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In all liklihood, the Buddha did not know he was "The Buddha", which is something that evolved in meaning over historical time, despite his teaching of the Dharma. The bloke down the street also does not know that he is a Buddha, despite his sharing the same being as the Buddha. In the end, it is just a play of names, in my eye there are famous historical Buddha's and this text on the screen both are unique members of the same family.
This is a potentially misleading analogy, because to understand Einstein, you have to add mental fabrications, whereas progress in Dharma practice largely revolves around taking them away.
In all liklihood, the Buddha did not know he was "The Buddha"
This is irrelevant to your point that there is no permanent state of Enlightenment. The Buddha still reached Enlightenment, whether or not he was conscious of his greatness (or cared about it--that's another matter. Obviously he wasn't ego-involved in his role or status as a great teacher.) But if he spent most of his life dedicated to teaching and establishing monastic communities, I'd say that indicates he was aware that he had something unique and important to offer humanity, that Enlightenment was possible (the path to it is what he dedicated his life to teaching, after all), and that he had achieved it. If he wasn't aware he had achieved it, how would it have occurred to him that he could teach the path to it?
The point is that even if you wake up, it is always possible to get distracted. But, perhaps I am too dismissive of ideals, after all, I was and am inspired by stories of the Buddha and other teachers. Depicting the Buddha as a perfect exemplar, who never got distracted even for a moment, has been essential for the survival of the religion over the millenia. These stories helped me to begin and stay on a path that was outside of my society's norms, in more ways than I am probably aware. Heroes play an important role in every community to inspire faith and confidence in its traditions. So, the perfect heroes of each tradition play key roles in keeping people enthused about their practice.
As with all relationships, a happy honeymoon is as important as the journey itself. True intimacy is like marriage in midlife, we start to see the imperfections of our spouse or tradition, and our practice begins to take an new direction. What is revered shifts from inspirational and aspirational things outside of our lives to what is our lives. This has involved paying attention to what is already in my own heart and learning to love and revere the imperfect Buddhas - such as the blokes down the street including oneself. Now, I find that what I once believed to be some form of emanating bliss energy of the "bliss bestowing hands" of the final image of the Ox-Herding pictures is the joy what arises in me simply through giving. See Ox-herding pictures here:- http://mettarefuge.wordpress.com/2009/12/20/the-ten-ox-herding-images-of-zen/
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Most profound statement of the day.
As with all relationships, a happy honeymoon is as important as the journey itself. True intimacy is like marriage in midlife, we start to see the imperfections of our spouse or tradition, and our practice begins to take an new direction. What is revered shifts from inspirational and aspirational things outside of our lives to what is our lives. This has involved paying attention to what is already in my own heart and learning to love and revere the imperfect Buddhas - such as the blokes down the street including oneself. Now, I find that what I once believed to be some form of emanating bliss energy of the "bliss bestowing hands" of the final image of the Ox-Herding pictures is the joy what arises in me simply through giving.
See Ox-herding pictures here:-
http://mettarefuge.wordpress.com/2009/12/20/the-ten-ox-herding-images-of-zen/