There have been some good discussions here on enlightenment and awakening.   Ones that didn't get immediately short circuited by critics with other ideas.  Thought we could discuss Dawg's recipe for Awakening from a 2013 thread.  What's good, what's questionable, what can we learn from it.   Dawg- FIVE STEPS ON THE PATH TO AWAKENING

Step (1)… Concentration (samahdi)…this is developing the ability to temporarily stop the voice in your conscious mind, so that your mind is quiet and peaceful… this is the first step in regaining control of your conscious mind…

Step (2)… Getting rid of “anger” (dislike) and “greed” (like)… anger and greed are the two sides of the same coin… understanding that when someone makes you angry or greedy, that they are not only controlling you, but they are also stealing your energy…and then learning how to remain indifferent, so that you no longer respond with anger or greed…

You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger… (Buddha)

Step (3)… Reaching equanimity (“live” and “let live”)… Realizing and accepting that other people have different opinions and beliefs than you, and that their opinions and beliefs are just as valid as yours… a person with equanimity is never sucked into arguments with others, about who is right, and who is wrong…nor do they become upset if they are beset by the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”…equanimity is a state of psychological stability and composure which is undisturbed by experience of, or exposure to emotions, pain, or other phenomena that may cause others to lose the balance of their mind…

Step (4)… Body investigation… understand that you are not a body and personality with a spirit; understand that you are an ancient spirit with a new body and personality…understand that you are not your “body” or your “personality”… understand that you are an ancient immortal “spirit” with a temporary “body” and “personality”, and that you have had an uncountable number of bodies and personalities in the past… understand that the spirit that is you could not “die” even if you wanted it to, and that when your body dies, your spirit is alive in the spirit world, and if you have not attained enlightenment, your spirit reincarnates in another physical body and personality…

Step (5)…”The middle path”… the “truth of our existence” is that there is no “reality… everything just “is”, nothing is good or bad… good and bad are just value judgments of mundane reality… and mundane reality is just a survival strategy created by humans to ensure the survival of the species… “the truth of our existence” is that we live in a universe of “cause” and “effect”… consider that in the physical world that if you stick your hand in a fire (the cause), the effect is that your hand will get burned… does that mean that the fire is “bad”,   No!... it is just the truth of our existence... in the spiritual world, “intention” is the “cause”, and “karma” is the “effect”… if you intentionally harm another person (cause), you will create “karma”, karma that harms you (effect)… this is the truth of our existence... this is the reason why it is necessary for you to make everything (and everything means everything) “neutral” (middle path, neither good nor bad ) to reach “awakening”… consider a “screwdriver”.., is it good or bad..? No… it is neutral… it is just a useful tool if you want to drive a screw…this is being indifferent, treat everything with this kind of indifference…you must be able to hold this attitude of indifference, long enough for mundane reality to collapse and vanish permanently, to reach awakening… once you reach awakening it is permanent…when you reach awakening, you will “know”… it is impossible not to “know”…