Parallel Processing and Switching
by BlackStatic and Kaigan Kurone
Introduction
Hi, everyone. My name is Ayla "BlackStatic" Kurone, the host and creator of my tulpa Kaigan Kurone. While I'm new to the names tulpaforcing, possession, imposition, wonderlands etcetera, I have managed to unintentionally create Kai about six to seven years ago and form a completely sentient thought form whom happily shares his life experiences with me. Since discovering tulpa.info, I have created three more tulpae; Liana, Vincent and Spencer. However, this guide will focus on the experiences of Kaigan and I.
Kaigan and I have shared conciousness through the use of Parallel Processing, which I have briefly covered in The Tulpa.info community knowledge bin on Google Docs. However, the method we will focus on here is Switching what happens during a switch, how it affects the host, and how to do a personality switch while trusting your tulpa not to make you do anything stupid during the process (Kai and I have had our slip ups from time to time, haha.)
What is Switching?
"In the general sense, switching is kind of like being possessed or having an out of body experience the host and the tulpa "switch places" so to speak, with the tulpa being able to control the body while the host watches from the sidelines. In Parallel, you and the host are both concious and aware of what's going on at the same time."
- Kaigan Kurone
What Does Switching Feel Like?
Following on from what Kaigan said, being switched feels a little like lucid dreaming, from a host sense. You're not quite "there" and, like in a dream, some of your senses are either dulled or heightened. My sense of touch usually becomes fuzzy, with my eyesight or sense of hearing making up for inability to smell. Anyone who has had experience with dopamines or marijuana highs will know this sensation. Sometimes, during a switch or parallel processing, Kaigan will cause me to sneeze uncontrollably as he tries to work out how to control my physical body.
In Parallel Processing, the effects on your subconscious and mind's eye share similarities to Personality Switching. The mind of the host begins to see and experience the world in the same way a tulpa would, watching the world from the background while the tulpa's thoughts, actions and sentience are the body's current priority. The host will feel like the body belongs to the tulpa rather than themselves, and this can be an unsettling situation at first being able to hear your tulpa's thoughts as if they were your own, and having to communicate to your tulpa as the minority entity. But with time and practice, the ability to switch conciousness between you and your tulpa will eventually become second nature.
Trust, Focus and Sense
Trust
"When you first decide to create a tulpa, you have to trust them and they have to trust you. You guys are gonna become friends for life, or mortal enemies, depending on how you trust each other. Remember this guys; TULPA MEANS TRUST."
- Kaigan
You also have to trust yourself. You might not think anything is happening at first, or that it's all a waste of time. Without trust, the confidence required to achieve switching flies out the window. Things will be difficult at first, as this act of viewing the world from outside of your body can be a strange new experience. Not everyone can achieve this on their first try, so persistence is necessary for best results.
Focus
Any form of mental training, be it meditation or simply learning a new language, involves focusing your attention for long periods of time. This is why we suggest that when first practising switching, it is a good idea to start in a quiet environment with minimal distraction, and at a time when you are less likely to lose concentration e.g. sleep deprived, thinking about that overdue homework etc. Some people may prefer to work with music or binaural tones playing to avoid distraction, but Kaigan and I find that music or outside noises will more than often interfere with our switching.
Sense
Focus and Sense go hand in hand. Your ability to sense your own thought patterns and when you experience new or unusual emotions is a vital part to understanding switching and parallel processing; the way you or your tulpa reacts to a certain emotion or event can be different depending on their personality or view of their (your) environment. Sense is a common part of tulpaforcing in general, as it allows for the host to perceive and observe their tulpa as it interacts with them. The stronger and more unique these reactions can be, the more sentient and independent your tulpa is. If you're beginning to doubt your senses, or if something begins to feel uncomfortable, remember that you and your tulpa have to trust one another and communicate your fears and doubts else anything feels wrong.
The Process of Switching
Once you have understood the concepts of Trust, Focus and Sense, you can apply them to the actual switch itself. Find a time and place where you can sit comfortably so that you are unlikely to be disturbed or distracted. It is generally a good idea to be sitting up with your back straight; if you choose to lie down when switching you may end up falling asleep. Like mentioned in the Focus step, music can either help or interfere with your ability to stay awake during general tulpaforcing.
Try to imagine your thoughts and emotions like bubbles or smoke. You can do this via the wonderland or simply through reminding yourself periodically. Keep yourself aware of every thought your mind has; however, don't try to follow that thought or get stuck chasing that one bubble! This leads to distraction! Remember that you want to keep your mind clear and that your thoughts should drift, just like bubbles. That way, when your tulpa tries to communicate with you, your sense of their mindvoice or actions will be easier to notice.
Kai: Some advice for the tulpa now while they are detached from their thought bubbles, try to narrate your own thoughts to your host. Is it cold in the room? Are you hungry for chocolate covered nachos? Can you try to move your host's hand or get them to sneeze spontaneously? Practice some possession while your host is watching these bubbles, and see if they can begin to recognise any thought processes or behaviours that seem to belong to your sentience rather than theirs. If you and your host can think and sense with the body at the same time, then you've managed to achieve parallel processing!
Once your host is content enough, you can communicate with them that you want to try and switch. This may be approached in various ways. One particular way I've seen this done is to "knock out" your host, sending them into forced unconciousness while you have control. However, I find this method a little... harsh, at times. If your host is knocked out against their will, then that's breaching our first step: TRUST. How can your host be sure they can trust you in a switch if you've beaten them over the head with a crowbar, so to speak?
For the host, if you are able to send yourself into a meditation-like state when switching this is essentially like training yourself to have an out of body experience. In some sense, you are telling another part of your subconcious mind to take over while "you" are floating off somewhere else, say, the wonderland for example. Wether you want to compare it to astral projection or the symptoms of a bipolar mood swing is up to you the key point here is that your conciousness is "in the background"; detatched from the body, in some "other place" while your tulpa is in control.
Remember those thought bubbles we were talking about? Extend the thought bubbles into sensory bubbles. Any form of touch, taste, smell or sight you are currently experiencing should be treated as yet another bubble, each rising up and leaving your body as you enter the switch. Imagine your tulpa absorbing these bubbles and shaping them into a way of piloting your body, taking in what was originally your own sentience and adapting it into their own.
Kai: for the more creative-minded tulpa, imagine the body as a suit made from these bubbles. When your host has removed this "consciousness suit", you simply get into it and wear their "skin" as your own. You can even treat it like a mecha, and you're now the one behind the controls.
The Switch: Before, During and After
One main thing to remember about switching in comparison to parallel processing or full possession is that you will have no control of your body essentially, your tulpa has knocked you out to take over your consciousness. Some hosts will experience the feeling of blacking out or going into a sleep-like state; this can mean you have no recollection of your memories while switched. This is why you have to trust your tulpa beforehand that they won't do anything stupid while switched.
Kai: You know, like, running in front of passing traffic. Probably a pretty bad idea.
This is why switching in public can have its precautions. It's recommended that any switching occurs when both the host and tulpa know for a fact that they can trust each other not to take advantage of the physical body while another mind is using it.
Painkillers and medications can also have their effects on switching. Paracetamol, Panadol and other pharmaceutical drugs are, to a degree, mind altering drugs and can affect the thought processes and sensory perception of the brain which can have its effects on switching and tulpaforcing. It is recommended that if anyone is to take a painkiller or any form of drug during switching, please be aware of the consequences and take any side effects into consideration.
Final Notes
With that being said, we bring this guide to a close. Our final notes are to remember the three steps discussed in this guide trust, focus and sense as these apply to all forms of tulpa interaction and serve as grounding rules for any switching or parallel processing you and your tulpa may attempt.
Please also remember that this is not the only guide or method to switching! There are many different ways to approach the tulpa phenomenon and anything that may happen in relation to your thought forms and minds eye; we are only providing what information we know has worked for us, and these methods may or may not work for you.
Thanks guys, and happy tulpaforcing!
- Ayla and Kaigan Kurone
http://tulpa.info
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulpa