Buddha revealed the path
Another important quotation that supports our method is from the Anāpānasati sutta in the Majjhima Nikaya, where the Buddha points out:
“Monks, when Attentiveness to Breathing (anapanasati) is cultivated and developed, it is of great benefit and great profit. It helps get rid of the five hindrances (pañca nīvaraṇa).
(1) When attentiveness to breathing is cultivated and developed, it fulfills the Four-fold Introspection (satipaṭṭhāna).
(2) When the Four-fold Introspection (satipaṭṭhāna) is cultivated and developed, they fulfill the Seven Steps to Awakening (satta bojjhanga).
(3) When the Seven Steps to Awakening (satta bojjhanga) are cultivated and developed, it results in Full Comprehension (paññā) and Emancipation (vimutti).”
This passage reveals that it is when the Seven Steps to Awakening (bojjhangas) are developed that the Paradigm Shift (abhiññā) occurs, which ends in Full Comprehension (paññā) and Awakening (sambodhi) and Emancipation (vimutti), resulting in the Imperturbable Serenity (Nibbāna).
If we examine the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, we find that when the Four-fold Introspection (satipaṭṭhāna) is developed,
(1) The Five Hindrances are removed first,
(2) Secondly the Five Constituents of Personality (pañca upādānakkhandha) are comprehended,
(3) Thirdly the Seven Steps to Awakening are completed,
(4) Fourthly and finally the Four-fold Supernormal Reality is fully comprehended (paññā).
This clearly conveys the idea that the real Awakening occurs only by completing the Seven Steps to Awakening, which is at the end of the Supernormal Eightfold Way. This leads to the Full comprehension (paññā) of the Fourfold Supernormal Reality, resulting in emancipation (vimutti) that ends in the Imperturbable Serenity, Nirvana (Nibbāna).