Question: I have been waking up with a blaring thought: “This is not moksha, this is darshan.” Wouldn’t it be both?

The “it” is key.

Let’s start with the standard interpretation: Darshan (though the word is plurisignant and is used differently in different Indian traditions) commonly refers to the grace of, or initiation by, the guru. This can happen through a look, a touch, a dream vision, etc. Hence, darshan is not moksha, which is complete realization, or what Ramana Maharshi terms “sahaja samadhi.” The start of the path, on this reading, is not the culmination of the path.

A deeper interpretation–one that is in line with the direct path–would say: “Not both because not two; and not even one; but only ever Consciousness.”

That is, you are Consciousness. Your wife, your kids–in fact, all “beings”–are Consciousness. Darshan is Consciousness; moksha is Consciousness. “The beginning” of “the path” (darshan) is Consciousness, and “the end” of “the path” (moksha) is Consciousness.

You are, have always been, and–indeed–can never be anything other than IT.