Starting out, the aspirant believes that his struggle is just to awaken himself. But, as he awakens, the aspirant sees an increasing need to serve others in their wish to be whole and free, as well. Then dawns the day when the aspirant realizes that his struggle was never just for himself, or for the few he met along the way, but to take part in the awakening of human consciousness itself: to help in the liberation of all human beings, past, present, and those still "to come."