In the words of William Blake: > “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern.”

In our daily existence, we engage with a limited perception of reality. Cognition demands considerable energy, leading our brains to adopt a low-power mode when navigating familiar environments. This state aligns with what Buzsáki describes as the good-enough brain, akin to Kahneman's system one, which prioritizes survival over a thorough understanding of truth, operating efficiently with minimal energy expenditure.

Blake’s reference to Plato’s cave allegory highlights our tendency to remain in a metaphorical cavern, disconnected from the enlightening transcendental realm of ideas, or, as Blake puts it, the Infinite.

The Bayesian brain hypothesis offers a framework for understanding cognition through a statistical lens defined by Bayes’ law. Every perceptual experience involves merging sensory information with a prior framework, shaped by Bayesian priors, and refined through posterior inference. The reliability of these priors is quantified by their precision.

According to Kant, our perceptions are filtered through an a priori perceptual structure, shaping how we interpret the world. This concept parallels Bayesian priors; our internal model of reality influences our perceptions, while the Ding an sich—or Thing in itself—remains beyond our comprehension.

Furthermore, the Bayesian brain hypothesis posits that our understanding of the world is organized into hierarchical Bayesian models. These models enable us to make predictions about future occurrences. Our everyday perception relies on pre-existing frameworks that help us interpret reality. As Terrence McKenna aptly noted, we navigate life adrift in context.

When there is a mismatch between our predictions and sensory input, prediction errors—weighted by the model's precision—are transmitted through our brain, refining our models incrementally. The magnitude of a prediction error correlates with its impact on our world model. For instance, a minor expectation, like anticipating a friend’s outfit, leads to a simple update. Conversely, a significant life change, such as a breakup, necessitates a profound reevaluation of one's outlook.

Our ignorance delineates the boundaries of our understanding; what lies within our model is known, while everything outside remains unknown. Given the vast complexities of the universe, our cognitive capacities cannot encompass all that exists.

This naturally results in a division between a structured, predictable reality and a chaotic unknown. Research into brain lateralization indicates that the left hemisphere focuses on abstract, organized representations, while the right hemisphere engages with the unique, chaotic, and unknown aspects of experience. This engagement with the unknown can evoke feelings of both fear and exhilaration, reflecting the dual nature of human beings as both order-seeking and explorative.

Ignorance can conserve energy by prioritizing essential knowledge, but this comes with risks. Confrontations with our ignorance can trigger exploration. When predictions collide with reality in significant ways, our right hemisphere connects us to the unknown. Blake suggests that evolution has isolated humanity from the Great Unknown at the edge of perception, yet we occasionally sense a transcendent reality beyond our cognitive models.

As C.C. Chang notes, > “The greater the doubt, the greater the awakening; the smaller the doubt, the smaller the awakening. No doubt, no awakening.”

In Zen Buddhism, a k?an serves to evoke great doubt, transcending rational thought and leading to Satori, or spontaneous enlightenment. In Bayesian terms, this can be seen as the result of significant prediction errors that prompt the brain to challenge its prior beliefs, fostering a state of cognition less tethered to established models.

As Jordan Peterson states, > “Error is the place where the transcendent reveals itself.”

Zen is just one of many spiritual traditions that pursue transcendent experiences as a means of exploration. Aldous Huxley famously titled his essay The Doors of Perception after Blake’s phrase, recounting his mescaline-induced experiences. Recent studies indicate that psychedelic substances consistently elicit transcendental experiences. Carl Friston and Robin Carhart-Harris have proposed the REBUS model (Relaxed Beliefs Under Psychedelics) to explain how these substances reduce the precision of high-level priors or beliefs, allowing for a more liberated cognitive state. This enables prediction errors to traverse freely within our brain, illuminating connections to an unknown reality.

The question remains: what do we experience when we encounter this transcendent reality?

In Bayesian terms, transcendent experiences occur when all priors are relaxed, allowing us to perceive the world devoid of preconceived notions, akin to a newborn's perspective. These experiences signify something difficult to grasp, often triggered by what resembles an error in our world model. Although challenging to articulate, they have captivated humanity for centuries.


Humanity has long endeavored to chart these elevated experiences, often interpreting them through spiritual, religious, and artistic lenses. Carl Jung suggested that metaphysical representations of the Divine reflect universal aspects of transcendent experiences, complicating the distinction between theological and scientific interpretations.

As Friedrich Hölderlin wrote: > “We are nothing; what we search for is everything.”

German idealist philosophers contended that it is the duty of genius to venture into unexplored transcendental realms and convey their essence through art, be it poetry, music, or painting. In contemplating artistic masterpieces, we may connect with this reality.

Art and metaphysics serve as remnants of our ongoing quest to understand transcendent experiences—experiences that feel profoundly real yet remain beyond our comprehension. They attempt to create a dialogue between humanity and the Unknown.

It's noteworthy that much of our cultural heritage and our search for meaning revolves around experiences that elude understanding. Their allure may lie in this very mystery.

Advancements in neuroscience provide fresh insights into our perception and how we might integrate transcendent experiences into a scientific framework. These tools may aid in articulating the essence and significance of such experiences in secular terms. While they may initially seem unfathomable, we are gradually recognizing them as products of our cognitive structure, shaped by the functions that govern our navigation of a complex world filled with both threats and opportunities.

Yet, there may always remain an element of mystery surrounding these experiences; on an experiential level, the transcendent state transcends all concepts. It can feel phenomenologically irreducible and strikingly real. Perhaps it is fitting that we are left in awe of a universe infinitely more intricate and rich than our models can capture.