If life and consciousness come out of the universe striving to become aware of itself, then what does consciousness strive for? To be more and more embodied and particular, that is, for the kind of thickness of experience that only an egoic self makes possible. Thus the extremes of suffering and joy, of jouissance, enjoyment in the broadest sense, as far as possible from 'enlightenment'. The latter is perhaps only a transient rebound effect after a salient peak in the former.