Mind Your Tulpa
The Tulpa is a a Tibetan concept of a thought form brought into reality via will and focus. It is the literal manifestations of what a person focuses their will, time, thoughts, and energy into. This is an interesting concept that got used in a favorite show of mine Supernatural. In the show the main characters are trying to get rid of a spirit in a house that keeps changing its attack patterns and seems not to be weak against any of their usual methods. Then they find the symbol of the Tulpa painted on the wall and realize its no spirit at all. So the only way they would be able to kill it is to change the narrative that people are reading about it to give it the weaknesses they want.
This is a very interesting story to use as a tool for the current political climate and really any fears we face in life in general. What we focus on will become our reality. We can see this in the medical world with all the various aliments that stress and fear can mimic. We can literally will ourselves sick if we focus on thing long and hard enough So we should be aware that how we look at things, what fears and thoughts we focus on can all have a massive impact on our health and the world at large.
There are even many quotes by Jedi of the fictional universe that hold this fact to be true:
Qui-Gon: "Keep your concentration here and now where it belongs." Obi-Wan: "Master Yoda says I should be mindful of the future." Qui-Gon: "But not at the expense of the moment”
Yoda: "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to Anger. Anger leads to Hate. Hate leads to suffering."
Obi-Wan Kenobi: Be mindful of your thoughts, Anakin, they betray you.
Obi-Wan: Luke, you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.
So as we can see how we view the world will create the reality in which we live. If we see things through a negative lens. If we refuse to listen to, talk to, or give compassion to those with philisophical, ideological or moral differences then us, it becomes easy to demonize them. It becomes easy to see them as an enemy not worthy of basic civility and protections. This mentality has lead to some of the most horrid acts in history and we must guard against it not only for those around us but for our own sanity.
But we dont only have to worry about how our view impacts others. It can as we already said impact our own health. To live in fear,anger, or pain is something that has well known and documented negative health effects. We must let go of these poisons before they take root or they can rot you from the inside out tainting your entire view to see the world as worse then it is. We can miss the wonders of technology and the good people around is in a maelstrom of fears be they founded or not.
To center on them and let them cloud our vision will do us no good. We often cannot change that we fear things or how we fear got into place. But what we can do is seek to be a beacon of reason, peace, understanding, and kindness in our own worlds. We can make the lives and environment around us a better place for our having been there.
That way we do not let the world we fear come to pass. But what we cannot do is get there by demonizing those that do not think like us. Fighting hate with hate rarely ever works. Ideas cannot be killed with force. But they can be killed with kindness and reason. I did not come to the Temple a peaceful and reasonable person. But the kindness and reason and patience I got from a few here has tempered my emotions and caused me to seek a gentler path whenever possible.
So my fellow Jedi mind the Tulpa you create in your own lives. Because such a thing can work for you or it can betray you.
May the living Force guide us as we seek to better the world through our own self improvement and mindfulness.
