Awakening is not mystical or spiritual...

i will have a rant and try to bring us to the simplicity that this actually is.
This process is intended to lead to a responding to what is real in a different way to the response to what is concept.
In the beginning, that responding is (almost) a conscious decision. At least is seems this way. (until it happens)
i'm not meaning to be mystical here. This is not even a spiritual process. Just bear with me...
Now if i say to you that the Statue of Liberty is only a concept to you until you experience it. Can you see that ?
Unless you are experiencing it, you can only think about it. Right ?
You can believe that it exists as a solid, concrete object in NY Harbor, but that belief is still thoughts ABOUT it. Right ?
So what is actually Real for you at any time is only that which stimulates the 5 senses.
Now all of this is pretty obvious (once we examine it) so how does it lead to 'liberation' ? you ask..
Let's examine a little deeper.
When we say "what stimulates the senses", how does this occur ?
Is your hand resting on something now ? (if not then rest it somewhere)
Now you might describe the sensation of touch as pressure between the part of your hand and the resting place, but on examination the words "touch", "pressure", "sensation", "hand" etc. are all labels to describe something. They are about it, but they are not it. Comprendé ?
So what is real here ? If it were painful you might say the "ouch ouch" is real, but because we are only talking about what the label 'pressure' points to, there probably aren't words to that point directly to it. Even the "ouch ouch" only points to the thing that the label pain also points to.
The Real, is the sensation that the labels point to. The actual sensation can't be communicated. It can only be experienced. (...or to be pedantic here, if it were experienced, then that would also be a memory. It would be more thoughts ABOUT it. It would have to be the actual experiencing of the sensation. (the verb))
(some homework - you might look up, if you don't already know, what an abstract noun is.)
 Reiterating; Current experiencing is the totality of what is real. ALL else is story. Thought stuff. Concept.
Now here's where the rubber hits the road..
There is very real current experiencing that is not the response to the 5 senses, but is the response to thought. To story. Now often that response is 'tainted' because the concept is taken as real.
In many instances it is of value to take it to be real. This is how we negotiate daily life.
We believe that the door will open when we turn the knob. We believe that tomorrow will exist in a condition that living can continue in a similar way to yesterday, etc.
There are however many beliefs (thought stories) that result in distortions and emotions that are unhealthy and even unpleasant. Stress, anger, frustrations, etc.
Many of these are so entrenched in our cult (ure) that they are taken as real.
Those that unquestioningly behave as if those beliefs are real are said to be 'asleep' by those that are said to have 'awakened'.
The difference between those two 'groups' is not that the awakened have a very agile mind that recognizes which to believe and which to not believe. There is something more fundamental that occurs with the seeing of this. In fact the 'awakened' might only think of this 'division' when an unpleasant or unhealthy emotion starts or is about to start. (and in the beginning, even after it has finished playing out) Otherwise life-ing goes on as 'normal'.
The term 'liberation' refers to being liberated from the dream that what was previously taken as real, but is in fact no more than a belief. A story. Thought stuff.
But it might also refer to being liberated from the weight of the reactions to those beliefs.
One of the biggest weights comes from the concept of Responsibility.
Responsibility is a concept. If we were to replace it with Consequence, we would have a Reality based Idea.
Yes, Consequence is only a story until experiencing (of what the label points to) is happening.
Responsibility is a concept born of a bigger story. Morality.
The story of Morality is a culture based one. The morality around killing an enemy is different for a tribesman in the jungle to what it is for us.
The thing with morality, especially Christian morality is that it it based on the IDEA that humans are inherently bad. My story is that they are inherently good, and that the bad is the result of distorted teachings (upbringing).
Now both are stories, and when we consider them from a Wisdom viewpoint, it becomes obvious that every human is unique, and the conditions for each is unique. In fact our own uniqueness and conditions are so complex and huge in number that we can't even know ourselves. The bit that we do know is a story that consists of (almost) hand picked events and characteristics.
When those events and characteristics mesh to form an acceptable story (usually), we call it Me or I.
Getting away from story or concept, in Experiencing, have you found anything solid or actual that you can call an I ?
Would it be true to say that the word I is an abstract noun, that for centuries has been presumed (unquestioningly) to be an actual thing ?