At any given time, everyone of us is driven by or running behind one of these 14 aspects of living. Each stair is climbed by every single individual. Some passthrough quickly and other camp in some of these stages for a longer time. But, eventually, everyone identifies the pattern and moves on.

(essential need)
1.) When the life is at risk, none of the other things matter. All living beings run towards self-preservation. Despite the need for sleep, thirst and hunger, they try with all their energy to preserve the life in the body.
2.) When one feels safe, the body wants to rejuvenate. sleep kicks in. When one feels sleepy, neither hunger not thirst matters.
3.) A well rested body seeks nourishment. Food and water.

(need to desire)
4.) Once the bodily needs are met, mind gets active. Senses become alive and seeks to be pleased. Still people can seek food, but this time it'll be for taste. Cuisines, entertainment, alcohol, sports, clubs, spas cater to this layer.

(desire to pride)
5.) Once the base desires are fulfilled satisfactorily, desire to be appreciated arises. Comparison with others, drive to acquire more knowledge and skills, enhance the looks, shop brands are all the outcome of this simple desire to be appreciated by the people around us.

(pride culminates)
6.) Once we are saturated with the accolades, some more superficial desires kick-in. To acquire more wealth just for the sake of wealth, though there is no desire to spend it. It also drives one to run behind fame, rationing the natural resources, spatial exploration, rearchitecting the social order and several such activities with global impact.

(aligning physique with the nature)
7.) The clutch of needs, desire and pride starts loosing its grip. The person is blessed and also driven to attain robust health. Gets more conscious about intake and activities. Driven to get more harmonious with nature, physically.

(turning inwards)
8.) When the physical health and strength reaches acceptable levels, we start gravitating towards superior psyche. Strengthening the mind. Mental strength of a person is hidden in plain-sight. Its their breath. A steady breath is the sign of a strong mind.

(seeking begins)
9.) Combination of physical and mental strength ultimately drives a person towards inertness. Such people don't give-in to the common vicissitudes of the masses and utterly bored with common excitements but are curious about mundane things which are commonly considered boring. They are often found doing such things for hours, like staring at the sky, watching sunset, sleeping in a seated posture or consciously practicing to meditate.

The above mentioned 9 stages are applicable to all the life forms. The next 5 stages are only applicable to the humans and higher forms of the species.

(meditation)
10.) Sitting still for extended span of time with erect spine eventually leads to dhyana(m), meditation setting in. It is an inner experience that should not be described. From outside, a person in this state will just look like sleeping, but internally, the whole universe opens up.

(yoga)
11.) After several such involuntary experiences of dhyana(m), yoga(m) is attained. For an outsider, this person will again look like just sitting and sleeping, but with one significant physical change. The breath would be so shallow and even no breath flowing in and out for several minutes. Breathless is a natural response of the body when the mind is standstill.

(gyan, ஞானம் - wisdom, exhibits clairvoyance)
12.) With ability to be in yoga(m), samadhi, breathless state at will, the person is directly connected to source of absolute truth, wisdom, intelligence and knowledge. There won't be any more questions in such a person's consciousness. All the unnecessary questions and curiosities are dissolved and the essential questions are answered instantaneously.  They roam amongst the masses just to fulfill the orders from the source.

(mukthi, முக்தி - liberation)
13.) This is literally liberation from the cycle of birth and death. The above mentioned 12 stages takes several lifetimes. Once the soul reaches this stage, there are not born again, in any form.

(divine, இறை நிலை)
14.) This is the ultimate goal. Every other driving force mentioned above keeps pushing everyone towards this. There will always be a sense of dissatisfaction and boredom, until this stage is attained. The soul has reached its source and is same as whatever is believed to be god with all the abilities and powers associates with the divine.