Guided Path
Stage 1: Preparation
Steps 1–12
These opening steps are about becoming inwardly ready. They bring order, sincerity, steadiness, and a mind that can truly receive the teaching.
Step 1
Study the teaching daily
Return to the teaching regularly.
Step 2
Do what the teaching asks
Let the teaching shape your actions.
Step 3
Offer your actions
Do your actions as an offering, not just as self-concern.
Step 4
Let desire lose its hold
Not every desire needs to run your life.
Step 5
Clear what clouds the mind
Old patterns leave residue in the mind.
Step 6
See the limits of pleasure
Pleasure has its place, but it does not give lasting completion.
Step 7
Strengthen the wish for freedom
Let the desire for freedom become steady.
Step 8
Step back from entanglement
This does not always mean leaving home physically.
Step 9
Keep good company
Who and what you stay close to shapes your mind.
Step 10
Let devotion grow steady
Devotion softens the heart and reduces self-centeredness.
Step 11
Grow in inner quiet
Peace, restraint, and steadiness do not appear by accident.
Step 12
Let restless action fall away
Not all activity is helpful.