This liberation, as noted, is achieved in 14 steps which are based on the scriptures and the Five Vows:
Stage 1: The soul languishes in darkness, ignorant of its true nature, and a slave to passions and illusion.
Stage 2: The soul catches a glimpse of truth but is too mired in illusion to retain it.
Stage 3: The soul recognizes its own bondage and tries to break free but is still bound to attachments and illusion and falls backwards to Stage 1.
Stage 4: The soul, having recognized its bondage, yearns to break free again but is suppressing, rather than eliminating, its attachments and so remains bound.
Stage 5: The soul has a flash of enlightenment and understands it must take the Five Vows and adhere to them in order to free itself from bondage.
Stage 6: The soul is able to restrain its attachments and passions to a degree through the discipline of the Five Vows.
Stage 7: The soul overcomes spiritual lethargy and is strengthened through meditation and observance of the Five Vows. Self-awareness grows as well as a grander vision of the nature of the soul itself and reality.
Stage 8: Hurtful karma is discarded, self-control perfected, and deeper understanding achieved.
Stage 9: More karmic debt is eliminated through conscious living and greater spiritual insight is attained.
Stage 10: At this stage, one has eliminated attachments almost completely but is still attached to the concept of one’s body-as-one’s-self. This is understood as “greed for a body”, which one must overcome in order to progress.
Stage 11: Here, one works on eliminating the identification of the self with the body and releasing all other attachments. One recognizes the transient nature of those people and objects one is attached to and releases them.
Stage 12: All of the karma-producing passions have been eliminated at this point, including one’s attachment to the body.
Stage 13: Recognizing fully the nature of reality and of the soul, one engages in deep meditation to withdraw from all activity which might result in karma-producing passions and backsliding to an earlier stage.
Stage 14: As one approaches death, one is freed from all karmic debt and experiences the liberation of moksha, complete understanding, wisdom, and total freedom from bondage. The soul is freed and will never be incarnated again on the earthly plane to experience suffering and death.