You hear of such apparently selfless people who have become at one with all. Yet if this is so,  how can they then not function in the ‘real’ world and need to live on a mountain top or in a cave

After many years of teaching I felt like a fraudbecause after the death of my mother I fell into a terrible grief, which was not acceptable in the spiritual circles. I also knew 12 other martial arts instructors in my school who were all presenting themselves as teachers who could teach others processes that wood promote peace, balance and a good positive life. Yet none of them relieved that life. It seemed rife in the spiritual industry. Eventually I left, feeling disillusioned full stop from my perspective the various activities of deconstructing the ego actually appeared to reinforce the ego in the long term. Not to say that such techniques can not be used for temporary relaxation.