What I've learned about transformation design thus far #35

What happens in the brain during transcendent states?

Recent research, much of it conducted with psychedelics but also with meditation and other practices, has begun to answer this question. The findings converge on a striking conclusion: transcendent experiences correlate with reduced activity in the brain’s default mode network. The system that is associated with self-referential thinking, with the ongoing narrative of “me.”

When the default mode network quiets, the usual sense of self loosens. The brain’s habitual patterns of self-construction ease. What remains is consciousness itself, awareness without its usual boundaries, experience without the experiencer.

This is the brain operating differently. Practitioners of deep meditation show similar patterns: reduced default mode network activity, increased connectivity between brain regions that normally operate separately, a signature that correlates with their reports of expanded awareness.