Salon Research Series: "Tulpa"

Salons, hosted by CSC's CIRCL: Contemplative Innovation + Research Co-Lab, are monthly open dialogues on cutting-edge research related to contemplation and flourishing with UVA and local community members in the Contemplative Commons. Centered on a single word, these gatherings bring together scholars, scientists, and practitioners from diverse perspectives to exchange ideas, generate knowledge, and seek solutions to global challenges. Find more Salons here.

Join us for "Tulpa" presented by Michael Lifshitz, PhD.

 

Tulpamancy is the practice of training the imagination to create invisible mental companions called “tulpas.” Inspired by the illusory form practices of Tibetan Buddhist dream yoga, a secular form of tulpamancy has been gaining popularity over the last decade. Practitioners report that, with time and training, their tulpa comes to feel like an autonomous agent sharing the private space of their mind, and even to develop its own parallel stream of subjectivity. In this salon, I will describe findings from a study exploring the phenomenology and neurocognitive mechanisms of tulpamancy. I will argue that similar processes play a role in religious practices, such as prayer, in which practitioners cultivate relationships with invisible gods and spirits. The practice of tulpamancy suggests that even secular, skeptical people can learn to develop vivid, sensory relationships with immaterial others. Practice, not belief, seems to be the key to enchanting the world with invisible presence.