The Last Shall Be The First
Big Mind awakening to itself
No human being has ever awakened. Human beings are just temporary vortexes of matter and energy in the world of phenomena, pulled by a million strings. They are just the local expressions of the movement of the whole.
Any awakening is only Big Mind (God, Buddha Mind, Brahman) awakening to itself, to its own nature of being beyond and including all polarities, and temporarily functioning through a human self.
To others who are still identified with their human self, it appears as if a human being awakening. But it is really just Big Mind awakening to itself, through a human self.
The last shall be the first
These human selves mature, develop, evolve, along with the rest of the Earth and the Universe. They share many patterns and characteristics, although each one has unique patterns and flavors as well.
I have often thought that the New Testament saying of the last shall be the first (Matt 10:31, Matt 19:30, Matt 20:16, Luke 13:30) can be seen in this light.
For those human selves who experience much before an awakening, there is more material to include and bake into the life following awakening. And for those awakening earlier, there is less material to include. So the last shall be the first.
This is of course only partly valid, at best. The maturing, development and deepening of the human self goes on before and after an awakening to selflessness, so it may not make such a difference.