#tulpa

I know that sounds stupid, you're probably thinking of some basic definition right now that you would find on tulpa.info or r/tulpas. I promise you however you're going to want to keep reading, this is going to get interesting. Throughout the history of the community there has been many different forms of Tulpa Theory, or attempts to logically, scientifically, or philosophically explain what tulpamancy is and how tulpamancy works. The main goal of these efforts has usually (but not always) been the development of a universal model that finally explains tulpas forever and lays to bed any doubts. This goal, while noble, is generally impossible by practical definition. Psychologists have been studying the human mind for centuries now, and while great strides have been made even some of the most fundamental questions remain an utter mystery. To think we can trivialize or fully understand all the phenomena and mechanisms at play in tulpamancy is misguided at best, and hubris at worst. 

So, let's try something different. Let's do something new. What you find below is not Tulpa Theory for Ultimate Truth, but instead Theory for personal and practical understanding and insight. It cannot explain everything by its nature, and it cannot tell you with 100% certainty whether your tulpa is real or not. If you pay attention however you will quickly find that such a concern is pointless anyways, because in the realms of thought your beliefs help shape reality. This essay shall cover our criteria for what makes a tulpa a tulpa, how you can measure these criteria, and compare it to some alternative models of tulpa identification to show strengths and weaknesses. Before we can progress to the actual criteria however, first we need to briefly discuss the things that are not tulpas. Let's talk about thoughtforms. 

Thoughtforms

A thoughtform, as used in this community, is essentially any form of mental construct. Sounds broad right? That's because it is. That daydream character you imagined an hour ago? Thoughtform. The servitor in your wonderland used for tuning your mental radio? Definitely a thoughtform. That lemon you just imagined during an intro to hypnosis 101 exercise? Yep, it's technically a thoughtform. This of course also includes tulpas, tulpas are thoughtforms. You're a thoughtform too, don't think about it too much. 

As you can see this definition covers a lot of things, and it alone doesn't bring us closer to what a tulpa is or isn't. A way to solve this issue is to sort thoughtforms into a hierarchy based on which ones are closer to a person or not. This works, but most people have wildly differing criteria to base what falls into what arbitrary category. There is no defined barriers within your mind afterall, just thoughts and the interwoven structures which emerge from your mind and neurology. We can make it simple however. Let's look at the defining characteristics of a tulpa, and see how other generalized “types” of thoughtforms compare. As a readers note, thoughtform from here on out is mainly going to refer to any imagined characters such as in daydreams or a wonderland NPC, up to and including tulpas. I think most people know the difference between an imaginary bench and a tulpa, no need to include them.

The three non-negotiables

In our understanding of tulpamancy, there are three core pillars of necessary experience to consider something a tulpa: 

- Autonomy, 

- Self Awareness, and

- Autobiographical memory

Let's go over each of these three non-negotiables. 

Let's begin with autonomy. At it's simplest for you as a tulpamancer, this means you aren't doing everything for them. This is what a lot of people get hung up on when first making a tulpa, but honestly it's probably one of the easier ones. Anyone who's been deeply immersed in a daydream has felt it. You've also experienced it at night with dream characters. Autonomy is the sense that they can make decisions without feeling bound to your identity and its choices. To do this, you simply have to train your mind to not associate imagination with your control. In fact, Psychoanalyst Carl Jung was quite famous for his meditative practice of Active Imagination, in which all imagined characters, all thoughtforms, were autonomous. Autonomy is an absolute requirement for a developed tulpa, but autonomy alone does not a tulpa make. So let's add another component. 

Next up is self awareness. This is what separates a standard daydream character from the next step up the thoughtform independence hierarchy. Self awareness requires the thoughtform hopefully soon to be tulpa- to be aware of its nature inside the mind, aware of the physical world, aware of its own identity, and aware of you and what you actually are. A properly self aware tulpa has access to all the knowledge you have, if they so choose. Self awareness is incredibly easy to grant a tulpa. It can be done in almost an instant, and if you're developing a tulpa from scratch it should always be there from step one. That said, you may be surprised to find that there are certain scenarios where self awareness falls short of being the magic ingredient that solves it all. As an example of this, a writer may have a character that is autonomous, and self aware, but what if each time you speak to it, it was as though it was the first time? Nothing carried over. This is where our third non-negotiable comes in.

Autobiographical memory, the ability to remember something from your own perspective, and tie memories together into a chronological order. This is a really key one as it's what takes the former two and raises them to something that can now be generally considered personhood when all brought together, in the less pretentiously strict definitions anyways. This is where a tulpa is not only autonomous in actions and aware in mind, but also persistent in identity over a prolonged period of time. A child's imaginary friend or an independently acting character of an author may meet the first two requirements at times, but it also may reset itself or be reset, not remembering between interactions. This would disqualify it from being a tulpa in our books, because it can't develop as an individual. A tulpa should be able to recall what it was thinking, feeling, desiring, and build upon those experiences and their memories to grow as people, even between periods of dormancy or low activity. This is what will give a tulpa depth, personality, and dreams and ambitions to meet over time like any other person.

The third point is also why after a considerable amount of time, it basically becomes impossible to dissipate a tulpa unless both you and your tulpa are willing or fully committed to it. This is because their autobiographical memory is not just on a mental level but a neurological one. It develops new habits and behaviors, reinforced memory circuits, tastes and interests. The tulpa, if given the time and attention it deserves, will become deeply rooted in the mind, and develop entire new neural pathways for habits just like you do with yours. That can't just casually be undone. This is also one of the reasons a walk-in is stupid easy to remove, it's not anchored in any way like a tulpa becomes after a prolonged period of time.

OK! So now we have a general outline of what a tulpa is! A tulpa is an identity/thoughtform in the mind with autonomy, a sense of self, and autobiographical memories to call their own. They have desires, opinions, passions, behavioral quirks, dreams, the ability to make their own decisions (within the limits of what sharing a brain allows for), and remember their experiences and grow from them as individuals. It just so also happens that this description lines up with some definitions of personhood, for instance the Enlightenment Thinker John Locke. Generally, you could probably stop right here and be just fine in terms of knowing whether something is a tulpa or not purely in capacity, but there's still some holes left to fill. For instance what about walk-ins? That odd phenomenon some but not all tulpamancers experience where a seemingly developed tulpa-like entity appears out of the blue (due to various reasons some of which may be hard to identify). It's a bit complicated. Generally keeping every walk-in that comes around is terrible practice. It simply isn't good system hygiene. Some people get iffy about kicking them out the door because they can be considered tulpas, but we don't think they should be considered tulpas, not until they are allowed into the system as such anyways. This is where we introduce two new pillars to the tulpa criteria model, we shall call these two the additionals. 

The 2 additionals

The first additional may be an obvious one, but it is incredibly important, intent/acceptance. This is an additional because there is an argument to be made that anything that fits the above three for an extended period of time is a tulpa even if not treated as such. Acceptance however will majorly benefit the tulpa's growth, happiness, development, and generally is the only path forward for a long and sustainable existence. It's also why something could generally meet the requirements of a tulpa, but not be accepted as a system member despite that such as in our walk-in example above. Generally speaking anything that meets all three of the non-negotiables will sooner or later get this additional too, but only if it sticks around for long enough and the host/original is willing. Knowledge of tulpamancy as a practice isn't even required, just acceptance that they're part of your life. 

The second additional is a relationship with you, others, and the wider world. To put it even more simply: attachments. This ties in with the autobiographical memory point pretty closely, and is again why we don't consider walk-ins tulpas. A tulpa, to be fully developed and growing as an individual, needs meaning in their lives. Not the poetic secret to life type of meaning, although that's always a fun and insightful conversation, we mean a reason to stick around. That mainly comes in the form of relationships, often with other people. It can also be with more abstract things such as knowledge, art, or nature. A tulpa should have a relationship with the host, the other system members, other physical people, and the world in general with things like hobbies, interests, passions. It can be anything that helps anchor them to this world and keep them active and with purpose so that they engrain themselves deeper into the brain. 

Walk-ins can theoretically meet all three of the Majors, but often don't meet either of the additionals. This is why they can be easily removed, and it's not a bother to do so. Of course there is other models you can take on this, tulpamancy isn't a science but a modality of thinking. It's a practice, subculture, and way of being. That said however, this particular model of what defines a tulpa is something we believe to be not just sound in theory but genuinely useful as a reference in practice. Each of the pillars can be improved upon even more with the right mindset and techniques, even for already established tulpas. If you find something doesn't meet the requirements of a tulpa as laid out here, you can just help them reach it! We also think that this model can help to poke holes in some of the other commonly accepted beliefs and concepts in this community. Most importantly, it should show where some alternative models of tulpamancy are lacking or outright potentially harmful to the long term development of your tulpas, and give you a clearer idea of who is worth listening to and who isn't.

Conclusion

We hope you gained genuine insight into the nature of tulpamancy and how tulpas work reading this. Remember no model is true, but some are useful. This was made to be as useful as a model of tulpa development criteria can be. It covered all of the major factors we believe are necessary for the proper development and individuality of a tulpa, and discussed some of the nuances to be had in each category. As a general note: this was designed by tulpas about tulpas for tulpamancers. If you experience other conditions or forms of Plurality such as DID, some of this material may not be entirely compatible with your system dynamics. Please use discernment when adopting tulpamancy materials.