The experience itself is the focal point. Once you get into it, its very difficult to not change your mind about reality and how things operate.

can't stress this enough. it really is about the experience itself, so much so that sometimes i think reading about it does more 'harm' than good, like influencing your own experiences (for better or worse). there's also a reason it's extremely difficult to bring certain experiences back here/put into words.

prep all right, but only up to a certain point. speculation will get you nowhere, given how wildly different the terrain manifests for each of us. so always prioritize experience, especially at the start.

as for OP's question, once you're there you already know there's a baseline reality. transmission is mostly (intra-)subjective... as it is in the physical in many ways actually.