The Tara Trust according to its aims laid out in its constitution fosters all forms of therapy and medicine based on compassion and facilitates a dialogue between East and West within this domain of healing therapies based on compassion. In particular the Tara Trust has supported the development of Traditional Tibetan systems of healing and in particular Traditional Tibetan Medicine. It has supported research into Traditional Tibetan Medicine and the formation of the British Association of Traditional Tibetan medicine which is a member of the European Herbal Practitioners Association.

For many years a Tibetan Medical clinic was provided by the Tara Trust. However in 2015 it was deemed appropriate that these clinics should become independent of the Tara Trust. With this in mind Lobsang Soktsang a Traditional Tibetan Medical practitioner established a clinic with the support of the Tara Trust. Lobsang Soktsang obtained a master’s degree level in Lhasa and Dharmsala. He has previously worked in Ordissa in India as part of the Dharmsala Outreach Programme to Tibetan and Indian communities throughout India. While the Tara Trust supports this endeavour the clinic is entirely independent of the Trust and runs completely under Lobsang’s clinical direction and responsibility.

Lobsang also provides clinics in Samyeling Tibetan Monastery in Dumfriesshire (currently closed due to COVID restrictions) and at other Kagyu Samye Dzong meditation centres. For clarity purposes the Trust does not hold any responsibility for these clinics which are entirely under his direction.

In keeping with the vision of its founder Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche the Tara Trust is committed to continuing to provide support for research into Traditional Tibetan Medicine and other forms of healing and therapy based on compassion and in particular traditional forms of psychotherapy and medicine. These often do not attract the funding of more conventional biomedical systems. Before his untimely death in 2014, Akong Rinpoche and the Tara Trust have worked to help create medicinal herbal gardens at Samyeling and Holy Island in Scotland; as well liaising with Edinburgh Botanical Gardens which holds one of the most complete repositories of living medicinal herbal plants from the Himalayan region in the world.

Lobsang Soktsang holds a Menpa degree from Dharmsala Men-Tsee-Khang and is a member of British Association of Traditional Herbal Medicine, European Herbal Medicine Association and current chair of the Tara Institute of Tradition Tibetan Medicine. Lobsang is married with two adult children and lives with his wife Rinchen in Edinburgh.

You can visit Lobsang's website here: www.soktsangtibetanmedicine.co.uk

For London clinics Kagyu Samye Dzong www.london.samye.org

For clinics in Dublin www.buddhism.ie or info@buddhism.ie

For clinics in Samyeling www.samyeling.org