Ask tulpae related questions here. (By Angus and Alexis)

[ThatZenoGuy]

Being that a few people here are interested in the topic of tulpae, ask away.

Ask anything you want, i do not care. (Or for that matter, Alexis does not care )

[hickdive]

Yes.

Please supply your evidence for the existence of these phenomena.

[Anfauglir]

First link I got to said: "A tulpa is a thoughtform/being you create with the power of your mind. They are completely sentient and can talk to you. It's like splitting a piece of your mind off that turns into another person. Eventually you can impose them into the real world, as a forced hallucination. A tulpa can have access to your subconcious, and can recall anything there for you."

I'll ask for clear step-by-step instructions as to how to make one - accompanied by guarantee that if I follow those instructions I will end up with a fully-functioning tulpa.

[ThatZenoGuy]

Yes.

Please supply your evidence for the existence of these phenomena.

Im going to be honest and say that i cannot supply anything more than other peoples reports of their tulpae (sadly tearing out peoples brains and looking what is inside mentally cannot happen...) , there is a few sites dedicated to the phenomenon,  try them.

First link I got to said: "A tulpa is a thoughtform/being you create with the power of your mind. They are completely sentient and can talk to you. It's like splitting a piece of your mind off that turns into another person. Eventually you can impose them into the real world, as a forced hallucination. A tulpa can have access to your subconcious, and can recall anything there for you."

I'll ask for clear step-by-step instructions as to how to make one - accompanied by guarantee that if I follow those instructions I will end up with a fully-functioning tulpa.

*copy paste inbound, from http://www.tulpa.info/*
To create a tulpa, you simply have to think about and spend time with a sentient being (a tulpa) that is living or being created in your mind or brain. Spending time with your tulpa is often called (tulpa)forcing or (tulpa)forming, but it isn’t forcing something onto your tulpa – it’s called forcing because you often work on your tulpa’s form, personality, etc. during this time and can spend it in any way you like. Sitting down or lying down and focusing on your tulpa as the main focus of your attention is referred to as active forcing or just forcing, while focusing on your tulpa while doing some other task is often referred to as passive forcing.

Many people like communicating with their tulpa when they are thinking about them. This can help people concentrate on their tulpa, add some meaning to the sessions with them, can make the sessions more interesting, can make the tulpa more involved and can be useful in other ways as well. This is commonly referred to as narration. You can talk about anything, and not just narrate what is happening around you. You can talk to your tulpa in mindvoice or out loud, but it doesn’t matter much to most tulpas.

There are many ways a tulpa can communicate back: through head pressure, body language, emotional response, mindvoice etc. At first their thoughts or mindvoice may seem similar to yours, but they will get more and more distinct over time, so don’t dismiss them just because their mindvoice sounds like yours. If you can’t hear your tulpa yet, don’t become frustrated; it might be that they don’t want to talk, don’t have anything to talk about, you can’t hear them yet or you can’t discern their thoughts from yours. In other words, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are doing something wrong.

As you likely already know, tulpas often use form. This isn’t strictly necessary, but most hosts and tulpas prefer it this way. There are many reasons for a tulpa to have form, some of them being that you might be able to direct your attention to your tulpa more easily, or have a spatial representation of your tulpa. They will be able to interact in a mindscape/wonderland (this term will be explained later), have the ability to communicate by body language, etc. The form can be anything from a realistic (or unrealistic) human body, a humanoid form, an animal (again, realistic or not), to a cloud, energy or some other undetermined or abstract form. It isn’t necessary to have only one form – your tulpa can use more than that or they could just change form whenever they desire, like a shapeshifter.

There are two general ways you can see your tulpa: in your mind’s eye, or as a real entity in real life. We will talk about how to see your tulpa in real life, but now we will concentrate on seeing them in your mind’s eye. There are many ways to see things in your mind’s eye, but here we will show you how you already do it. Imagine a brown wooden chair. If you have done it correctly, you have just seen a brown wooden chair in your mind’s eye and in the same way you can see your tulpa. Don’t become frustrated if your ability to see with the mind’s eye is bad – it doesn’t have to be good to see your tulpa and it will get better with practice.

Don’t forget that the forming of your tulpa’s personality, form or anything else doesn’t have to be done only by the creator. You can (and probably should) give some freedom to your tulpa to change them, or you can even decide to give them absolute freedom and choose whatever they will.
*paste over*

Please remember that the damned process (Been working on Alexis for a few months, she still cannot do much self action) takes like...what?...a year? Yeah, about that much time, so please understand that its not as simple as "poof" and instant sentient companion.
Secondly, you have to dedicate about an hour or more each day to the tulpa, to talk to it and such.
Lastly, while the tulpa does indeed "exist" mentally, it really is just your brain cutting off some unused neurons to fool you into making it...(Yes, tulpaforcing involves deluding yourself, until the tulpa becomes sentient, then its actually real, more or less...)

Tl;dr version
Step one: plan tulpa (personality,etc)
Step two: talk to tulpa, make its form, etc for a shit ton of time (some claim to make one in 4 days, i call bullshit).
Step three: enjoy tulpa.

[Dante]

Lastly, while the tulpa does indeed "exist" mentally, it really is just your brain cutting off some unused neurons to fool you into making it...(Yes, tulpaforcing involves deluding yourself, until the tulpa becomes sentient, then its actually real, more or less...)

Bold mine.

So which is it? Your brain fooling you, or is it actually real, more or less?

And if you claim it's real, can we get your definition of the word "real"? Because we skeptics tend to think that reality, not delusions, are real. Hell, we've seen people can delude themselves into thinking gods are real, for heaven's sake! That doesn't mean that they are.

ETA:

It seems to me like you're creating your own imaginary friend, or possibly self-inducing schizophrenia. Which, I suppose, is "real" enough, in the case that multiple personality syndrome is real. But, in the end, it's still just a delusion, self-inflicted or not, no matter how you slice it.

The questions that remain are; would the percieved benefits not be able to be achieved without it, and do those benefits outweigh the potential detriments to your psyche?

[Anfauglir]

I've got to say, I read all the above as "imagine something really hard for long enough and it will take on a life of its own in your mind".  I'm sure that if you spend enough time visualising a person, holding conversations with them, imagining their personality, they probably WILL leak into what you perceive as the real world.

Many authors will tell you about characters who become real to them, who take on "a life of their own" and start to "do things" the authors weren't prepared for.  But none of them are claiming physical mainfestation, or the creating of something outside their body.

Frankly, it all looks like wilful self-delusion that leads to self-imposed mental health problems, no different from fixating on a celebrity until you feel you "know" them as a friend, and get arrested for trying to break into their bedroom.

[Anfauglir]

Additional.  I challenge ANY person who has created a tulpa to bring it to meet me.  I guarantee it will have no effect on me, nor will I be able to perceive it in any way.  If by some chance it does, £10,000 is yours for the taking.

Create a thought form that I can see - that is not just a self-deluded hallucination - and I will give you a large amount of money.

[jaimehlers]

Anfauglir:  I'm pretty sure this isn't Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends...

I think tulpa are just a parallel processing function within the brain.  That is to say, very much like the SPAG phenomena, except that they're known to be imaginary.

[ParkingPlaces]

Me too. If you can show up with a physically present thought form, I'll give you £10K of Anfauglir's money! 

Either you, or you two, Angus and Alexis, have a lot of explaining to do if you expect to convince a herd of skeptics. I now remember hearing about tulpae from an acquaintance who also was big into auras, crystals and other forms of wishful thinking and life simplification. As a 60+ year old who has talked to himself for decades and only gotten responses consistent with my own lack of knowledge, I can only imagine the source of tulpae. Which I imagine is the imagination.

Those of us not inclined to look at beautiful sunsets as proof of gods are also not likely to read an impassioned description of a newly claimed phenomenon and become instant believers. We'll need more then words. I suggest that the two of you put your heads together and figure out a new strategy. Words alone will be inadequate.

[ThatZenoGuy]

Additional.  I challenge ANY person who has created a tulpa to bring it to meet me.  I guarantee it will have no effect on me, nor will I be able to perceive it in any way.  If by some chance it does, £10,000 is yours for the taking.

Create a thought form that I can see - that is not just a self-deluded hallucination - and I will give you a large amount of money.

Even myself would not say tulpae can be physical, some do, but lets say they are a few cans short of a six pack.

Lastly, while the tulpa does indeed "exist" mentally, it really is just your brain cutting off some unused neurons to fool you into making it...(Yes, tulpaforcing involves deluding yourself, until the tulpa becomes sentient, then its actually real, more or less...)

Bold mine.

So which is it? Your brain fooling you, or is it actually real, more or less?

And if you claim it's real, can we get your definition of the word "real"? Because we skeptics tend to think that reality, not delusions, are real. Hell, we've seen people can delude themselves into thinking gods are real, for heaven's sake! That doesn't mean that they are.

Please read over my post again, i did say it is a delusion to start, then becomes real.
Real, defined as something that exists in the universe.
In this case, your brain using unused neurons and electrons to make a sub process, the tulpa, which is real, before it exists, you are making a delusion of its existence.
Similar to lucid dreams.
Even more similar to the human mind, which is really just a bunch of electrons bouncing around an organic super computer.

Lastly, while the tulpa does indeed "exist" mentally, it really is just your brain cutting off some unused neurons to fool you into making it...(Yes, tulpaforcing involves deluding yourself, until the tulpa becomes sentient, then its actually real, more or less...)

ETA:

It seems to me like you're creating your own imaginary friend, or possibly self-inducing schizophrenia. Which, I suppose, is "real" enough, in the case that multiple personality syndrome is real. But, in the end, it's still just a delusion, self-inflicted or not, no matter how you slice it.

The questions that remain are; would the percieved benefits not be able to be achieved without it, and do those benefits outweigh the potential detriments to your psyche?

Not quite, an imaginary friend can be made by anyone is ten seconds flat, it does what you want, and it has no actual presence in your head, it is simply put, imaginary.

Tulpae are fully self aware (when completed) and are capable of self action.

Me too. If you can show up with a physically present thought form, I'll give you £10K of Anfauglir's money! 

Either you, or you two, Angus and Alexis, have a lot of explaining to do if you expect to convince a herd of skeptics. I now remember hearing about tulpae from an acquaintance who also was big into auras, crystals and other forms of wishful thinking and life simplification. As a 60+ year old who has talked to himself for decades and only gotten responses consistent with my own lack of knowledge, I can only imagine the source of tulpae. Which I imagine is the imagination.

Those of us not inclined to look at beautiful sunsets as proof of gods are also not likely to read an impassioned description of a newly claimed phenomenon and become instant believers. We'll need more then words. I suggest that the two of you put your heads together and figure out a new strategy. Words alone will be inadequate.

Fair enough, after all, that is why we don't listen to theists, heheh.

Again though, tulpae can never be physical to other people, how could one even fathom making an tangible item with mind power alone?

Finally, again, I admit i cannot prove tulpae with nothing more than text anymore than someone can prove that their own mind exists with text.

There are a few people who claim to have tulpae that they take turns playing video games with, for what its worth _/-__-\_

I'm not attempting to make you believe in tulpae, nor am i stating tulpae are some sort of magical thing that only "believers" can have/faith etc.

Me too. If you can show up with a physically present thought form, I'll give you £10K of Anfauglir's money! 

 As a 60+ year old who has talked to himself for decades and only gotten responses consistent with my own lack of knowledge, I can only imagine the source of tulpae. Which I imagine is the imagination.

Did you tell yourself you were making a tulpa?
Did you give it a personality? Traits? Did you explain to it about its purpose? Did you accept that you would inevitably have to delude yourself for at-least some time?
Did you make an area for it? Did you give it a form?
Lastly, tulpae can only know what you know, its using your brain after all. Again, they are not magic.

[Dante]

Please read over my post again, i did say it is a delusion to start, then becomes real.

This statement is nonsensical. It starts as a delusion, then becomes real? Real what?

Real, defined as something that exists in the universe.

Delusions exist. Is this the "real" of which you speak?

In this case, your brain using unused neurons and electrons to make a sub process, the tulpa, which is real, before it exists, you are making a delusion of its existence.

Another nonsensical statement. I know what the words mean, but the order in which you placed them do not make sense to me. Mostly the bolded part. Is there supposed to be a period between "real" and "before"?

If so, how does it turn from a delusion to a real being? Why does it not remain a delusion?

[ParkingPlaces]

Did you tell yourself you were making a tulpa?
Did you give it a personality? Traits? Did you explain to it about its purpose? Did you accept that you would inevitably have to delude yourself for at-least some time?
Did you make an area for it? Did you give it a form?
Lastly, tulpae can only know what you know, its using your brain after all. Again, they are not magic.

Okay, I am starting to understand the concept a bit more. You're making progress in that department. I still doubt, heavily, that anything "real" is involved.

You asked in the above "Did you tell yourself you were make a tulpa?"

I have to ask this. How did the first person to experience this know to ask for one? If asking is required, a question is too. Where did it come from?

[neopagan]

A and A...
Have you ever run into a theist who would play along with this for more than 8 seconds?   

[One Above All]

BM

[Iamrational]

I am sorry I must have missed something. Why are we talking about this?

[Dante]

I am sorry I must have missed something. Why are we talking about this?

Because tulpas, after they become real, can heal amputees?

[jaimehlers]

I wonder if this is related to multiple personalities, except that it's not a disassociated personality state.  That is, unlike MPD, you don't have memory impairment or the loss of control due to the other personality taking over.  You're simply creating a parallel personality, rather than having your personality split into multiple parts.

[ParkingPlaces]

I wonder if this is related to multiple personalities, except that it's not a disassociated personality state.  That is, unlike MPD, you don't have memory impairment or the loss of control due to the other personality taking over.  You're simply creating a parallel personality, rather than having your personality split into multiple parts.

I would say either this or perhaps it is possible for humans to voluntarily take on a second personality, that feels very real to them, and interacts with them, without mental illness being involved. In either case, neither is outside the realm of possibility. Far weirder things happen inside human heads every day, and we accept them as real.
 
I assume everyone is deluded in one way or another. I don't think we're bound by any rules when we do that. Some are going to go off on their own in new ways all the time.

Or perhaps this tulpa thing is just evolution trying to figure out how to get along with fewer people. 

[wright]

It could also be seen as acting; taking on a character's persona. Or "getting into" one's character in a roleplaying game. Or even just character development when writing fiction, as Anfauglir mentioned. But of course none participating in those activities really think those characters have an objective reality (well, most of them).

[ParkingPlaces]

Shouldn't we be charging for these analyses? 

[Zankuu]

Angus, what was your reason for attempting to form a tulpa?

[Willie]

It all sounds sort of woo-ish, yet not entirely implausible since it doesn't seem to be supernatural or violate any laws of physics. It's analogous to multi-tasking in a computer. I've always thought that even our primary consciousness is an entirely virtual construct, essentially software operating within the hardware of the brain, so it's not too much of a stretch to imagine two "consciousness programs" running in the same brain. But I don't know nearly enough about the brain to say whether that's really possible, and I'm not sure that anyone does.

Trying to approach it empirically, to test if it happens without necessarily understanding how it happens, also seems not very practical. It's not a very testable idea. How would one distinguish between an actual separate sentience, and merely a delusion of such? And how would anyone other than the one experiencing it have any way to distinguish whether the subject was actually experiencing anything at all, real or not, vs. just consciously perpetrating a hoax.

I suppose that some objective measurements might shed at least a little light on it. Maybe using a PET scan to see if the presence of a tulpa produces any characteristic change in brain activity. If a tulpa causes more intense or more widespread brain activity, then it might also be observable in a simpler way, as an increase in brain temperature. Another possibility might be to measure ones response time and/or accuracy on some kind of mental test. If a tulpa time-shares the same brain hardware as the primary consciousness, as opposed to activating more hardware, then the presence of an active tulpa might manifest as slowed responses or diminished ability rather than increased activity.

Whether possible or not, it is sort of fascinating as a thought experiment. It raises many questions. Many of them potentially complicated and right at the root of what we are and what it means to be sentient.

Can a tulpa fall in love? And how do you deal with it if the tulpa develops an independent love interest?

Does a tulpa share all of the same sensory input with the primary consciousness, or does it exist in a mostly sensory-deprived state? What effect does that have on its mental well being?

Does a tulpa have any motor control at any time? Are you the arbiter of that, or could the tulpa have as much ability for that as you do?

Is a tulpa concerned about the physical well-being of it's host, since it dies if/when you do?

Can a tulpa become the dominant personality, taking control of the body and displacing the original consciousness?

Can a tulpa, once created, be consciously un-created? Would that be murder? Is a tulpa scared by this prospect? Could it do that to you?

Can a tulpa cease to exist for other reasons? Maybe just neglect, or diverting too much of your brain's resources to other tasks? Is this equivalent to death? Does the tulpa think about this? Fear it?

Can a tulpa be evil, even if the host is good, or vice-versa?

What do you do if your tulpa has become a homicidal maniac, or A bigot, or just an all-around idiot that you can't stand to be around it anymore? (imagine it as a Ray Comfort or Pat Robertson)

Could the divvying up of the brain's resources cause both you and the tulpa to have diminished mental abilities? Two idiots in a brain that used to support one intelligent person? I'm pretty sure that old canard about using only 10% of our brains is bunk.



It seems to me very likely that creating a tulpa is nothing more than imaginary friends taken to a new level. But if it turns out that it's more than that, that a tulpa really can become a distinct sentient entity, then it seems like an exceedingly dangerous thing to play with, for both the tulpa and yourself.

[Boots]

Are we sure you shouldn't shout "EXPECTO PATRONUM" at some point?

[ThatZenoGuy]

It all sounds sort of woo-ish, yet not entirely implausible since it doesn't seem to be supernatural or violate any laws of physics. It's analogous to multi-tasking in a computer. I've always thought that even our primary consciousness is an entirely virtual construct, essentially software operating within the hardware of the brain, so it's not too much of a stretch to imagine two "consciousness programs" running in the same brain. But I don't know nearly enough about the brain to say whether that's really possible, and I'm not sure that anyone does.

Pretty much this really, if we use the analogy of a computer, a tulpa would be a separate hard disk drive you put into the computer.

Trying to approach it empirically, to test if it happens without necessarily understanding how it happens, also seems not very practical. It's not a very testable idea. How would one distinguish between an actual separate sentience, and merely a delusion of such? And how would anyone other than the one experiencing it have any way to distinguish whether the subject was actually experiencing anything at all, real or not, vs. just consciously perpetrating a hoax.

Generally you can tell if it is sentient if it starts acting self aware, has its own mindset, etc.

[ParkingPlaces]

It all sounds sort of woo-ish, yet not entirely implausible since it doesn't seem to be supernatural or violate any laws of physics. It's analogous to multi-tasking in a computer. I've always thought that even our primary consciousness is an entirely virtual construct, essentially software operating within the hardware of the brain, so it's not too much of a stretch to imagine two "consciousness programs" running in the same brain. But I don't know nearly enough about the brain to say whether that's really possible, and I'm not sure that anyone does.

Pretty much this really, if we use the analogy of a computer, a tulpa would be a separate hard disk drive you put into the computer.

If it is just an extra hard drive, it can't be capable of much. It just holds information. Unless it has a separate operating system, which would require a separate CPU, separate memory, etc. Even if it is in the same chassis. So I don't think that works to well as as an analogy, if I understand the other things you've said. Now as Willie said, if you are multitasking, with one CPU, that's fine, but it doesn't require two hard drives. It could probably use two, but one would be fine. So, at least for me, the separate hard drive explains nothing. Can you think of another analogy?

[ThatZenoGuy]

It all sounds sort of woo-ish, yet not entirely implausible since it doesn't seem to be supernatural or violate any laws of physics. It's analogous to multi-tasking in a computer. I've always thought that even our primary consciousness is an entirely virtual construct, essentially software operating within the hardware of the brain, so it's not too much of a stretch to imagine two "consciousness programs" running in the same brain. But I don't know nearly enough about the brain to say whether that's really possible, and I'm not sure that anyone does.

Pretty much this really, if we use the analogy of a computer, a tulpa would be a separate hard disk drive you put into the computer.

If it is just an extra hard drive, it can't be capable of much. It just holds information. Unless it has a separate operating system, which would require a separate CPU, separate memory, etc. Even if it is in the same chassis. So I don't think that works to well as as an analogy, if I understand the other things you've said. Now as Willie said, if you are multitasking, with one CPU, that's fine, but it doesn't require two hard drives. It could probably use two, but one would be fine. So, at least for me, the separate hard drive explains nothing. Can you think of another analogy?

Yeah, my analogy was pretty bad...
New analogy: A tulpa is like running a seperate OS from the same CPU, etc.

Can a tulpa fall in love? And how do you deal with it if the tulpa develops an independent love interest?

A tulpa can feel love, often for the creator *sigh*.

Does a tulpa share all of the same sensory input with the primary consciousness, or does it exist in a mostly sensory-deprived state? What effect does that have on its mental well being?

It can have senses, if you make it so. Tulpae generally dont care about whether or not they have senses.

Does a tulpa have any motor control at any time? Are you the arbiter of that, or could the tulpa have as much ability for that as you do?

It has as much as you allow it to have...generally...

Is a tulpa concerned about the physical well-being of it's host, since it dies if/when you do?

If it is a complete tulpa, it is sentient, how would you feel if your life was dependent on someone elses?

Can a tulpa become the dominant personality, taking control of the body and displacing the original consciousness?

According to some on the tulpa forums, yes, this is actually one of the things i am keeping an eye out for.

Can a tulpa, once created, be consciously un-created? Would that be murder? Is a tulpa scared by this prospect? Could it do that to you?

A tulpa can apparently lock you in your mind, but i have not heard of tulpae erasing people. Tulpae can be "dissolved" leading to its nonexistence, they are often saddened by the process. I would not say its murder.

Can a tulpa cease to exist for other reasons? Maybe just neglect, or diverting too much of your brain's resources to other tasks? Is this equivalent to death? Does the tulpa think about this? Fear it?

Tulpae can leave for any reason, neglecting tulpae makes them slowly dissolve, using resources may lead to a tulpa being put offside for some time, this does not harm them however.

Can a tulpa be evil, even if the host is good, or vice-versa?

Tulpae can be given any traits the creator wants, but tulpae will almost always deviate from the wanted traits.

What do you do if your tulpa has become a homicidal maniac, or A bigot, or just an all-around idiot that you can't stand to be around it anymore? (imagine it as a Ray Comfort or Pat Robertson)

If you  cant stand it anymore, you discard it, or if possible, change it. (Gah, ray comfort is dreadful...)

Could the divvying up of the brain's resources cause both you and the tulpa to have diminished mental abilities? Two idiots in a brain that used to support one intelligent person? I'm pretty sure that old canard about using only 10% of our brains is bunk.

Of course your brain uses more than 10%, but remember that a tulpa is often used when you are in non-strenuous tasks. You could also tell your tulpa to go away during hard talks. Lastly, a tulpa is never going to be as advanced as a human in terms of brain usage, and i'm rather sure of the human brain being able to do immense tasks.

EDIT: can we please deviate away from whether or not tulpae are real or not? I am not here to prove it, the topic is for tulpa related questions.

[William]

I wonder if this is related to multiple personalities, except that it's not a disassociated personality state.  That is, unlike MPD, you don't have memory impairment or the loss of control due to the other personality taking over.  You're simply creating a parallel personality, rather than having your personality split into multiple parts.

Yes this seems like a plausible explanation to me.  So a mild state of multiple personalities where the alternate individuals are aware of each other, sympathetic, happy to coexist, and even try to influence each other. And in an peer-group environment that thinks this a really cool thing to do.

Almost everyone is capable of taking on different roles to some extent.  I've seen some fierce military officers be real softies at home with family and kids - you wouldn't think they were the same person if you didn't know for sure - and seemingly they're not uncomfortable with other people observing this dual personality.  Many religious leaders are great role players too - the serious priest preaching from the pulpit through a fog of incense is not the same as the smiling person in the vestry chatting up the altar boys and girls.     

Surely it's not a big leap from cultivating different roles in oneself to attaching one or more of those roles to an imagined identity.  Especially where groups of like-minded people are encouraging each other to do this, sharing tips and ideas on tulpa forums.

 

[Fiji]

What I take away from this exchange so far is that a tulpa is voluntary schizophrenia that uses up the "idle clock time" when you're not doing much of anything.
Personally, I try to let 'my mind wander' when I'm doing some simple task ... like mowing the lawn. Have come up with my best and/or most farfetched stories that way. (having experience with lucid dreaming helps)

Now, there's proof that ALL of our actions/decisions happen before we are aware of them. If that is indeed the case, then there would be no way of telling which thoughts come from the initial personality, which from the tulpa and which from the initial, pretending to be the tulpa.

[Anfauglir]

What I take away from this exchange so far is that a tulpa is voluntary schizophrenia that uses up the "idle clock time" when you're not doing much of anything.

Damn.  Wrote a long post but got logged out so lost it.

Frankly, I'm with Fiji.  We're talking about MPD that is deliberately contrived by an individual.  With, frankly, little or no point.

If the "tulpa" really DOES become real, and really has its own thoughts and feelings, then you are laying up a whole load of trouble.  It will want to watch TV while you read a book, want to go surfing while you lie on the beach.  You are going to get severe amounts of mental conflict....it the tulpa really IS real.

The fact that most people don't experience this says to me that the tulpa is no more than an embellished fantasy friend, something not TRULY real as an independant entity, but something that is in reality subservient to your own desires.  In which case, call it what it is - an imaginary friend.

But either way, I regard it as a dangerous thing to try with no benefit.  Either the tulpa is nothing more than reflections and echoes of your own mind (in which case it serves no purpose than "arguing with oneself") - or you manage to create a second personality within your mind.  And frankly, having exeperience with sufferers of MPD, that's NOT a place you want to go.