From the unreal lead me to the real

I've been listening to Ravi's Upanishad talks for a few weeks now. So often, in fact, I'm developing a bit of a crush on this Vedic scholar. Its been 6 weeks now and I've been listening to discs 1-3 repeatedly. At this rate I'll never make it to disc 18.

Anyhow, disc 1 has my mind going all pitter-patter when Ravi makes a translation from Sanskrit to English that states 'From the unreal, lead me to the real.' This statement immediately makes me think of Plato's, the allegory of the cave. Free me from the shadows and drag me into the light. Ravi goes on to explain how this desire to be free or lead to the real cannot happen unless one realizes that they are not connected with the real, there is no desire nor acknowledgement of the want to leave the darkness and enter the light. 

So, in order to strive for truth, one must recognize they are surrounded by that which is untrue. My curiosity is about how does this recognition come about? What happens to a person that ignites the idea that all is fake and the authentic must be sought? 

Plato describes that one of the prisoners of the cave is spontaneously freed and shown the fire which casts the shadows. The fire of course is so blindingly bright that the recently freed person is pained by the sight of the source of the shadows. The prisoner is then shown the objects used to cast the shadows on the wall of the cave. The shadows which were previously considered the true form of the objects are now recognized as mere imitations of the real objects. The prisoner is then lead out of the cave into the light of the Sun. Our prisoner is not walking into the light by their own volition, rather they are being lead, dragged even, kicking and screaming into the light. 

Plato gives an explanation based on what is seen and how someone needs to be liberated, shown the way, by another person. This has always left a space for me. Most of Platos dialogue are very thorough, but when he writes of how the world of the Real interacts with the world of the Unreal (Being and Becoming) there are many, many questions left behind.