breathing the divine air

from The Biology of Transcendence by Joseph Chiltern Pearce p180
"In the years following this I had many experiences resonant with that major one, and these grew in depth and frequency.  But some part of me seemed to have been cut off and lost and I have never again known anything equal to the enormity of that greatest fusion when I was forty.  Later I was to read the remarks of Bernadette Roberts about "breathing the divine air" for weeks and the shock on having to come back into the ordinary world; she spoke unabashedly of finding this earth a living hell by contrast"

I can feel what she is getting at but also that its not the earth itself that is hell but the customary state of mind of the humans abiding on it that can make it that way compared with the paradise that is experienced by a different but suppressed part of us.  Also the phenomenon she describes supports the view that it would be wise to turn our attention to ways to sustain connection to cosmic consciousness and so  avoid this kind of trauma so often experienced by those who spontaneously or deliberately have these experiences.