Authentic transcendental practices require initial Default Mode Network (DMN) brain engagement followed by skillful de-coupling, whereas digital/substance suppression simply bypasses the DMN altogether.

The sequence for genuine transcendence is: 1. **DMN Activation Phase**: The practitioner must first allow the DMN's natural self-referential activity—autobiographical memory, self-narrative, existential concerns—to arise fully. This is the "dark night of the soul" or confrontation with mortality that Becker and Buddhist texts describe. 2. **Meta-Awareness Development**: Through mindfulness or contemplative inquiry, one observes these DMN processes *without identification*—watching thoughts, emotions, and self-stories arise without being consumed by them. 3. **Balanced De-coupling**: Advanced practitioners achieve a state where DMN activity is present but no longer dominates consciousness. The network remains functionally available but is not compulsively engaged, allowing access to what contemplatives call "pure awareness" or "witness consciousness." In contrast: - **Digital suppression** prevents stage 1 entirely—mortality salience never gets processed through reflective DMN activity. - **Substance suppression** similarly blocks initial DMN engagement through pharmacological dampening. - Both create **pseudo-transcendence**: temporary relief from existential anxiety without the deep integration that comes from actually working *through* the DMN's concerns. This explains why authentic spiritual traditions emphasize **solitude, silence, and contemplative reflection** as prerequisites for transcendence—these conditions allow the DMN to fully activate and process existential material before the practitioner learns to relate to it with non-reactive awareness. The DMN must be *engaged* before it can be transcended.

Romanticizing Suffering
Yes, confronting mortality and self-story can be transformative. But not everyone’s “dark night” is fertile ground. For some, plunging into DMN activation just amplifies depression or trauma without the stabilizing resources to observe it. Traditions often underplay how much scaffolding (community, teacher, ritual container) is necessary to make this confrontation survivable.


The Problem of Integration
You emphasize moving through the DMN’s concerns, but what about after? Many contemplatives can hover in “witness consciousness” yet remain immature in relationships, ethics, or creativity. Transcendence without integration risks becoming sterile detachment. The model doesn’t fully address how DMN decoupling translates into actual wisdom.