Śākyamuni then explained the twelve stages by means of which he attained the highest enlightenment. He divided each of the Four Noble Truths into three stages of attainment. In the first stage, he acquired theoretical understanding of the Four Noble Truths as they are. In the second stage, he put his theoretical knowledge into practice. Doing this involves a correct understanding of the nature of suffering, the extinction of the causes of suffering, the application of the ways in which those causes are eliminated and traveling the full Path. As one continues practical application in connection with the Four Noble Truths, theory and practice come to agree entirely, and one arrives at the third stage, where all the practical aims have been fulfilled. At this point, one is ready for the highest enlightenment.

Śākyamuni explained that only when he had completed these three stages was he sufficiently convinced of being a supremely enlightened Buddha to announce his nature publicly. Only then had he achieved perfect liberation, and only then had he escaped from the cycle of birth, death, and transmigration.