdom to Solve Your Physical and Emotional Problems, Piatkus, September, 2001 ISBN 978-0-7499-2246-7 (HC) ISBN 0-7499-2246-X (PB)
• Make Your Dreams Come True: 8 Steps to Making Your Dreams Come True, Piatkus, October, 2002 ISBN 978-0-7499-2339-6 (HC) ISBN 0-7499-2339-3 (PB)
• Soulmate Relationships: Understand, Find and Keep Your Perfect Partner, Piatkus, May, 2003 and Little, Brown March 2012, ISBN 978-0-7499-2418-8 (HC) ISBN 0-7499-2418-7 (PB)
• The Five-Minute Miracle: Discover the personal healing symbols that will solve your problems, Redwheel, Weiser, December, 2009 ISBN 978-1-57863-458-3 (HC) ISBN 1-57863-458-X (PB)
• Advanced Manifesting: Tibetan Buddhist Secrets For Fulfilling Your Dreams, Higher Consciousness Publishing, 2011 ISBN 978-1506162706 (PB)
• Enlightenment Through the Path of Kundalini, Higher Consciousness Publishing, July, 2014, ISBN 978-1506067612 (PB)

References