Early on the path, seekers must find the power to sustain their efforts to journey through the jungle of psychological suffering and painful karma. The individual must believe they have power; otherwise, they will crumble under the pressure.
However, that is temporary. The focus on power invariably creates psychological suffering through the lack of acceptance of things as they are and the desire to change things by brute force. And we suffer because we cannot change the outcome of things when things go wrong. Conversely, when our choices (that is, the relative power we have) align with the rest of the universe, and things go right, we couldn’t care less about suffering or any of this stuff we are discussing.
Later on, the picture reverses. This is beautifully depicted in Tarot’s Major Arcana in the Hangedman symbol. The “Truth that sets us free” is that the individual is utterly powerless except within very limited conditions and always dependent on the Whole for its expression. The individual is an expression of the whole.
This is a major shift in spiritual perspective. The notions of control, mastery, power, or will are, by force, discarded in favor of a broader sense of self that carries Freedom and Peace with it always and everywhere.
For a few blessed rare creatures, that appears to have been the case.
For us mortals there usually is quite a bit that can be done for realization. The difference is, however, that now that the insight into our True Nature has pierced through the mind, the tension produced by the desire to acquire something spiritual begins to fade. The work becomes simpler and applicable strictly to the experience of the present moment when needed, as the personality becomes re-educated and re-aligned with fearlessness and peace.
The breakthrough has occurred. There is no new revelation. No new state. Only neti-neti. Discard false ideas and beliefs about self, along with their negative emotions. This becomes possible only after awakening.
The ego issues that are addressed are different for different people according to personality traits and the degree or intensity of the sense of separation.
