We often hear people say they have been awakened, informed, enlightened, and that sort of thing.
Whether true or not, such things are usually said while still in the midst of one's journey.
None of us can ever make an absolute, enduring declaration. Then again, is this not also an absolute declaration? This question and the statement to which it refers do not bear comparable significance; it is a matter of perspective, and we had better not to ask such a thing.
We often feel that we have been awakened. As for myself, every month, every semester, every year, and even every day, I feel a certain awakening. However, considering it from a historical perspective, we see that we have only been talking about the feelings and the discernment of the moment. Actually, as time elapses, everything will change. This is seemingly true for one's love of another person, also. You tell someone, "I will love you forever," but this is actually just an utterance--a promise, even--that is based on your experience and understanding at that time. However, time is so harsh and life is so unpredictable that, at a different time and under different circumstances, you will abandon your original declaration--or you will water it down to the point of betraying it completely.
As for awakening, I feel it is more appropriate to think of it as a process. In life, we are in a constant state of awakening. Our personal lives, our social interactions, the organizations to which we belong, our cultural sympathies, the natural universe, the people we have yet to meet, and the people we tend to ignore all exist in a constant state of awakening and of new realizations. Generally, our awakening is reliant upon the development of our methodology, the changing of our perspectives, the gradual shift of language, the heterogeneous exchange of ideas, linguistic revolution, the tacit implementation of principles, etc. Our awakening is an awakening that occurs throughout the grand course of history.