We have often heard people say that they have awakened, understood, become conscious, and so on.

Maybe, maybe not, these things were said more in passing.

We are unlikely to make definitive statements that will not change. Is, then, this last sentence itself definitive? This sentence and its meaning do not rest upon the same levels of understanding. It is a difference in point of view. We had better not ask why.

We often feel that we are awakened, for instance, every month, every school term, every year, even every day I can feel that I am awakened. However, from a historical perspective, we have only stated our feelings and understandings of the moment. In reality, as time goes by, anything could change. For loving someone, it seems the same. You say to them, ‘I love you forever’. These words in fact only express your current sensation and comprehension as well as a commitment; but time is so unforgiving and life is so easily changeable that you may, at another time or under different circumstances, abandon your previous promises or dilute them or even betray them.

Awakening, in my opinion, would be more appropriate to consider as a process. We live in perpetual awakening to the wonders of life, perpetual awakening of personal life, group life, organizational units, national cultures, nature of the universe, unknown peoples and the people who are not usually given attention to by others. All these bring us new awareness. Generally speaking, our awakening relies on the development of our methodology, the changing of our standpoint, the evolution of our language, the interchange between heterogeneous materials, the constant flux of the language, the practice of silent prayer with meditation, etc. Our awakening is awakening in the passing of history.