Melanie Boly, a neurologist and neuroscientist at the Medical School of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, is painstakingly collecting EEG data from long-term Buddhist meditators during a state known as pure presence, an experience with no self, no discursive thoughts, and no perceptual content except for a luminous expanse, an empty mirror.

Between intrinsic and extrinsic existence passes the most fundamental of all divides: the Great Divide of Being. This is the unbridgeable chasm between what exists in an absolute sense, in and of itself—namely conscious, intrinsic entities—and what exists only in a lesser sense, for others.

Once this Great Divide of Being, between existence for

Recent research discovered a startling facet of life—brief periods during which consciousness is absent while the body carries on its well-rehearsed duties: driving, doing the dishes, or reading a long and uninspiring office memo. To an observer, everything looks normal while the subject is, in fact, zoned out. During these episodes of mind

Common to many transformative experiences is the dissolution of the self, including loss of ego and the body it is chained to.

When I dream, I exist for myself, although without any insight into my condition, as the "self" is muted during dreaming. When transitioning into a deep, dreamless sleep, I cross the Great Divide of Being. My consciousness ceases to exist. Likewise when I become comatose following a stroke or accident. I am still alive, albeit on life support, but

Experiences that fundamentally change the way we see the world provide clues about consciousness. I learned that the experience of self is optional. Even the feeling of having a body is not necessary for subjectivity. Transformative experiences are deeply personal and can profoundly impact lives. They are living proof that nervous tissue, under

Another consistent finding is a slight increase in the complexity of EEG and MEG signals during the psychedelic experience. It is not clear whether this is a consequence of enhanced causal interactions within the neocortex or more chaotic activity.

These observations refute the myth that consciousness simply arises from neurons doing their thing. Here are billions of cerebellar cells doing what comes naturally to them, firing action potentials and releasing little squirts of neurotransmitter, yet without any feelings. What matters is not the constitution of brain tissue but the way it is

The fourth axiom is exclusion. It states that every experience is definite. It has the content it has, neither less nor more. It could not be otherwise. Consider that you don't see outside the border of visual space. It is not part of your visual experience. It is neither grey nor black. Rather, it simply does not exist. Or consider experiencing "a