The purpose of the paper is to study approaches to the description of man as an organic part of the universe in terms of the notion of the transcendent. The paper is methodological in nature and presents the analysis and synthesis of various scientific approaches to the study of the transcendent as a phenomenon. The paper identifies the theoretical and methodological aspects of the study of the transcendent. The author proves that they do not comply with the criteria of scientific character, although the criteria themselves require a certain revision due to the changing object of research of modern studies. The obtained outputs of the study can be used in building methodological procedures of further research to find ways of creating models of man and Universe. Key findings: (1) today, the mind of man capable of reaching the level of transcendence cannot be studied on scientific grounds only, because the problem of its origin and the opportunities for further development have not been decided yet; (2) attempts to include human consciousness in the modern physical worldview have not been successful so far; (3) today, the new ideal of science is being formed leading to formation of criteria of scientific rationality aimed at solving the problems of mankind.