Quote:
Originally Posted by Basu  Just a point I'd like to make: Some people have taken up the example of the Buddha as a pure lightworker. Please understand that isn't entirely true. After achieving enlightenment, he was a lightworker certainly, but not necessarily before. If you read the scriptures carefully (or at least fairly accurate translations) you'll find that Prince Gautama did not decide to follow renunciation out of any ideal of helping humanity. He did it because some sights that he saw made him realize that the life he was living wasn't going to live forever. Also remember that Gautama was initially a Hindu and was probably well-acquainted with ideas of rebirth and karma. Essentially he realized that pain was unavoidable, if not in this life, then in the next. He went into meditation because he quite simply wanted out. It is said he wanted to find salvation, but it is NOT said that he wanted to find it to help other people. I think Buddha may have had selfish leanings before enlightenment, even bordering on darkworking. After all he did leave his family and kingdom for a very personal objective. |
I think you hit the nail on the head here.
In this, Gautama had profound empathy and understanding, treated others fairly and with compassion, but it's the ~motivator~ that matters. The Enlightenment comes with realizing (in a lifestyle manner, not just "knowing") that these can and do lead to the same ends. The betterment of the self ends with the betterment of the world, the betterment of the world leads to the betterment of the self.
The depiction of Jesus seems more lightworker - including self sacrifice, the idea that his doubts were about serving others (which he had to overcome), and he focused more on the communal than the individual. In the end, however, he spoke also about what to do as an individual for your enlightenment, and why...for ~your~ purposes.
I also don't think it's accurate to only say that the connections can be realized at the pinnacles of enlightenment - smaller loops and connections can be made prior, such as knowing that helping the environment will help your self best survive longer and more prosperously, or that an awareness develops that your own self-improvement will incline you to eat more healthily and sustainably. All points on the scale of action are hit: from self-focus to environmental awareness, but the approach is distinctly different.
To the OP:
This post helped me get a grasp of my own ideas on the dark/lightworker dichotomy, and I thank you for it.