How to distinguish tulpa's voice from mine? / Turning an imaginary friend into a tulpa

[kyman69]

Look, I know this has probably been asked multiple times already, but I wish to go more in detail with my experience. I have had imaginary friends since I was a kid, so things like talking to myself is like second nature to me -- I can hold conversations, go through scenarios with my imaginary friends. To sum up hours worth of personal research, I do know that imaginary friends ≠ tulpas. But I also know that the things I have been doing with them could very much be forcing methods. I'm fine with imaginary friends, they keep me company when I need it, but they lack sentience, and that is what I seek in a lifelong companion, a tulpa. 

 

So for the past... month or so? I picked one of my imaginary friends, the one I like the most -- Rutile, and thought I could turn him into a tulpa. It's not unheard of. I read through old, outdated guides, and what I got from them was that you can't really base a tulpa on an existing character, which is what he is, well, you can, just that it doesn't give much freedom for them blahblahblah. Maybe those old guides don't hold true anymore, there's a reason they're outdated after all.

 

Now onto the main point. Because I'm used to being both myself and Rutile in a conversation since he is an imaginary friend, well, was, it's hard to tell if it's me or him talking. Sometimes I think it's better to just stop talking as Rutile in a sense? And just talk as myself and wait for a response, but it just feels empty. Is this what parroting is? I can't tell whether or not he is sentient or vocal yet, because of his origins as an imaginary friend. I have hyperphantasia, so visualization is also like second nature to me. I already have a Wonderland I can interact with, and that's where I usually have my imaginary friends in, but I'm trying to get Rutile to be vocal and sentient. Any tips would help! If you made it this far, thanks for reading through everything lol. 

[ringgggg]

10 hours ago, kyman69 said:

I read through old, outdated guides, and what I got from them was that you can't really base a tulpa on an existing character, which is what he is, well, you can, just that it doesn't give much freedom for them blahblahblah. Maybe those old guides don't hold true anymore, there's a reason they're outdated after all.

The guides you're talking about, while pretty old, can still possess some information that's pretty viable. You could argue that the users that had the 2012 mindset weren't inherently wrong, they just had a much less refined sense of what was going on as opposed to the now. 

 

Completely fine if you make one out of an existing character, but just be prepared when you have to confront the inevitable existential topic of source versus tulpa.

 

Here's something you can do to start off with the right footing, though I'd take this with a healthy grain of salt just because it's coming from me. Your imaginary friend can still exist as they were before you found out about tulpamancy. Instead of hitting ctrl-c + ctrl-v on your pre-existent proto-tulpa (as I'll now be referring to it), you can simply just introduce your Rutile to what the deal is with who they are and their connection to the tulpamancy phenomena. The transition from them being an imaginary friend to a tulpa won't have to change anything about them, unless you make that decision yourself.

 

The whole process is like the self-fulfilling prophecy. Just keep the belief that Rutile will be as you say they are, and keep faithful in that notion until the day it comes true. I would call it 'fake it til you make it,' but maybe that's too harsh a wording. Go search up the Pygmalion Effect.

 

10 hours ago, kyman69 said:

Because I'm used to being both myself and Rutile in a conversation since he is an imaginary friend, well, was, it's hard to tell if it's me or him talking.

Again, the whole process that comes with believing is really important. If you think that the voice you're hearing is Rutile, then it's Rutile. If you think it's you, it's you. This is grossly simplifying it, but that's the whole gist of narration early on. It's not much of a concern until you get into the later stages of the process. All you need to worry about right now is fleshing out Rutile as an individual.

 

If you're scared of parroting, don't be. It's a manageable process, and there are lots of guides out there that cover it and how to deal with it. Parroting has always had the chance to turn your would-be tulpa into a servitor doll, but that's only if you let it. Exercise a steady amount of concern about parroting, but not too much. You can periodically ask Rutile if you're parroting when they get to talking more.

 

Like a plant in the garden, a tulpa needs something to grow onto. If the plant isn't tethered to a stake early on, it's practically formless and will probably shrivel up. You want the plant to grow alongside that stake (a-la you) at first. It may take months for it to get to a noticeable prominence. You're free to remove the stake when the plant can hold itself up - a declaration of self-sufficiency. 

 

10 hours ago, kyman69 said:

Any tips would help! If you made it this far, thanks for reading through everything lol.

Wonderlanding is great primer for visualization. I'm glad you're doing it early on, it helps get you into the habit of things

 

If you're starting to think of narration as a chore, it'll be more difficult to get around to it. Think of a good habit you've subconsciously got yourself into. It could be simple, like tying your shoelaces every now and then, or it could be a 90-minute Theravada meditation daily. It should feel natural to do it, as if it didn't require any thinking. Now imagine talking with Rutile with the same mindset; no concern over whatever you should be saying or how long you should sit there. Habits are your oyster.

 

Don't think. Just do.

 

10 hours ago, kyman69 said:

I picked one of my imaginary friends, the one I like the most -- Rutile, and thought I could turn him into a tulpa.

Glad we have that in common. Fun fact: I didn't even realize what I was creating until six months into development.

 

Look, I got lonely and I jumped onto the 'imaginary friend' bandwagon just like the rest of us did, and then boom - I find out that the individual I'm speaking my mind to has the potential to become capable of advanced cognitive processes just like I do, and then the next thing you know I'm here. Story of my life.

 

We still had to go through the basic stuff, though. There's no way around that no matter how long you've been with Rutile. At least use all the guides as a way to check how far into the process you've gotten.

 

Good luck, Kyman. I hope you stick around for another week or two.

Edited July 10, 2023 by ringgggg

[kyman69]

7 hours ago, ringgggg said:

The guides you're talking about, while pretty old, can still possess some information that's pretty viable. You could argue that the users that had the 2012 mindset weren't inherently wrong, they just had a much less refined sense of what was going on as opposed to the now. 

 

Completely fine if you make one out of an existing character, but just be prepared when you have to confront the inevitable existential topic of source versus tulpa.

 

Here's something you can do to start off with the right footing, though I'd take this with a healthy grain of salt just because it's coming from me. Your imaginary friend can still exist as they were before you found out about tulpamancy. Instead of hitting ctrl-c + ctrl-v on your pre-existent proto-tulpa (as I'll now be referring to it), you can simply just introduce your Rutile to what the deal is with who they are and their connection to the tulpamancy phenomena. The transition from them being an imaginary friend to a tulpa won't have to change anything about them, unless you make that decision yourself.

 

The whole process is like the self-fulfilling prophecy. Just keep the belief that Rutile will be as you say they are, and keep faithful in that notion until the day it comes true. I would call it 'fake it til you make it,' but maybe that's too harsh a wording. Go search up the Pygmalion Effect.

 

Again, the whole process that comes with believing is really important. If you think that the voice you're hearing is Rutile, then it's Rutile. If you think it's you, it's you. This is grossly simplifying it, but that's the whole gist of narration early on. It's not much of a concern until you get into the later stages of the process. All you need to worry about right now is fleshing out Rutile as an individual.

 

If you're scared of parroting, don't be. It's a manageable process, and there are lots of guides out there that cover it and how to deal with it. Parroting has always had the chance to turn your would-be tulpa into a servitor doll, but that's only if you let it. Exercise a steady amount of concern about parroting, but not too much. You can periodically ask Rutile if you're parroting when they get to talking more.

 

Like a plant in the garden, a tulpa needs something to grow onto. If the plant isn't tethered to a stake early on, it's practically formless and will probably shrivel up. You want the plant to grow alongside that stake (a-la you) at first. It may take months for it to get to a noticeable prominence. You're free to remove the stake when the plant can hold itself up - a declaration of self-sufficiency. 

 

Wonderlanding is great primer for visualization. I'm glad you're doing it early on, it helps get you into the habit of things

 

If you're starting to think of narration as a chore, it'll be more difficult to get around to it. Think of a good habit you've subconsciously got yourself into. It could be simple, like tying your shoelaces every now and then, or it could be a 90-minute Theravada meditation daily. It should feel natural to do it, as if it didn't require any thinking. Now imagine talking with Rutile with the same mindset; no concern over whatever you should be saying or how long you should sit there. Habits are your oyster.

 

Don't think. Just do.

 

Glad we have that in common. Fun fact: I didn't even realize what I was creating until six months into development.

 

Look, I got lonely and I jumped onto the 'imaginary friend' bandwagon just like the rest of us did, and then boom - I find out that the individual I'm speaking my mind to has the potential to become capable of advanced cognitive processes just like I do, and then the next thing you know I'm here. Story of my life.

 

We still had to go through the basic stuff, though. There's no way around that no matter how long you've been with Rutile. At least use all the guides as a way to check how far into the process you've gotten.

 

Good luck, Kyman. I hope you stick around for another week or two.

Thanks a lot for the fleshed out reply! Now I understand the gist a whole lot better. Still not used to how this site works lmao but I'll definitely stick around! Tulpamancy is really amazing imo, and I'll hang around, maybe sometimes update about my progress.  From what I've read, I'm already doing everything right :D Here's to hoping Rutile gets more independent over time!!