One of the enlightening night goddesses in the Gandhavyuha Sutra tells of a ‘sphere of knowledge’ beyond the cognitive bubble:
Because the sphere of knowledge of enlightening beings is utterly pure in its essential nature, it is outside the net of all conceptions, it is beyond the mountains of all obstructions. It appears in the mind and sheds light on beings who can be guided, according to their mentalities, when the time is ripe for their development.
— Cleary (1984, 1372)
It is outside the net, yet appears in the mind when the time is ripe. Its purity is its Firstness. The time is its Thirdness.