The Ten Stages require and are about self-reflection.

The Ten Stages require and are about self-reflection. That’s how we came up with these ideas, and we wouldn’t dare expect anyone to trust us and our self-reflective process based on our conclusions alone. We want allies—thinking allies—not devotees full members of the community. For that reason, we would expect anyone who takes seriously the ten stages ideas to engage in a significant amount of self-reflection…that is, private contemplation. We set aside time as important during our studies for meditation and reflection attempting to understand how stage compassion impacts on our lives and that of others.