Practice has two objectives: to let go of self-centered craving so that our lives become gradually more awake; and to be receptive to the sudden eruption of awakening into our lives at any moment. Awakening is both a linear process of freedom that is cultivated over time and an ever present possibility of freedom. The central path is both a track with a beginning and an end and the formless potentiality at the very center of experience.
— Stephen Batchelor, Buddhism Without Beliefs