Tulpas

[korok132]

http://tulpa.info/

"A tulpa is believed to be an autonomous consciousness which also exists in a self imposed hallucinatory body, which is usually much of your choice. A tulpa is entirely sentient and in control of its opinions, feelings, movements."

In other words: You know Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends? Basically, it's more accurate to call them "tulpas" than "imaginary friends." They're imaginary friends that do what they want.

A friend of mine told me about this, and it seems really interesting. Apparently it's been spreading around a lot on 4chan's /mlp/ threads. Also apparently it's not a troll/hoax/joke, and that they actually are a thing.

Just thought I'd share.

[Kendrick]

I saw a lot on mentions of them on /mlp/ too and looked them up.

Rooted in Buddhism and other heavily spiritualist belief systems. Which surprised me because I've read several books on Buddhism and not come across the term, but Buddhism was forefront in the explanations I saw.

[BaconofChaos]

A guy I know on another board claimed to have two. And they are Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie.

Honestly the idea kinda creeps me out a little. When he announced it, several people actually congratulated him, saying it was quite a feat to create even one of these, let alone two. I was the only one who was worried that this person had basically declared that he had voices in his head on a public forum. Really, it's the idea of having someone else in my head that scares the hell out of me.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

This is a normal occurrence for authors.

[cuteycindyhoney]

[colour=#0000ff]Ah, the wonders of the internet. Ever notice that so many people keep claiming they have tulpas, but absolutely NOBODY in real life even knows somebody that met someone who actually does? Personally, I think it's all a bunch of nonsense. Frankly, if I met somebody who claimed Twilight Sparkle talked to him, but nobody else could see or hear her, I'd call an ambulance for him. Why would anyone try to fracture their personality into seperate parts anyway?[/colour]

[cuteycindyhoney]

This is a normal occurrence for authors.

[colour=#0000ff]I'm an author. I will say I love some of the characters I created. I'll even go as far as saying I know exactly what they'd say in any conversation. I don't communicate with them though. [/colour]

[Sparkleheart]

Hmm, think I'ma bookmark that site and read through it a bit more later.

Though my first impression is that it's likely full of teen poser shamans.

[ping111]

I've been interested in Tulpas for a very long time. My psychologist family member agrees with the Freudian model, and there would appear to be no reason why the exist. Personally, I practice hypnotherapy, so mental phenomena are not out of the norm for our family.

It also opens up a whole new realm of explanations for me - deities (prayer gives you plenty of time to imagine what your deity would say back), seeing ghosts of loved ones (you just want them back that badly), and more.

[Sparkleheart]

Okay, it's teen poser shamans. And apparently it's not technically a tulpa unless it involves actual sensory hallucinations, so I guess it turns out I don't have one.

AND HERE I WAS HOPING FOR A USEFUL RESOURCE.

[Kendrick]

This is a normal occurrence for authors.

I just finished a book (in the last legs of e-publishing) and the main character has been with me for almost 20 years. She had a story she wanted told. I've discovered that she doesn't always do what I want her to do either. The muse completely shuts down if I don't write the story the way she wants.

There are no voices in my head. She doesn't communicate directly with me like that, but I do have dreams and sometimes I'll have this flash in my head and an entire scene will be in my mind. The actions, dialog, everything there intact.

Not sure if it's the same kind of thing though.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

I was half joking when I said that, because I know authors talk to/with their characters, though if a Tulpa is a completely separate entity of yourself that you consider real, I don't think they exist.

[ping111]

I was half joking when I said that, because I know authors talk to/with their characters, though if a Tulpa is a completely separate entity of yourself that you consider real, I don't think they exist.

It's not that as much as using self-hypnosis so much that you have a constant audio-visual hallucination, and you make yourself believe that it is speaking to you and you're not choosing what it says.

[Kendrick]

It's not that as much as using self-hypnosis so much that you have a constant audio-visual hallucination, and you make yourself believe that it is speaking to you and you're not choosing what it says.

Several years ago I was on a bit of a spiritual exploration. I studied a lot of different religions and at the time was studying paganism and had been meditating a lot and was doing grounding exercises. One night I managed to hit that spot of complete peace you read about while meditation on my path and I had, for lack of a better term, a vision. This woman whose appearance kept shifting was there and spoke to me about the path I was on. The incident had quite an impact, but I haven't ever been able to reproduce even the utter calm I reached that night.

So now I've lapsed back into cynicism and figure I must have lapsed into sleep and dreamed it, but I did have my "Holy Spirit" moment once. I can't imagine being able to create an experience like that at will.