(What follows is for sceptics & hard-truthers only; please don’t read it if you’re a follower of this kind of New Age woo. Avoid at all costs.) For those with a trained intellect & some experience of life, the idea of ‘post-ego’ & sacred/secular mysticism is not only an imaginative fiction, it’s asking for mental conflict; the cloying ‘all things bright & beautiful’ has absolutely no currency in an adult real world of unpleasantness, difficult people & constant pressure. More to the point, it’s a very bad idea to try & avoid ordinary everyday horror, because it’s the raw experience of horror which forces us to try for something better; to develop our characters and our talents, & to reflect on things & to realise that life is hard work (for everyone). There’s also something vaguely gross about deluding oneself into thinking one has floated away to bliss & joy & happiness while everyone else is up to their necks in it. Life can’t be hacked; forget trying. However, this does not mean all is lost – there is a way to work out the meaning & purpose of grim existence, & reach fulfilment, but it does not involve kumbaya & New Age woo.