Many seekers mistake a temporary shift in perception for liberation when awareness moves to the foreground and the “me” fades into the background. However, awareness is just a subtler form of the illusory sense of self—not liberation. When the dormant "me" is disturbed, it reappears and reasserts itself, requiring effort to regain and maintain that expanded sense of awareness. No amount of self-manipulation will ever bring about freedom. Liberation is nothing less than the complete and effortless disappearance of both the illusory "me" and awareness.