Liberation & Enlightenment
There are many levels of awakenings, and a wide variety of flavors within each.
Liberation
When we awaken to the Absolute - to ourselves as space & awareness - there is a process of familiarizing ourselves with this and integrating it into our lives.
As we bring this into our life, we may first find that we are liberated from exclusively identifying with the small self.
Then, as we bring it into more and more situations in our daily life, we find liberation in more and more situations. As we allow contractions to unfold within space, they gradually soften and fade. We gradually find liberation from each habitual contraction, and from more and more types of contractions - triggered in different situations in daily life.
We are liberated from being blindly caught up in the habitual patterns of the small self, in more and more situations.
Enlightenment
This is quite different from liberation. Here, we awaken to ourselves as Big Mind - as that which embraces the Absolute and the Relative. We awaken as the view of the whole of Existence, with a focal point in this small self.
Combinations
It seems that these two comes in different combinations.
For instance, it seems to be possible to awaken as Big Mind - as the view of the whole of Existence - and yet not be automatically liberated. There is a process of integration - which includes the process of finding liberation in more and more situations - and this takes time.
And it is definitely possible to find liberation in most (or apparently all) situations in life without a full blown awakening as Big Mind.
It is obviously also possible to have both. We awaken as Big Mind - the view of the whole of Existence. And we have found our way into liberation in more and more situations in daily life, while staying fully engaged.