Biggest pitfall for seekers of enlightenment is self-hypnosis

This thoughtful article raises a number of points that practitioners of mindfulness and the different schools of meditation need to think about. Hinduism and Buddhism both claim that mental cultivation can give us intuitive insight into the true nature of reality. But it may also become a type of self-hypnosis.
How can striving to attain pure awareness hypnotise us? By fostering the illusion “I am aware, therefore I am in control”.  This feeling can generate a kind of ego-based euphoria (often called ananda, or bliss) which is sometimes mistaken for a higher state of consciousness.
It would be ironic if our efforts to transcend the ego were to result only in its reinforcement. The ego is a tricky fellow whose favourite trick is to pose as its own opposite. This is something that meditators and mindfulness practitioners need to think about.
Paramananda Pahari