Nick:
Quite true. The first awareness is of the sources of shadows. By definition it is an aha experience. Why deny it?
Because, as I said, it trivializes what only occurs at the end of a long arduous journey. Noetic knowledge is of the Forms. The first awareness is of a bright light that one must look away from. Once one is able to look at it, and this does not occur in a moment, what one sees is that this source of light is one made by the puppet masters, the opinion makers, the makers of myths (Plato is one of them. The one whose myths you mistake as gospel truth). You mistake the fire for the light of a transcendent reality. It is, in fact, when understood, nothing more than what is made by the opinion makers. Dazzled by the light of the fire you have not even seen its source. What you experienced in your aha moment was not noesis, but what you imagine noesis to be.
It is the beginning of the process of awakening.
It can only be so if one stops imagining what the reality outside the cave must be. Only if one comes to see that Plato, Simone, Needleman, and whoever else you never tire of quoting are image makers and what you are seeing is the shadows they have projected on the wall of your cave.
When a person experiences that they live in a state of self deception attached to the shadows on the wall they have a choice to pursue awakening to experience the light of the sun and finally the light of the Good.
You have not been able to get past your self deception. You cannot awaken to experience by imagining experiences you have not had. You cannot experience what is beyond your experience. You can only awaken to the possibility of experience. You cannot awaken to the experience the light of the sun, you can only imagine that such an experience is possible.
There is a minority with the need to awaken and are willing to sacrifice their attachment to their self deception in order to become one with universal meaning and purpose.
You deceive yourself when you imagine that you are one of those people. Your attachment is to what you imagine it to be to be awake in the light of day. You do not sacrifice your attachment, you cling to it.
Freeing our psych from the hold of imagination and opening to the void to experience the light is frightening so much so that most are incapable of it.
You have demonstrated that you are incapable of it. You are not opening to the void. You have filled it. You can call it “grace” or “human consciousness” or any of the other things you have been told about, but they are nothing more than what you imagine - “eikasia (delusion or sheer conjecture)”.
In Buddhism there is a saying: If you meet the Buddha on the road kill him.