Ego

Dispassion is less some sort of coldheartedness than it is freedom from the incessant pressures of instinct, desire, craving and fear in their multitude of forms.  As the sun of dispassion rises the tyranny of body-mind subsides.  Subsides, not disappears, as too many seekers aspire to and expect. Currents subside, waves subside, and with sustained immersion in contemplation of scripture and informed meditation practice we find ourselves gradually floating rather than battling upstream all the time.  The silt settles, revealing the inherent clarity so long concealed by the tumult of our lives.

This is not a matter of suppressing thought, another frequent mistake of seekers.  We are opening, encompassing, dissolving imagined boundaries and merging at last into the real Self.  Nor is this to say that we now float in a dead calm, ever.  Everyone wants nirvikalpa samadhi right out of the chute, which amounts to another nagging desire, another expectation, simply more mental disturbance generated by our conditioned mind.  Some hindrances to awakening are readily discerned while others are camouflaged in ever present and often subtle egotism.  No, our immersion may instill deeper and deeper peace, but those baits and hooks of samsara still dangle everywhere.  The peace arises as we learn not to take these baits, aware now of the hooks buried in each that in one impulsive moment can wrench us back into the frying pan of ignorance.

Equanimity, freedom, bliss, these are all aspects or fruits of our true nature, rays of a sun hidden in our heart of hearts.  Paths like jnana yoga and self-enquiry, philosophies of non-dualism such as Advaita, these are the keys that will free us at last from self-imposed prison.