Britta

Well we if you understand that enlightenment isn't a thing that people either have or don't have you, and all people have the capacity to be enlightened right now, then yes on any stage or the model a person can be enlightened. That being said you can do very great things and display most of the qualities of a person in green/yellow ect stages, and not be close to realizing your true being. They may be inevitable conclusions of the same fundamental truth. Though you can be enlightend and be at a lower level on the graves model. One can have full grasp on their being and oneness, but also still be conservative with how they interact within their life. The graves model is your more your thoughts and perception of how you view the world you live in, and enlightenment is a full acceptance/awareness of what is, and what it is you are. You must keep in mind that the graves model is only a model, I think people of the past might have been what we consider yellow, maybe some of the great philosophers, but there is not point in speculating we will never know, and that is never going to drive your work forward.

A seeker has heard the wisest Guru in all of India lives atop India's highest mountain. So the seeker treks over hill andDelhi until he reaches the fabled mountain. It's incredibly steep , and more than once he slips and falls. By the time he reaches the top he is full of cuts and bruises, but there is the guru, sitting cross legged in front of his cave. "Oh wise Guru,", the seeker says, "Tell me what is the meaning of life?" "ah yes the secret of life" the guru says scratching his chin. "the secret of life is a teacup." "A tea cup? I came all the way up here to ask you what the secret of life is and you tell me it's a tea cup?" The guru Shrugs "So maybe it isn't a tea cup."

My simplest understanding is that they are not at all the same thing, they actually seem to be on entirely different fields: Enlightenment = Being one with the "true" self, understanding our nothingness, oneness, and wholeness that is a part of being. Spiral/Graves = Our understanding and empathy, toward aspects of our lives/society/community.

Maybe the real question isn't whether we have free will or not, but whether we are conscious of the decisions we believe that we make. If you are going outside and put on your shoes, did you decide to put your shoes on, or did you put your shoes on with out thinking of it? Did you think of the cause and effect of wearing the shoes vs not wearing them? That is the distinction is where people assume they have free will, if you harbor strong feelings and opinions of why you are doing an action. Really this is just your mind justifying your actions. Either way you're going to do the thing you were always going to do, your thoughts are just what make this free will distinction seem tangible. Like free will is a thing you have or don't have. In life all you're really left with are the actions you made, and sometimes you make actions with a perceived intent. I think people start to think to much about the things they do. You can sit down and write out a list of why you're not going to eat sugary foods, you might even stop for a little while but It's not really free will that decides if you're going to eat a cookie it's you're preception of what eating that cookie will be like. For example you might justify your mind by saying "Sure I'll eat that cookie, just one wont hurt." that decision was already made when you saw that cookie and even started to justify with a short thought story.