What is a Tulpa?

What a good question!

If you Google this question, then the first result of your search should be this:

1. Tulpa (Tibetan: སྤྲུལ་པ, Wylie: sprul-pa; Sanskrit: निर्मित nirmita and निर्माण nirmāṇa; “to build” or “to construct”) also translated as “magical emanation”, “conjured thing” and “phantom” is a concept in mysticism of a being or object which is created through sheer spiritual or mental discipline alone.

Thank you, Wikipedia.Your source of knowledge is never-ending, and your definitions are sometimes a bit confusing. So, let’s try to make it easier, okay?

First, think back to when you were a kid. Did you have an imaginary friend? Could you see or hear them, or were you pretty much just talking to yourself? Was there ever once a point where you felt that the imaginary friend wasn’t quite so imaginary? As you grew older you might have dismissed the notion. Most people stop having imaginary friends before their teenage years (and even if they don’t, research states that adolescents with imaginary friends are well-adjusted, very creative, and etc.), and by that time logic starts to come through.

Of course, logic suggests a lot of things, doesn’t it? But after spending such a long time on Earth you should know by now that just because something seems a certain way doesn’t mean that things will go down that path. Just a couple of weeks ago it finally hit single digit weather, and everyone was completely convinced that it was going to snow and we were all going to get out; two weeks later it’s perfectly fine to go outside with short sleeves on.

Before we go on, take a breather. Relax. Try to let go of your natural skepticism.

Now.

A tulpa is a real “imaginary” friend–except, you know, not entirely imaginary. Of course, the tulpa comes from your brain, your imagination, but possesses its own consciousness. It likes different things than you, thinks differently from you, can do things that you only wish you could do (or not), dislikes or hates the things that you might love, etc. They are sentient beings, with real feelings and wants and dreams. When you first feel them, you understand that they’re real. You understand that what you just felt or heard was not from you.

When someone is creating their tulpa, usually they do not see them in the real world (meaning that the tulpa is not imposed–I’ll cover this later on), but instead are talking and directing their thoughts to their tulpa. Over time, the tulpa grows stronger, and it is easier for you to see them with your mind’s eye and your real one(s). You can hear them, see them, smell them, feel them, and even taste them (. . .).

What is a Tulpa NOT?

A demon or spirit, split personality, or any other mental disorder (think about it. you can’t just wake up one day and say, “You know what? I think I’m gonna develop DID! :D” yeah, no. it doesn’t work that way). As the tulpa shares the creator’s brain, it knows exactly what you want–even if you don’t always know you want it. It will never be cruel or hateful to you UNLESS

1. you intentionally make them that way, or
2. you are hateful to them first.

Your tulpa cannot and will not kill you. For one thing, they leave no imprint on the physical world and are not physical beings, so it’s not as though they’ll stand in the corner as you sleep and grab a knife. They cannot kill you from within your brain, either. They cannot take over your body without your permission, and that is the only possible way they could deal out physical harm. Heck, if you ever do decide to let them take over your body (which can take months and months of practice, by the way), then you’re obviously going to have a very good, trusting relationship with one another–meaning that they won’t do anything to harm you.

I’ll cover this more later, as well, but essentially the only thing that is a sure-fire way to hurt your tulpa (and therefore make them hurt you) is by hurting them–emotionally or physically. So long as you aren’t a jerk, don’t worry about it.

Although the tulpa’s roots are spiritual, they themselves are not in any way meant to be religious–unless you make them that way. I’ve heard of tulpa being Christian, Muslim, Jewish, agnostic, and so on. It doesn’t start or stop at Buddhism.