Hi there,

What if I told you that you've never actually seen the world around you?

Not even once.

Instead, your brain has been generating an elaborate internal simulation so convincing that you've mistaken it for reality your entire life.

This isn't philosophy – it's cutting-edge neuroscience. And it explains why meditation works, why awakening experiences feel so profound, and why some people can transcend suffering while others stay trapped.

Here's what scientists have discovered:

🧠 You never see raw data – your brain creates a "generative model" and shows you the output, not what's actually coming through your eyes

🔬 Your sense of "self" is a construction – neuroscientists now call it a "phenomenal self-model" that includes your body sense, emotions, and life story

⚡ There are 10x more feedback neurons than feedforward neurons in your brain – meaning most of your experience is generated from the top down, not bottom up

Meditation works by systematically deconstructing these very same brain models that neuroscience has identified. Once you understand how your brain constructs experience, you can learn to participate consciously in that construction.

In his talk with us last week, Dr Shamil Chandaria (Cambridge/Oxford/Imperial, 38 years meditation experience) revealed how when you put 90% of your attention on basic sensations like breath, you literally starve the higher-level brain models of bandwidth. That's why your sense of body, thoughts, and self can dissolve in deep meditation.

[Read the full breakdown of the science here and the practical mechanisms behind meditation →]

Want to go deeper?

Shamil is running a unique 4-week course starting TONIGHT, covering the detailed neuroscience of liberation, practical techniques for awakening and soulmaking, and navigating the "existential situation" of being both infinite and finite

As always, you can find all our upcoming events and retreats on our events page.

At the bottom of this newsletter you'll also find:

We're hiring! Apply to become our next London event coordinator
A 10% discount to All Things Fungi festival in September
A 20% discount on mushroom grow kits from our friends at MycoPunks

ALL OUR UPCOMING EVENTS

in Adventures in Awareness

in Psychedelic Science & Integration

in Psychedelic Retreats

July 30-August 3, 2025 | This isn’t just a “trip” — it’s a full six-week journey, with lots of preparation, integration and support, with a psilocybin ceremony and five-day retreat at the heart of things. It's a chance to get away from every day life, and remember what being human is supposed to feel like.If you've been feeling stuck, are going through a big transition, or just feel called to explore psychedelics in a safe setting, this is for you.

in Ceremony & Ritual

in Community & Social Change

in Embodiment & Creativity

in Intimacy & Identity

in Nature Connection

NEWS & OFFERINGS

We're hiring!

We're looking for a passionate freelancer to join our cosy team of 6 to help us further develop our events offerings related to nature connection, psychology and wellbeing, and the therapeutic arts. You'd vision, create, manage and promote 1–2 events/month (20–40 capacity), plus at least one larger-scale event per quarter (70+ capacity) across a range of subjects and topics and help build our beautiful community!

Full role description and application

Discount to All Things Fungi festival

Calling all fungi lovers! This is an educational and community-oriented gathering uniting local and national fungi groups. The festival will cover mushroom identification, cultivation, microscopy, DNA sequencing and topics surrounding the soil food web, composting, permaculture & and rewilding.

All Things Fungi Festival celebrates creativity, exploring the somewhat blurred boundaries where art meets science with experts at the forefront of mycology in the UK and beyond!

Use code PSY10 at checkout for 10% off tickets

Join us

Ready to grow your own mushrooms?

Our friends at MycoPunks and Orangutan Trading Co have created exclusive discounts for Psychedelic Society members off a selection of curated mushroom cultivation kits, supplies and spores. MycoPunks are a small team of passionate fungi fanatics who supply all manner of mycology related wares, from ready to use mushroom grow kits to lab equipment!

Simply use the code PSYCHSOC at checkout for 20% off selected items.

Orangutan Trading Co also offer a vast selection of spore syringes, prints, and swabs for microscopy. Use the code PSYCHSOC for 10% off your spores.

Join our community of members!

We fund our work in community-building and psychedelic education primarily through our membership program.

By becoming a member of The Psychedelic Society community, you get access to exclusive members-only events, a discount on events, and support the development of this alternative cultural space. Membership starts from just £5/month!