A good analogy by Osho

[Razard86]

Some people try to argue that they can have a conceptual, intellectual awakening. This is foolishness and will actually bar that person from actually awakening. Osho does a good job of explaining what that state, the awakened state is in this video.

If you don't want to watch the video just understand this, trying to conceptualize God Realization intellectually is like a blind man trying to conceptualize what light is. You can explain to a blind man all day what light is, but unless he can actually see he doesn't know what light is. Even worse, he cannot even imagine it!

He must get an experience of light before he can know light. Awakening, Realization is the same thing, when you finally get it, you see what is going on. 

Edit: Osho is YOU by the way, completely imaginary but you create characters to help you awaken in case you get tired of playing the role of identifying as the First Person Perspective Character and want to realize what is actually going on. You create traps so the awakening is a journey because obviously you must turn everything into a journey, an adventure of sorts.