A look at Tibetan Tulpas and the creation of soul-less entities...conscious thought forms.
Whether ghosts exist or not is a debate that has waged for thousands of years with most skeptics believing that ghosts are a figment of the imagination. They believe that people create ghosts through fear, superstition, and the like. Yet, for those who have had experiences with ghosts, they are left with an indelible imprint on their lives. To them, ghosts are real, maybe even a natural part of our world.
The idea that we can create ghosts is intriguing and something we should explore further. Is there such a thing as consciously being able to create ghosts, using the power of the human mind? Believe it or not, there is basis behind this idea.
Tibet's Tulpas
Tulpas, in Tibetan mysticism, is a manifestation of mental energy. It is taught that a tulpa may be endowed with enough vitality that it is able to become its own being, even capable of freeing itself from its creator's control. In Tibet, magicians are said to use such created entities to carry out tasks. They act as a semi-conscious puppet under the control of the adept conjurer.
Creating Thought Forms That Are "Alive"
The creation of conscious thought-forms are said to be possible through the use of meditation, even ritual. Using intense concentration, it is taught that eventually the tulpa can be formed. Do we unwittingly create conscious life-forms through the power of our mind? If so, then what happens when our mind is fearful? Do we create illusionary monsters through our thoughts? Tulpas are believed to dissipate when the magician, who created it, dies. Might our own creations haunt us, too, until we either change our thinking or pass on beyond the physical world? Could some ghosts be the creations of the fearing mind?
There is no doubt that we have the ability to create. The power of the mind is quite capable of creating imaginary scenarios, even playmates. Could we really be creating more than just thoughts and ideas in our heads? Can thoughts manifest as something tangible that can be seen, heard, even felt? Tulpas are sometimes said to begin to haunt their creators, turning their lives into a nightmare. It is certainly possible that the ghost is a hallucination. But then, how would we explain that others have also seen these mentally-created ghosts, too?
If our thoughts have the ability to create, what happens to our thoughts, anyway? Annie Besant and C.W. Leadbeater wrote a book entitled, Thought Forms. They interestingly share that our thoughts are a radiating vibration and become a floating form. The book claims our thoughts can take on the image of the thinker, an object, or its own form altogether. Their ideas seem to validate the Tibetan tulpas.
Create a Ghost Experiment
In the 1970s, the Toronto Society for Psychical Research (TSPR) conducted an experiment in order to see if people can create ghosts. “Philip” was formed by eight people with psychic abilities. They created ghost Philip by first writing out his biography. They included quite a lot of detail about him, such as he was English, from the 1600s, Catholic, married to a lady named Dorothea, had an affair, died tragically, etc. An artist even sketched a portrait of Philip to give a face to the name. The group meditated for a year on Philip, talked about him, and visualized his presence with them. Then, they created a seance-like environment and tried to contact Philip. During their first attempt, they received a knock on the table. The ghost they created soon began answering questions by rapping on the table. Philip the ghost became his own person with distinct personality traits, likes, and dislikes. Philip even could move the table and dim the lights! Sounds similar to tulpas.
The story of Philip was fully documented and detailed. His connection with the group's consciousness was evident in his responses. Philip's answers to questions were always something that people in the group had knowledge of. In other words, the group could not learn anything new from the ghost they had created. Other attempts to create ghosts by TSPR, as well as other psychical research groups, also proved successful. Experimenters found similar results as the experiment with Philip, demonstrating that we can create ghosts. Of course, this is not to say all ghosts are created by the power of the human mind. It does, however, provide food for thought and shows that paranormal experiences are in fact genuine.