HW#6: Tulpa Effect



The Slender Man, todays presumed
greatest thoughtform

 The mind is a great thing to have, I was always raised to believe if you put your mind forward, you may accomplish anything. And in reality, this quote is true. Scientific study shows that those who walk on fire are able to set their minds to focus on less of the pain. Martial arts students are trained to resist pain. I grew up watching Tibeten monks and martial arts trainees supress the blow of a 10-12 inch wooden plank to their abdomen. So what does the mind have anything to do with the Slender myth you may ask. Well, it's simply, after a month of research I found that Slender man is indeed a deeper figure then we imagine, infact, he probably is simply just...an imagination. From my research, I came accross an article relating Slender to what they call a Tulpa Effect. Which now begs the question in my mind, what is the Tulpa Effect?

Upon my research I came accross an article intitled Tulpa: A Physical Reality or Hallucination? (Kelly Fylln, 2011)
According to the article, the Tulpa Effect or in this case is a thoughtform, or being created from the collective thoughts of separate individuals. Common concept of this was used in research in Tibet during the 1920’s (Evans-Wentz – Tibetan Book of the Dead, 1927) under the category of mysticism. Tulpas are theoretical in nature, although some semi-scientific research and studies were conducted in the area between 1960-1980. The Tulpa Effect is the name given to the unintentional creation of a tulpa based (physical form) on collective belief of a being with similar traits. Its relation to Slender theorizes the belief and creation of Slender.



The Tibetan Book of the Dead
(Written by Evans Wentz, 1927)



Evans Wentz (Tibet, 1927)

 Imagine the possibilities of turning a thought into a physical, living being; a vampire created in the mind becomes a physical reality. This may seem absurd, yet the concept, named 'tulpa', is not new and the word cannot be found in an English dictionary. According to Wikipedia, a tulpa is, "in Tibetan mysticism, a being or object which is created through willpower, visualization, attention and focus, concerted intentionality and ritual. In other words, it is a materialized thought that has taken physical form". One idea, shared by some in the paranormal community, is that creatures such as the Loch Ness monster and Bigfoot are tulpas, created by the strong belief of many that these creatures do exist in physical form.

~ (Kelly Fylln, 2011) 

So according to the findings, the power of thought and imagination by an individuals subconscious can create a figure that to the person is made reality. Which begs another question, if the Tulpa Effect is just our thoughts represented and made into a figure of fear, does that mean Slender and all figures of myths are simply just? Do they exsist because me make them exsist? Answer to that is yes and no. They exsist because they are out there, not as a tall man with a blank face and long arms, or an ape-like creature with large feet, they exsist all around us as individuals much like my self. We made them into how we see them, how we portray them and thus manifest them to society.

Now at this point, How does the Tulpa relate with Slender? We have confirmed that Tulpa is a great contribution to Slenders mythology. This highly backs-up my hypothesis on Slender being a manifestation of coomon fears. Thoughts of fears circulate the minds who portray their own Slender but in the end the Slender is portrayed the same. The same way can be done with those who use Audio recordings in finding paranormal ghost encounters. When the recorded sound is played back and an out of the ordinary sound is found, one simply power-of-suggestion can create a sentence or a word. This is also applied to the Slender myth thus the Tulpa Effect.

With that said, I believe that the Tulpa Effect is the basis and a main back-bone to Slenders legend. As long as the imaginations of the people are alive, so will the Slender myth. We may not know the precise origins to the Slender myth, but we perhaps are the cause for his exsistance in our society.

So the next fearful figure to come, please, let us think wisely on our thoughts.