Becoming disenchanted or dissatisfied with something as a result of discovering that it is not as good as it was believed to be is how disillusionment is usually understood. Becoming disillusioned might at first sound like a wonderful release from beliefs and illusions and even something you might desire as part of your spiritual development. Even if it is uncomfortable, the benefit of disillusionment is freedom, or so it seems.

We say that disillusionment is actually primarily beneficial as a means of discovering the nature of your expectations and how those expectations lock you into a limited view of reality. The discovery of expectations, especially those that are enshrined in your consciousness over long periods, is the discovery of that which keeps you from direct experience and locks you into disappointment.

To rest in your center, in your true self and awareness, is to be free of expectations. Most of the interactions you have with your outer world are interactions with your expectations and not your experience. If you were to be aware, alive, and awake in every moment, you would experience everything as One Life. However, most of what you think you are experiencing is actually just your thoughts about that interaction — your ideas, presuppositions, and expectations constantly being evaluated against other expectations — and not direct experience.