diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile index aef7cc7..c0fdb35 100644 --- a/Dockerfile +++ b/Dockerfile @@ -1,6 +1,4 @@ -FROM xena/go:1.11.2 AS build -ENV GOPROXY https://cache.greedo.xeserv.us -ENV GO111MODULE on +FROM xena/go:1.11.4 AS build RUN apk --no-cache add make git RUN mkdir -p /usr/local/src \ && git clone https://github.com/jroimartin/sw /usr/local/src/sw \ @@ -15,7 +13,7 @@ ENV CGO_ENABLED 0 WORKDIR /site RUN cd ./cmd/sserver \ && /root/go/bin/statik -src /site/site.static \ - && go build -o sserver . \ + && go build -mod=vendor -o sserver . \ && cp sserver /usr/local/bin/sserver FROM alpine:3.8 diff --git a/book/intro.md b/book/intro.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c60b47 --- /dev/null +++ b/book/intro.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +# Introduction + +This book represents the collection of six years of resources, materials, guides and tips aimed at helping people who are interested in or have already created a tulpa to further their skills and enhance their shared lives. + +What is a tulpa you might ask? Let's consult [tulpa.info](http://tulpa.info)'s main page for help: + +> A tulpa is an entity created in the mind, acting independently of, and parallel to your own consciousness. They are able to think, and have their own free will, emotions, and memories. In short, a tulpa is like a sentient person living in your head, separate from you. It’s currently unproven whether or not tulpas are truly sentient, but in this community, we treat them as such. It takes time for a tulpa to develop a convincing and complex personality; as they grow older, your attention and their life experiences will shape them into a person with their own hopes, dreams and beliefs. +> +> You’ll create a tulpa by imagining a person in your head, and treating them as a person. The exact mechanism is unknown, but as you give a tulpa attention, and believe it can be a sentient person, it will grow into one, and act independently of you. At first, you will be narrating to your tulpa—speaking to it, and visualizing it in your mind—and with time, you’ll be able to communicate through various methods, which will be described in the next section. Keep in mind that when a tulpa starts talking, it doesn’t mean that they are complete, or finished by any means. Like any person, a tulpa is never “done”, and you shouldn’t be going for a finished tulpa, when you make one. You should be focused on nurturing and teaching your tulpa, and allowing them to grow as a person with you, while at the same time you learn about yourself, and grow as a person in turn. It takes time and effort to make a tulpa into a self-sufficient and balanced individual, and their independence and personality will grow and flourish over time, like any regular human being’s. Creating a tulpa means committing to raising and living with another person, and this is a lifelong commitment—not one that ends when your tulpa starts speaking. +> +> Pretty much every tulpa has a form—an imaginary body they identify with. This form can be anything from a regular human being to a cartoon character, an animal, or anything you else can imagine. Of course, regardless of their form, they still have a human mind. You can interact with your tulpa’s form by visualizing it in your mind. Most people do this in an imaginary setting called a wonderland, which is a persistent place you imagine yourself and your tulpa being in. You’ll be able to change your wonderland at will, and make it as normal or fantastical as you want; there are no limits. Many tulpas tend to spend their alone time in such a place, but it’s not required at all to have a wonderland (or to give your tulpa a form for that matter). Note that the form doesn’t have to just be a visual image; the word is often used as umbrella term for a tulpa’s looks, voice, their smell, the feeling of their skin—everything that you can sense of their imaginary form. +> +> If you commit to the process, and put a significant amount of time and effort into your tulpa, you will end up with a friend for life. You’ll have a big hand in shaping your tulpa’s personality, and it’ll be easy to understand them, and for them to understand you—almost guaranteeing a close friendship. Getting to know your tulpa will teach you lessons in empathy and give you insight into your own personality and thoughts. They can give you an alternative opinion on problems you have, support you emotionally, and tell you off when you’re being stupid. The connection between a host (that’s you) and a tulpa is a very powerful and intimate one, and you’ll always have a friend to speak with, in your head. + +(from: https://www.tulpa.info/what-is-a-tulpa/) + +At a high level, it does visually represent conditions like [Dissociative Identity Disorder](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissociative_identity_disorder) if you observe the two things as an outsider or from a moving car. They are very separate things, even though they can present in visually similar ways. Please resist the temptation to conflate the two. + +Tulpas aren't intended to act as "spirit guides", self-introspection aids (anxiety disorders being reframed goes a long way here), overly "magickal" things, chores, children, sex toys, self-induced schizophrenia (it's a genetic condition, you can't give yourself a genetic condition based on our current understanding of medical science), all-seeing beings, or fake things. They are inherently none of these (though some of them may end up being accurate descriptions of individual tulpas, much like these descriptors can match normal people too). + +In short, this is serious. People that are tulpamancers aren't just faking it or roleplaying (even though they will use some of the text formatting quirks that online roleplayers use) being separate people. Please take this seriously and as a vehicle of self-improvement for the best results. Feedback on this book is vital in order to make it the best it can possibly be. Please see [here](https://xena.greedo.xeserv.us/contact.md) for contact information on the editors of this book (ask for Cadey). + +Generally if a guide is on [tulpaforce.xyz](https://tulpaforce.xyz), it's in this book. Things can be added or removed to this book without warning. This book is not yet considered version 1.0, when it is then additional revisions will be notated with version numbers following [Semantic Versioning 2.0](http://www.semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html). + +Thank you for reading and good luck on this self-directed and self-guided process! It's been the ride of a lifetime for me personally. diff --git a/book/title.txt b/book/title.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9d0907a --- /dev/null +++ b/book/title.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6 @@ +--- +title: tulpaforce.xyz Guides +author: Anonymous +rights: Public Domain +language: en-US +--- diff --git a/book/tulpaforce.epub b/book/tulpaforce.epub new file mode 100644 index 0000000..371043c Binary files /dev/null and b/book/tulpaforce.epub differ diff --git a/site/contact.md b/site/contact.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e8d1607 --- /dev/null +++ b/site/contact.md @@ -0,0 +1,5 @@ +# Contacting the Editors + +This website (or book if you are reading this from there) is a collection of found content. The content in here is not intended to violate any copyright or publication laws. This content is merely made available in hopes that it will be useful for the people that end up reading it. By making this available, we hope to make tulpamancy more accessible to people. + +To contact the editors, please see [here](https://xena.greedo.xeserv.us/contact.md) and ask for Cadey. diff --git a/site/guides/creation/sygma-creation.md b/site/guides/creation/sygma-creation.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5fc4726 --- /dev/null +++ b/site/guides/creation/sygma-creation.md @@ -0,0 +1,55 @@ +# A Tulpa Creation Guide by Sygma + +### An Introductory Consideration + +This guide was created from my own experiences and from the guides I have read myself, and so it reflects my experiences and what worked for me. But you are your own unique individual, and I don’t expect you your mind to work in the same way as mine in any way. That said, feel free to change anything in this guide to better suit you. The most efficient method for this will be the one you are most comfortable doing and that you do most consistently. Of course, there is a standard which you should aim for, as you can’t expect progress if you don’t put work into your tulpa, or if you do it in a lazy manner. + +That being said, before saying _how_ we are going to create your tulpa, let’s talk about _what_ we are doing. For that, let’s talk a bit about you. + +You are not your body, not your brain, not even your mind. You are an identity, a thought that lives in your body and only exist because it feeds itself attention. _Cogito, ergo sum_ - I think, therefore I am. Tulpa creation is giving life to yet to a thought that will exist by itself, being neither you nor your mind, but an identity with its own opinions, mannerisms and aspirations. + +Now, let’s get started. + +### Tulpa creation + +When you want a young and frail plant to grow firmly, you give it something to rest on until it is strong enough to stand for itself. We are going to do the same thing here, creating a personality to imbue with identity that will serve as a basis for the personality of the tulpa itself. + +*Traits!* It is not extremely necessary to define them as the tulpa can and probably will decide them later for itself, but it will make the creation process quicker and smoother. They don’t have to be too detailed or numerous, and I recommend you to pick around ten characteristics that you wish for them to have, that you would find good in someone that lives with you. Don’t worry about picking any flaws, as you wouldn’t be able to create someone perfect anyway. They ought to come naturally. + +These traits will be the basis for the personality that they will develop with time, and this personality can be very different from what you had planned early on, so don’t think you have to worry about their every single aspect. Once you have chosen their initial traits, let’s set them aside for a while. + +Now, talking to the void is not ideal. It gets confusing, it feels lonely, and you don’t know where to direct your attention. So we don’t have to talk to the void, we are going to create a form that will represent your tulpa, and to which we can direct our intention. It can be anything, quite literally, from a pony to a dragon to a cat girl, to even a cardboard box. You can pick something that you imagine your tulpa would like, or that you would like them to have. If you don’t know what to choose or want them to pick it themselves you can use a simple placeholder, like a colored sphere or box. Like the personality, they can change their form later if they wish so. + +Remember that your tulpa is not its form. The form is simply a symbol that will represent your tulpa, their identity and presence, or it would be harder to interact with them. + +By now you have both a list of traits and a form to interact with them, and we are now going to link these with their presence. + +I want you to remember a moment when you were with a loved one. I want you to recall the fuzzy feeling of warmth and comfort, recall the sensation of their presence, and recreate it. Indeed you are now taking part in the making of someone that will be the closest to you, and so this sensation is most adequate. If you haven’t already, link this feeling with the form of your tulpa. Feel as this emotion completely fills it up with their presence, like a bottle would be filled with warm water. + +It’s time to link the traits we had chosen and link them too with the form. There are many, many ways to do this, and you should do it in the way you figure out to be the best one. For the sake of exemplification, however, let’s etch them in. + +Create simple symbols based on the traits you imagined. It doesn’t matter what they look like, but simpler symbols, made of few lines, would make visualization easier for you. Now that you have the symbols visualize the form of your tulpa. With your imaginary finger, pencil or pen, draw the symbol on them and see it shining on their skin/fur/slime/material of choice. As you draw, summon the feeling of the trait, imagine how that trait would influence in your tulpa’s actions, how you would feel when they act that way. Focus all these concepts on the drawing, and imagine the light fading as they are absorbed by your tulpa. Repeat this process for every symbol, ideally multiple times. You want to make the characteristics clear, so create as many of these connections as you comfortably can. + +Now, this was just an example! This process is free territory for you to customize however you see fit. Perhaps you find it easier to combine all the traits in a big soup and have your tulpa bathe in it. Perhaps you can blow bubbles full of personality into them. It’s your decision. + +The last part, but certainly not the least, is getting them to speak. It is fairly simple; in fact, it is as simple as talking to your tulpa. You see, you don’t have any reason to talk if no one talks to you! Since you want to hear your tulpa, you talk to them first. You will focus on their presence, and also visualize their form if you wish, and have a conversation. Talk about your day, about the things you enjoy, about them and what you are going to do in the future. Have a pleasant talk, and remember to focus on their presence through it. You want to do that as much as possible, so when you are trying to decide what to eat, ask their opinion. When you are watching a movie or playing games, ask what they think that will happen. Even if you don’t get an answer back they are developing. + +The creation process will rely on the repetition of this method. Every day, put twenty-or-so minutes to give your tulpa full attention. + +This is basically it. From here on out it is a process of experiencing things together and finding out more about each other. + +### Assorted Advice + +- You can keep your tulpa’s presence with you during the day and talk to them as much as you want. + +- Words aren’t really necessary. You share a mind, and so you can communicate through abstract concepts, feelings and images. That form of communication is called tulpish, and can be made to work well permanently. + +- Make sure to share the love that you feel with your tulpa. You can do this through your actions, your words, or even using the feeling directly, as explained in the creation process. Love helps immensely with getting to relate to one another, understand one another, and with growing together. + +- Your tulpa could be more extroverted than you, or guide towards new paths that you didn’t consider or find appealing before. Variety is the spice of life! Living through new experiences and enjoyable activities together can be quite fun. + +- Take care of your body; mens sana in corpore sano. You won’t be able to give your all in a tired or unwell state, so eat healthy food, sleep as much as you need and take care of yourself. + +- Have fun! You won’t be able to consistently force if you don’t enjoy it, so don’t push yourself too hard looking after fast results. Something good happened? End the session early. Started on a low note? Keep going until it feels better. + +## By Sygma diff --git a/site/guides/other/addendum.md b/site/guides/other/addendum.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..446c214 --- /dev/null +++ b/site/guides/other/addendum.md @@ -0,0 +1,262 @@ +# An Addendum to Tulpa Guides + +This collection of advice is meant to integrate other guides with (possibly) useful information on tulpa creation, development, and more, that I haven’t found in them, and that I wish I had. For best results, an attitude of self-seeking and curiosity is recommended. + + + +#### 🞄 How quickly will I manage a tulpa? + +There’s a number of predisposing factors, both in the passive and active sense (in that you may have to put to practice the lessons learned in it, or even use the methods from it) : + +- Hypnosis, suggestibility in particular, ability to get commands and decisions through + +- Mind-hacking (the ability to self-edit habits, patterns, beliefs, and other assorted facets of one’s mental life with relative ease) + +- Conversations with self + +- Vivid imagination + +- Ability to suspend disbelief + +- Strong religious background + +- Cognition of inner workings, even through dreams + +- Expressed creativity, especially of the other-personas type (roleplay, theatre, creative writing) + +- Interaction with/generation of thoughtforms in general, of whatever type (from RP characters to dream characters to imaginary friends to book characters to spirits to masks to whatever else) + +- DID + +- Schizophrenia of the voice-hearing variety + +- Bipolar disorder + +That said, I refrain from giving any sort of expectations, since they’re the last thing anyone should be giving you. Take the experience as it comes, and accept it for what it is, in full. Use goals to direct your focus if you need, and iterate on them as experience accumulates, reaching them or changing them or discarding them as you feel appropriate. + +#### 🞄 I don’t know if I should be doing this? Can I just try it out for a while? + +Well, good for you to have such reservations. In fact, there is something else you can try; which is, pretty much all lesser forms of multiplicity. Examples include: + +- Conversations with self, like for solving problems, exploring themes, or just idle chatter. Take different angles, or different viewpoints, on something and just let them talk it out amongst themselves, or interject as needed. + +- Have an imaginary friend that you talk to and spend time with sometimes, or a guide figure that you come to in times of aid or counsel. You may be surprised at how much insight and wisdom they may provide you simply by allowing them to speak it. + +- Record your dreams (the biggest short advice on the matter I can give is, use pen and paper, and write them immediately on wakeup), especially as you start being lucid in them and interacting purposefully with the characters there. To help with that, there’s plenty of [guides online](http://www.world-of-lucid-dreaming.com/easy-lucid-dreaming.html) and [dedicated communities](http://www.ld4all.com/). If you’re up for something more complex, you can explore, at the twilight of sleep and wake, your hypnagogic hallucinations, and interact actively with them, reach out and communicate with the voices and forms you find there. + +- Try being a median: that is, the taking on different, persistent personalities that interact with you and each other, even if they're all seen as part of you. An angel and devil on your shoulders, kind of deal. + +- Try being a maskmaker: having aspects of self that you end up wearing, becoming, living as, much like a [method actor](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/306940.Impro). Sometimes known as channeling. + +It will not be the full experience, and it will not have you deal with the whole joys and woes of another fully independent mind living in your head, but it's a decent slice of the fun pie. Plus all practice on these ventures feeds directly into the tulpamancy practice, should you decide to come through with it, especially since you can practice tulpamancy techniques through any of these. + +#### 🞄 Is there something I should absolutely know? + +*To the best of my ability here’s the ground truths of tulpamancy:* + +- The barest working technique of tulpamancy is: talk to the Universe until the Universe answers. Love it until it loves back. + +- Love is the best ingredient in everything you’ll do here. The more understanding, unfiltered, playful, joyous, and liberating, the better. + +- The limits of the mind are few, so most of those you encounter will be of your own design. + +- Don't intentionally force negative traits. Seriously don't be a fool. + +- Expectations and doubt are tulpa poison. This includes hour counts and timetables. + +- Belief is not strictly needed, only the actions. + +- Tulpas will inevitably change and deviate from their old selves, so acceptance is recommended. + +- Most of everything else is different for everyone. + +*For another few vastly applicable tips:* + +- Rest always helps: get enough sleep. + +- A clear head always helps: do meditation. + +- Trust your inner discernment above everything else. You are the first and best judge of your own inner reality. This includes disregarding others’ opinions, theories and experiences that you feel not relevant to your own case. + +- Remember to ask your tulpa as well if you have questions. They have insights on the situation too. + +- In particular, if you and your tulpa both agree nothing is wrong, then nothing is. + +- Try not to place undue expectations on your tulpa (eg. I’ll make a better me, or someone who can get me out of my depression, or they’ll act exactly in this manner etc.) They are just people like you, and likely very inexperienced ones at first, so shape your plans accordingly. + +*And a few less conventionally recognized tips:* + +- An attitude of playfulness is encouraged: be flexible, keep an open mind, experiment, iterate on things by accepting as they come first, and working on top of them second. + +- Second-guessing things in your interactions is detrimental to the experience. It arrests the flow, brings doubt into the frame, is not fun for anyone involved, and is a far too powerful tool to bring to such an experience (considering that entire physical memories can be rewritten if revisited with intent). It is far better to just run with things, to use the “Yes, and…” of improv, and just adjust and iterate for the following interactions. Instead of the arresting pace of careful checking, you can enjoy a playful session of running away with your combined efforts; at worst, you’ll have made up an enjoyable story together. + +- Keep notes on the adventure, journal it, investigate its shifting paths. It is valuable to know what and how has been attempted, to store fond memories, to track change over time, and to remember how things were back then. They can also be useful in the immediate to spot difficulties so that they can be isolated and addressed specifically. + +- A calm mind always helps: learn to work with your emotions and heed their advice, or alternatively listen for their cries for help. [DBT](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/369266.The_Dialectical_Behavior_Therapy_Workbook) is one of the best resources to date on the matter that deals with this and more, directly. + +- Mens sana in corpore sano. Live healthy, live well. + +#### 🞄 Where do I start from? + +Honestly any of the thoughtforms (dream characters, media characters, median facets, etc.) discussed before are a good starting point to develop into a tulpa proper, or you can create a new one from scratch if you prefer, but literally any thoughtform is fine as long as some ground rules are implemented (that is, they're their own being, they are not anything else; especially, they're not actually that fictional character, just someone based on them, that happens to initially share a number of traits/memories with them. You are free to deviate from such advice, but I recommend having very good reasons to, if attempted.) + +#### 🞄 So how does this all work really? + +Leaving the metaphysical aside, we’re basically talking about reshaping the pathways and habits of the mind, through directed intent and repetition, into a shape where two (or more) distinct entities regularly interact. + +To quote Shirako, +> And then over time you get better and better at the skill of directing mental energy into pathways of that shape, and the tulpa's form grows more and more solid, until like walking or riding a bike, your brain has developed the skill of being the tulpa to the point where you don't consciously think about the mental energy at all, and the entire process subducts out of consciousness, leaving just you and the tulpa in your mind as visibly conscious agents. + +For further reading, [http://www.meltingasphalt.com/neurons-gone-wild/](http://www.meltingasphalt.com/neurons-gone-wild/) + +Obviously, this is not just about the tulpa themself. The host will likely undergo severe change as well, carving the paths and tearing down the mental walls through which proper communication with the tulpa shall be achieved, and much more besides. It is in part the reason why the first tulpa is the hardest. + +#### 🞄 So what about early communication? + +Let's clear some factors: first, there's no universal timetable, or even fixed order of events, in the development of a tulpa. Some tulpas ended up switching before mindvoice vocality, for one. + +Second, mindvoice is not always what people go for. Raw thought/emotions can be very convenient for communication once a system to structure them that isn't strictly a verbal language is implemented. Some tulpas communicate in images, or even song. + +With that in mind, just use what comes your way. The main factor of communication is intending for the message and its meaning to reach the other; aside from that, anything goes. You can even set up an [ouija board equivalent](https://docs.google.com/document/d/13S6A8SPDMHoaypEkrZyu3qlZjQ-uow25FMaRQ4T73vc/edit) if you're feeling like pushing possession for use in communication. + +Remember that at first it may feel a whole lot like you. You are not the thoughts, you are the awareness behind the thoughts; the mind is a shared playground of you and your tulpas, so when your tulpas think, you may get to hear them and could identify those as yours, because that’s what you’ve always done with the thoughts in your head. This pattern of singular identification has to be broken down, and many similar ones besides concerning quite everything that goes on inside the mind/body/emotions system. You’re not alone in the house anymore, so don’t pretend every noise in there comes from you. + +#### 🞄 What’s this about parroting I keep hearing? Is it good or bad? + +It’s something that needs to be properly understood for best results. + +What happens with starting tulpas, especially of the newly created variety, is that they may not possess access to faculties like language or projecting a mindvoice or moving a mindscape body, or possession of the physical body, and so on and so forth. The two main alternatives here are bearing patience and waiting for them to figure it out by themselves, or offering them a hand in the matter. + +Providing help with translating their thoughts into words is one way parroting works; moving their mindscape body for them is called puppeting, and there probably as many concepts of lending them your faculties in some practice or other as there are activities that your tulpa can do. + +It can be considered a dangerous venture because it can easily foster doubt towards the tulpa when applied liberally, giving rise to the “It feels like it’s me doing it” syndrome, which is completely justified because yes, you’re actively contributing to their actions, and you’d want to stop that eventually. + +And stop that you will. At some point, you will have to revoke that help, and let them find their own legs. The parent has to let go of the bike, and let the kid on it experiment for themself, by themself. There might be some falls inbetween, and some time may pass, but success must be considered inevitable. + +More in general, a process might be put in place where the tulpa is allowed to progressively explore and discover the complexities, and the existing pathways, of a particular skill through decreasing help; for example, from just inhabiting the body as the host moves, to the tulpa giving inputs and the host acting them out, to the host starting a movement and the tulpa finishing it, while acknowledging and making use of the existing muscle memory, towards independent possession. + +#### 🞄 Any tips for more rapid development? + +- Starting out, anything that they can hold on to to self-define will be of help. It can be a goal, a form, a personality set, a call to action; whatever they can use to give themselves either substance or direction, or both, will speed up their development. + +- Specifically, giving them objectives, or letting them come up with their own, and giving them space to follow up on those is especially beneficial, as it gives them power to express their executive patterns and grow self-determined and properly independent. + +- As a general rule, a personality develops through the assimilation of experiences, and developing patterns that concern those experiences. Providing those experiences (of whatever nature) and letting them react to those, if possible, is one of the best ways to go about it. + +- Letting them interact with the outside world regularly, especially in the goal-fulfilling variety, is especially a solidifying exercise. + +- Treat them like a person, like a peer of yours, since they have all the potential to be one. They’re equivalent to you in every way that counts, and treating them as such greatly enables them to reach that level. + +- Consider doing some reverse tulpaforcing, as in, the tulpa taking on the forcing mansions of the host; even to the point of helping the host through anxiety episodes or depression or the like through such techniques. + +- You can be hypnosis partners, in both directions. + +- Novelty helps. + +- Flexibility of mind also helps, since a tulpa is a phenomenon as complex as the mind itself, and there’s countless variations of manifestation possible. Being open to many of them, or even encouraging variety of them (like disembodied voice in your head vs. visualized presence in the mindscape) is a good way to learn and grow. + +- Be open to the experience. Lots of weird and unexpected stuff is bound to happen; the more you roll with it and accept it, the more things will unfold naturally. + +#### 🞄 Presence imposition tips? + +What does it feel like when there's someone else in the room? When you just know you're being watched? What do you feel about your body other than the usual 5 senses? That's sense of presence. + +Intend it to be there for your tulpa. Ask to feel it. Wonder how it would be like to feel it. + +#### 🞄 Visualization tips? + +Start small, start familiar, start easy, and build up. Use all the external help you need to visualize better or easier. Put your pride and preconceptions at the door, and focus on getting better as easily and painlessly as possible. + +Basically you’d want to start from what you manage to hallucinate the easiest (be it memories, game scenes, some movie or cartoon, your pet, a cube, a stick figure, anything really) and work your way up from there, strecthing the possibilities in all directions that you can manage. Be like water, and find the crack. Use all the tricks possible, grab all the handholds on your way to the top, play as dirty as you need. + +Put in practice at the highest level you can manage, by any means necessary. And by that I mean, use references for shapes and movements and color and solidity; use styles that are familiar (like say, cartoonish); look at things inside an imagined screen if that helps you; use the peripheral of your vision for easier open-eye visualization; or just duplicate what your eyes see in your mind’s eye, or copy a real-life object as faithfully as possible, etc. Everything is fair to try out. See what helps best, and abuse it. + +Stretch what you can do from there: try less detail and more stuff, or more detail and less stuff; change colors, change styles, improve responsiveness, make it more spontaneous, have it take less attention, just plain make it bigger, or better, or more detailed; and so on, and so forth. + +The mind is a very flexible instrument; Experiment, play around with stuff, take what serves you and swap out the rest. As you keep striving for more, you’ll naturally consolidate what you have already achieved, and this will allow you to build on that and reach greater and greater heights. + +#### 🞄 Imposition tips? + +I’m gonna tell you a little secret: we’re always hallucinating things. What is in front of our eyes and what the mind sees is not as strongly related as you might first imagine. + +The way the eye works is basically, the individual cells stop sending signals if they keep detecting the same thing, so at every moment the brain only receives a partial picture, and hallucinates the rest basically by continuity with the past. + +![http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5639/2020/1600/fluff.jpg](http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5639/2020/1600/fluff.jpg) + +Take a look at that illusion, keep staring at the dot at the center; eventually the other colors should fade to grey, if you’ve kept your vision steady enough. + +See what I mean? The brain already hallucinates a portion of your reality quite naturally. (Not to mention that the peripheral vision is mostly made of rods, so it’s almost in B&W; most of the color you see there is also hallucinated) + +With that in mind, you should probably rethink how hard it is to impose, huh? You hallucinate things all the dang time! + +This goes more in general for all kinds of sensory imposition: what you perceive is there is just what the brain says is there, period. Reliving strong memories can trigger the same bodily reactions as if you were there again. Your mind makes it real. + +In that sense, consider just telling your mind what it should be experiencing, instead of fighting against reality. What you perceive is already inside your head, ready for the transformation. + +[More on just how crazy and hallucinatory vision really is](https://twitter.com/Foone/status/1014267515696922624). + +For specific imposition matters, I recommend [QB's recent guide on the subject](https://community.tulpa.info/thread-imposition-q2-s-method-for-a-huggable-tulpa-v2). + +#### 🞄 Possession tips? + +Not repeating the part where you can help them along, a good exercise for the host is practicing relaxation, as in lack of commands issued. One exercise for such a purpose is letting the arm fall from an upwards position, from the elbow up, while laying in bed, over and over. Letting the arm fall wherever it may, and getting used to the loss of control. Of course, the tulpa is free to take control of the arm during such an exercise if they feel daring enough. + +#### 🞄 Switching tips? + +A core concept that I would like to stress is that if the goal of switching is purely to let the tulpa experience full fronting without host interference, then it can be just exactly that. It can be as easy as the tulpa being at the front and possessing, and the host consciously, willingly relinquishing all control and assuming a detached position of passive observation. Some describe it as the tulpa taking control of the body autopilot that would normally come up as the host zones out. This autopilot can be rather large in the amount of functions it provides (like say, letting the body run on its own as you think of something else), and usually needs only gentle steering to be controlled. + +One of the main sticking points is usually the reclutancy of the host to leave the controls alone, or dissociate as it were. Meditation can help greatly with this; one visualization exercise that usually helps in conjunction with it is the host concentrating their own essence down to a point, within the body or outside of it; or, they can fully enter the mindscape, or practice any such exercises in detachment from the senses, and the cessation of reactions. + +Since many find instinctual reclutance at leaving the front seat unattended, I recommend explicitly practicing surrender of the body, like by trust falls, or immersive daydreams (possibly while trancing), or practicing conscious zoning out (like by letting the body dance to a good song by itself), or letting go as much as possible before sleep (which incidentally can also tie in to lucid dreaming practices such as WILD). Get a feel of the autopilot, and + +These points are further elaborated in [Seven’s guide on the matter](https://tulpa.io/discuss/threads/switching-so-you-wanna-switch-do-you-really-might-be-able-to-help-that.63/). + +#### 🞄 What if my tulpa is too similar to me? + +If you find your tulpa taking too much after you, by way of personality, speech patterns, opinions etc. and you’d like otherwise, that would be a good opportunity to encourage drift. Both through encouragement of novelty and allowing of results, let the tulpa try out new things, act differently, express themselves more freely, find ways in which they may recognize themselves more properly as independent. Draw the boundaries you need to, but give them free roam otherwise. In time, they will find their own space to inhabit. + +#### 🞄 I haven’t heard from my tulpa in a while, and I can’t feel them about? Why do they have different sleep patterns than me? + +Yeah, I know, it's weird. It still happens for a lot of us, though. It's fine if you don't hear them about for a while; after all, we shut down for about 8 hours every day ourselves. + +#### 🞄 Why do I keep having doubts about my tulpas? What can I do about it? + +Doubt means you're on the right track. + +When you doubt, that means there's a belief of yours that is conflicting with the new, current experience. The belief is being currently questioned, and this pivot point is being expressed in you through doubt. It is likely an old belief that just now has come into discussion: there’s much you probably took for granted about living in your head that will just change drastically when confronted with the actuality of someone else residing in there with you. Thus, the beliefs need to shift. + +What you can do is, you can trace that doubt back to the belief that generated it. That belief is standing in the way of your experience, and is likely being an overall nuisance. It is not serving you. You can choose to abandon it; you can choose to put it to further tests and revise it, based on the new data. You can change it, or you can discard it. + +#### 🞄 Should I be concerned about walk-ins? + +Well, that depends; would they be a bad occurrence in your experience? Many people have found it worthwhile and very positive to have had walk-ins stick around as tulpas proper, but maybe you’re not that charitable, or you just want to draw the line somewhere. + +For one, consider that many thoughtforms cross your consciousness temporarily (like what might happen with intrusive thoughts or random voices or media characters etc.) and you usually don’t think much of it. In general, as something comes, it can also go. + +Secondly, the mind is as easily suggestible as it’s always been, and its patterns can be shifted concerning this particular case as well. You only need set the intention of not receiving any walk-ins of any sort; that they are unwelcome at your place, and that they cannot stay. Reinforce with mental imagery as needed, but try to be gentle: it’s still yourself you’re doing this to. + +#### 🞄 Is this really for ever? Is there nothing I can do about it if I regret it? + +The moment you decide to make a tulpa by the common definition is the moment you decide to create, or accept, an other person, with everything that it carries and that it implies. There are other ways to explore inner multiplicity without bearing the responsibility of true plurality, as detailed above (in I don’t know if I should be doing this? Can I just try it out for a while?); and if you’re feeling this concern then I suggest to either try out those, or think about it some more, or both. + +That said, as much as people don’t like to talk about it, dissolving a nascent tulpa is something that happens sometimes, mostly when the host has realized they are in no position to continue being more than one in their head, or have no further intention to put in the effort of maintaining a second consciousness. What happens then is, there’s always the option of ignoring the thoughtform, letting it slowly drift back to the place of origin, or there is the considerably harder option of merging, that is basically a permanent version of blending together the two essences of host and tulpa, personality and memories and presence and all. + +Having consent of both parties is highly recommended, otherwise that’s not fun for anyone involved. + +#### 🞄 Any ways this practice could help me with my own troubles? + +- First of all, tulpamancing will likely get you used to a great deal of introspection, especially by way of meditation (through eg. active forcing). And knowing is half the battle, as they say. + +- Clarity of mind is greatly encouraged and fostered, and is in general very beneficial to life. + +- An improvement in social skills is often one of the most obvious results from the practice. + +- More in general, there is much to be learned from both observing an other-self from so up close, and being observed by one. + +- Tulpas are in general, very understanding and caring beings, and there’s much to be gained in giving and receiving, in sharing, such higher loves (to the point of aretè, AKA metta, the divine Love) with one another. + +- Tulpas are usually in a prime position to offer guidance on your life path, but you must remember that any change will have to come from yourself. You are the one who makes your own decisions. + +- More in general, any help that they offer will have to be trusted, and carried through. In order for their guidance to take effect, you must be willing to trust their judgement more than you would trust your own, more than you would trust your thoughts, more than you would trust your own old ways. + +#### By CelestialBoon diff --git a/site/guides/other/tulpaforcing-from-the-heart.md b/site/guides/other/tulpaforcing-from-the-heart.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e3d96da --- /dev/null +++ b/site/guides/other/tulpaforcing-from-the-heart.md @@ -0,0 +1,294 @@ +# Tulpaforcing from the Heart + +This guide is dedicated to the use of divine Love in tulpamancy (and outside of it) as potent instrument of creation, development, sustainment, transformation, reinforcement, and introspection. +It is aimed at people already possessing the base concepts of tulpamancy; who wish to expand their toolset with a powerful arsenal; and possibly, to put such tools to use in their larger context outside of interaction with their tulpas. + +Love is the glue that binds systems together. It is what propels people past rocks and hard places; it is the fire that forges the adamantine bonds that lead to healthy plurality. +Tulpaforcing from the Heart is a way of ad-hoc fashioning Love into a tool used to help develop and strengthen thoughtforms. + +The guide is divided as such: + +1. **Love, in nature** : A first inquiry into the nature of Divine Love. +2. **Love in the expression** : A chapter to help the reader familiarize themself with the perception and expression of Love. +3. **Love in tulpaforcing** : The actual methods and techniques that assist tulpaforcing through the use of Love. +4. **Love in the daily life, and through adversity** : Further uses of Love to support the daily life of the individual. +5. **Love in the tulpaforcing of Self** : A window into using the techniques described to open up the inner scape of the Self to a renewed examination and treatment. +6. **Further resources** + +1\. Love, in nature +------------------- + +### The Greek Loves + +>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_words_for_love +>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four_Loves + +The Greek divided the various expressions of love in four (or more) categories. Of particular importance here is the noblest, the most radical: the agape, or selfless love. The love that is extended to all people, without condition. The love that is later translated into Latin as caritas, which is the origin of our word "charity." The love that is without judgment, and without reservation. The love that is referred to by C.S. Lewis as "gift love": the open love that is given without expectation of return, and that springs from the innate goodness in a person's heart. + +### Metta + +>“May all beings live in Peace and harmony.” -- Dhammarakkhita + +Metta is a Pali word of Buddhist use that translates most directly as loving-kindness, the kindness that is loving; the gentle action that is rooted in genuine compassion. It is also called "well-wishing," for it is practiced by unconditionally well-wishing for the safety, happiness, good health and comfort of any living being or beings, including oneself. +It is something that inherently all people can contain and express, but may find themselves diverted from by blockages like resentment, fear, feelings of unworthiness, and the like. With practice, one can come to dissolve such obstacles and let the pure loving-kindness flow unimpeded. + +### Other descriptions + +- The divine Love is love that is unconditioned, raw, pure, unfiltered, natural, flowing, unencumbered, innocent, free, shameless... +It is the love that cares because it knows the Divine spark is in everything, and acknowledges it, and cherishes it, and celebrates it. + +- More than strictly a thing of emotion or feeling, the foundation of Love is a thing of knowingness, a sensation of fundamental Oneness and Wholeness that pervades the pure awareness, strenghtened by the cognition of the deep connection between living beings; it is the natural, joyful flow of the unencumbered, centered, present Self. +[Eckhart Tolle - The Journey Into Now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR_MY_Oy8Uw) + +- While more abstract, another view into this sort of Love is the force that reunites, that holds the opposites at once within it, that reintegrates conflict into a common tune. It is the force that sees discordant traits as part of a flowing duality, and recognizes and appreciates the vibrant richness of such configurations. It is the organizing, coalescing force. It is the movement that escapes the apparent duality of the Dao. It is the unconditional embrace of all. + +- **God/First Source/Aether/Spirit** : If you'd like to imagine this kind of love actually coming from the Divine, try this on for size. +You can imagine God as being the One, Infinite Creator; the entity that *was* before all else. Finding Itself alone, it created Many within Itself, folding the One Consciousness into Many separate viewpoints, in order to live, explore, create, develop, experience, learn. +The One Creator has hidden Itself from Its creation, so that the Many could come to the realization that instead of finding their Creator in something external, they were the Creator all along; however, the very Presence of God still pervades the Universe, through the universal, all-encompassing, loving essence that interprenates and connects All and supports, and gently nurtures, all life in the Universe. It is the very backbone of existence, and it goes by many names: the Aether, the Quantum Vacuum, the Intelligent Infinity, the Torsion Field, the Holy Spirit, the Higgs Field, the Source Intelligence, the Zero-Point Energy Field, and so on, and so forth. It is powerfully intelligent, and it gently orchestrates all of Creation to the tune of a single symphony of Love. +Through this, the Universe is united in fundamental Oneness, composed of Sovereign, infinite beings, each Integral, and deeply connected, to the whole. Such a state is referred to as Sovereign Integral state, or sometimes as Spirit. + +### From the Heart + +In the practice of recognizing, using and mastering this Love, it is very useful to use the Heart (the energetic heart, located at the center of the chest) as observed center of reception and perception of this Love. +Such an association between love and the heart has historically pervaded common conception, and it still persists in doctrines such as that of the chakra system. +If nothing else, practicing this focus is useful in that it helps delineate the distinction of such emotions from thoughts, which is quite fundamental to the practice. +And besides, it's what's has worked best experientially so far. + + +2\. Love in the expressions +--------------------------- +This chapter is related to the ways in which such Love can be felt, experienced, and can find expression. Practicing, and familiarizing oneself, with the receiving and the transmitting of Love is the ground basis for its actual use. + +- As first impression, Love expressed is the love that has been hurt, betrayed, shamed, and can still reach out, and forgive, and love openly. It is the love that seeks to relieve pain precisely because it has known pain, and would not wish it again on others. It is the love that moves against injustice because it has known injustice. It is the love that forgives because it is aware of the limitations of the single person. It is the playful love that expands, constantly receives, and is always open both ways: so that it may understand, and so that it may act precisely as the moment demands. +Such expressions of this Love are exquisitely human in nature, as they come from a place of limitation, hardship and suffering that allows people to relate with similar troubles, fully understand those hardships, genuinely empathize, and wish for the transformation of such conditions. That empathy is a strong source of this Love, uniquely human in expression despite its divine nature. + +### Learning to receive and transmit Love + +- It truly needs to be restated: the awareness of self as consciousness; as being-ness that sits outside the mind, but can encompass it; as pure Presence in the Now; is extremely conductive to the practice of Love, both in the reception and the expression. +[Presence Course by Eckhart Tolle](https://www.soundstrue.com/store/power-of-presence/eckhart-tolle-why-presence) + +- As preliminary step, it is useful to place the locus of attention in the energetic heart region. It is here that the Love will be individuated and felt, and this point of focus may be used to the degree of placing full attention on this region, disregarding thoughts that may come from the mind. + +- Start with finding the Love where it comes easiest to. For a select some it can be a pure Love of self; but for most of us, it starts with someone, or something, else. It can be your tulpa; it can be a family member, a friend, an idol figure, a community, a higher power; it can be a plant, a garden, an animal, it can be Nature itself; it can be a place, it can be an event, it can be a raw idea, or an ideal. In can be a piece of art, a favourite song that just carries you to the right spot. It can be a dear memory that you hold close. It can be something that is simply imagined, as in: how would it be, how would it feel like, if someone loved someone else with this naturalness, this rawness, this openness, this understanding. It can be the simple appreciation of life, and of the present moment. Whatever it is that resonates with you in such a matter when you think of it, take it, and put it at the center of your initiation practice. Discern what it evokes in you; percieve how Love behaves when summoned within you, so that you might recognize it more clearly, and bring it forward more easily. + +- This Love can also be felt by way of physical sensations. It is very much possible to just get to feel it in the heart region, in a variety of ways: a lightness in the chest; a clearer breath; a quiet resolution; an openness, a feeling of oneness with all existence; a quieter mind; a connection to life around you; an innate joy; a feeling of liberation, of freedom, of truth. + +- One must be accepting of Love as it comes to you. To love someone is to find them worthy of such love, for if they weren't thought of as worthy, they wouldn't be loved in that manner. Thus, to love is to know as worthy, and to be loved is to *be* worthy. There is no need to erect barriers around oneself, for Love already naturally goes to the right target, and there is no call for further filtering. Only acceptance and receptiveness are needed. + +- Once the Love is known, it is worthwhile to open up into receiving Love naturally. For one, this is done through being present in the simple awareness, as detailed above; it can also be summoned through an awareness that the Universe, or some part of it (even down to a single individual), or some higher power, loves you, and cares for you, and desires nothing more than for you to express the fullness that you are, your full beauty and splendor. This knowledge, this awareness, enables a natural flow of gratitude that can be the spine of your practice. + +### Prayer + +Prayer can be, for some, a channel of communication with the Divine. A way of opening up to the Higher Power, and to bring out their spiritual side. It is a precious connection to cultivate, for it is one way to nurture the Divine that is within yourself. +When you immerse yourself in prayer, you come to a different place than your ordinary life; you might feel different, possessing a sense of peace, of innate and intimate relationship to something larger than you are. This *something* is also within you, because it is felt by you in your very being as you pray. +This state is the state of connection to the Divine that has been mentioned before, and is a place from where Love can spring forth unabated. You can nurture this sense, cherish it, and bring it in avenues outside prayer; or, seeing it from another angle, learn to bring the prayer to more facets of your life. + +### Metta meditation + +Metta meditation consists of entering a light meditative state and focusing on affirmations of well-wishing Love, so that their meaning might be contemplated, felt, and ultimately transmitted. The practitioner uses those affirmations to direct their well-wishing towards a progressively larger circle of humanity, and eventually such Love encompasses everyone. +[Simple metta technique explanation](https://github.com/Xe/when-then-zen/blob/master/meditation/metta.feature) +[Fuller metta paper](http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/scrn_metta.pdf) +[Another metta paper](http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/allmetta.pdf) + +### The Six Heart Virtues + +The divine Love crystallizes in the worlds of form into particular expressions, both of feeling and of behaviour. In order for their potency to be fully expressed, there is coherency to cultivate between the love that is felt and that which is expressed, both inwards and outwards. Doing things with feeling, as they say. + +- **Appreciation**: From the realization that we are connected at the deepest level in a framework that unifies us and our individual purposes in Love, appreciation is expressed in the gestures of gratitude that birth and support relationships and bonding. + +- **Compassion** is the active desire to assist in the alignment with the uplifting and liberating frequencies of Love, aware that their desire and ability to align is distorted by their social enculturation; it does not accurately reflect their intelligence, spiritual inclinations, or purpose. + +- **Forgiveness**: From the understanding that every person is doing the best that they can under current circumstances, and the compassion to help them move past mistakes and help them recenter in the present moment, forgiveness is an act of acceptance and release, freeing selves from the quicksand of time, of being stuck contemplating the past. +It is the realization that if our limitations make us prone to mistakes and flawed decisions, those same limitations make us unable to properly judge actions and choices from an encompassing view; thus, we cannot judge, and so we forgive. + +- **Humility** is the realization that the whole system of experience intermingles in a framework of divine Love, and is supported by it. Humility is the expression of these divine energies, with the knowing that the virtues of the heart, the pure intellect of the contemplative mind, and the co-creative pursuits of the heart, mind, and soul derive from what already exists in a higher dimension, where all are One, all are Equal, all are Divine, and all are Immortal. + +- **Understanding**: While our core energetic structure is that of soul, composed of frequencies of pure Love, and the sheaths of density and form are means to experience it and express it, nonetheless those sheaths (the human instrument) creates feelings of separation and disconnection from our inner divinity and from all life. +Understanding is the aspect of heart intelligence that recognizes that this dissociation from Love is a necessary design component of the larger blueprint, that unravels through time, even as different people are at different stages of the unraveling. + +- **Valor** is the transmission of spiritual values in the face of separation. It is the acting against injustice, in defense of the presence of Love, and it is the transmission of such values and understandings to those not in the frequency of Unity, in a nonjudgmental way. + +For a more detailed explanation of the heart virtues, you can consult [this excerpt from *Living from the Heart*](https://write.as/c9z2kncjhhvljc17.md). + +### Further enlightenment + +- Love is powerfully intuitive in nature; when dealing with matters of the Heart, trusting one's intuition leads to a clearer and more powerful expression. + +- In releasing this Love outwards, it is important to root this act in genuineness; to pair the Love felt inside to the outward expression, anchoring the action in autenticity; bringing in sync the inside and the outside. The kind of connection that is described as a gesture that comes from the heart. This creates a seamless experience of transparency; the virtues of the Heart flow naturally through you, expressed right as they are received, melding the within and the without in harmonious resonance. + +- Each genuine expression of Love reinforces your connection to its Presence within you, and grows your confidence and mastery in the practice. Inviting those qualities into your life and letting yourself radiate them cements them in your very being. +Giving away this Love only fills you with more. + +- This Love can be expressed with your every breath, in every thought, through all situations, in all actions, in every expression of your energy, of your being. It can permeate every facet of your experiences, of your life. It only needs to be permitted so. + +- With practice, the focus in the heart region can become your primary center of awareness (instead of in the head region), putting the Presence and its Love in prominency in consciousness, in the place of thoughts. It is a profoundly transformative way of living, both on the inside and on the outside; and it is, in a sense, the ultimate goal to pursue with the practice. + +3\. Love in tulpaforcing +------------------------ + +- In few other places one can directly witness the dramatic effects of Love as in tulpamancing. In the inner worlds, Love easily manifests as an actual, immediate force of change; a growing and developing factor. It is a force that is sustaining, enabling, strengthening, vibrant and alive. +It is a love that heals, transforms, enlivens and enlightens; it expands consciousness and nurtures life. +It is widely known how a supportive environment allows for children to naturally grow into their potential. We're doing much of the same with this practice, only more focused; weaponized. + +- Love is a force of connection. It can connect you and your tulpa (or any two consciousnesses) in every circumstance; it can be just radiated, with the knowing that it is naturally received. +Even when not focusing on your tulpa otherwise, this Love for them is a very convenient focus to keep, for it is of benefit to the both of you. + +- It is good practice to use the [Quantum Pause][quantum-pause-anchor] as basis for your sessions, allowing the natural mental clarity and insight it brings to direct the experience. Do this by declaring the intent for this session; performing the breath patterns; proceeding with the session, letting your actions in it come from the Heart; and then, repeating the breath patterns and further forcing as desired. + +- When active forcing with Love, take at heart the desire to take this time as sacrifice to improve your tulpa. To spend this limited time to help you experience the unlimited Love together. Use this Love to help strengthen and reinforce yourselves. + +### Specific uses + +- **Love as source of expression** : In a very simple way, simply imbuing your actions and thoughts while forcing with the genuine expressions of the Heart Virtues is already very valuable, for their subtle and unsubtle influences have much to bring to the common interactions that compose life with a tulpa. This open and unfiltered expression of the Heart Virtues fosters a supportive and transformative environment for the both of you. +Furthermore, remember that direct experience is the usual fastest way for a tulpa to develop, so make sure to provide it, especially when paired with providing them Love together with such. Particularly positive is the loving co-creation of an experience with them; the reciprocal allowing and supporting, and the shared creative outpour. + +- **Love beam** : In this visualization-based exercise, visualize your Love in your heart region; it can be represented as light particles or a bright liquid, or just pure light, or any other way that is comfortable; this Love gets charged with specific intent, such as to help your tulpa develop, or to grow vocal, or such; then, it is released. Shoot it out in their direction, and observe its transformative effects; they can manifest rather dramatically. +Make sure to track such effects; try new ways to use it and new intents with time; play and experiment around, and always remember to have fun. + +- **Love as crafting material** : This Love can just be taken, lifted straight out of heart region and used for imbuing things and beings (again, through intent and purpose), or just be melded into desired shape-functions. + +- **Cuddleforcing, or just sharing the Love** : It's ok to communicate through Love over thoughts sometimes; and it's ok to spend time just sharing it, loving one another quietly, maybe cuddled together, basking in one another's compassion and appreciation that are naturally radiated. + +- **Sending Love in the back** : An activity to carry out in the back that doesn't take much brainpower, if at all, is to send Love outwards. It can be directed to oneself, or to systemmates, or to someone else outside; to the whole of humanity, to Earth, really any target will do. Once it gets going, it is relatively effortless to sustain through conscious intent, and it quite never gets boring. + +### Further enlightenment + +- **Imagination from the Heart** : There are people who struggle with keeping their imagination stable, or detailed, or at all visible once they focus on it. One technique that can be used is to perceive the imagination as something that is observed through the heart, instead of through the eyes. It is, as detailed before, a matter of placing your consciousness in the heart region, and coupling this with the knowingness that the outside world is being perceived through that region, instead of the usual head organs. +For one, this deflects the issue of trying to observe such things with your physical eyes, which usually leads to poor outcomes such as the images disappearing; for another, the Heart is also a place of vivid imagination, that deals in feelings and potentiality, and is more contemplative and intuitive in nature; and using this focus in the heart region to complement the visualization proper can lead to an improved experience. +Incidentally, being aware of observing the dream world through your Heart can also lead to vastly improved dream stability when lucid dreaming. + +- **Love as nurturance of life** : More specifically, Love can be seen as a force that supports the individual's natural movement through life towards its highest expression. Every being is in a natural process of expansion and development, and Love can accompany this expansion, empower those beings, transmute the barriers in the way, provide gentle support, and overall accelerate the process of development and growth. +This has direct parallels in therapy methods such as [Person-centered therapy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person-centered_therapy), which focuses on the natural ability of the individual to self-actualize once they are provided with the ability to truly do so, much like one would provide a tree with the right nutrients and conditions and then let it do its thing. +The [Hakomi method](http://www.hakomiinstitute.com/Resources/barstow-overview.html) focuses on the gentle rewriting of the barriers situated in one's past. +[Conflict resolution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_resolution) focuses on peaceful integration of points of view as means of resolving conflict. + +Love is understanding and compassion and forgiveness, and this can help when facing barriers in the self and in others; in finding ways of reintegration, of reconciliation, of moving forward together. This is especially apparent with tulpas since they are less tethered to external circumstances and are able to more rapidly shift in consciousness. + +- **Recursive relationship of development** : Much can be said, and has been said, about the symbiosis that a relationship with a tulpa can foster; when two individuals are actively helping each other, motivating each other, supporting each other through the difficult times, being one another's anchor and extra viewpoint, it is possible to reach heights previously undreamed of when alone. +Love is particularly suited for this, as its developmental properties allow for massive positive feedback to occur between systemmates. Pushing one another in Love to understand themselves, to improve themselves, to love themselves even, can be an incredible drive of change and evolution. + +4\. Love in the daily life, and through adversity +------------------------------------------------- +While using Love in tulpaforcing is very useful, Love shines best when applied continuously, in one's daily adventures and misadventures alike. It allows for the transmutation of otherwise frustrating, draining, or generally negative experiences into uplifting and positive ones, and it also does carry a virality to it (much like the people described as infectiously happy) that can shift those around you towards a more positive life as well. You can set the example, and be an inspiration to those around you. + +- It is worthwhile to ask yourself periodically, even daily, why you are calling to yourself this Love, and the wisdom that it carries, and how would you use such Love and increased perceptions once they come to you. It is always possible to find an answer; and, there is no right or wrong answer, just an answer. With time, you will iterate on such answers, and in so doing develop your intent, your sense of purpose, and your greater direction. + - The practice is massively shaped by your intent and resolution, in ways seen and unseen. For one, this direction, this intent, allows a greater clarity in the focusing and the directing of your Love, and lends greater potency to your expressions of it. + - There is a passage that describes this iteration of purpose: [Reading from the Heart](https://write.as/kw2zpgqth4xm5exh.md) + +- The entire practice must be rooted in genuineness, autenthicity, and transparency. You cannot fake this. You cannot practice like a machine. You must be human, vulnerable, open, humble, and willing to learn from yourself more than you’re willing to accept the words of another. You are the ultimate source of your truth, and above all else, the intuitive wisdom of your deepest Heart can be your truest guide through all of life's disparate encounters. + +- The Love in the expression is always, immediately available to you. There is no distance that separates you from the wisdom of your inmost self, and the clarity of your Heart's expression, but the time of a single moment, and the intention of a single thought. + +- The centerpiece of the practice is the present awareness. The Presence in the Now. It all starts with being aware and receptive, and knowing that every moment is there to be co-created between you and the Universe in Love, and not merely reacted to. During the expressions of the Heart Virtues, their effects can be directly observed, and feedback can be estabilished to properly respond to any evolving situation that is shifting under the influence of Love. + +- There are four main perspectives, or attitudes, that enable you to be more present and that are favourable channels of expression of the Heart Virtues in the daily situations. Those states of being are: + - Observe (perceiving with care) + - Guide (showing the way) + - Facilitate (easing situations) + - Cocreate (creating with others in harmony). + +- It is through the contemplative, intuitive imagination of the Heart that the moment, any moment, can be re-imagined and the Heart Virtues applied. It is quite literally the creation of a different world inside you than what you and others are used to, this new one based on Love and its qualities; and then, the projection of this world onto the outside one through manifesting actions. + +- As before, it helps a lot to focus, to place your center of awareness in the heart region, quite literally Living from the Heart. It is a place of focus that brings clarity, presence, the quiet stillness, and the pivot point of neutrality, from where any action may be initiated with minimal resistance. It also helps one with distancing oneself from thoughts, to the point of mental peace. + +- In particular, the breath is a potent, dynamic tool to center the awareness in the Now. It is always available, and it grounds you in the present moment. + +>It takes great alertness to live and express in the now. Human beings have the tendency to live in our past memories or future concerns. This was what I was doing and it took me from the now. And the now is where our life essence expresses. It isn’t in the past or future, only the consciousness framework pivots between past and future, so if you find yourself in there, you know you are not in your essence. + +>When I realized this, I read from the WingMakers philosophy that breath was the magnet of nowness. It was the element that brought the human being into nowness by being aware of their breathing. I also learned that there were different kinds of breathing that enabled this sense of nowness to penetrate more vividly [...]. + +>The point is that simply being aware of my breath helped, as the WingMakers put it, to center me in stillness. This, by the way, doesn’t mean that you’re in a quiet room. You can be in a meeting at work, and center yourself in stillness through your breath. But by being in this internal centeredness I was in a better position to feel my own sense of expression, and that’s what was missing in my initial efforts to integrate this process. I didn’t have a good starting point for my practice of the Heart Virtues, and I was directing them outward—to other people or events, and not myself first. + +>Once I made that adjustment, it helped me to identify my essence and distinguish it from my mind system. Life essence is authentic in oneness and equality and exclusively moves in nowness. The consciousness framework pivots between the past, present and future and operates in separation. If you express the Heart Virtues from the consciousness framework, especially outwardly, they won’t have the same potency or effect. + +- In dealing with greater phenomena, or just in the daily life from a position of observer situated outside of the mind, one can become increasingly aware of the limitations of the mind, as a tool that can only hold so many things at once, can fall behind the contemplation of the infinite, and can struggle with the reunification of opposites in apparent paradox. While the intelligence of the Heart is of a more infinite and all-encompassing nature, it still requires that of the mind to be directed, focused, brought down into choice through the mind's intention and precepts. It is for this reason that the cultivation of a clear, focused, diligent mind is recommended, and that your reasons, your precepts, your intent are all iterated over and sharpened with time. + +- Using the imagination of the Heart is also a powerful tool to tackle what sits outside the immediate reality and needs reexamination (like when some issue or past event is weighing down on us). It allows us to reflect, to contemplate, to transmute, to leave behind the old and make space for the new, or even to transform the old directly into the new. Through meditative practices (especially the [Quantum Pause][quantum-pause-anchor]) one can cultivate a base of forgiveness, of accepting neutrality, from which the rest can more easily be built upon; and with practice, such background forgiveness can come to effortlessly pervade the daily life, allowing us to live outside of the state of co-reaction, and instead, in a state of neutral Presence from where the Heart Virtues can spring forth unimpeded. + +- It is very productive to track the practitioner's efforts in the expressions of Love; the prowess in wielding the Heart Virtues singularly, and the ways in which they can be combined and chained. +Furthermore, through such tracking, patterns of difficulty and resistance can be spotted, and thus, properly addressed and treated. +With time, a steady transformation in the practicing can be observed, representative of the growing mastery of the practitioner. + +### Assorted techniques + +**Quantum Pause** + +The Quantum pause is a breath-focused meditative technique that allows a person to reach a place of stillness, and a position of close connection with the inmost wisdom. It is a state that is very conductive to the reception and expression of Love, and that can be eventually brought up outside the meditative practice to be used in whatever context. +[Quantum Pause guide][quantum-pause] + +**The Quantum Moment** + +The Quantum Moment consists in executing a single measure of [Quantum Pause][quantum-pause-anchor], as delimitation of separate moments in the daily life, such as doing something different, in order to recenter and bring heightened awareness. +[Quantum Moment technique](https://write.as/l9lj6ft2m3ox33ko.md) + +**The Virtuous Cycle Technique** + +The Virtuous Cycle technique consists on using a meditative space to consolidate the presence and understanding of the Heart Virtues within us, in order to make their application easier and more spontaneous. +[Virtuous Cycle technique](https://write.as/yxiktx7cg20ygeca) + +**The Six Heart Virtues Grid Meditation** + +The Grid Meditation allows the practitioner to reinforce the presence and connection to the Heart Virtues in the daily life through an ongoing visualization exercise. +[Six Heart Virtues Grid Meditation technique](https://write.as/9kpse7dx3474u0zx) + +**Resetting the Heart** + +Resetting the Heart permits to clear excessive densities and disturbances in the heart caused by stress and recent negative experiences, and to return to a renewed state of clarity and insight. +[Resetting the Heart passage](https://write.as/11ct202stfmm1ir3.md) + +### Further enlightenment +- The art of Living from the Heart is an art of transmutation; of energetic alchemy; of being able to take heavy, negative energies or situations and transform them into uplifting and positive ones. Adversities and difficulties can come, in time, to be viewed as perfect opportunities for practice of such Love, since any and all events can be put through such a process. Eventually, one can live, breathe, think appreciation for the Universe for the perfect experience it delivers in such a fashion, guiding us towards our fullest expression of Love. + +- **Mastery** : A final, eventual goal is the all-day loving awareness, centered in the breath and in Love. The continuous, active practice of compassionate expression, rooted in the mastery obtained through sustained practice, empowered by a disciplined intent, and based on clear and focused goals. +While all this may seem like too much to hold together at first, it is a framework that expands in the practitioner's life through the sheer practice of it. With practice of the Heart Virtues, in time, one develops a stronger connection to them, and to the world that they surround. Through the active practice, in all its facets, one grows to trust their own intuition more and more, together with developing ease and potency of expression. +With practice, one reaches emotional self-mastery, and is able to face any situation wielding the positive outlook and the transformative proprieties of divine Love. +From awkwardness — *with practice* — comes competency. +From separation — *with practice* — comes the prevailing sense of unity. +From disbelief — *with practice* — comes evidence. + + +5\. Love in the tulpaforcing of Self +------------------------------------ + +The techniques of tulpaforcing from the Heart can be applied not only to tulpas, but to thoughtforms in general; that is, all things that you might put an identity to inside yourself. + +- A starting point of this view is the fractal nature of self: a person, even when singlet, naturally contains multiple personalities inside, at varying degrees of development, permanence, and consciousness; the main identity, composed of different moods, modes of functioning, and states of being; dream characters, media characters, roleplay characters; replicas of family, friends and other people in their lives; parts of self that they converse with; and more in general, a whole bunch of forms that they could give a voice to if so desired. +While not a true plurality, a self contains multiple, different selves inside, and this happens quite recursively, as one examines the finer details. Together, however, they form a single whole, much like a fractal can be seen as the sum of their infinite, nested, self-similar parts. + +- From this fractality of self, and the powerful transformative and reinterating properties of Love, come the concept of tulpaforcing the Self. It consists in identifying a part of self that is to be given specific attention, cordoning it off from the rest, giving it Love (in the same ways that one would give a tulpa; a Love beam is usually the most time-efficient manner) with the intent to give this part a voice to fully express itself, and the genuine willingness to better one's self through this exercise. +From there, it is about genuinely listening for their expression, moving to facilitate it if needed, then having them say what they need to express without further interference. +It takes a nurturing state of observance and facilitation both. Sometimes this facilitation means giving it the courage to speak out, sometimes that means a shoulder to cry on, sometimes it means having an adventure, sometimes it means having a friend. +Once that part is done, you can ask it how you can help further and indulge it. When it’s satisfied, it's time to pull up the barrier and let the entity fade back into the woodwork in whatever way is best, returning to the Substrate as reintegrated and transformed. + +- This practice is most apparent in its usefulness when opening up to parts of yourself that are being problematic. Examples include temporary troubles like doubts, anxiety attacks, anger, intrusive thoughts etc. but can also encompass more persistent entities such as fears, depression, addictions, and so on. +In doing this, it is possible to come to very quick understandings of the issue, and to move quickly to improve it. +It takes the humility to be able give credence to a part of you that you may have not even recognized as significant. +It takes the compassion to be willing to open up in understanding with it. +It takes the forgiveness to help it mend itself, and thus yourself. +It takes the sincerity of doing it out of your own volition, and out of the genuine desire to improve the whole through your combined actions. + +- [Here is an example](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/375967848520089603/433714934577365002/Tulpaforcing.m4a) of such a self-tulpaforcing session, narrated as it is happening. + +- Remember -- the intention powerfully shapes the outcome. Such entities will not become persistent if you are intent on just a temporary interaction, and you do not agree to anything further than that. + +- This practice can encompass anything and everything that you can think of as individuated in some way or another. Literally, any and all thoughtforms can be subject to this. + - As special insight into the practice, try tulpaforcing the Six Heart Virtues themselves to gain greater insight into them, and a deeper connection. + +- **Neutral Heart**: As an alternative to the tulpaforcing of Self to deal with problematic densities, consider the [Neutral Heart](https://write.as/g7n4jtnngfe4lpat.md). + +- Very much in general, it is possible to come to yourself, to all facets and aspects of yourself, in Love. Giving Love endlessly and freely to every manifestation of your Self, expressing it in every self-interaction and self-experience; filling the very alive scape of your innner world with compassion, understanding, and an appreciative, forgiving and nurturing attitude. Remember that every Self is made of other selves, and that any positive interaction, every improvement, every development, returns to shape positively the whole. +There is a beautiful garden inside yourself that only awaits to be tended and shaped with your intention, your wisdom, and your Love. + + +6\. Further resources +--------------------- + +- [wingmakers.com](https://www.wingmakers.com) +- [Art of the Genuine](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/423777996827262994/433004957571088394/Art_of_the_Genuine.pdf) +- [Living from the Heart]() +- [Quantum Pause][quantum-pause] +- [Wingmakers Philosophy Chamber 1](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/423777996827262994/433004918589095936/Philosophy_Chamber_1_optimized.pdf) and [Glossary](https://www.wingmakers.us/wingmakersorig/WingMakersglossary.shtml) +- [when-then-zen](https://github.com/Xe/when-then-zen) + +[quantum-pause-anchor]: #assorted-techniques +[quantum-pause]: https://celestialboon.github.io/meditation/2018/07/12/quantum-pause.html diff --git a/site/irc.md b/site/irc.md deleted file mode 100644 index 6a5ccf8..0000000 --- a/site/irc.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,13 +0,0 @@ -irc -=== - -Chat with us on IRC about tulpas, forcing methods or if you just want to chat. - -``` -irc server name: DFNet -irc server hostname: bepis.dfnet.club -irc server port: 6697 (self signed cert) -channel: #tulpa -``` - -No registration required, your IP and other connection information will be cloaked. diff --git a/site/within/guides/paracosm-immersion.md b/site/within/guides/paracosm-immersion.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e8a0912 --- /dev/null +++ b/site/within/guides/paracosm-immersion.md @@ -0,0 +1,78 @@ +# Paracosm Immersion + +From Within + +Paracosm (also known as wonderland in some circles) immersion is a topic that has interested me for years. I have only recently started to get better at it, and I would like to document the methods I have been using for this. + +At a high level, the approach we are using for this is based on [philosophical metaphysical analysis](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphysics), or in short answering two questions for the world and various things in it: + +1. What is there? +2. What is it like? + +The method I have found for doing this fairly repeatably is a combination of two techniques I have found elsewhere: + +* 5 senses visualization for the scene you are in to ground yourself +* Semantic feature analysis for randomly selected items from that visualization + +As an example, consider [this](https://write.as/ma-insa/ma-insa-sense-visualization-morning-1-1-2019). This kind of detail is what you'd be looking for. + +Breaking it down further though, let's consider a scene where you are sitting at a table in a cold, metal chair. + +## Five Senses Visualization + +The five senses visualization for this could look something like + +* 5 things you can see + * The table + * The salt and pepper shakers on the table + * The plate in front of me + * My reflection in the plate + * The empty chair in front of me +* 4 things you can touch + * Silverware + * Napkin dispenser + * Your phone on the table + * Empty water glass +* 3 things you can hear + * Other people in the restaurant + * The cooks in the distance + * The door opening and closing occasionally, making the bell ring to let waitstaff know someone needs to be seated +* 2 things you can smell + * Baked chicken from the kitchen + * Grilled salmon from the next table over +* 1 thing you can taste + * The soda in my mouth + +## Semantics Analysis + +Group, Use, Action, Properties, Location, Association + +### The salt and pepper shakers + +Group: thing, container of smaller things, but a thing made up of two parts and smaller things +Use: contains spices, these are used to flavor food with common mild flavorings +Action: No inherent action unless acted upon, normally shaken to maximize the amount of seasoning added to the dish in question +Properties: palmable, makes a noise when you shake them, light, small, easy to manipulate, easy to refill if needed +Location: The table in front of me, it doesn't make sense for these food containers to be elsewhere +Association: togetherness, memories of Blues Clues having the salt and pepper characters married, my mother collecting salt and pepper shakers + +### Plate in front of me + +Group: thing +Use: holds food as a staging area for being eaten +Action: no inherent action, but can break into shards that can cut badly +Properties: ceramic, white, flat, circular +Location: the table in front of me, the kitchen dishwasher, staging for waitstaff +Association: food is coming, but patience is required + +--- + +If you want to really train paracosm immersion, I suggest doing at least one of these full descriptions per day. Doing more will help you progress "faster" (if that is what you desire for whatever reason). Don't overstimulate or overwhelm yourself. It can be intense the first few times, but it gets easier over time. I personally do them before I go to sleep or just after I wake up, I have found those times are the most free and it is easiest to make myself alone during them. Learning how to do this in public or around other people may be desirable based on the circumstances of your life situation. Be smart, don't do this when you are otherwise distracted or busy. + +I would suggest setting calendar reminders for doing it at least once a day, depending on when fits best into your daily schedule. Remember that if a machine remembers it for you, you don't forget to do it (as easily) because the machine reminds you about it. Be sure to set your calendar reminder to trigger after nightly do-not-disturb mode if relevant. + +Don't be afraid to use tools like a meditation timer to limit your sessions doing this, especially if you are feeling like you need to 'get back', are 'missing out' or neglecting external duties. If you are using a calendar app to schedule the time, then set your meditation timer for the length of the event. Thirty minutes is a good place to start with, but adjust this number as things change for you. + +I hope this can help. Take the numbers and sense ordering as suggestions and please do experiment around with what sense gets at least how many entries. Play around with this, it is your imaginary world after all. I suggest doing semantic feature analysis on at least three items per visualization session. If you need a place to blog about it, I suggest [write.as](https://write.as). If you have questions, feel free to contact me on Discord (@Cadey~#1337) and ask away. I'm happy to help when I can. + +Be well, Creator. diff --git a/site/within/guides/practical-kasmakfa.md b/site/within/guides/practical-kasmakfa.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ac812c1 --- /dev/null +++ b/site/within/guides/practical-kasmakfa.md @@ -0,0 +1,70 @@ +# Practical Kasmakfa + +From Within + +## tl;dr + +- Do not blindly believe the views others hold just because others hold them without questioning why +- Try lots of things (even if you might be against them at first) and see what works +- Do more of what works +- Help others when it makes sense to +- Love the life you are given, even when you hate it + +## No Blind Faith + +It is a sad thing in my opinion that people will blindly believe in things just because other people do. People will adopt their core views as they do and then never question or change them, even when those views come into direct conflict with information or experiences they are having. This is frustrating to watch externally and internally. We don't need to do this, so I propose that we don't have any blind faith in anything. To quote the Principia Discordia: "It is my firm belief that it is a mistake to hold firm beliefs". + +Question the reason behind beliefs. Don't just blindly repeat things without rationale. Don't take any string of text on a screen more seriously just because it's on a screen. Even this string of text. Don't takethis seriously unless it helps you. Don't get scammed by energy healing teachers and books. Seriously, there's so many scams out there it breaks my heart. Any price for entry is too high. + +## Try Many Things, Do What Works + +Chaos Magick [1] differs from other forms of magical practice in that the core of it is that the belief of the practitioner is what is truly doing anything. In the Chaos Magick view, there is no ultimate truth. It could all be spiritual, it could be a psychological truth, the point is it doesn't matter. A chaos magician can be realist, nihilist, psychologist, any of it. It doesn't matter. + +You know what, screw it, let's make four piles of things you can absorb information from. Let's call them the "inbox" "working" and "i don't get it", and "meh". The "inbox" is the default dumping ground of new ideas, methods, philosophies and tools. When you feel bored, pull something off the top of the inbox and then take a look through it. Make a glossary of common terms and acronyms. + +Now, when you get to a method, skill or some kind of obviously repeatable thing, try it. Take it at face value for a moment and just try it in the context of its system. If it works, take that information, paste or whatever and put it in your "working" folder. Put the rest in "I don't get it" or "meh" depending on your reactions to trying the things. + +## Do More of What Works + +When you find something that works, great! This is a signal that you should probably do more of it, depending on the nature of the thing working or the nature of the thing in general. If it's some kind of breathing technique, try and make it your default (I personally have very deep breaths as my default, people that I work with comment on that frequently) and see how it helps you. If it's a method of thinking, try adopting it in parallel to your default. + +## Help Others When it Makes Sense + +We're all pretty much as lost as anyone else in this stuff, to be honest. Recognize this. Embrace it, even. Other people are gonna be confused about things and may require additional guidance or explanation. Take this time to learn how to explain, summarize, and all of that better for the people you are helping and yourself. + +We're all in this together. Try and brighten the path when possible. You individually may not be able to do much, but the next step will be just that little bit more clearer for the next person who walks down it. + +> Flow in compassion +> Release what is divine +> Like cells awakening +> We spark the others who walk beside us. +> We brighten the path. + +> Flow in compassion +> In doing this we are one being +> Calling the rays of light +> To descend on all. +> We brighten the path. + +> Flow in compassion +> Bring the healing of your deepest self +> Giving what is endless +> To those who believe their end is in sight. +> We brighten the path. +> We brighten the path. + +- Flow in Compassion - James + +## Love Your Life + +You may look at this heading and be like "dude, wtf? My life is a mess, I have $PROBLEMS though". The truth is that the problems are just transient. Even the ones that you think are "permanent". + +Forgiving the past for not happening as you'd expect it to is a very good idea if your ideology allows for it. + +## Pronunciation + +kas mak fa +/kas mak fa/ + +[Explanation of the name](https://la-lojban.github.io/sutysisku/en/#sisku/kalsa_makfa). + diff --git a/site/within/guides/switching.md b/site/within/guides/switching.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4fe2799 --- /dev/null +++ b/site/within/guides/switching.md @@ -0,0 +1,44 @@ +# Switching + +From Within + +Switching. The big thing a lot of people strive for but (seemingly) few seem to actually master. This skill has personally taken me five years to get down, but the overall technique is easy enough that just about anyone should be able to get it down with some doing. + +Most of the time in any given system, there is one person who is actively calling most of the shots at any given time, and usually has primary control of the body. Switching is when you change out who is calling the shots. At a high level it is not controlling the body, not interfering with the tulpa possessing the body, and then just not reacting to input from the body unless you want to. The body is a tool, switching lets you change who is using it the most directly. Some other definitions of "switching" include arcane requirements, but I prefer a much more simplified view in order to make it seem less "difficult". + +## Pre-requisites + +None of these are hard requirements (except possession), but they help. A lot. + +* Meditation skills + * http://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/Art-of-Living.pdf is a nice resource for this, it’s pretty heavily Buddhist-flavored though. +* Some level of parallel processing + * Quick and dirty way to train this is to have your tulpa guide meditation sessions +* Possession + * See for a guide on how to do this https://tulpaforce.tk/within/guides/dissociation.html +* Trust in the systemmate you are switching with + * Switching is about handing over complete responsibility to the systemmate you are switching with. Anything you can do right now, they would be able to do. Absolute trust is essential. + +Additionally, you will need to be willing to let go (in a way you will have never let go before in your life) of control to the systemmate you are switching with. This is not a hard requirement, but do realize that if they want to do something, they can do it and you need to be able to trust them to not do irresponsible things with your money, etc. + +## How to Switch + +For the host: first, relax, meditate, focus on your meditative focus. Focus on the focus more intensely than you are used to. Next (if it helps), explicitly state in mindvoice (and maybe vocally too if you can) that you are surrendering the body to the tulpa that you want to give it to. If it helps, dissociate from the body, but continue to just focus all of your attention into your meditative focus. Use the attention you were using to focus on the body to focus on your meditative focus, sort of transferring the focus up. + +Your goal from here is to just hang out, observe and note what happens without comment as much as possible. + +The real fun comes for your tulpa. Tulpa, take a moment to think about what you want to do with the body and keep the goal in mind. Then, affirm to yourself in mindvoice that you want to use the body to do that thing. Ask your host if they are ready, and then start to possess the body. Push yourself into it as hard as you can as your host pulls themself out. + +Sometimes this can make the host freak out, so if this happens slow down, backpace a little and ask them what you can do to help. If what they say seems reasonable, do it. If this means stopping for now then stop for now. If this means getting into another position, do it. + +Once you feel you have control, Start moving things and see if your host tries to subconsciously jump back into control. When they do, remind them of their meditative focus and help them fall back into meditation. Don’t get frustrated when your host falters, it’s natural for them to be used to being in control. It's a hell of a habit. Especially don’t let your host jumping back into front prevent you from trying. Once you feel you can start moving the body enough to get up and walk around, go explore. Control the body like nothing’s wrong. + +Host, now, in the background, take a load off. You don’t need to do anything, so don’t feel forced to. You don’t even have to answer questions if you don’t want to. + +If you need to, you can regain control at literally any time you want. The only thing you have to do is want control back and you will quickly find yourself back inside reality. However, this is no replacement for trust. Having a wholly complete trust in the tulpa you are switching with is vital. Don’t be afraid to lose consciousness in the background if you feel like it’s starting to happen. Your tulpa will take care of reality for you. + +## Other notes for the tulpa switching into the body + +This is mostly on you. Your overall goal here is to extend your influence over the body and help calm your host. Control the body like nothing is wrong. If your host intervenes with you while you are doing things, re-sync yourself to the body, affirm yourself in front and then continue with what you were doing like nothing happened. If it happens a few times in a short period of time, spend some more time with your host, talk about the things that are making them hold on to reality so tightly. + +Keep a log of your switching practice and anything you find out while switching or getting close to it. Have the tulpa that is switching into front keep the log updated. See http://tulpaforce.xyz/within/guides/switch-tracking.html for more information. diff --git a/site/within/guides/when-then-zen-anapana.md b/site/within/guides/when-then-zen-anapana.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5fb584d --- /dev/null +++ b/site/within/guides/when-then-zen-anapana.md @@ -0,0 +1,223 @@ +# When Then Zen: Anapana + +From Within + +## Introduction + +Anapanasati (Pali: Sanskirt: anapanasmrti, English: mindfulness of breathing) is a form of meditation originally taught by Gautama Buddha in several places, mainly the Anapanasati Sutta (English: passages). Anapana is practiced globally by meditators of all skill levels. + +Simply put, anapana is the act of focusing on the sensations of breath in the body's nasal cavity and nostrils. Some practices will focus on the sensations in the belly instead (this is why there's fat buddha statues), but personally I find that the sensations of breath in the nostrils are a lot easier to focus on. + +The method presented in this article is based on the method taught in The Art Of Living by William Hart and S.N. Goenka. If you want a copy of this book you can get one here: http://www.cicp.org.kh/userfiles/file/Publications/Art%20of%20Living%20in%20English.pdf. Please do keep in mind that this book definitely leans towards the Buddhist lens and as it is presented the teaching methods really benefit from it. Also keep in mind that this PDF prevents copying and duplication. + +Note: "the body" means the sack of meat and bone that you are currently living inside. For the purposes of explanation of this technique, please consider what makes you yourself separate from the body you live in. + +This article is a more verbose version of [the correlating feature from when-then-zen](https://github.com/Xe/when-then-zen/blob/master/meditation/anapana.feature). + +## Background Assumptions of Reader + + Given no assumption about meditation background + And a willingness to learn + And no significant problems with breathing through the body's nose + And the body is seated or laying down comfortably + And no music is playing + +### Given no assumption about meditation background + +The When Then Zen project aims to describe the finer points of meditative concepts in plain English. As such, we start assuming just about nothing and build fractally on top of concepts derived from common or plain English usage of the terms. Some of these techniques may be easier for people with a more intensive meditative background, but try things and see what works best for you. Meditation in general works a lot better when you have a curious and playful attitude about figuring things out. + +I'm not perfect. I don't know what will work best for you. A lot of this is documenting both my practice and what parts of what books helped me "get it". If this works for you, [please let me know](https://christine.website/contact). If this doesn't work for you, [please let me know](https://christine.website/contact). I will use this information for making direct improvements to these documents. + +As for your practice, twist the rules into circles and scrape out the parts that don't work if it helps you. Find out how to integrate it into your life in the best manner and go with it. + +For now, we start from square one. + +### And a willingness to learn + +At some level, you are going to need to be willing to actually [walk the path](https://write.as/mya249cn84nosg9r). This can be scary, but that's okay as long as you're willing to acknowledge it and not let it control you. + +If you run into some dark stuff doing this, please consult a therapist as usual. Just know that you don't walk this path alone, even when it feels like you must be. + +### And no significant problems with breathing through the body's nose + +Given that we are going to be mainly focusing on the nasal reactions to breathing, that path being obstructed is not gonna result in a very good time. If this is obstructed for you, attempt to clear it up, or just use the mouth, or a different technique entirely. It's okay for anapana to not always work. It's not a universal hammer. + +### And the body is seated or laying down comfortably + +Some people will assert that the correct pose or posture is critical for this, but it's ultimately only as important as the meditator believes it is. Some people have gotten the association somehow that the meditation posture helps with things. Ultimately, it's suggested to start meditation sitting upright or in a chair as it can be easier for you to fall asleep while doing meditative practice for the first few times. This is a side effect of the brain not being used to the alternative state of consciousness, so it falls back on the "default" action; this puts the body, and you, to sleep. + +### And no music is playing + +You should break this rule as soon as possible to know if it's best to ignore it. Some people find music helps; I find it can be a distraction depending on the music track in question. Some meditation sessions will need background music and some won't. That's okay. + +## Scenario: Mindfulness of Breathing + + As a meditator + In order to be mindful of the body's breath + When I inhale or exhale through the body's nose + Then I focus on the sensations of breath + Then I focus on the feelings of breath through the nasal cavity + Then I focus on the feelings of breath interacting with the nostrils + Then I repeat until done + +### As a meditator + +This is for you to help understand a process you do internally, to yourself. + +### In order to be mindful of the body's breath + +It is useful in the practice to state the goal of the session when leading into it. You can use something like "I am doing this mindfulness of breathing for the benefit of myself" or replace it with any other affirmation as you see fit. + +### When I inhale or exhale through the body's nose + +You can use the mouth for this. Doing it all via the mouth requires the mouth to stay open (which can result in dry mouth) or constantly move (which some people find makes it harder to get into flow). Nasal breaths allow for you to sit there motionless yet still continue breathing like nothing happened. If this doesn't work for you, breathe through your mouth. + +### Then I focus on the sensations of breath + +There are a lot of very subtle sensations related to breathing that people don't take the time to truly appreciate or understand. These are mostly fleeting sensations, thankfully, so you really have to feel into them, listen for them or whatever satisfies your explanation craving. + +Listen in to the feeling of the little part of cartilage between nostrils whistling slightly as you breathe all the way in at a constant rate over three seconds. It's a very very subtle sound, but once you find it you know it. + +### Then I focus on the feelings of breath through the nasal cavity + +The sound of breath echoes slightly though the nasal cavity during all phases of it that have air moving. Try and see if you can feel these echoes separate from the whistling of the cartilage; bonus points if you can do both at the same time. Feel the air as it passes parts of the nasal cavity as your sinuses gently warm it up. + +### Then I focus on the feelings of breath interacting with the nostrils + +The nostrils act as a curious kind of rate limiter for how much we can breathe in and out at once. Breathe in harder and they contract. Breathe out harder and they expand. With some noticing, you can easily feel almost the exact angle at which your nostrils are bent due to your breathing, even though you can't see them directly due to the fact they are out of focus of our line of sight. + +Isn't it fascinating how many little sensations of the body exist that we continuously ignore? + +## Scenario: Attention Drifts Away From Mindfulness of Breathing + + As a meditator + In order to bring my attention back to the sensations of breathing + Given I am currently mindful of the body's breath + When my attention drifts away from the sensations of breathing + Then I bring my attention back to the sensations of breathing + +### In order to bring my attention back to the sensations of breathing + +When this happens, it is going to feel very tempting to just give up and quit. This is normal. Fear makes you worry you're doing it wrong, so out of respect of the skill you may want to just "not try until later". + +Don't. This is a doubt that means something *has been happening*. Doubt is a sick kind of indicator that something is going on at a low level that would cause the vague feelings of doubt to surface. When it's related to meditative topics, that usually means you're on the right track. This is why you should try and break through that doubt even harder if you can. Sometimes you can't, and that's okay too. + +### Given I am currently mindful of the body's breath + +This is your usual scenario during the mindfulness practice. You will likely come to deeply appreciate it. + +### When my attention drifts away from the sensations of breathing + +One of the biggest problems I have had personally is knowing when I have strayed from the path of the meditation, it was hard for a time to keep myself in the deep trance of meditation and keeping detached awareness of my thoughts. My thoughts are very active a lot of the time. There are a lot of distractions, yet it's hard to maintain focus on them sometimes. + +One of the biggest changes I have made that has helped this has been to have a dedicated "meditation spot". As much as possible, I try to do meditative work while in that spot instead of my main office or bed. This solidifies the habit, and grows the association between the spot and meditative states. + +### Then I bring my attention back to the sensations of breathing + +This, right here, is the true core of this exercise. The sensations of breathing are really just something to distract yourself with. It's a fairly calming thing anyways, but at some level it's really just a distraction. It's a fairly predictable set of outputs and inputs. Some sessions will feel brand new, some will feel like old news. + +Meditation is sitting there only letting yourself think if you truly let yourself. Mindfulness is putting yourself back on track, into alignment, etc., over and over until it happens on its own. If you get distracted once every 30 seconds for a 5 minute session, you will have brought yourself back to focus ten times. Each time you bring yourself back to focus is a joy to feel at some level. + +## Scenario: mindfulness of unconscious breathing + + As a meditator + In order to practice anapana without breathing manually + When I stop breathing manually + Then the body will start breathing for me after a moment or two + Then I continue mindfulness of the sensations of breathing without controlling the breath + +### In order to practice anapana without breathing manually + +While observing the body's unconscious breath, you start entering into what meditation people call the "observer stance". It is this sort of neutral feeling where things are just happening, and you just see what happens. There is usually a feeling of peacefulness or equanimity for me, but usually when I start doing this I radiate feelings of compassion, understanding and valor. + +Keep in mind that doing this may have some interesting reactions, just let them pass like all the others. + +### When I stop breathing manually + +You gotta literally just cut off breath. It needs to stop. You have to literally stop breathing and refuse to until the body takes over and yanks the controls away from you. + +### Then the body will start breathing for me after a moment or two + +There's a definite shift when the body takes over. It will sharply inhale, hold for a moment and then calmly exhale. Then it will breathe very quietly only as needed. + +### Then I continue mindfulness of the sensations of breathing without controlling the breath + +The body does not breathe very intensely. It will breathe calmly and slowly, unless another breathing style is mandatory. The insides of the nostrils moving from the air pressure is a still a noticeable sensation of breathing while the body is doing it near silently, so you can hang onto that. + +## Scenario Outline: meditation session + + As a meditator + In order to meditate for