An analogy can be given for process of illumination.

Screen and movie

SELF is awareness like a movie. Our life is like a movie on the screen. The projected illusory character in the movie gets awareness from screen and hence a dualistic view of world “I” and other “Self” and non-self. He starts seeking wholeness - enlightenment in the movie. He becomes a seeker. Keeps seeking for enlightenment. The non-dual reality cannot be found in the movie. His efforts to find non-duality gets exhausted because screen cannot be found as movie character. Screen is in every movie character “Here and Now”. After exhausting all the possibilities, ego is exhausted and surrenders and realizes screen “Here and Now.

Hence to conclude “nobody got enlightened because of spiritual practices. Nobody gets enlightened without spiritual practices either. The purpose of Spiritual practices is to exhaust the ego which leads to surrender and recognition of the “HERE and NOW”. Anybody giving “time and space and effort” for realization is speaking from perspective movie. It is the time taken by the ego to get exhausted, to find futility of seeking enlightenment in the movie. All this is related to movie time. Where as screen is standing as the background always “Here and Now”. The effort, time, space, date all are based on projected illusory movie. In reality there is no time-space.